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Given the rapidly expanding climate crisis, perhaps it’s time for an Earth Decade rather than just an Earth Day. This celebration of the incredible miracle of this living planet reminds us of what we are rapidly losing. Our small home in the vastness of the cosmos grows sicker by the day, and our species is what ails it. The copasetic climate underpinning our survival is shifting toward a toxic, diminished and desolate world, one that may no longer sustain us. And it’s happening even faster and more alarmingly than the most pessimistic climatologists predicted.
Call me a nihilist if it makes you feel better, but, to me, it’s clear the planet and the remainder of its non-human inhabitants would be far better off if our species was out of the picture. That’s a sad statement, but, on a pragmatic rather than emotional basis, hard to refute. And, if we persist on our present course of waste, over-consumption, ecosystem poisoning and environmental destruction, that “far better off without us” epoch may be closer than we think.
Now, the world of people can disappoint easily and often, and our collective actions toward the planet make that case convincingly. Without question, many folks display the proverbial better angels of the human spirit and do their best to safeguard the environment. However, their efforts become overpowered by the governments and corporate entities that refuse to provide effective leadership on this most foundational of challenges we collectively face. They sell their souls to greed and power. I rarely quote the Bible, but the phrase “money is the root of all evil” seems spot-on.
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Species Suicide?
These political and corporate miscreants treat the natural world like a thing rather than a living, evolving entity in its own right, and do so with depraved indifference. They use our technological prowess to dominate, degrade and destroy the Earth and many of our fellow creatures. It’s madness. Species suicide. Unlike these people, nature does not inflict harm out of spite, hatred or greed. It holds no malice toward humans or any other of the planet’s myriad inhabitants. However, it also holds us no special favor toward us, a species prone to self-destructive hubris. Nature is not here for our selfish benefit, nor is it here to defeat us. It is neither for us nor against us. It simply is.
If you’ve endured my dark narrative to this point, you may think I’m preaching despair. Although many who love the natural world feel downcast by its degradation, we retain a moral obligation to act on behalf of future generations. How? You’ve likely read long lists of individual actions one can take, small and limited as they are, to reduce, reuse and recycle. Good stuff, but greater impacts are needed, and, in particular, two merit our full attention:
- Political parties be damned. Support and vote for candidates committed to addressing the climate crisis as a top priority. Environmental action groups provide synopses of these individuals, rating their level of commitment to saving the planet. Whatever policy concerns one might harbor, if we don’t turn the climate crisis around, other ideological issues will pale in comparison. Need information? Visit: https://www.lcv.org/
- We’re all consumers, and many are also investors. When it comes to climate impacts, where we spend and invest our money matters, a lot. Not all of us have the means to buy an EV or hybrid vehicle or retrofit our domiciles for renewable energy. But we don’t have to give our cash or investment funds to businesses and corporate entities that profit off environmental destruction. If enough of us become green investors and consumers, greedy climate profiteers who ravage the planet will change out of necessity and self-interest, the only interest they honor. Need information? Visit: https://sustainablelivingassociation.org/green-investing-the-complete-guide/
Earth is our lifeboat in an indifferent and unforgiving universe, and it’s fast taking on water. Time for all hands on deck.
For more, visit philipchard.com.
