Natural Lifestye Magazine
Posted: February 28th, 2005, 7:32 am
I am the environmental writer for a local rag. Natural Lifestyle, El Paso, Las Cruces and the following article is the first of three I have had published in this FREE magazine which is given out at local grocery stores, bookstores, coffeeshops, etc. The article that follows was originally a post on Litkicks Poetry and Politics board and with some additional tweaking was published in the Fall, 2004 edition. Natural Lifestyle is published four times a year by Editor Scott French and devoted to people who want to live a more holistic and natural lifestyle.
WHO CARES? by SooZen Lee
While we are busy playing our games and fighting, and generally engaging in our typical selfish human behavior, we are creating something far beyond the destruction of what a huge meteor did to the dinosaurs that signaled their demise.
Those that care and are in the research fields are alarmed at the rate we are destroying our environment. A rate that takes ones' breath away. For instance, in just 30 years, it is estimated that one fourth of the worlds' mammals will no longer exist. That's a big chunk but is only an example of the increasing destruction we humans are wreaking.
Oh, I know, it has nothing to do with what we deem important and really, who cares? We had better stop and think about what it will mean for our own human-centrist lives. For those of you that are young...in thirty years, there will be no more elephants, rhinos, tigers, chimps, gorillas...the wilds will disappear, mainly due to our unchecked populations and greed for what we can have without regard to the future of our untidy little nest. The planet will survive, albeit diminished, but our own survival becomes suspect if we can't reverse and BECOME AWARE of the cause and effect of our actions.
By not signing the many treaties that have been put forward to directly support and help protect the environment, the USA, supposedly a leader in this 'modern' world, is the leader of the pack in ignoring the validity of environmental concerns and alarms. Of course, the US is not the only guilty party; worldwide, the survival of other species falls to the immediate wants of mankind. Japan and Norway are hastening the demise of many whale species by recent actions to overturn moratoriums on whaling. The rain forests are falling in the tropics to logging, farming and population growth and the list goes on and on.
Just recently the Bush administration made clear that it wanted to dismantle the wild spaces initiative signed by Clinton to protect the few remaining old growth forests in this country. The logging interests come first, heck with the environment and 1000 year old trees.
But again, really who cares? Environmental issues aren’t as 'sexy' or interesting as war or famine or aids or pop stars or the news of the moment and besides aren't the riches of our planet there for us to plunder as we see fit? Who cares if there are no more orangutans or wild salmon? Who cares if all our forests are tree farms? Me, passionately, that's who! Do you? Unless we change, quickly, we will foul our nest and follow in the footsteps of those that we deem lesser beings. Let’s hope our apathy doesn’t do us in.
WHO CARES? by SooZen Lee
While we are busy playing our games and fighting, and generally engaging in our typical selfish human behavior, we are creating something far beyond the destruction of what a huge meteor did to the dinosaurs that signaled their demise.
Those that care and are in the research fields are alarmed at the rate we are destroying our environment. A rate that takes ones' breath away. For instance, in just 30 years, it is estimated that one fourth of the worlds' mammals will no longer exist. That's a big chunk but is only an example of the increasing destruction we humans are wreaking.
Oh, I know, it has nothing to do with what we deem important and really, who cares? We had better stop and think about what it will mean for our own human-centrist lives. For those of you that are young...in thirty years, there will be no more elephants, rhinos, tigers, chimps, gorillas...the wilds will disappear, mainly due to our unchecked populations and greed for what we can have without regard to the future of our untidy little nest. The planet will survive, albeit diminished, but our own survival becomes suspect if we can't reverse and BECOME AWARE of the cause and effect of our actions.
By not signing the many treaties that have been put forward to directly support and help protect the environment, the USA, supposedly a leader in this 'modern' world, is the leader of the pack in ignoring the validity of environmental concerns and alarms. Of course, the US is not the only guilty party; worldwide, the survival of other species falls to the immediate wants of mankind. Japan and Norway are hastening the demise of many whale species by recent actions to overturn moratoriums on whaling. The rain forests are falling in the tropics to logging, farming and population growth and the list goes on and on.
Just recently the Bush administration made clear that it wanted to dismantle the wild spaces initiative signed by Clinton to protect the few remaining old growth forests in this country. The logging interests come first, heck with the environment and 1000 year old trees.
But again, really who cares? Environmental issues aren’t as 'sexy' or interesting as war or famine or aids or pop stars or the news of the moment and besides aren't the riches of our planet there for us to plunder as we see fit? Who cares if there are no more orangutans or wild salmon? Who cares if all our forests are tree farms? Me, passionately, that's who! Do you? Unless we change, quickly, we will foul our nest and follow in the footsteps of those that we deem lesser beings. Let’s hope our apathy doesn’t do us in.
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