Holding a funeral on Earth Day (Editorial)

Friday, April 20, 2001

Earth Day 2001 should be conducted like a funeral. From greenhouse gases to arsenic, from carbon dioxide to forest ecocide, the short reign of George W. Bush has been gloomy and dim.

Newspapers report that "environmentalists" oppose the long list of Bush's wrongs as if health, safety and wise resource use were some kind of special interest. We are all environmentalists because the environment is our families, our water, our sky and our bodies. Americans have the innate sense to keep away from tainted water, putrid air, ultraviolet radiation and poison - when we can.

My father taught me to save my money and he made it clear that I could spend my entire life trying to pay back foolish debts. Likewise, we Americans must learn to be conservative with our natural capital, such as wetlands, topsoil, water and air. If we heedlessly spend this capital now, it will hang over the heads of future generations like a noxious debt.

What kind of mountebank would favor increasing poisonous arsenic in the same water that American children will drink, bathe and swim in this summer? Are we to clap our hands with glee because Bush didn't have the energy to eradicate all of President Clinton's timely regulations?