Thoreau: the earth is living poetry

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
The earth is not a mere fragment of dead history, stratum upon stratum like the leaves of a book, to be studied by geologists and antiquaries chiefly, but living poetry like the leaves of a tree, which precede flowers and fruit - not a fossil earth, but a living earth; compared with whose great central life all animal and vegetable life is merely parasitic. Its throes will heave our exuvi� from their graves ... You may melt your metals and cast them into the most beautiful moulds you can; they will never excite me like the forms which this molten earth flows out into.

Profit or Praise?

"You may eat from every tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for on the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16)

Please see this moving article about our relationship with Earth today.....

Much aloha, Lalita

http://yourradiance.blogspot.com/2010/05/middle-of-garden-lord-god-set-tree-of.html

Kurt Vonnegut - "The Crucified Planet Earth"

This piece is so typically Kurt Vonnegut. It's from A Man Without a Country (2005)

The crucified planet Earth,
should it find a voice
and a sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
"Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do."

The irony would be
that we know what
we are doing.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done."
People did not like it here.

Kurt Vonnegut - "The Crucified Planet Earth"

This piece is so typically Kurt Vonnegut. It's from A Man Without a Country (2005)

The crucified planet Earth,
should it find a voice
and a sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
"Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do."

The irony would be
that we know what
we are doing.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done."
People did not like it here.

We are the most dangerous species, but also the one who could choose to help....

"We are the most dangerous species of life on the planet, and every other species, even the earth itself, has cause to fear our power to exterminate. But we are also the only species which, when it chooses to do so, will go to great effort to save what it might destroy." ~Wallace Stegner in This is Dinosaur

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How the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Will Affect Your Dinner Plate

How the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Will Affect Your Dinner Plate
Your favorite seafood may be at risk from slicks of oil and from the unknown chemicals being used to clean it up.
By Emily Main

Find alternatives to your favorite Louisiana seafood, at least until the ecosystem rebounds and is producing healthy fish once again.

http://www.rodale.com/print/4220

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is going to have long-lasting impacts on the region and one of its largest industries: seafood. Louisiana alone accounts for 80 percent of the seafood production from the Gulf of Mexico, and supplies the entire U.S. with 30 percent of the seafood we eat. And it isn't just the oil that's harming the area's shrimp, oysters, and crabs. So far, BP has applied approximately 200,000 gallons of chemical dispersant to break up the slick. As those chemicals are applied, they sink into the water and cause smaller droplets of oil to fall into places they may not normally go.

THE DETAILS: What exactly is in those chemical dispersants isn't known. But according to two data sheets published online by Transocean Ltd., the company that owns the Deepwater Horizon rig that was being leased by BP, the primary ingredients are 2-butoxyethanol and propylene glycol. Both chemicals can be toxic in high doses, but it remains unclear whether animals are being exposed to toxic levels.

The good news, says Chris Reddy, PhD, an oil-spill scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is that neither chemical accumulates in fish and seafood. "Rarely are chemical dispersants more toxic than the oil itself," he says. "The people who respond to these oil spills and make the most informed decisions are the people in the command centers. They have one goal—to reduce damages. So any decision to use dispersants means that they that know the positives of using them far outweigh the risks."

But the chemical dispersants still have a negative impact on ecosystems, says Larry McKinney, PhD, executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies in Corpus Christi, Texas. "When they do use these chemicals, the oil doesn't disappear," he says. Small animals and larvae that might have escaped exposure to the larger slick are now being exposed to small oil droplets that could be fatal. Furthermore, "while the concentrations [of dispersant] they're using are probably low enough not to be lethal, there are clearly sublethal affects on fish reproduction."

WHAT IT MEANS: It really is too soon to know how this oil spill will affect the Gulf Coast ecosystem and the area's seafood industry. McKinney says that oil can be absorbed by fish and work its way up the food chain and back to our dinner plates, in much the same way mercury works its way up the food chain.

So far, representatives from the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board are trying to reassure people that Gulf Coast seafood currently being sold is safe and has been unaffected by the oil spill. Areas that have been polluted have been closed by Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and local health departments. But that may not be the case forever.

If you enjoy seafood from the Gulf, the shrimp, crawfish, stone crabs, oysters, and other fish you like may soon be in short supply. Here are a few alternatives:

• Red snapper: Gulf Coast red snapper has been threatened for quite some time by overfishing, so now's a good time to develop a taste for red snapper from the Hawaiian Islands, where fisheries are better managed. Or, replace your red snapper recipes with pollack, sablefish, or farmed striped bass.

• Gulf shrimp: Gulf shrimp have a good reputation as being enormous, juicy, and some of the best-tasting shrimp around. But pink shrimp from Oregon actually have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than Gulf shrimp do. They're sold mostly on the West Coast, but you can buy them online through Vital Choice Seafood.

• Stone crabs: The Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Coast regions surrounding Florida yield nearly 98 percent of the country's stone crab populations, and according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it's one of the country's most responsibly managed fisheries. However, if you get a craving for crab legs, you can try different types of crab from Hawaii, Alaska, and Pacific U.S. waters. Varieties include Dungeness, blue, King, Kona, and snow crabs.

• Oysters: Oysters are filter-feeders, meaning that they take out any pollutants or debris in the water that passes through them. In some respects, they can be very useful in cleaning up an oil spill, says McKinney. However, you won't want to eat oysters that were used to clean up BP's mess. So make sure that any oysters you eat come from farms in the Atlantic or Pacific, rather than the Gulf of Mexico.

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Gulf Coast Wildlife Deaths Panic Residents

Gulf Coast Wildlife Deaths Panic Residents
by James Chrisfields
jameschrisfields@yahoo.com
May 8, 2010

http://blogs.alternet.org/thereformedflack/2010/05/08/gulf-coast-wildlife-deaths-panic-residents/

There’s not a lot of reporting on the toll the oil slick and chemical dispersals are having on Gulf Coast wildlife. Things die in the Gulf and wash up on shore all the time, but residents are being extra vigilant and reports of dead and dying wildlife are coming in.

A Pteropod, also known as the sea butterfly, a constituent in Gulf plankton, is washing up in unusual amounts on panhandle beaches and scaring local residents. Beach Safety Division Chief, Tracey Vause, charged with investigating the many reports of this substance, commented on rumors that the plankton was fiberglass from oil dispersant methods being deployed,

“I’ve been trying to put that cat back in the bag all day,” Vause said. “We can say for sure that they’re not fiberglass from booms that are out of the Gulf of Mexico, they’re little plankton animals.” from NWF Daily News

While it’s still not clear whether deaths of larger marine animals like this shark found by Tonya Torres on a beach in Bay Minette, AL are caused by oil and oil cleaning methods those found in Louisiana and Mississippi floating in pools of toxic sludge are undeniable.

On social networking sites related to the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster there are many reports of dead otters, pelicans, man-o-war, sharks and fish all along the eastern edge of the slick. The news coverage has been scant on the deaths of these animals and official reports on numbers of either rescued or dead animals have not been release to verify these claims.

If you see an animal that looks like it is in trouble, contact a wildlife rescuer. If you touch the animal, you can get hurt or even hurt the animal. If you live in the Gulf of Mexico, and you see wildlife in trouble, the main Gulf oil spill rescue hotline is 1-866-557-1401.

Matteroftrust.org
http://www.matteroftrust.org/

Alabama Gulf Shores Zoo
http://www.alabamagulfcoastzoo.org/zoo_donate.html

Audubon Society
http://www.audubon.org/

Sierra Club
http://www.sierraclub.org/

Save Our Shores Foundation
http://www.sosfla.org/

Help Save the Gulf Shores
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121646667846792&v=app_2373072738

Oiled Wildlife Rescue Volunteers
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121557757860409&v=wall&ref=ts

There’s a lot more out there, just ask me!

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Earth Day Links

Earth Day Links

EarthDay Network
http://www.earthday.net/

Portal for U.S. Government Events & Information
http://www.earthday.gov/

Kids Domain
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/earthday/

Wilderness Society
http://earthday.wilderness.org/

Envirolink
http://earthday.envirolink.org/

USEPA
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

Planet Earth
http://www.earthday.com/do/Home

The Green Life
http://www.thegreenlife.org/

Earth Day Coalition
http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/

All About Earth Day
http://earthday.wilderness.org/history/

History of Earth Day
http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html

Earth Day Theme Unit - Worksheets, Activities, Lesson Plans, etc.
http://www.edhelper.com/EarthDay.htm

EE Activities - Earth Day
http://eelink.net/eeactivities-earthday.html

Earth Day For Kids
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/earthday/earthday.htm

Earth Day Network
http://www.earthday.net/

EPA - Earth Day
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

Kids Domain
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/earthday/

Earth Day Grocery Projects
http://www.earthdaybags.org/

Events & Volunteer Opportunities
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/events.htm


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Excellent Article - Please read: 10 Environmental Disasters to Remember on Earth Day

10 Environmental Disasters to Remember on Earth Day
By Jeff Biggers, AlterNet
April 21, 2009


Ten tragic lessons in our nation's environmental history that should never be forgotten. And one climate destabilization tragedy in the making that needs our urgent help.

1. Extinction: Three Species Per Hour

According to a United Nations report released in 2007, our planet is at risk of losing three species per hour. Ahmed Djoghlaf, the head of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, declared: "We are indeed experiencing the greatest wave of extinctions since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Extinction rates are rising by a factor of up to 1,000 above natural rates. Every hour, three species disappear. Every day, up to 150 species are lost. Every year, between 18,000 and 55,000 species become extinct."

PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE: http://www.alternet.org/story/137555/

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13 Easy Ways to help to be more Green (by Prevention)

• It’s Surprisingly Easy Being Green
• 1. Shave 3 minutes off your shower
• 2. Walk or bike two errands a week
• 3. Snack on organic apples
• 4. Air-dry your hair
• 5. Drive to work with a friend
• 6. Even better, telecommute weekly
• 7. Cut your TV time in half
• 8. Get a ficus plant
• 9. Go meatless on Mondays
• 10. Drive a little slower
• 11. Stay snuggly with a sweater
• 12. Buy fewer frozen dinners
• 13. Let sunlight in

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40 years of Earth Day

The secret history of Earth Day
by Jonathan Hiskes, Russ Walker Posted in
21 Apr 2009

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-22-secret-history-of-earth-day/

If 40 years of Earth Days have taught us anything, um ... While the Earth Day movement has had undeniable successes, critics charge that, uh ... Whatever, screw it. Here’s the “real” story (with jokes!):

1970: Twenty million Americans celebrate the first Earth Day, but bloggers opine that it’s just a fad and will be quickly forgotten by those “stoned-out hippies.”

1971: Nixon White House looks forward to second annual celebration, which it refers to internally as “Pay Less Attention to Vietnam Day.”

1972: Green ring added to official Olympics logo in attempt to “green up” the upcoming Montreal summer games.

1973: ExxonMobil signs on as Earth Day’s first corporate sponsor. A furious Wendell Berry coins the word “greenwashing” in his poem, “The Mad Farmer’s Liberation Rant.”

Deadhead bus
Flickr: BrockLi1974: Francis Ford Coppola edits out scene from “Godfather II” in which an enraged Michael Corleone orders that a mob soldier be killed for polluting Lake Tahoe with dead bodies.

1975: To conserve gas, The Grateful Dead invite their fans on a summer-long acid trip instead of their customary concert tour.

1976: A peanut farmer from Georgia wins vegetarian vote in Democrats’ spring primaries after noting that nuts are a great protein substitute.

1977: “Airport ‘77” raises awareness about ocean dumping by sinking a 747 in the Gulf of Mexico.

1978: Willie Nelson trips over solar panels on White House roof after sneaking away from a presidential Earth Day celebration to smoke some organically grown pot with Agriculture Secretary Robert Bergland.

1979: Oil shock leads to major price hike in polyester clothing; coincidentally, disco music hype peaks and quickly fades away.

1980: U.S. Olympic Committee claims carbon credits earned by sitting out the Moscow Olympics.

1981: President Ronald Reagan makes his notorious claim that “trees cause more pollution than automobiles do.” Replaces Sequoia National Forest with Sequoia National Automall in plan to “get the polluters off our backs.”

1982: Britain’s military celebrates Falklands victory with huge “penguin bake” on the beach.

1983: Residents of Worth, Ill., crushed to learn they’d been hearing it wrong and nobody was celebrating them.

Do they know it’s Earth Day?
Photo courtesy Alternative Classix1984: U.K. pop musicians collaborate on “Do they know it’s Earth Day?” benefit song before finding more success with Christmas version.

1985: Coca-Cola times release of “New Coke” for the day after Earth Day in hopes that hungover greens won’t notice doubling of high-fructose corn syrup in recipe.

1986: McDonalds introduces McDirty, an earth-flavored milkshake.

1987: In first appearance of “The Simpsons” cartoon on Tracey Ullman’s show, Lisa swears off meat until Bart gives back her Malibu Stacy doll.

1988: Michael Dukakis clinches Democratic presidential nomination; green movement set back by four years.

Bugles.
Flickr: Amnestic Arts1989: Madonna commissions signature cone bra made from all-natural Bugles, pleasing both corn growers and her male fans.

1990: Rival Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons both wear green uniforms in crucial playoff game, causing much confusion and an NBA-record 87 turnovers on bad passes.

1991: Oil discovered beneath the football field at Bayside High School. After much excitement about the California school’s newfound wealth, Jessie teaches Mr. Belding and the gang a valuable lesson about choosing wildlife before money.

1992: No special events this year, as everybody had too much other stuff going on.

1993: President Clinton sends Vice President Al Gore to Kyoto climate talks to get him out of town so Gore won’t notice when Clinton caves on including a BTU energy tax in his first budget plan.

1994: Little-noticed “Contract With America” provision announced on Earth Day: “Republican Congress will replace Clean Air Act with market-based ‘pay-per-breath’ scheme.”

1995: Ford unveils Excursion TL (Tread Lightly), its nature-themed SUV. It includes a pine green exterior, prairie-grass beige interior, and a best-in-its class 7.5 miles per gallon.

1996: Years of scientific research are lost when Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin sneak into the biologically sealed Bio-Dome project, mistaking it for a mall, and try to convert researchers to their free-spirited, hard-partying ways, with hilarious results.

1997: MotherSuds, the first earth-friendly dishwashing detergent, introduced. It works terribly, setting back green home-product sales by a decade.

1998: Enviros burn blue dresses in D.C. protest after word comes back that Ken Starr sent Monica’s blue dress to a non-eco-friendly dry cleaner.

Flickr: Anirudh Koul
1999: Backstreet Boys test new organic hair gel in eco-themed concert. Fans complain they can tell the difference.

2000: Al Gore shows off his new “earth tones” wardrobe at Tennessee Earth Day rally.

2001: In bid to curtail population growth, The Netherlands becomes first nation to allow same-sex marriages.

2002: George W. Bush confuses environmental and education proposals, gives passionate “No Forest Left Behind” speech. His pre-screened Republican audience cheers wildly.

2003: Hollywood drops plans for fourth installment in Terminator series, tentatively titled “Rise of the Green Machines.”

Utilikilt.
Flickr: sushi the great2004: Seattle clothing company Utilikilts introduces all-hemp man-skirts, further confirming nation’s belief that Northwesterners are weirdos.

2005: Labor Secretary Elaine Chao issues statement that animated e-cards, despite eliminating paper waste and postal service fuel and being occasionally cute and/or hilarious, don’t count. Especially for Mother’s Day.

2006: After getting an email forward, everybody agrees not to buy even one drop of gasoline for one day in protest of high prices. Long-haul truckers end up stranded in Davenport, Iowa, but gas prices drop to 40 cents a gallon.

2007: Hawaiian Earth Day observers honor the recently departed Don Ho with “world’s largest lei” stunt; public nudity arrests soar before college-age revelers are told it’s spelled L-E-I, not L-A-Y.

2008: Voters in Pennsylvania and Ohio celebrate Earth Day by giving Hillary Clinton big wins in their respective Democratic primaries.

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Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2008

This year, Earth Day, which has now become as mainstream as the rest of us who have broken the 30-year old ceiling, is receiving more attention than in decades. The truth is that we all seem to hang on every "sustainability" message that retailers and brands are pushing our way. Long before the environment was fashionable a man by the name of John McConnell created Earth Day "to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth’s environment and its resources."

...
Hartman asked consumers to describe which sustainability activities they currently participate in:
• 76% of these consumers say they turn off the faucet to conserve water while brushing their teeth (and 4% say they "plan to do this soon")
• 73% regularly donate household items to community or non-profit outlets (and 8% say they plan to soon)
• 65% believe sustainability is achieved by purchasing compact fluorescent light bulbs
• 27% believe sustainability is achieved through composting kitchen and yard waste Hartman also asked consumers to describe which sustainability products they currently own or might purchase in the future:
• Water filters: are currently owned by 45% of consumers in the World of Sustainability (with another 18% saying they hope to "buy this soon")
• Natural household cleaning products: are currently owned by 32% of consumers in the World of Sustainability (with another 23% saying they hope to "buy this soon")
• Household air purifiers: are currently owned by 27% of consumers in the World of Sustainability (with another 16% saying they hope to "buy this soon")

Please read the full article: http://www.supermarketguru.com/page.cfm?PageID=37290

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Get Active For Earth Day

Get Active For Earth Day - April 22nd

http://www.coolyourdiet.org/

Did you know...

Animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than automobiles. Cows raised for beef, in particular, emit massive amounts of nitrous oxide and methane.

Animal waste and feed cropland dump more pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined.

Meat-based diets require 10-20 times as much land as plant-based diets – nearly half of the world's grains & soybeans are fed to animals.Share this on Facebook: Share

Fight Global Warming: 10 Earth Day Tips

Fight Global Warming - 10 Earth Day Tips

http://www.nutritionsmart.com/PDFDocs/v/VQ1DS1GBSA2A8M38E02H934WCA1587G2.PDF

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Michigan Grandmother Wins Environmental Prize

Richard C. Paddock San Francisco Correspondent
Link to full article below

SAN FRANCISCO (April 19) -- A Michigan grandmother who has fought pollution by factory livestock farms will be awarded the coveted Goldman Environmental Prize here tonight, along with activists from five other regions of the world.

The prize, which comes with an award of $150,000, is the world's largest prize for grass-roots environmental activists. It was established 21 years ago by San Francisco philanthropist Richard N. Goldman and his late wife, Rhoda.

One recipient is chosen from each of six continental regions: North America, Central and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and islands and island nations.

Tom Dusenbery, Goldman Environmental Foundation/AP

Lynn Henning, a Michigan farmer, samples water in December. Henning was due to receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize Monday in San Francisco.

"Goldman Prize recipients are proof that ordinary people are capable of doing truly extraordinary things," Goldman said in a statement issued by the Goldman Environmental Foundation. "Although the prize winners represent a wide variety of nations and work on very different issues, they have much in common. All have shown conviction, commitment and courage."

Lynn Henning will represent North America at the gala ceremony. For a decade, the 52-year-old family farmer has battled with large factory livestock farms over the pollution caused by their operations in rural Michigan.

The farms are known as "concentrated animal feeding operations." The largest raise millions of animals in enclosed spaces and produce as much waste as medium-sized cities. Unlike cities, however, they are not required to treat the waste, which includes feces, urine, pesticides, hormones, carcass parts and E. coli bacteria.

The waste is collected in large vats or open pits and then periodically sprayed on fields as "fertilizer," polluting groundwater and creating toxic fumes. Some farmers are paid to spray the waste on their own farms.

These livestock farms have recently been identified as among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the Goldman Environmental Foundation said.

Henning and her husband farm 300 acres of corn and soybeans in Lenawee County within 10 miles of a dozen concentrated animal-feeding operations. Henning's parents-in-law, who live close to one factory livestock farm, have both been diagnosed with poisoning from hydrogen sulfide, one of the chemicals produced by these farming methods.

Please read the full article; awesome! http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/michigan-grandmother-wins-environmental-prize/19445100?sms_ss=email
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