This Land Is Your Land

While I wouldn't call myself an "environmentalist," the environment is one of the things I'm most concerned about when it comes to my daughter's future. For two decades, I've been of the mind that, as a nation, we should be investing in renewable energy over expanding the arena of fossil fuel development. I'm a ruthless recycle-er and frequently chide my colleagues when they throw recyclables in the trash. Basically, I do what I can. So, the recent trend going on in our government is disturbing.

Opening national parks for drilling. Building pipelines to transport dirty energy across thousands of miles. Expanding coal production under the ruse of "clean coal." Parking barges on rivers. Dismantling the EPA and all regulations. These are things moving us in the wrong direction and putting our planet in jeopardy. The selfish nature of these policies is shameful. Why should these people care if the world is a terrible garbage landfill in fifty years? Chances are these individuals won't have to live with the consequences. Well, the children of this world will and our duty as stewards of the planet and their future is to protect it for them.

The image above is the creek near where I grew up. I spent a good part of my childhood playing in the woods that surround it. That was a different era. The idea of recycling was new, and I had family members who refused to recycle, seeing it as some Big Brother operation of the government telling them what to do. I had one relative who used to encourage us to throw our lolipop sticks out the window of the car as we drove over a bridge that crossed this creek. Littering was a thing that people did. That is the mentality of these people who support these policies. Convenience and self-interest. It's short sighted. It's selfish. And it's WRONG! 

You don't have to be an environmentalist. You don't have to be a fanatic about things. You just have to do what's right for our planet, for our children, and for all life on Earth. It's not that hard. Tell your representatives to do their part!