Earth Day after 45 Years

[ppine]

I went to Reno yesterday for the Earth Day celebration at the Park next to the Truckee River. I have been going to this event for 45 years including the first one in 1970 at the Washington Monument grounds. Some people seem to still equate the event with recycling, cleaning up public spaces, walking on trails.

It is heartening to see that more and more people have started to see the consequences of their everyday decision making. The choices they make affect the environment in many ways. What size house you have, how you heat it, how you use water, what type of car you drive etc.

I talked with many people from land and conservation non-profits like Great Basin Institute, Friends of the Black Rock Desert, Nevada Wilderness Coalition. They were all very clear on their missions and very friendly in telling people about them. People are much better informed than they used to be. They were all cordial. I talked with only one group that thinks that "poverty is an extreme of form of violence." They thought that the US was a Fascist government and that the US exports capitalism which enslaves people in poverty. Even these wild eyed guys were patient and friendly. I suggested to them that they all needed to travel outside the US and look around and get back to me.

There were a lot more solar companies than there used to be. Great local food, craft beers, and trade goods. People care more about where their food comes from. They vote with their wallets more. The River is now the highlight of downtown. Forty years ago it was hard to access it.

All in all there was a festival atmosphere, and it was easy to make friends everywhere. People wanted to take my picture, and offered free beers. I met lots of nice dogs and cute girls. The day was even better than I expected. We have come a long way in the last 45 years.

 

[dinosaur]

I've never attended an Earth Day function. It always seemed to me that air quality, power sources, and food should merit more than one day a year for contemplation and learning.

I grew up on a farm and in the woods and learned about function and the need to renew at a very basic level. As a result, I ended up living as I do. I've been off the grid for the entirety of this millennium. It distresses me that a large contingent of this next generation does not seem to be able to think as far ahead as their next meal which will undoubtedly be prepared at a fast food franchise.

But then, I'm just a dumb redneck.

 

[ppine]

Young people seem to become less and less connected to food production and the outdoors in general. This is going to have grave consequences. I see them undoing some of the progress that has been made. They seem more flexible than the older folks about embracing public transportation and electric cars for instance. The Millennials seem to like living in urban environments. Economics is likely to overcome a lot of people's personal opinions.

 

[dinosaur]

Salient points, my friend. Economics (money) is a powerful influence. Making it isn't that difficult. The question is what do you do with it once in hand. Instant gratification seems to be more and more enticing to young people. Luckily this is not universally true but those who do fit into the 'gimme' crowd are, as you said, urban. I've wondered before what as little as three days of a transportation shutdown would do to the cities. My most recent guess: They would all become Baltimore.

 

[ppine]

Thanks to dino. We are the rest of the posters? Do people really not have an opinion on this subject? This is very disappointing people.

 

[Grandpa]

Sorry Ppine, I have started to respond to this thread several times but fail to come up with a good way to convey all my thoughts. To protect mother earth is a very simple problem, but the solutions to doing just that become very complex.

For example, take my choice for the number one earth problem, overpopulation. Do we engage in another world war to eliminate people? There are some who actually advocate that solution. Do we encourage birth control or impose child bearing restrictions such as China? How about Euthanasia? Are you willing to receive a visit from the "sandman" (ala Logan's Run) at the age of 60, or 50, or 40?

You, me, Dino, Cappy and most of the rest of the posters in here have worked hard to reach the point of being able to "go fishin" when we want. What about that mother of 12 by 12 different fathers who struggles to raise those kids on welfare and freebies? And if she didn't have those freebies, what work would she do with so many others also seeking employment and millions more who aren't even looking?

What about cancer research and heart disease research? Thanks to modern medicine, my life expectancy is reaching 80, almost twice what it was in my great grandfathers time.

I have no solutions to the overpopulation problem, I merely use it as an example to show the intricacies of the problems. Newton's 3rd law states, "for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction". So, if I install solar panels and a windmill to reduce the amount of coal being burned, how many jobs am I eliminating in the coal industry? If I sell my tractors and harvesters and go back to plowing with a team to just feed me and mine, how many people will starve? A year ago, I was in Africa and that is just how the people were farming, only many did not even own a team. They were grubbing the fields with a grubbing hoe, gathering weeds from the roadside to feed their scrubby calves and walking the miles to and from their fields.

Therefore, I offer no solutions to the problem of overpopulation. I am not willing to visit the "sandman" so I cannot expect others to volunteer to do so. I imagine we will continue to rape mother earth until we reach a point of desperation, then massive wars will break out over what little is left, this will be followed by disease and other pestilence and finally the survivors will be raising their food with grubbing hoes and a new cycle will start.

 

[ppine]

Thanks Grandpa. It is great to hear from you. The US now has its lowest birth rate in history. Education lowers birth rates. First world countries have low birth rates. Third world countries still tend to have higher ones, but have lower life expectancies and much more infant mortality. This problem is largely taking care of itself.

Resource issues are highly political and increasingly complex. The average person gets emotional about some of them, but with few facts. It takes some effort to learn the back story on each issue. The level of understanding has improved over the last 45 years, but the issues are more complicated.

 

[dinosaur]

I liked Grandpa's post. Alas, Babylon. It is still true that those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.