Mankind is in danger of extinction from greed and stupidity. – Stephen Hawking
The GOP wants to give public lands to private interests: “Congress should reconsider whether parts of the federal government’s enormous landholdings and control of water in the West could be better used for ranching, mining, or forestry through private ownership. Timber is a renewable natural resource, which provides jobs to thousands of Americans. All efforts should be made to make federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service available for harvesting.”
- We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future.
We are making poor choices ignoring the perils of extreme weather. It is not only droughts, wildfires, floods and rising sea level, but the impact on people used to the good life and temperate climate.
- As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise.
The GOP demand to sell public lands ignores the current peril and destroys the promise of a bright future. As long as Mother Earth is viewed as an object of ruthless exploitation, we are doomed.
Are we the masters of creation? Really? Pope Francis speaking to the European Parliament called for the responsible stewardship of the Earth and its resources. “Our Earth needs constant concern and attention. Each of us has a personal responsibility to care for creation, this precious gift which God has entrusted to us.” We are lucky to be guests of the Blue Planet. We need to respect nature and leave this world better than we found it.
The GOP ignores runaway climate change, the rights of nature, and the magic of the forests. The trees in the forest are not a renewable resource, what the GOP calls timber and the biomass industry calls fibers, are not crops to be harvested. Selling our forests for wood pellets or fluff is like making Alpo out of prime rib, just to meet the insatiable Chinese demand for cheap dog food.
- To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.
Reforestation is a complex process, something nature does best with many small steps over hundreds of years – clear cutting an old growth forest and planting pine seedlings after heavy machines destroy the forest soil. Biodiversity has reached an unprecedented low with the loss of many species changing the ecosystem of life on Earth. We, the most invasive species, are one small part of the chain and our quality of life is diminished with the loss of biodiversity.
- We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.
What evidence do we have we are moving in the right direction? The xenophobic threats of building walls and testing every person with a Muslim background, as Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich propose, are idiotic ideas contrary to the needs to heal, repair, and transform our world.
- Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the people of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.
How are we going to show responsibility and compassion, caring for others when we refuse to help war refugees?
The 2000 Earth Charter was drafted over six years. The headlines 1-5 are the preamble of the Charter, considered by many the best declaration of nature’s rights.
Dr. James Hansen, at the conclusion of the 2015 UN Climate Conference, complained that the fundamental rights of nature and plans for change were missing from the climate agreement. Six months after the Paris meeting, we find ourselves at war, divided at home, and uncertain about the future.
The Earth Charter and On Care of Our Common Home are a clear roadmap for action: reduce, reuse and recycle, reforest, respect, and reject the urge to consume more.
Dr. Luis Contreras
A wonderful guest editorial. Thank you. I don’t think the United States will survive long if Trump wins the presidency. We are on the edge…
Thank you, Susan, for your kind comments. It seems we are moving in the opposite direction after the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
We need to think globally. I spoke today with someone in India where the temperature at night is very high; same in China. If India and China have a problem, we have a problem.
“One Planet under God” is the my worldview. Luis
India, in 24 hours, planted 1 Billion trees – Details in National Geographic
India Update: 50 million trees were planted in 24 hours – not 1 Billion, my bad. Making sure trees grow with heat waves and droughts is the challenge.
Closer to home, the news is not good: “People are going in and bulldozing trees for farming, leaving behind gigantic piles of walnuts, oaks, elms,” said Shannon Ramsay, CEO of Trees Forever, who called the clearing of trees across the state heartbreaking.
Overall, 192,000 acres of trees were felled in Iowa from 2009 to 2013.
Altogether, Iowa forests have more than 1 billion trees. Still, forests make up a small portion of Iowa’s total land, similar to other Midwestern states like Nebraska, Illinois, and North and South Dakota. The report shows that 71 percent of the forest losses, compared with 60 percent of the gains, came from agriculture. The largest losses were to cropland and pasture.