A green wave is forming, birthed from the tremors of environmental threats
both natural and man-engineered. It is a wave that shows every sign
of inundating the world by the end of the next decade. With increasing
concerns over issues such as global warming and resource sustainability,
there is a growing resurgence of environmental activism that looks
to revisit, and even exceed, the levels to which it rose most recently,
in the 1970s.
The 70s brought a national awakening to the devastation being wrought by decades
of environmental irresponsibility. This awakening, seeded by a growing awareness
of the need for an ecological-stewardship mentality, led to numerous changes
that included decreases in rampant industrial pollution and the founding of
earth-conscious organizations. Among these are Greenpeace, established in 1971,
and the Environmental Protection Agency, born in 1970. As well, many consider
the publication of Rachel Carson’s 1962 Silent Spring as pivotal to that
awakening.
While there is always debate over particular issues, and pessimistic alarmists
are no more beneficial than special-interest lobbyists, the fact is that the
earth needs caretakers, and those caretakers, of necessity, must be humans.
According to Scripture, humans are made of the dust of the earth. Earth-friendliness,
then, is no more than payback.
Through education, legislation, workshops, and various environmental events,
America is taking steps to join the tsunami-like “green” wave coming
upon us. Bringing to the public eye the various ways citizens can participate
in stewardship of the earth through responsible actions and sustainable consumerism
will go a long way. When all is said and done, no one individual can be blamed
or praised for the actions of a society. A mentality of communal membership
and personal responsibility is vital to lasting and effective change.
Many colleges across the country are promoting this mentality by offering
programs in environmental studies, from certification in Hazardous Waste Management
to Masters Degrees in Environmental Science. Dartmouth College in Hew Hampshire,
for example, has the distinction of having incorporated one of the country’s
first environmental studies programs, instituted in 1970 in response to that
era’s upsurge of enviro-consciousness. In addition, the college’s
South African Foreign Study Program aids students in gaining a global comprehension
of environmental issues.
The wave of a green revolution is coming and it must, for the alternative is
inaction and retreat, which will only mean environmental catastrophe. America’s
colonial revolution was a necessary act in order to take control of its future.
Now, as then, its determination to affect change environmentally is no less
than a revolution, and the color of it is green.
