Friday, April 20, 2018

Earth Day, 2018

Its Earth Day again.  Earth Day is the celebration of what crappy stewards of our planet we are. 

I remember the television commercials when I was a kid in the 1970's of the actor portraying the American Indian crying over all the trash all over the place. 

We've certainly made strides.  The river in my home town was so awful that we dreaded getting stuck in a red light while on the bridge due to the smell. 

Litter and pollution are, at their most honest, financial issues.  Sure, its not right for you and I to pass our problem forward by failing to put the stuff we no longer need in a trash bin, but you and I dropping a bottle on the street are the tip of the iceberg.

Jimmy Buffet's song "The Prince of Tides" (which comes from the title of a book by his friend, Pat Conroy) has this verse in it that I think sums up the rest of the iceberg.
One night they put a price on the sunset
and that got the whole earth shakin'
They rose from the grave both the weak and the brave
'cause history was there for the makin'
And the winos surrounded the condos
forming a frail human fence
And they shouted out loud to the roar of the crowd
"Same old story, more dollars than sense"
If we really want to improve the earth, if we really want to be stewards, we don't need a holiday, we need policy. We need it to be as expensive, as risky, and as realistic to the people who put a price on the sunset as it is for the people forming the frail, human fence.  Until that can happen, it's Happy Earth Day.

No comments: