NY Dispatch Day 38: Eclipsed by more alarming news we may have forgotten that today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. For 5 decades we have made incremental progress to protecting this planet, its resources, and the health of future generations. However, some industries (looking at you oil and gas, transportation, and animal husbandry who are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions) are using that progress to roll back regulations as “unnecessary” so they can make just a little more profit for themselves. In this country those wealthy donors have a receptive administration who is imploding 50 years of hard-won environmental progress. An administration that favors big business interests over people’s health and the long-term viability of this planet and all life on it. One that takes pride in saying science is a hoax.
Worse, the pandemic has created a backlash against globalization. Instead of collaboration, we are rushing to build more walls, add more restrictions, and each go our own way. This is the opposite of what we should be doing to fight the pandemic. If we have learned nothing else, we should realize that we are one global community with common interests in staying healthy and productive. We have also seen that developed countries can marshal enormous resources in response; developing countries are strapped and need our help. This pandemic has underscored this inequality as we scramble for limited resources.
This extreme event presents us with a reset button. We have to try to work together as a planet to save ourselves, not spend more time trying to convince deniers. We can look at this tragedy as an opportunity to move forward beyond the industries that are destroying this planet to a more sustainable future, employing millions in sustainable energy and the circular economy. We can’t return to normal, it was broken, but we can devise a better path forward and take it together.
Today I am grateful for second chances. Don’t squander this one.
The Green Economist 