Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. When the first Earth Day was held in 1970, nearly 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums. Back then there were significant environmental concerns about our air and water. I participated by inviting a leader that I knew at the Sierra Club to come to my high school and speak. Many people believe this celebration launched the modern environmental movement.

Looking back I have noticed two significant changes that are worth noting. First, the environmental movement has embraced the philosophy of pantheism. Many of the leaders have gone from protecting the environment to worshipping the creation. I began to notice this in the 1970s. Now it is visible to anyone to see in many of the celebrations that will be taking place today.

Some leaders even call for the worship of Gaia and Mother Earth. According to this view, human beings have damaged or even destroyed the fragile balance of nature. And they believe we need to embrace this New Age perspective to bring balance back to the earth.

A second change I have noticed is in the complexity of the issues. Back in the 1970s, it was pretty clear what the problems were and what we needed to do. Air pollution and water pollution needed political and technological solutions. The problems were easy to spot, and the solutions were pretty obvious.

Now many of the issues are much more complex. Take global warming, for example. In previous commentaries, I have talked about some of the uncertainties as well as the fundamental questions about what we can and should do to deal with climate change. The answer is not as clear as previous environmental questions.

Another example would be ethanol. At first, it seemed like a way to energy independence. Let’s grow our own fuel. But ethanol doesn’t burn cleaner than gasoline. It is also more expensive. Currently it represents only a few percent of our gasoline consumption but consumes one-fifth of our corn crop.

If we are to be wise stewards of this planet, we are going to need to make wise decisions about complex issues. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.