JMM and I have been watching the old Kenneth Clark Civilization series. I think this is the 3rd time I have watched it. Last night we watched the segment The Fallacy of Hope which covers the period after the Age of Reason and the Romantics and goes through the French Revolution and Napoleon. I was rather uncomfortable watching it partly because I love the Age of Reason and the Romantics so much. But as I gave it more thought, there was more to it than that. Yesterday, while listening to Living on Earth on NPR, I was appalled to hear people in coal country ranting about abolishing the EPA. Here these are the very people who would be most harmed by the ending of environmental regulation so afraid that the switch to cleaner energy would cost jobs in their area that the harm to themselves and the environment means nothing. Watching the madness of the mob in French Revolution very much reminded me of the angry crowd calling for less regulation and more freedom.
The Fallacy of Hope seems to be appropriate for how I feel about hope for the environment these days. Will we stop pouring carbon into the atmosphere before we make the planet uninhabitable? There are those who say that we have already passed the limit but even if we have not, when will we stop? I suppose to keep from sinking into depression, it is best to focus on the things that I can do. We have our little 4 acres (which I might add we recently had certified by Texas Parks & Wildlife as a certified Wildlife Habitat ☺) to care for and we are active members of the Nature Conservancy of Texas. Little but at least something.
01:10 PM
2 comments:
Florence -- Hooray for your natural habitat area designation. I too signed on as a natural Wildlife designated habitat. I have a little over two areas plus which is surrounded by hundreds of acres of private land that is thick woods. My two acres was pasture land when I moved here five years ago. I let it naturally return and have noticed a rebirth in the wildlife population. I feel that your efforts and mine to preserve the natural habitat is worthy. It's worthy even for those with only a small city lot.
You are doing a lot with your habitat areas. I do know many people who are quite depressed about the state of the environment. We do a lot on the home front, but we fly several times a year, so we are hardly part of the solution. I figure we break about even, with our trees, the food we grow, and our solar panels.
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