The Environmental Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the natural systems on which all life depends. It is located in New York with offices around the world.
Let’s Save Ourselves
We are all slowly dying. The air we breathe is getting dirtier and it is killing us. Our seas are getting dirtier, and they are killing us. Our winters are getting colder, our summers are getting hotter, and those changes are killing us. Like Nero of old, we are fiddling while Rome is burning. But this time we have met the enemy—and he is us.
We need to change our bad habits before it is too late. The Earth, of course, will survive whether we do or not. It may cleanse itself, but only after we are long gone. Praying for divine intervention is not likely to help. In fact, God already gave us the solution: He gave each of us a brain…and he expects us to use them.
Carbon emissions are facts. They pollute the air we breathe. They also are the underlying cause of global climate change. This change is causing a gradual but steady rise in Earth’s temperatures. These changes are visible everywhere. But like that frog sitting in a pan of water that is being heated, we need to get out of the pan and put the fire out before we all die. The problem is that direct, that deadly, and that definitive. Still, the solution is doable.
We have time to save ourselves. But first we must make that choice. And the good news? It is currently being solved. Our best efforts are starting to work, but they are not yet enough. It will take more people, more science, more legislation, and more money to reduce the emissions rising up into the atmosphere and pouring into the oceans that we all rely on for life. We need a lot more people who care about this place we call home.
Who are the polluters? All of us. But China is number one. The United States is number two. Even the burning forests in the Amazon region dump more carbon emissions into the atmosphere than all the carbon burning vehicles in the world—combined. Natural gas is a big problem. Coal is a problem. And so are methane emissions.
The solution involves economics, partnerships, nonpartisan policies, sound science, and money. Did I mention brain power? Deniers don’t count in this discussion. It’s too important to get bogged down any longer by those who don’t care. It’s up to those of us that do care this time. One person with courage makes a majority. A million of us working together make a solution.
The Environmental Defense Fund has been working on these issues for more than 40 years. They have made good progress. More is needed. They have a staff, the connections, the scientists, and the experience. They also have a budget. Joining them is as simple as signing up for their free subscription via email. A large group of informed persons can be a force to be reckoned with.
You can join by subscribing here: http://www.edf.org/how-you-can-help
A very clear and concise description of the problem. We must not be complacent and let others do it. Each of us must make choices that help save the environment from all the ravages that our lifestyles are causing. By making small changes in the right direction, taking charge of our own actions, we can do a great deal. Much of what is happening is driven by corporations that are doing it to make money on our desires. When we stop buying products that pollute, the corporations stop the processes that produce that polluting product.
The next time you carelessly throw something away, like the clippings from your lawn in those plastic bags, consider what you are doing… Removing nutrients from your lawn that will require fertilizer to replace… And, adding more plastic to landfills.
Like Ed's article says, let's all get together and do what's right. Our very future depends on it.
A book of nature inspired poems and essays, written from the heart and soul of a life-long nature, animal, and wilderness lover, and dedicated to today’s children - Earth's only hope for a better tomorrow.
This book won 'The Poetry Category'
Explore the mystery of how nature makes unexpected gifts of creative wonders to an unsuspecting caregiver one late night and early morning in southeastern Georgia, USA.
The next time you carelessly throw something away, like the clippings from your lawn in those plastic bags, consider what you are doing… Removing nutrients from your lawn that will require fertilizer to replace… And, adding more plastic to landfills.
Like Ed's article says, let's all get together and do what's right. Our very future depends on it.
Ron
hug
Kathy