MARCH 7, 2006
State
of the union speeches are supposed to talk about the state of the union; so I can assume now that the environment is no longer a part of our national agenda or focus; that is if one listened to the most recent state of the union message. National debates are an institutionalized part of the political process, but our nation must not have an environment at all if you listen to the Presidents speeches and the lack of outrage at the priorities outlined.
Let's go back to the basics again:
The word environment means surroundings. An environmentalist cares about his or her surroundings. If we are silent about the places we live work and play we become complicit in their eventual decay which lead to destruction and desecration - or, what I call the deadly ds. Silence is a sin.
If no one is talking about the state of the environmental at the national level, are you and I talking enough about it at the grass roots level? Each day that goes by and our voices are silent is another day for the deceitful developers (not all developers are deceitful, dishonest, or disreputable) or those who devise means to get around environmental regulations, or those who disregard the science that says we are in trouble.
If you do not see an article in your local paper about an issue that should be in your local paper write the editor or write the editorial yourself. Grammar is not at issue here, nor is sentence structure or syntax; get your concern on paper and your voice will be heard.
The single most important defining issue for the 21st century is the ability of the planet's human family to sustain itself as it systematically destroys the infra-structure that sustains life. We destroy the environment we destroy our surroundings. Eventually that will not work to our benefit. The sooner we raise our voice of concern about our own neighborhood, then state, nation and eventually the world, the earlier the process of reversal of the collapse may take place.
Often we run a PSA in the middle of our TV show segments. One of the most popular is called The Power of One. The power of one surroundings is that an issue that we invest time in can have a transformative effect on our life. Getting involved in one's own surroundings indicates that we are actually protecting that which we love. That is the simple mark of a great environmentalist.
--Peter