I remember the first Earth Day back in 1970, inspired by Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. We really had little idea then what we were headed for. I led a local recycling effort in the small Massachusetts town I lived in, and thought that was quite an accomplishment, getting locals to separate their glass bottles into green, brown, and clear bins and bring them to our station at the town dump. We were naive back then, thinking that was most of what was needed to "improve the environment." It was a step in the right direction, that Wrentham Recycling Committee, but so much more was needed to be first studied to determine how extensive was the problem and what were the solutions. Dr. Carson had highlighted the issue of the pesticide DDT and how that was decimating wildlife and poisoning our crops, and that toxin was eventually eliminated by governmental decree, with wildlife and crops rebounding as a result. President Nixon--yes, Nixon--acknowledged the problem by starting the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, which still exists today with its vital regulatory functions.
But the country and the world continued its love affair with fossil fuels and conspicuous consumption. As a consequence, the climate gradually heated up until today we have glaciers melting, Arctic ice melting, Greenland melting, Antarctica melting, sea levels rising, forests burning worldwide, including the Amazon, called the lungs of the Earth, heat domes in the Pacific Northwest, fresh water evaporating leading to chronic droughts, smokey air not only in the West where many fires are burning but in the midwest and east where the Jet Stream carries that bad air.
Many on the political right deny the reality of human-induced climate change or that there is a crisis at all. Some even call it a hoax perpetrated by China, believe it or not. A large percentage of our electricity is still generated by coal, about the dirtiest fossil fuel of them all.
The U.N. just came out with a a scathing report sounding a "red alert" that we've likely passed the point of no return. There is a slight chance we could stem the rising tide of climate crisis, but it would involve a worldwide concerted effort among all the major economic powers to cut emissions drastically, not tomorrow, but NOW. Otherwise we will see more deadly heat domes, destructive wildfires, hurricanes, drought, along with water and food shortages, and viral pandemics, which may also be related to the climate crisis.
The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the most authoritative summary of climate science in the world, shows that for the next generation, increasing heat waves and wildfires, hurricanes and floods, drought and sea level rise are now inevitable. And the consequences could be dire—potentially leading to millions of people displaced, thousands of lives lost, and billions in economic damage.
These were major headlines a day or so ago, but today: nothing. Nada. Zip. Not a mention of a climate crisis that could end life as we know it. And why is that? Because the solution lies not with huge money outlays by governments or switching over to alternative forms of energy, both of which are vital and important. The hard reality is that each of us will need to change our ingrained habits of consumption. And essentially from 1970 onward we've all known that but have been unwilling to do so. Let's face it: We are like the five year old who clutches his prized toy and threatens a meltdown tantrum if you take it away from him. We are "spoiled rotten," as my mother used to say of me when I insisted we enter a toy store every time we passed one.
Each of us needs to closely examine our habits and consumption practices and make changes not to necessarily help ourselves, but to help this wonderful planet of ours. This is our home, and we need to tidy up, and tidy up fast. Would you accept a dump on your front lawn? Or a messy living room? Or a sink full of dirty dishes? I think not. So...
...clean up, folks. Time is running out.
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My two recently published books, Into the Woods...and Beyond, and The Valley Spirit: Living a Tao-inspired Life, both offer ways of healing the environment and coming closer to nature. Please consider them.