The current human population of Planet Earth is over 6.7 billion people. It is projected to reach an estimated 9.1 billion people by 2050, according to the International Data Base, U.S. Census Bureau. This increase in projected population reflects an overall decrease in decadal growth in world population from 10.7% in 2010 to 5.0% or less in 2050. In 1950 only 2.6 billion people inhabited Earth, but the ten-year population growth rate was 18.9%.
Rapidly rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the primary contributor to global warming, have increased from 280 ppm to 380 ppm (2006) in the last one-hundred and fifty years, when the Industrial Revolution and mass clearing of forests began. Methane, twenty-five times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas, increased for the first time in ten years in 2007. (NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory) Climatologists are concerned that melting permafrost in the Artic region and ocean warming may accelerate methane gas release and intensify the carbon release-temperature rise cycle. Their current consensus is that mean global surface temperature will rise between 1°F and 3.5°F or, if carbon dioxide levels double, between 3°F and 8°F in the coming century. Human-generated carbon dioxide emissions “will continue warming and sea level rise for more than a millennium,” according to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN-IPCC), "Summary for Policy Makers" (2007). “Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years. The global increases in carbon dioxide concentration are due primarily to fossil fuel use and land use change, while those of methane and nitrous oxide are primarily due to agriculture. Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. Discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate, including ocean warming, continental-average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns."
One species is going extinct every 9.44 minutes on Earth, six species every hour, according to Conservation International. Global climate change, loss of habitat, poaching, invasive species, and genetic breakdown due to in-breeding are severely straining the flora and fauna of our planet. The immense increase in human population, particularly since 1950, coupled with the negative impacts of land use and fossil fuel uses have resulted in the extinction or endangerment of many species. In the U.S. 735 species of plants and 496 species of animals are listed as threatened or endangered. Among the better known animals that are threatened in North America are the grey wolf, whooping crane, Canada lynx, Mexican jaguar, desert tortoise, migratory birds, Pacific salmon, grisly bear, polar bear, Florida panther, American alligator, California sea otter, grey whale, orca, and our nation’s symbol, the bald eagle. 40% of the song bird population is in decline due to loss of habitat and pollution. There are over 1,000 animals species endangered worldwide; among these are the honey bee, western lowland gorilla, mountain gorilla, coral reefs, Siberian tiger, Chinese panda, Borneo orangutan and Philippine eagle. The life of Man and the life of all plants and animals are integrally linked. Cause and effect can no longer be ignored or denied. Doing nothing is no longer an option with regards to planetary health.
When human population was small and our activities left a light footprint there was little threat to planetary life from man. We took what we needed from nature, and these needs were reasonable and sustainable. Through most of history Mother Earth and her children lived in relative harmony as one-hundred billion people were born and one-hundred billion people died. This all began to change, however, when human population topped one billion for the first time in 1804, about the same time as industrialization of modern society began in earnest. Today approximately six percent of all human beings who ever lived inhabit our planet. Every second 4.3 people are born while 1.8 people die, a natural increase of 2.5 people in the world. (U.S. Census Bureau) Annually there are 134 million births and 56 million deaths in the world, a natural increase of 78 million human beings. 6.7 billion people must eat, work, play, and procreate on our blue orb today. Is this too many? Can Earth sustain us all?
Communist China, the world’s most populous country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, also is one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Strict controls have reduced the increase of population in China in recent years, and by 2030 its population is expected to level off and slowly decline. Despite the worst worldwide recession in modern times, China’s current Gross Domestic Product is still growing at an impressive annual rate of 6.5%, according to the World Bank. If current trends continue, China will soon surpass Japan as the world’s second largest economy. Unfortunately it is also one of the most polluted countries in the world. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration China has surpassed the United States in CO2 emissions. In its quest to modernize and prosper, Communist officials have pressed the pedal to the metal, and left the environment in the dust. Coal, cheap, abundant, and dirty, is the primary energy resource in China, which is producing two coal-fired power plants per week. Automobile sales are expected to top eleven million units in China in 2009, number one in the world. Despite recent, tentative steps to clean up its act, China will continue to be a major polluter in the future.
India, the world’s second most populous country and its largest democracy with 1.1 billion citizens, is also undergoing rapid economic transition from an underdeveloped to a more developed country. Its current rate of economic expansion exceeds 9% per annum. Its population is increasing at a much more rapid rate than Communist China, and is expected to surpass it by the year 2040 when there will be a projected 1.5 billion Indians. Attempts by the Indian government to control its population growth have been less successful than those in China. Currently India ranks fourth among all nations in the per capita emission of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. India’s rapidly expanding population and economy virtually assures that it will continue to be a major polluter.
Brazil, with a rapidly increasing population of 192 million and a land mass which comprises nearly one-half of South America, is a particularly important country when discussing the environmental impacts of economic and land use activities. Brazil holds about one-third of the world’s remaining rain forests, including much of the Amazon. This is a critical carbon sink for the absorption of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. If global temperatures rise at the level that scientists predict, and if deforestation continues at its current rate, the Amazon rain forest will be reduced by a minimum of 20 - 40% in the next one-hundred years. Brazil is blessed with the world’s richest biodiversity of plants and animals, many still undiscovered and unnamed. These, too, are seriously threatened by human-caused climate change as rain forest is turned into savannah. Success in stabilizing world greenhouse gas emissions and preventing further losses in biodiversity of plants and animals must include effective and immediate action by Brazil.
Germany, on the other hand, has been doing a better overall job in reducing its population and environmental footprint. Germany’s 82 million people, the largest in Europe, is declining 4% annually. The leading economic powerhouse in the European Union (EU), Germany is using incentives and subsidies to encourage solar, biomass and wind development as alternative energy sources. Its per capita CO2 emissions rank sixth highest in the world, just behind Japan. Japan’s population, now 127 million, has slowed to only 2% growth per year. Japan has made tremendous strides in energy efficiency, but as the world’s second strongest economy, still contributes a disproportionate share of world greenhouse gases.
"The Environmental Performance Index" (EPI), an ongoing, collaborative effort between Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network, evaluates and ranks the environmental records of most nations. The 2008 EPI tracked the performance of 149 nations in the following policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Pollution, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Climate Change. The ten countries which ranked best on the Index, in order, were Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Costa Rica, Austria, New Zealand, Latvia, Columbia, and France. Also high on the list were Iceland, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, and Slovenia. The poorest performing countries on the Index, in order, were Niger, Angola, Sierra Leon, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and Guinea-Bissau (most of these countries are in Africa). The United States ranked 39th on the list with a total score of 81. It should be noted that the world’s six largest contributors to global greenhouse gases, China, United States, Russia, India, Japan and Germany, are also among the most populous and/or developed countries. Their impacts on the environment, therefore, are proportionally much greater than the collective impact of smaller nations. What the United States and other large nations do profoundly influences planetary health.
Smaller nations, like New Zealand, Switzerland, Costa Rico, Norway, Sweden and Iceland, all top performers on the EPI, are eco-leaders. Switzerland, population 7 million, generates 51% of its energy from hydroelectric power from melting glaciers. The Swiss take recycling seriously, shut off car engines at stop lights to conserve fuel and limit greenhouse gases, and impose strict environmental regulations on industry. Norway, population 4.6 million, is investing heavily in innovative, renewable alternative energy development, CO2 capture and storage research, and more energy efficient housing. It intends to be a world leader in environment-friendly technology and research. Norway produces virtually all its energy from clean hydroelectric plants. Next door in Sweden, population 9 million, work is progressing on sixteen environmental quality objectives to be achieved by 2020 which will provide a clean, safe, carbon-free environment for all its citizens. Sweden intends to rely on nuclear and hydroelectric power and phase out the use of oil as an energy resource by the year 2020. New Zealand, population 4.1 million, ranks high in providing clean water and sanitation for its citizens. Known for its pristine, natural beauty, Kiwis use geothermal power for 10% of their energy needs. Costa Rico, population 4.1 million, is also renowned for its natural beauty. The government administers a successful program, Payments for Environmental Services (PES), and provides compensation for those who preserve and use ecosystems which enhance public well-being; carbon abatement, water resources management, biodiversity and scenic beauty are program components. Iceland, with a tiny population 300,000, sits on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which produces abundant geothermal resources that provide the country’s energy. Iceland is a world leader in maintaining sustainable fisheries and a pristine ocean habitat.
All these countries are democratic, lightly populated, blessed by nature and deeply committed to environmental quality, clean, sustainable energy, biodiversity and an ecologically-friendly future. They and their leaders understand that their futures are interdependent with those of other countries. Acid rain, depleted ocean resources, rising oceans, disappearing glaciers, weather extremes, increasing CO2 levels, and climate change don’t respect national boundaries or political ideologies. Even the most conscientious and environmentally sensitive nations have challenges to meet in balancing economic growth and ecological health. These forward-thinking countries know, too, that all their efforts to save the environment may be in vain if larger, heavily polluting countries don’t do their fair share.
What is the current state of the American Environment? Are we acting responsibly as a society and as citizens of the world in promoting a clean, healthy planet for ourselves and our posterity? The current population of the U.S. is 307 million, third highest in the world, but only 5% of the total. The nation’s population is projected to increase to 392 million by 2050. The United States leads the world in per capita emissions of global warming gases, although China is the largest emitter overall. Dan Esty, a primary architect of the previously cited Environmental Performance Index (2008), states, “The United States is doing well on some environmental indicators, but it’s lagging badly on ozone preservation, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and managing its water resources sustainably.” One of his colleagues, James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, put it more bluntly: “The United States climate change ranking alongside India and China near the bottom is a national disgrace.”
Al Gore, in his landmark book and DVD, An Inconvenient Truth, said, “You see that pale, blue dot? That's us. Everything that has ever happened in all of human history has happened on that pixel. All the triumphs and all the tragedies, all the wars all the famines, all the major advances... it's our only home. And that is what is at stake, our ability to live on planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization. I believe this is a moral issue, it is your time to seize this issue, it is our time to rise again to secure our future.” I also believe that the environmental crisis is a profoundly moral challenge. Every human being owes his life to Mother Earth. This is our home. When we respect her, we respect ourselves as well. Future generations deserve a healthy Earth.
Americans have a special responsibility because other nations look to us to provide leadership. Our power, wealth and freedom give us the leverage to influence events around the globe like no other country. What each of us does in our daily lives can make a big difference when like-minded Americans join together and think globally and act locally. By seizing the initiative each citizen can set a positive example for his neighbors to follow by adopting habits like turning off lights when not in use to save electricity, keeping car tires properly inflated to save gasoline, and recycling household waste in order to conserve natural resources. All Americans are called on at this critical hour to sacrifice for the greater good and to consume less while conserving more.
America uses a vast amount of the world’s natural resources and produces a disproportionate amount of its waste products. With a mere 5% of the world’s population, Americans consume 25% of world fossil fuel, 33% of world paper, 27% of world aluminum, 19% of world copper, and 15% of world meat. 50% of the world’s solid waste is produced by the United States. 26% of the world’s carbon dioxide has been produced by the U.S. since 1960 (World Resources Institute). 50% of recyclable electronic waste in the U.S. is exported to developing countries where it endangers human health and the environment. (Greenpeace)
During the Great Depression and WW II Americans sacrificed in order to economically survive and win the war against World Fascism. Consumer staples that we take for granted today were strictly rationed, unavailable or unaffordable; rubber, metal, gasoline, nylon, sugar, butter and meat were among these staples. The world is again at war. This time the mortal threat to our way of life is climate change. Insidious and pervasive, global warming has the potential to disrupt and destroy civilization itself. If we lose this war there will be no victors, only victims. One way or another Americans especially will have to adopt a new mindset in order to halt and reverse the cataclysm which threatens to overwhelm planet Earth. Our profligate consumer binge is over. The Great Depression and WW II slogan, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without,” has new relevancy and urgency. What we choose to do, or not do, today will immensely impact future generations, perhaps for thousands of years. We owe it to them to act wisely and nobly.
Americans can and ought to lead the world in this crusade to save Mother Earth. Abundantly blessed, we have a special obligation to lead by example. Our new mantra should be, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” We should drastically reduce consumption, especially of energy, water, meat, and paper products. Reducing energy can save money as well as the environment. Turning off lights and appliances when not in use, switching to compact fluorescent light (cfl) bulbs, reducing and consolidating automobile trips, driving cleaner, fuel efficient vehicles, using alternative means of transportation, walking rather than driving, insulating homes and water heaters, using eco-friendly building products, utilizing solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy resources, and encouraging our government representatives to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels are measures that ordinary Americans can perform in order to slow, halt and reverse the effects of climate change. In this race against time conserving energy must become a habit which all Americans embrace in their daily lives. As fossil fuels become more expensive to find and extract, our national security and economic health will increasingly depend upon our ability to transition to cleaner, safer and more sustainable energy. Americans need not wait for government action; they should take personal responsibility for their own carbon-footprints now.
Reducing water consumption and reusing/recycling water, especially in the arid American southwest, is another way the average citizen can contribute to environmental sustainability. Drought emergencies currently exist in California and other western states as lower yearly rainfall becomes the norm. Global warming may result in particularly severe and long-lasting disruptions in water supply for farming, industrial, residential and recreational purposes. The economic impact may be equally devastating as water rates spike and states and cities compete for dwindling supplies of Colorado River water allotments. Snow pack and runoff from the Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada ranges has fallen to historic lows, further limiting water supply. Although we take water for granted, what would happen if fresh, potable water became insufficient to quench the thirst of an ever increasing population of humans, pets and livestock? A newborn is composed of 78% water; an adult, between 50% and 70%. You can go without water for only three days before life-threatening organ failure begins. But consumers can make a big difference in conserving water by turning off the faucet when not in use, repairing leaking faucets and pipes, installing water-saving shower heads and low-flow toilets, shutting off water when soaping up, manually washing dishes instead of using a dishwasher, planting drought-resistant, native vegetation, replacing lawns with eco-friendly substitutes, avoiding washing personal vehicles during the rainy season, irrigating vegetation with rain water captured from home gutters, advocating clean energy technology in the desalinization of sea water, and encouraging ecologically responsible legislation and water management policy.
Americans consume 207 pounds of meat and poultry per capita, per year, 15% of world consumption. Raising beef cattle, chickens and pigs is energy intensive. Production of feed grains (corn, soy and oats), fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and the operation of farm equipment for raising livestock accounts for half of all the fossil fuels used in the U.S. agricultural sector. 100 million cattle account for 20% of total U.S. methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas. John Robbins, author of Diet For A New America, writes that it takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat. Growing 1 pound of wheat, however, takes only 25 gallons. Runoff from livestock operations is also a major polluter of America’s water resources, and has lead to illness and mortality in humans and animals. In addition to wasting energy, contributing to global climate change and wasting and polluting water resources, beef production also uses a vast amount of open space in our country. Open range land might better be employed in raising grain to feed the world’s hungry. Eating meat products is unhealthy and contributes to higher rates of cardio-vascular disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes. Reducing or eliminating meat from the diet, therefore, would be a beneficial step that ordinary Americans can take to promote the health of Mother Earth and their own health as well.
Paper products consumed in the U.S. account for one-third of the world total, twice as much as second place China. The pulp and paper industry is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with only the chemical and steel industries producing more. This industry also uses more water than any other industrial sector. Per capita consumption of paper in the U.S. is 748 pounds annually; paper and packaging waste make up over 40% of municipal solid waste. 40 million trees are harvested to produce magazines in the U.S. annually; 100 million trees are harvested to produce junk mail. Only three percent of old growth forests remain in our country and these are vulnerable to devastating clear cutting which harm flora, fauna and water resources. (Sierra Club) Reducing paper consumption and recycling paper products can substantially benefit the environment; use cloth bags instead of paper or plastic bags when shopping, request monthly statements electronically rather than by snail mail, go to this website to learn what you can do to eliminate junk mail: http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/, use cloth napkins instead of paper, use tree-free paper like kenaf, request that office supply stores stock recycled and tree-free paper, use both sides of writing paper and post its, read newspapers online, advocate the banning of road building and logging in National Forests and support an end to timber subsidies.
If every American commits to reducing consumption and reusing and recycling the products they consume (e.g., energy, water, meat and paper), the cumulative environmental impact will be dramatic and will more likely stimulate similar actions around the globe. World leadership begins at home. American business needs to do their part as well. The power industry can expedite the construction of cogeneration power plants, retrofit coal power plants with carbon capture and storage technology, develop and reduce the cost of distributed photovoltaic generation (PV), and develop other alternate, renewable, safe, efficient and affordable energy technologies. Architects and builders can incorporate new, environmentally-friendly lighting, construction materials and energy systems into buildings. The transportation industry can develop and produce vehicles which emit zero carbon dioxide and other pollutants. The agriculture and forestry industries can produce products which respect the ecology and produce quality food and wood-based products. Corporations which demonstrate social and environmental conscience deserve the support and loyalty of American consumers; all others, including those which export and import products from countries with lax environmental standards and enforcement, should be boycotted. Vote green with your greenbacks.
Federal, state and local government in the United States also has a vital role to play in leading the world back from the brink of ecological catastrophe. The U.S. government should immediately ratify the Kyoto Protocol and fully participate in, and cooperate with, the world community in reducing human population, CO2/methane levels, destruction of flora and fauna, and the degradation of the Earth’s land, water and atmospheric systems. Further, the central government should do everything in its power to encourage larger nation states (e.g., Communist China and India) to fully participate in effective and collective global environment-saving and population-reducing strategies. U.S. state and regional compacts can encourage the federal government to take strong action to save our planet by demonstrating initiative, imagination and expertise in managing the environment wisely. California and the West, in particular can continue to lead the nation in environmentally progressive legislation with regards to mitigating air pollution, conserving scarce water resources, and promoting alternative energy technology. Municipal government around the nation can offer tax abatement incentives to home owners and businesses that use green energy, recycle, and practice other habitat-enhancing measures. They can also pass legislation which encourages and rewards eco-friendly activities like mass transit ridership, car pooling, bicycling, planting trees, cleaning up after pets, water conservation and recycling and dedicating open space, parkland and wetlands for wildlife preservation. Long-term management perspectives informed by scientific research and democratically-inspired mandates for change can move honest, effective government to confront special interest, short-term profiteers. The war to save Earth won’t be won quickly, but, working together, it can be won.
Over two millennia ago another war was fought that profoundly influenced the course of history and Western Civilization. The climatic battle in this war occurred in a field near a small village called Gaugamela east of present day Mosul in northern Iraq. Alexander The Great, King of Greece met Darius III, King of Persia on October 1, 331 B.C. Alexander routed the much larger army of Darius, and, as they say, the rest is history When the West defeated the East in that epic battle, it did more than establish military supremacy; it also firmly established a new way of thinking and living. We are the inheritors of Alexander’s legacy – the movers, the shakers, the rule-breakers known as Western Man. Alexander was the point of the spear, but he was no mere general. In a letter from deep in Asia, Alexander wrote Aristotle, “I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion.”
As a youth Alexander was carefully tutored by Aristotle in poetry, politics, ethics, geometry, medicine, rhetoric, astronomy, and dialectic. As King he was forceful, visionary, logical and magnanimous, virtues that Alexander inherited from his father, King Phillip of Macedonia and learned from Aristotle, who learned them from Plato, who learned them from Socrates, the Father of Western Philosophy. The Power behind the throne of Alexander the Great was the Mind of Western Thought, Aristotle. The kernel of Aristotelian philosophy postulates that reason, gained through debate and dialogue, reveals understanding and truth. Such philosophical pursuit, alongside a full education, equips a human being to transcend sensual desires and attain true knowledge. Dogma, ideology and narrow-mindedness are no match for truth which is revealed through reasoned dialogue of free men and women. The philosophical core of American Democracy holds that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is in the just, reasonable and productive exercise of freedom that we honor and renew the heroic spirit of Alexander and Aristotle, the sword and the mind of Western Civilization.
Another insightful and active mind illumined Western Thought, and has inspired many to lead lives of loving service. Philosopher, Philanthropist, Physician, Musicologist, Concert Organist, Missionary, Humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize Winner (1953), Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) led a full, devout and productive life. Among his many achievements, the hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon, Africa was begun in 1938 by Albert and his wife, Hélène, who spent much of their adult lives ministering to the medical, spiritual and community needs of the native population. Born into a distinguished Alsatian (northeast France) family of musicians, scholars and ministers, Schweitzer was an activist Christian who dedicated his life to Life. In The Philosophy of Civilization he wrote, “Ethics are responsibility without limit towards all that lives…A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.” As to his motivations, these words are revealing: “It is not from kindness to others that I am gentle, peaceable, forbearing and friendly, but because by such behavior I prove my own profoundest self-realization to be true” Like Alexander and Aristotle, Albert blazed his own path in the world, and was guided by the inner light of reason and truth. In his reverence for life, Schweitzer was a true Christian and one of the world’s first environmentalists. He practiced and preached personal responsibility for all life on Earth.
The genesis of Eastern Thought is found primarily in Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Unlike Western Philosophy which makes Man the center of all things and emphasizes Doing, Eastern Thought places greater emphasis on Nature and Being. Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, is best known for the paradigm of yin and yang, the two great opposite, yet complimentary, forces at work in the universe. “To regard the fundamental as the essence, to regard things as coarse, to regard accumulation as deficiency, and to dwell quietly alone with the spiritual and the intelligent -- herein lie the techniques of Tao of the ancients.” Confucius, also Chinese, was the founder of a belief system of morality and ethics. “To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.” Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha, was born into a life of wealth and luxury. Seeking enlightenment he traveled around his native India and discovered “the middle way.” For the remainder of his long life he taught the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. “He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.” Buddhism reveres all life and seeks to protect and preserve it from harm. It believes in an afterlife that is based on a person’s actions in previous lives. Zen Buddhism emphasizes simplicity and the natural world.
In America the native inhabitants also lived in harmony with nature and revered its gifts. A Cherokee prayer blessing speaks of this kinship; “May the warm winds of heaven blow softly upon your house. May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there. May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows, and may the Rainbow always touch your shoulder.” And this Ute Prayer: “Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light. Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory. Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning. Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young. Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone. Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground. Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky. Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall. Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring. Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.”
American Transcendentalism, whose most famous advocates were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, taught that “Transcendentalism... maintains that man has ideas, that come not through the five senses, or the powers of reasoning, but are either the result of direct revelation from God, his immediate inspiration, or his immanent presence in the spiritual world,” (An Essay on Transcendentalism, Charles Mayo Ellis, 1842) Emerson, in his essay, Nature, wrote: “I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.” Thoreau, author of the classic, Walden, wrote “Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it,” and “Live free, child of the mist, and with respect to knowledge we are all children of the mist,” and “I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.”
We are never as close to the Supreme Being as when we lay in our mother’s womb. Zen-like we float in a cosmos of perfect trust, benevolence and love. Dark, warm, safe - our days and nights are one, the comforting cadence of our mother’s heartbeat the only Time we know. Our mother’s love, our father’s love, God’s love – all these tenderly embrace us. Wise beyond wisdom, we patiently await the coming dawn of birth. Then suddenly it is upon us – lights, action – at last on center stage, our play begins as we are born. Exploring this new world, our senses become our teachers: Our mother’s face, voice and breasts; our father’s firm touch; the sounds of birds and music; the warmth of golden sunlight on our skin; all these enfold the newborn, and forever separate him from Paradise. But the infant still remembers, as if waking slowly from a sacred dream; He still recalls the face of God as he slowly begins to turn his face toward Man. He lies safely within his mother’s arms now as she gently soothes him to sleep. Soon he awakes into childhood and takes his first step, utters his first word, and begins his first adventures into the world he will soon inherit. Off to school, off to work, off to marriage, off to parenthood; no longer a child, he now has children of his own. But does he pause to ask, “What of God, what of innocence, what of knowing beyond knowing?”
Jesus said, “Ye must be born again,” and “Let the little children come unto me. Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Since the Dawn of Man human kind has endured many trials and tribulations. Steadily advancing, it has steadily fallen back. Becoming less savage, it has become more destructive. As civilization has evolved from infancy to adulthood it has lost something, something the Transcendentatlists call, “spiritual body, with senses to perceive what is true, and right and beautiful, and a natural love for these.” I call this something, Ecospirit. Ecospirit is the manifestation of Supreme Being, the union of mortal with immortal. The highest, noblest and most productive manifestation of Ecospirit is Man. Every human being receives the graces of consciousness and conscience at birth, and has the potential to perceive, while simultaneously and intuitively knowing, Truth. You and I sit astride the infinitely large and the infinitesimally small. Modern man, with scientific instruments of his own making, peers deep into the Universe and far back into Time; He sees what no man has ever seen before, but does he see with the inner eye of Truth? Does he remember the wisdom of the womb? “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1Corinthians 13: 11) If it is true that “the Child is father of the Man,” then it must also be true that our spirit child is the guardian of our spiritual evolution on Earth – our Ecospirit.
Our planet, our one and only home, is under assault today like it has not been since the dawn of history. This is no accident and accurately reflects the evolution of civilization. It is now time for you and me to learn a new truth, to regain what we once possessed, and to take the next step in our spiritual evolution. It is time to be reborn into a state of Ecospirit! In my second essay, One Planet, One People, I wrote, “Let our spirits be open to visualize one world, whole, healthy, and at peace.” For unless each of us chooses, in our hearts, to commit to a better world, we have little real hope of achieving one. This is between you and God and me and God. The Ecospirit in each of us is one with God. The modern world we inhabit is filled with illusion and division. The world of Ecospirit is real and whole. The march of Western Civilization has trampled upon the basic unity of the Cosmos. It has exploited the Earth instead of living in harmony with it. The reasoned moderation which Aristotle taught Alexander has been abandoned by modern man in favor of an economic system which places profits ahead of people and property above principle. The root of the words Economy and Ecology, eco, derives from the Greek, Oikos, meaning, “the principles to maintain our house.” Our house, the Earth, is poorly served when humans allow the material world to dominate the spiritual world. As the Buddha said, “who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings.” Mother Earth beckons us back to our spiritual roots, and to the loving Wisdom and Truth which their nourishment provides.
So I ask you today, dear reader, to resolve to unite with Ecospirit. Go to your favorite place in Nature – to the sea, to the mountains, to the valley, to the garden. Listen to your spirit child. Listen to what he or she has to teach you. And laugh with joy as you rediscover God within you. Laugh along with the fragrant Lilac. Sing along with the chirping Sparrow. Taste the timeless rain of Spring. Dive deep into the salty Ocean that never sleeps. Give thanks to the Rainbow whose treasure is Life itself. Honor Mother Nature and you honor yourself as well. Protect and preserve her gifts and you protect and serve your own spirit as well. Live with Ecospirit and you live Divine. Do no violence, practice no intolerance and seek Truth. Every thought and every action has consequences. So, too, does every non-thought and every non-action. Live Mindfully Spiritually, Balanced. Take no heed of how or what others do. Like Albert Schweitzer, dare to be your own Light and Witness. And when the time comes, as it surely will, for the Author of Life to ask for an accounting of your life, may you be able to say to Him in all sincerity and truth: “Master, I remember the child that I was, and I have returned his spirit to you undamaged, pure and whole. Thank you, Lord, for the Gift of my Life”
The future of America is a future that must better balance the philosophies of East and West, being and doing, ecology and economy, spirit and matter, today and tomorrow. Future generations deserve to inherit a healthy planet. Do your part - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. As naturalist and author, John Muir wrote, “Tug on anything at all and you'll find it connected to everything else in the universe.” You and I are part of the Universe. Choose to be a force for Life. Walk lightly upon the Earth.
Art Apruzzese
San Luis Obispo, California
September 1, 2009
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