Environmentalism: Using the Brains God Gave Us

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I remember the 'good old days:' seeing house-size gobs of suds floating down the Mississippi; and a year when my eyes stung, except on Sundays, when the city's air cleared up. I don't miss the 'good old days.' (April 11, 2011; November 10, 2010)

I was already concerned about pollution, wildlife management, and other environmental issues, when the first green Earth Day flag went up in 1972.

At the time, I was glad that environmental awareness was spreading; and thought that some 'environmentalists' had more enthusiasm than good sense. I'm still glad that more folks started 'thinking green;' and think that Captain Planet helped make environmentalism look silly.

Sadly, some folks still seem to have learned their facts about science and ecology by watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Tentacles.

Delicate and Fragile as Cockroaches and Thistles

The good news is that some scientists, at least, have apparently realized that an ecosystem that's survived at least 3,700,000,000 years. That's not bad for life on a planet orbiting a slightly variable star; despite occasional comet and asteroid impacts, regional volcanic activity, and epochs of continental glaciation; is hardly "fragile."
"Environmentalism is undergoing a radical transformation. New science has shown how long-held notions about trying to 'save the planet' and preserve the life we have today no longer apply.

"Instead, a growing chorus of senior scientists refer to the Earth with metaphors such as 'the wakened giant' and 'the ornery beast', a planet that is 'fighting back' and seeking 'revenge', and a new era of 'angry summers' and 'death spirals'...."
(Clive Hamilton, The Conversation (May 27, 2014))
More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

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