Earth Day, 2008
by Karen L. Oberst
I recently heard of a bumper sticker that said, “Save the Earth. It’s the only planet with chocolate.” Since I consider chocolate to be one of the four major food groups, this is a sentiment I heartily endorse.
On this Earth Day 2008, there are many more serious reasons to save the earth. They range from the practical – this is the only home we have – to the philosophical – we are all made of the clay of the earth, and to it we return. Without the earth there would be no us. Our human race developed on this particular dirt ball in space in this particular solar system, at this particular time. Our fate and the earth’s are intertwined.
For me, however, a citizen of the United States of American, there is an even more compelling reason. We of the developed countries have poisoned the land and rivers, pumped carbon dioxide into the air, and generally done as we pleased in the name of progress. Yet it’s our less fortunate brothers and sisters who are paying the price for this in submerged farmlands, desertification, famine, disease, and death. The poor always pay for the luxuries of the wealthy. And most of us are wealthy compared to the rest of the world where so many subsist on a dollar a day.
So think when you turn that water on. Think when you turn your heat up or your air conditioning on. Think when you see that factory belching smoke into the air. Give some thought to our mother the earth, and our brothers and sisters who share this precious blue sphere with us. And the chocolate.
