by Stephen Capra 

BOLD VISIONS CONSERVATION

 
We live in a country that I sometimes no longer recognize. It is a place where a large segment of our population has decided that wild nature and the conservation of our precious resources have no value. Let’s be clear, they still hunt, hike and visit our National Parks, but they are angry, religiously distorted, ignorant or devoid of caring, but they have put their faith in a monster that calls himself President. Their reasoning is varied, but it comes back to money and the delusion of grandeur that spills from the lips of a man that has made exploitation of our natural world a driving force in his presidency.

In less than a year, this White House in concert with the Republican majority have rammed through legislation that has allowed the killing of wildlife in their dens, pushed to open wild oceans to drilling, opened public lands to more fracking and drilling, opened wildlife refuges to trapping, while removing protections for our precious National Monuments. They have also set their sights on the priceless Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in their endless genuflecting to the dying oil industry.

Perhaps even more alarming is the selection of people to fill positions designed to protect the environment. Using the Republican playbook, most selections are those with strong ties to the industries doing the most harm. From the EPA to Interior, from Department of Agriculture to anything based in science, this White House and Congress have made clear, its war!

Yet across our nation, 37 percent of the public is content with this direction. Recent months have made clear that this year’s- Time Person of the Year, will not be a person, but once again a raging planet that is showing, without question, the impacts of such kamikaze policies and the crushing of bi-partisan efforts at sanity for the earth.

What is it like to be that 37 percent? How can you use our public lands and then ignore their peril? How can you sit on a beach and disregard the discharges in Florida that support Big Sugar, or live in southeast Alaska and not see the destruction of your beautiful and vital rainforest? How can you flock to Yellowstone to see and experience wolves and stand by silently as they are destroyed for ranching interests and Republican fundraising?

How can you perceive the world as us against them, rather than we are one? We are a divided nation like never before and it seems clear that those who support this President will allow him full reign and support even while it destroys the places and quality of life that they clearly take for granted. When will the drape finally be opened to expose the incompetence that we have created, a man devoid of empathy and emotion, a child leader that will destroy all that defy him and his interests. He sees our natural resources as a profit pool to be plundered for his personal enrichment.

It’s like a Jim Jones flashback to listen to supporters as they defend the undefendable. As we pull away from the Climate accords and the world watches they see a nation that no longer pretends to care. We have devolved into a nation that has sucked the world of its natural resources and now has made clear that it will continue to plunder and steal the right to life on this planet. When, many are asking, will we have the maturity and moral guidance to stop corporate special interests that are determined to drain the life out of our planet, for short-term profit.

What world does this 37 percent want to live in? They seem to believe in code words like cutting regulations, refusing to acknowledge that that means filthy water and foul air, less bees and more cancer. It is a Monsanto free world, more oil spills and mountains blown apart for cheap coal. Who wins in such a scenario, certainly not people or communities, not any part of our country or the world.

For our country to move forward we must use any measure possible to block the oil and gas industry. Time is on our side, not theirs. We must demand of our leaders that this President be removed from office. We must stop spending more on our military and focus on clean, renewable energy, not as an option, but as a human right. We must respect wildlife and stop their slaughter and we must fill positions in our federal agencies with qualified people who put our wild lands and the planet first and can never again have ties to corporate interests. Democrats must push for strong environmental goals, no matter the majority; they must use this time to stand on the principle of defending the morality of a healthy planet and its importance to our quality of life, communities and the peace and stability of our world.
We know so much more about our natural world than we did even fifty years ago. We must use our knowledge to defend and rewild our planet, not exploit it any further.

But perhaps the most important thing we can do is to awaken the 37 percent and if nothing else, shame them into making the protection of our natural resources a priority for Republicans. If they continue to ignore the reality before them, they are accomplices to destroying our nation’s best ideals- our land, water and wildlife. They are cheerleaders of their own ruin.

37 percent is not a majority, but they remain a voice filled by fear, ignorance has historically reared its ugliness, but this fight goes beyond a people or a nation, it’s about life and the planet that has been so giving.

Ignorance in this case cannot be tolerated. We fight for life, for beauty and for the freedom that comes from true wildness.

We are in a real fight now.