Tuesday, August 16, 2011

summer (almost over)




Leading environmental scientists predict that as many as 185 million Africans will die this century as the direct result of climate change. Many more will face untold suffering in other parts of the world. As I write, famine is increasing. Flooding is increasing, as are the disease and insecurity caused by water scarcity around the world. Climate change is real. It has begun. The countries that are the least responsible for causing climate change are paying the heaviest price. The average U.K. citizen pro- duces nearly fifty times as much carbon dioxide as any citizen in the developing world. And in the United States the production of carbon dioxide is significantly higher. This is a serious injustice. As an African, I urgently call on ordinary people in rich countries to act as global citizens, not as isolated consumers. We must listen to our consciences, not to governments who speak only about eco- nomic markets. These markets will cease to exist if climate change is allowed to develop to climate chaos.~Desmond Tutu




"Pervading all aspects of Nez Perce existence was their ancient and overriding relationship with the land. The earth was the supreme provider, to be revered--not owned--as the mother of life for all creatures. Human and earth were inextricably intertwined through birth, life, and death, in a nonmaterial nurturing that pervaded all aspects of existence."~Jerome A. Greene

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