There is so much interest these days in preserving the environment and being good stewards of the earth and yet some of it remains controversial. Some of the tactics have been drawn from hysteria and directing us to act out of a sense of guilt. There is suspicion and division on the subject.
What are our obligations regarding care of the earth? What does it mean to live responsibly in a world like this? Much of the steps we are urged to take cost more than the methods we are using. For example, if we use coffee cups that are biodegradable the cost for a cup of coffee is 16% higher than the Styrofoam cups. But if we can begin to make some changes the cost, in the long run, will have been worth it. If we upgrade our church furnace it will cost significant money but, in the long run, it will save us on our fuel bill and we will not have used as much energy in the long run.
Thomas Friedman in his book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, is convinced the challenge for our country is as great as it was when we struggle for our independence. He is also convinced we are the kind of people who can meet that challenge.
What are your thoughts regarding this? Should we be more concerned about the environment or is global warming a myth perpetuated by hysterical people who really have the wrong facts and have come to the wrong conclusions.
If you have some thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to allow others to read your ideas click on the box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles
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The empirical evidence is indisputable...global change, that is changes to ecosystems, to the atmosphere and to oceans are occurring and at a faster rate than has been measured in recent time. The reasons for the change and to what degree humans are responsible is uncertain. Even if we cannot agree on culpability or emissions reduction strategies, we should at least agree on the need to prepare and to adapt to change. Because like it or not, life will be different than it has been.
I like the John Muir quote. "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
Aldo Leopold in his conservation classic "A Sand County Almanac" remembers the discovery made by Paul Bunyan of the Round River in which logs floated endlessly around and around in a never ending circuit. For Leopold, Round River a parable for the "...stream of energy which flows out of the soil into the plants, thence into animals, thence back into the soil in a never ending circuit of life." He goes on to describe the complexity of the "land organism... If the organism as a whole is good then every part of it is good whether we understand it or not" or appreciate it or not.
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