Image available via Creative Commons on Flickr from Kevin M. Gill
This post is a continuation from What Now? (Part 1).
On the day the Los Angeles Lakers got their tails kicked by 34 points at the Garden (by Boston in game two of the “85” series), Pat Riley told his team a quote his father had once passed on to him: “Somewhere, someplace, sometime you’re going to have to plant your feet, take a stand and kick some tail.”
Environmentally, I believe that time is now. We are involved in a dangerous experiment and must take a stand to gain control of our destiny. This will require that, as individuals and as a society, we must make certain sacrifices.
The technology already exists to dean up oil spills, develop alternative fuels, close the ozone hole, preserve the rainforests and stop or slow most environmental problems. But we must realize that we do not need to go out and invent new technologies to fix all our problems. We already know many of the answers, and we know what we need to do to correct not all, but many, of them.
What we do not have yet is the collective political will and resolve to play out the trade-offs and make a concerted effort to set priorities so we can put the environmental issues at the top of the stack. Only when we do this can we channel our money, our technology, and our expertise into these problems and begin to see results. We need to do this as individuals first by changing our consumption patterns and the way we manage our lifestyles.
In parallel efforts, as the constituents of our elected leaders, we need to give these officials an environmental mandate. We may not need to invent anything: we already have many of the tools we need, and many of the answers. Now, we need to focus on the problem and get others to cooperate.
The most significant aspect of the ride across America was the powerful emotional response that the environmental issue generated. This planet may be here during my generation and quite possibly the generation after mine, but will it be here for my grandchildren?
This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are not entirely certain the next generation, or the one after that, might not have a home on this planet. It has always been our desire to pass on to our children a better society and a better environment, be it the family farm, better education, or less disease and war.
We are the first generation that won’t be able to do this. Our children will instead be inheriting an over-used, hand-me-down planet that may be on its last legs and unable to support them and generations to come. What is frightening is that we have the power now to turn it all around–or not.. If we don’t, we have only ourselves to blame. We must rise to the occasion, take our lumps, and make whatever sacrifices are necessary to ensure that these natural systems survive and that we pass on to our children an ecosystem that can sustain generations in the years to come.
The director of Friends of the Earth, Michael Clark, said at our first “Ride Across America” news conference that “The most difficult thing to do is to explain to people the critically of the problem without implying that it is too late and scaring them into doing nothing.”
I agree, and I add: “Show people the problem and give them something to do.” We must provide others with the opportunity to become involved and we can then give them hope.
Our ride was a way to attract attention to the issue and also to give many an opportunity to help. If we as individuals can provide an avenue of involvement, then this “Environmental Movement” will continue to grow. The opportunity to get involved will become more and more important as the movement grows and interest builds because people with no way to help become frustrated. The challenge for people like those of us who are already involved is to help others make that same commitment. If we can find ways to enlist others in our efforts, we can keep this ball rolling.
It is not too late–far from it. This is the decade that will set the stage for years to come. The ecosystem is amazingly resilient, and with help it can bounce back, however, the ecosystem’s response to the changes we have imposed upon it is much slower than the rate at which we are imposing those changes. Already, we can see progress in many places. For instance, the recovery of lakes and rivers across the United States is encouraging; on a global level, developed countries recently committed to improving economic conditions through loans and grants for environmental problems in developing countries; there is phenomenal growth of membership in environmental groups, and finally, there is a greater global movement to pursue lower carbon energy sources.
The environmental havoc we have created in this finite planet may, in an unplanned twist of fate, be a blessing in disguise. Many would say that we are “up against the wall” environmentally. If so, the desperation we feel may force us to join hands in a global effort to clean up the mess. This cooperation may reduce global tensions and allow us to focus on common ground, rather than economic and political differences.