Thursday, April 22, 2010

What on Earth?!


As I pulled into South Mckeel to drop off Cindy this morning, there were tons of kids all lined up out front. They were all wearing green colored shirts and holding signs that had to do with Earth Day. I am pretty sure you all know by now how I feel about Earth Day. I basically hate it. To me, Earth Day is the opportunistic greenwashing of our society. If you really want to have an Earth Day then it needs to really be about appreciating nature and it's beauty and not about demanding that I re-use my sandwich baggies, showing me how to plan a "green" birthday party for my 3-year-old or making me feel like a horrible person when I don't own a purse made out of old drink box pouches. So as I saw all these kids out in front of the school, who really were enthusiastic and well presented, I heard them chanting, "Honk if you care! Honk if you care!" Wow, that was the absolute WRONG thing to be chanting at me. I mean, on one hand I wanted to honk because I think the kids looked great and had tons of spirit. But let's face it, I COULD CARE LESS about the liberal-agenda crap they have been indoctrinated with. However, in my milisecond of moral dilemma, I realized that since I had turned into the parking lot with about 30 other cars, not ONE of them had honked. And suddenly I felt a whole lot better about my convictions :) And then kinda sad because maybe all the parents at McKeel are deaf....

Furthermore, to properly celebrate Earth Day 2010 here in Sweeneyville, I give you: Earth Day Predictions of 1970

These are actual predictions about the future of the Earth from those many years ago. Enjoy!

“We have about five more years at the outside to do something.”
• Kenneth Watt, ecologist

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.”
• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.”
• Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….”
• Life Magazine, January 1970

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”
• George Wald, Harvard Biologist



And that pretty much sums up why I believe Earth Day and all things "green" are a glorious joke.

(To read the full blog post, with all the predictions from 1970, which are all spectacularly awesome, go here. I have not read or previewed anything else on the website aside from this article, just so you know.)

2 comments:

Mags said...

Some things that are considered 'green' to do I am ok with. We have saved money on some of our bills when we get those energy smart type appliances. But then again, we only replace when the old one is sputtering its last breathe of life. So I guess I am not motivated by being 'green' but by money and it staying in my pocket.

Amy said...

This is a brilliant post. I am putting a link to it everywhere. Just so you know.