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EDITORIAL: The only Earth we will ever have
Earth Day 2005 is proof the environmental movement has become mainstream.
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE, but three and a half decades ago the idea of environmental conservation was controversial. Few people gave much thought to the exhaust fumes from their car, or whether some of their trash could be recycled, or even if it was wise to throw hamburger wrappers out the car window onto the highway.
And the stuff coming out of sewer pipes, dumping into rivers and streams? Yuk.
The business community feared environmentalism. Cleaning up smokestack industries, policing chemical dumping and regulating landfills would add enormous costs, break the country and put everybody out of work, some believed.
Meanwhile, a car that got 10 miles a gallon was considered pretty good. Gas was cheap and plentiful and whatever it spewed into the air was of no concern.
TODAY, AMERICA'S rivers and streams and lakes are much cleaner. Locally, people no doubt remember when the Rock River was, well, filthy. It has been renewed, and is now the prized natural asset it deserves to be for the community.
The air is much cleaner, too. Reasonable controls on auto and factory emissions have worked wonders.
Municipalities operate state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plants, and many industries maintain their own pre-treatment facilities.
Natural areas are protected by strict laws which preserve forests and wetlands and wildlife, and there's no more important legislation to promote the billions of dollars which Wisconsin reaps annually from tourism.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT change has been in people's heads and hearts. Americans are sold on the idea that a clean environment is their responsibility.
Policies to assure clean water and clean air are almost universally supported. People care about gas mileage and emissions when they buy vehicles. Homeowners and businesses routinely separate recyclables. Most people wouldn't even think of dumping chemicals on the ground. Businesses willingly participate in environmentally-friendly practices. Tree-planting is a passion.
Sure, there are some idiots who still litter and disrespect the land. Likewise, there are some enviro-wackos who are so extreme they border on terrorism.
But, overall, the basic concepts of sound stewardship have become mainstream, embraced without pause by the American culture. It is an impressive success story. And, remember, Wisconsin played a critical role, led by former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson as the founder of the first Earth Day in 1970, an achievement in which the entire state can take pride.
OF COURSE, much work remains to be done. The United States can always do better. But the real challenge lies outside U.S. borders, particularly as less developed nations quickly industrialize. Environmentalism may have gone mainstream in America, but it's barely on the horizon in fast-growing polluters like China. Likewise, in Mexico and other economically challenged nations, authorities are more worried about producing jobs than whether those factories produce pollutants.
This is the only Earth any of us will ever have. Keeping it sufficiently clean to support life should not be controversial, here or anywhere else.
Mainstream acceptance of environmental concerns in America is great. Acceptance worldwide would be better. That's the goal. That's our obligation to future generations.
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE, but three and a half decades ago the idea of environmental conservation was controversial. Few people gave much thought to the exhaust fumes from their car, or whether some of their trash could be recycled, or even if it was wise to throw hamburger wrappers out the car window onto the highway.
And the stuff coming out of sewer pipes, dumping into rivers and streams? Yuk.
The business community feared environmentalism. Cleaning up smokestack industries, policing chemical dumping and regulating landfills would add enormous costs, break the country and put everybody out of work, some believed.
Meanwhile, a car that got 10 miles a gallon was considered pretty good. Gas was cheap and plentiful and whatever it spewed into the air was of no concern.
TODAY, AMERICA'S rivers and streams and lakes are much cleaner. Locally, people no doubt remember when the Rock River was, well, filthy. It has been renewed, and is now the prized natural asset it deserves to be for the community.
The air is much cleaner, too. Reasonable controls on auto and factory emissions have worked wonders.
Municipalities operate state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plants, and many industries maintain their own pre-treatment facilities.
Natural areas are protected by strict laws which preserve forests and wetlands and wildlife, and there's no more important legislation to promote the billions of dollars which Wisconsin reaps annually from tourism.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT change has been in people's heads and hearts. Americans are sold on the idea that a clean environment is their responsibility.
Policies to assure clean water and clean air are almost universally supported. People care about gas mileage and emissions when they buy vehicles. Homeowners and businesses routinely separate recyclables. Most people wouldn't even think of dumping chemicals on the ground. Businesses willingly participate in environmentally-friendly practices. Tree-planting is a passion.
Sure, there are some idiots who still litter and disrespect the land. Likewise, there are some enviro-wackos who are so extreme they border on terrorism.
But, overall, the basic concepts of sound stewardship have become mainstream, embraced without pause by the American culture. It is an impressive success story. And, remember, Wisconsin played a critical role, led by former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson as the founder of the first Earth Day in 1970, an achievement in which the entire state can take pride.
OF COURSE, much work remains to be done. The United States can always do better. But the real challenge lies outside U.S. borders, particularly as less developed nations quickly industrialize. Environmentalism may have gone mainstream in America, but it's barely on the horizon in fast-growing polluters like China. Likewise, in Mexico and other economically challenged nations, authorities are more worried about producing jobs than whether those factories produce pollutants.
This is the only Earth any of us will ever have. Keeping it sufficiently clean to support life should not be controversial, here or anywhere else.
Mainstream acceptance of environmental concerns in America is great. Acceptance worldwide would be better. That's the goal. That's our obligation to future generations.
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| Driving dumb is, well, dumb. I know. |
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