You know, sometimes it just doesn't pay for me to read the news thoroughly. Too depressing. But my ever attentive husband brings a story to my attention, and I ask for the link. And, (sigh), a blog is born.
Here's a link to the story he read this morning. Can you imagine a sadder lead-in: "Americans say save the economy, not the planet"?
The story relates the findings of a recent Gallup poll. You can see the basics in the graph below. For 26 years, the graph shows we have cared more about the environment than jobs. In recent years, the environment has been losing ground, slowly. In 2008, environment slipped below economy, then rose, and now has fallen again. You can go here and see the source of the graph as well as Gallup's findings.
A bit over a year ago, I posted on this wonderful blue dot in the vast universe--and I used the photo above (from NASA). The big blue marble. This is home, folks. Not sure what else to say. Of course it is very important, even critical, to have a job. But should we de-value the environment just to have jobs? That's the drumbeat we are hearing today.I am reminded of that great philosopher, Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. He wrote many wonderful books, but the one that comes to mind right now is The Lorax.
Do you remember this book?
Herewith a quote:
BUT...
business is business!
And business must grow
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.
I meant no harm. I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger.So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads
of the Thneeds I shipped out. I was shipping them forth
to the South! To the East!
To the West! To the North!
I went right on biggering... selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.
That doesn't do the story justice, so go read the whole thing here.
We can turn that graph around. The environment and the economy are not incompatible. They may have been made so by the drumbeat in today's political environment, but they are not.
And, remember, when they're all gone--whether truffula trees, or regular trees, or the air we breathe, or the water we drink--when that's all gone, just what good will your job do you then?
I speak for the trees.
8 comments:
Good point although I think poles like this are suspect.
I see a Man in the Earth, the eyes being in the seas beside India.
AC--the Gallup poll people do acknowledge that, since the 3-part catastrophe in Japan, people's opinions may change--as they do all the time.
A Man in the Earth--any relation to the Man in the Moon?
Unfortunately I see that the Alberta tar sands are more popular now that the price of oil has risen. Depressing stuff. I do wonder what it will take to convince people in general that creation requires good stewardship. And as India and China come on line, spending more money and increasing their ecological footprint, help!
I salute you!!! This is wonderful! Our short-sighted, what's-in-it-for-me attitude is just plain wrong.
Thanks for this!
I think we've had skewed up thinking for a long time. Our country seems to be based on greed.
I wonder what the Koch brothers think about all this. They surely would spend their zillions on supporting environmental issues. Ya right. :(
I couldn't agree more! We are having great resistance in our county with designation of a river as a trout stream which would require farmers and contractors to make certain nothing was allowed to pollute the streams. The prevailing mood around here is that you "can't tell a man what he can do with his land." And we have a fair number of bible-thumpers who are so convinced that the Rapture is near that we don't need to worry about the environment.
It's depressing, but I won't let that stop me from being at least one.
I live where there is a lot of natural resource extraction (exploitation, if you will). I cannot tell you how many times I have suggested we should not cut down the forest so fast. The answer is that it will supply jobs for 20 years. This is the justifcation???? But 20 years is nothing in terms of the quality of life. We must have plans for 500 years or 1000 years. Unfortunately politicians only plan from election to election, 4 or 5 years at most.
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