The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began two days before Earth Day, 2010
If the Earth’s ecosystem was a financial institution, politicians would be scrambling to designate it as “too big too fail.”
In the meantime, we have Earth Day. This is the global environmental movement’s 47-year-old annual day of reverence for not just lamenting past ecological disasters, but to honor the movement’s accomplishments since the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
For that reason, the “not my president” crowd needs to leave the bricks and black “ninja” hoodies at home.
And the March For Science protesters need to restrain themselves rather than hijacking the one day created to celebrate the planet, particularly since it’s questionable who’s “science” the MFS is promoting.
MFS co-organizer ― health researcher and science writer ― Caroline Weinberg was slammed by readers of her pro-GMO article for sounding like a marketing brochure from the agrochemical industry. In proclaiming that GMOs pose no real environmental or health hazards, Weinberg’s article cites such scientific crackerjacks as the Genetic Literacy Project, a GMO lobbying group funded by Monsanto and known for recruiting writers to plant pro-GMO stories in unsuspecting food and parenting publications.
Among the many other recent stealth articles was a Forbes blog planted by a Genetic Literacy Project “writer” which began by praising the MFS, and then morphed into gushing over GMOs and nuclear power while attacking “liberal” scientists critical of GMOs.
How the Earth Day Network folks got hoodwinked into sponsoring the MFS on Earth Day while environmentalists worldwide are pushing back against GMOs is something they may want to revisit.
The best thing for the environmental movement to do on April 22 is to ignore the noise creeping in from outside special interests and stick to the message of Earth Day.
And Earth Day’s message is inspiring: It is a celebration of the Earth as an interconnected living system, a simple concept with no weird shamanism involved even though some scientists remain reluctant to embrace it for fear of being ridiculed.
Much attention has focused on climate change as the single threat to the environment when it is actually a symptom of the larger disease of humans meddling with nature in an effort to control it. And what we can’t control we usually destroy, including entire species, wilderness or even the water we ourselves need for life.
Because the Natural Law of ecosystems shows everything is interconnected, Earth Day puts all issues on the table with equal urgency.
The race to exploit the world’s natural resources as just another monetized commodity means more pressure on habitats is pushing many plants and animals toward extinction, and that needs a global strategy which recognizes all life matters before this loss of biodiversity becomes the new normal.
Ironically, the short-term depletion of the planet's sustainable resources ignores the long-term impacts, such as how over-fishing affects the $24 trillion "blue economy" or how tapping US public lands for fossil fuels, minerals and timber impacts the $646 billion outdoor tourism and recreation industry.
What needs to be recognized is that history doesn’t suppport humanity's insatiable quest to win the war on nature for the sake of growth. In fact, growth for growth's sake is not a model supported by anything in nature with the exception of cancer cells, to paraphrase Edward Abbey.
Earth Day has always been about raising consciousness to keep these messages alive, and with the dumbing-down of American science education since the first Earth Day this positive message of sustainability is increasingly important.
To further the effort, this year's Earth Day theme - including International Mother Earth Day - is "Environmental & Climate Literacy," which kicks off the launch of a three-year campaign to promote environmental literacy. In the US, Earth Day is followed by National Environmental Education Week to continue the effort.
This is why allowing Earth Day's message be drowned out by the noise of the political activism du jour would be a disservice to both the human population and the planet as a whole.
Most of the environmental protests of late have focused on human-centric political issues - "our" clean water, "our" clean air, how climate disruption will impact "our" kids - while the rest of the planet's ecosystems and inhabitants are an after-thought.
It's easy to blame a bunch of Washington election-cycle short-timers in suits who are simply kowtowing to their their donors than it is to take personal responsibility in our own lives. But the reality is that we're all equally guilty for degrading the environment: We're responsible for the plastic bottles polluting the oceans; for the air pollution from our personal vehicles contributing to climate disruption; for the move to mono-culture farming - and food waste - because we want our tomatoes and lettuce perfect.
Protesters need to understand that these Washington climate and science deniers are simply status quo supporters locked into taking what ever positions lobbyists dictate.
Getting swept up and polarized by America's archaic two-party political system rather than taking a long-term global view is the biggest threat the environmental movement faces because ultimately no politician can legislate sustainable awareness or stem an out-of-control consumer lifestyle.
In other words, Earth Day's traditionally apolitical message shouldn't be tainted by singling-out for angry protest temporary policies that change every time the ruling government party changes.
The real new normal needs to be showing solidarity to the entire planet rather than a single political party by thinking long-term and rejecting a system that has institutionalized short attention spans among the public: Remember, if Obama was the environmental hero so many want to cling to believing, the temporary environmental proclamations he made would not have been so easily overturned.
Unfortunately, there will be no magical transformation from a burst of spiritual enlightenment or intellectual awakening. Change may have to wait until the old, establishment politicians are drooling into their nursing home milk-toast - though that may be right around the corner for many of them.
In the meantime, protest rallies - and even direct action - remain very essential tools for change. But Earth Day is not a time to go negative just because its easier to act out, rather than to act.
How about expending some of that energy participating in one of many annual Earth Day clean-ups at parks, beaches, trail heads or streams?
Plant a tree, volunteer at a wildlife rehab center, walk to the store instead of driving your SUV, head to San Francisco for the 7th Annual Earth Day World Naked Bike Ride, or try some friendly "hacking" of the Independence Institute's Earth Day Fossil Fuels Art Contest in Colorado.
Or maybe just get outside during National Parks Week to breathe the air, hear what life sounds like without earbuds and see what Earth Day is really about.
In March, World Wildlife Day, International Day of the Forests, and World Water Day all came and went mostly unnoticed because they didn't have a massive "brand" like Earth Day.
Hopefully, the news media will keep their eye on the ball and focus on Earth Day's message, rather than the opportunistic protesters or special interest infiltrators who will try to hijack the Earth Day brand to promote their own narrow political or commercial agendas.
If we filter out the noise, Earth Day can produce something positive and worth emulating when World Environment Day is celebrated in June.