KEEP THE EARTH GREEN: SAGES UNITE

I have been saving and savoring the following clipping from the Christian Science Monitor since April 21, 2006. The reason the story tickles me is that’s a fabulous example of what a group of people who bond together for a cause can do. I believe that those of us who have had the privilege of living on this earth for more than half a century, also have a responsibility to help keep it sustainable for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. In our own communities we can become creative and do what we can. Think green, think creatively, think actively. And Sages breathe deeply and do what you can. Lead the way. Hope exists.

Abstracts follow.

Air pollution has decreased 50 percent overall, with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides dropping steadily.

Lakes in the Northeast are recovering from their earlier dousing with acid rain.

Endangered species, including bald eagles, wolves, and grizzly bears, have rebounded.

Cars no longer burn leaded gasoline.

Ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been generally phased out.

It's in sharp contrast to the first Earth Day in 1970 when there were signs of serious trouble.

Though environmental activists spend most of their time hammering politicians and bureaucrats over the problems, they agree that progress has been made since that first Earth Day.

But all is not sweetness and light from environmentalists' point of view. "Growth and sprawl are working against the positive trends," "Species are still disappearing, and we're up against the granddaddy of them all in global warming, which if allowed to continue at its current, unprecedented rate, will overwhelm everything else, successes and failures alike."

Still, important legislation passed after that first Earth Day - the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and others - have positively impacted the environment.

"Human beings cause lots of environmental problems, but we're a creative species and when we put our minds to it we're pretty good at figuring out ways to remediate some of the environmental damage we do." Let’s keep working on the issue. Green is the only way to go. Sages, we can be leaders. We know the difference between a clean and a damaged earth. After all, that’s what makes us "Sageists" instead of simply "Ageists."