Al Gore: Reflections on Earth Day

[deminks]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-gore/earth-day_b_1443266.html

In 1994, I was asked by Rachel Carson's publisher to write the introduction for the 30th anniversary edition of Silent Spring. It was, of course, a privilege and honor. Here is part of what I wrote:

Writing about Silent Spring is a humbling experience for an elected official,because Rachel Carson's landmark book offers undeniable proof that the power of an idea can be far greater than the power of politicians. In 1962, when Silent Spring was first published, "environment" was not even an entry in the vocabulary of public policy. In a few cities especially Los Angeles, smog had become a cause of concern, albeit more because of its appearance than because of its threat to public health.Conservation -- the precursor of environmentalism -- had been mentioned during the 1960 Democratic and Republican conventions, but only in passing and almost entirely in the context of national parks and natural resources. And except for a few scattered entries in largely inaccessible scientific journals, there was virtually no public dialogue about the growing, invisibly dangers of DDT and other pesticides and chemicals. Silent Spring came as a cry in the wilderness, a deeply felt, thoroughly researched, and brilliantly written argument that changed the course of history. Without this book, the environmental movement might have been long delayed or never have developed at all.

On this Earth Day, which comes nearly fifty years since the first printing of Silent Spring, Carson's work continues to stand as a testament to the power of conscience, insight and our collective ability to make the world a better place. Carson's conclusions inspired a generation to realize that human beings do not live in isolation, but as part of something much bigger. As she so eloquently stated in her masterwork, "in nature nothing exists alone."

Nothing demonstrates the complexity of the natural world -- and our ability to disturb it -- like the climate crisis. Every day, we pump 90 million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere as if it were an open sewer. Already, we are experiencing many of the impacts scientists predicted decades ago -- higher temperatures, more extreme weather, the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases, and rising sea levels. Scientists have warned us of the disturbing future we are creating for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. At stake is the survival of our civilization as we know it and the type of world we are going to leave as a legacy for those who follow us.

(end snip)

I still have my paperback copy of Silent Spring. One of the more influential books of my youth.

1. Conservatives (pawns for the corporations) will tell you that this book, right or wrong they say, spurred public debate about the use of pesticides. IMHO, there should not be a debate about putting poison into the earth, in any form, whether pesticides or fracking water. It should not be done. Period.

2. Conservatives (pawns for the 1%) will tell you that you have to choose between the economy or the environment. Hogwash. We can be good stewards of both. But really, what price is too high for a clean earth? Better than paying for a 10+ year set of wars with no goal and no way to win based on a set of lies for which no one has been held accountable.

3. Conservatives (pawns for anti-science, false reality, and mediocrity) will tell you that the birds are still singing this morning proving Rachel Carson wrong. Horse puckie. We banned DDT in 1966, and maybe the birds are still singing because of it. And we have a long way to go before we are sure they will be singing tomorrow morning.

Those are my random thoughts on this Earth Day, 2012.