{"id":563,"date":"2010-04-22T12:27:39","date_gmt":"2010-04-22T12:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2010\/04\/earth-day-at-40.html"},"modified":"2010-04-22T12:27:39","modified_gmt":"2010-04-22T12:27:39","slug":"earth-day-at-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/04\/earth-day-at-40.html","title":{"rendered":"Earth Day at 40"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Earth day celebrates this
\nwonderful planet that is our home. 
\n<\/span>Today is its 40th<\/sup> anniversary, celebrated world-wide, the
\ninspiring off spring of Senator Gaylord Nelson and some students<\/a> back in 1970.   <\/span>It is a wonderful corrective to the two
\nforms of moral and intellectual insanity, one religious and one secular, that
\nsees our proper role as lords and masters of “creation.” Earth day is one of
\nthe most wonderful symbolic legacies from “the Sixties” and one of the most
\ndespised by the corporate sociopaths and religious thugs that dominate our
\nculture today.<\/p>\n

Earth day symbolizes Americans,
\nsome of us, beginning to consider this land our home rather than simply a real
\nestate investment or monument to our ego. 
\n<\/span>It is a place we love and within which we find renewal and meaning.  <\/span>And we feel blessed to live here on
\nTurtle Island<\/a>,   <\/span>and want to take care of it, to
\ngive back some of what we have received.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Earth Day marked recognition by
\nmany of us of a profound cultural shift, one challenged today by the forces of
\nan insensate right and corporate sociopaths, but still burning brightly in the
\nharts of many many millions.  <\/span>It
\nwas a shift away from the ideal of domination to one of care taking.<\/p>\n

Today it is hard to imagine and
\nfew who were around then much remember the schemes to treat our planet as our
\nstone on which elites would carve the sculptures of their choice.  <\/span>There were serious schemes to cut the
\ntops off the hills around San Francisco Bay, and fill the Bay<\/a> to
\nbuild subdivisions where today there is water.  <\/span>Or the serious proposal to detonate an atomic bomb<\/a> under
\npart of Panama,   <\/span> <\/span>in order to build instantaneously a sea level canal.  <\/span>Or the plans to dam the Yukon River<\/a> to
\nmake the biggest reservoir of all time.  America then was as drunk on the power of technology as it is today on the
\npower of violence.<\/p>\n

Since Earth day’s inception
\nAmerica and much of the world have mostly given up such technological
\nhubris.  <\/span>Even better, we have done
\na few things moderately well.  <\/span>Our
\nprotection of wildlands and endangered species on land is better than many had
\nhoped, although the devastation of the Everglades to line the pockets of
\ncorporate agriculture and the “development” industry is continuing and the rape
\nof West Virginia continues, the better to line the pockets of corporate
\nthugs.  <\/span>But on balance, we’ve made
\nprogress.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Very importantly, efforts to
\nprotect and care for our home extend to local regions.  <\/span>Here is Sonoma County, California, the
\npeople voted to for a small sales tax increase to raise money for protecting
\nopen space<\/a>.   <\/span> <\/span>The result has been spectacular, and hopefully other places
\nwill follow suit. From Big Sur<\/a>  <\/span>on the West coast to Maine<\/a>,   <\/span>land trusts have blossomed, enabling local people to protect
\ntheir environment free from the corruptions that so often impede political
\naction.  <\/span>Some are huge, like many
\nof the Nature Conservancy’s efforts, others are small and local, growing from
\nthe intimate love of place that grows from close proximity.  <\/span>Here in Sonoma County we have just won
\na huge victory<\/a> through this approach. <\/p>\n

There is a vigorous and growing
\nmarket for organic and locally produced foods.  <\/span>Even Safeway and other national chains are selling organic
\nvegetables.  <\/span>There is a growing
\nmarket for relatively humanely raised meat.  <\/span>Perhaps best of all, farmers’ markets have appeared or
\nreappeared over much of our country. 
\n<\/span>While “conservatives” and their corporate allies have stalled most
\nefforts at federal protection, local efforts are often strong and healthy.<\/p>\n

Green energy has been developed
\nalong a wide range of fronts, with improvements in technology occurring
\ncontinually.  <\/span>Other developments in
\nwhich we can take hope include concrete that uses up CO2 <\/a>from the atmosphere   <\/span>and green buildings that may
\nultimately produce more energy than they consume.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In most respects air in the US is
\nfar cleaner than it used to be. 
\n<\/span>When I first visited the SF Bay Area, my eyes burned when I visited San
\nJose and you could not see San Francisco from Berkeley on the frequent late
\nsummer and fall smoggy days. Fall became my least favorite season when I first
\nlived in Berkeley.  <\/span>For a long time
\nneither has been the case in my experience.<\/p>\n

Almost all of these developments
\nhave been because of the direct or indirect action of government with all of
\nits problems, by the way.  <\/span>Land
\ntrusts are the chief exception.<\/p>\n

Yet hanging over us all is the
\nthreat of global warming and the depletion and pollution of our oceans. These
\nare world wide problems that would cost considerable money to resolve and
\ninconvenience the corporate and oligarchic elite that grows fat and sleek on
\nothers’ creativity and work.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, the nihilistic
\ngrowth of the American Right threatens the well being of all these
\nachievements.  <\/span>The lethal
\ncombination of a lust for power, lust for wealth, emptiness of heart, and
\nworship of a demon god is the threat of our time, our generation’s equivalent
\nof communism or fascism, only much closer to home.  <\/span>So while we can justly celebrate the many achievements since
\nthat time, much work remains to be done. But the achievements since  <\/span>1970 can inspire us as to what is
\npossible in the cultural renewal of our country, and help give us the inner
\nstrength to keep pushing towards a wider recognition and treasuring of the
\nbeautiful and sacred place where we make our home.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earth day celebrates this wonderful planet that is our home.  Today is its 40th anniversary, celebrated world-wide, the inspiring off spring of Senator Gaylord Nelson and some students back in 1970.   It is a wonderful corrective to the two forms of moral and intellectual insanity, one religious and one secular, that sees our proper role…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-nature"],"yoast_head":"\nEarth Day at 40 - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/04\/earth-day-at-40.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Earth Day at 40 - 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