Don't
worry, this isn't an article for or against global warming, climate change, the
deforestation of the Amazon region, or dolphin friendly tuna. This is about incorrect labels and how they
are used to influence people followed by a realistic take on what the environmental movement should be about.
In 1962,
Rachel Carson wrote a compelling book called Silent Spring which kicked off the modern day environmental
movement. Ms. Carson raised the
consciousness of the public regarding pesticides and pollution. Since then
we've watch Environmentalism expand on those topics and evolve to include
concerns that we're over-fishing our seas and deforesting our lands to the
point that both are creating instability in the balance of our Eco-system that
will eventually destroy the planet.
Al Gore's
best selling books Earth In The Balance
and An Inconvenient Truth (later a
movie) highlighted the negative effects the human race has had on our
environment that has lead to anthropogenic climate change. Our current
"green" movement is based on this same premise that our current
lifestyle is increasing CO2 levels to the point that we'll eventually destroy
our planet.
In 1970
we celebrated the first Earth Day to increase awareness and appreciation of the
earth's natural environment. I see email signatures that remind you to think of
the environment before printing. I've seen the grocery store go from
"paper or plastic" to "buy this reusable grocery bag" for
the sake of the planet. I've seen companies
make the PR move of becoming a "green certified" company by
implementing recycling and reusable energy sources. I've seen bumper stickers that say "save
the earth before you see it end" and
"treat the earth how you want the earth to treat you." They make it
sound as if mother earth has feelings, and we must be sentimental to her
emotions.
On a side note, no one seems to make a big deal about Arbor
Day. It's been around since 1872 and
seems to be a more happy, non-political celebration of trees, whereas Earth Day
appears to be a more pessimistic, political ideology that portrays humans in a
negative light. Just an observation.
Again, I
am not here to promote or disparage the effort.
That is a completely separate argument that is irrelevant to my
point. My point is - the earth doesn't
care what we do and doesn't need saving.
And before we all agree to "Treat the earth as you would like the
earth to treat you" - let's study a little history of the earth's
behavior.
The
history of the third rock from the sun is extremely violent toward all who've
inhabited it. Formed 4.6 billion years
ago, it was a volcanic hot mess for the first 500 million years before it
cooled off enough for the crust to solidify, and our atmosphere and oceans to
form. The conditions of our atmosphere
were so toxic and irregular that it took 3.6 billion years before multi
cellular organisms showed up. We have
evidence that a mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago that wiped out
the dinosaurs and 80% of all life on earth. There is evidence that something
cataclysmic occurred 255 million years ago that wiped out 90% of all life. In fact, there have been 5 mass extinction
periods in the past 430 million years and scientist estimate that 95% of all
species that have ever existed are extinct.
Annually,
we have earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic explosions, and violent
storms that cause great damage and loss of life proving that mother earth
doesn't care at all if we're around. In
other words, with this great history of continual devastation, the earth is
somehow able to survive and replenish itself. So there's no need to save the
planet. It's not going anywhere and will be here long after us. Earth is in the middle of an 8 billion year
life cycle and we're just a speck in its overall history.
So let's
call this movement what it really is - Save the Humans. The human species has grown dramatically since the last occurrence of global
warming 10,000 years ago, which also caused the most recent ice age to recede. This climatic and geological shift created longer growing seasons and more arable land that enabled our species to prosper. We want to survive and there's nothing wrong
with that. Why do we need to promote our
survival under the guise of saving the planet?
Let's be candid about our rational selfishness and promote the survival
of our species. We can still argue about
the validity of the science regarding the long term effects we have on the
environment and climate. I have no issue
with people promoting or denouncing a cause, but let's be honest with each
other as to what the cause is really about.
Our approach has been through ecological guilt and a naïveté of taking care of our planet
like a good friend should. It's not about saving the planet......it's about
us. This is Darwinism at its finest -
Save the Humans.
Now if I
can just get that cable channel that shows UFO
Hunters, Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars to quit calling themselves
the History Channel.....I'll be a happy guy.
