1. All energy comes from the sun: directly via heat & light, indirectly via photosynthesis (and all plant and animal life), or indirectly via wind, and ocean currents, which are "fueled" by warmth from the sun. All petrochemicals and coal-based electricity are "ancient sunlight" never to be replaced precious materials best used for creating durable medical goods, etc--not being allowed to "go up in smoke" to power an unsustainable lifestyle while accelerating global warming. Most geothermal also comes from recent sunlight (warm soil, rocks, etc, near the surface: although some--like the fields in CA--come from Earth's hot interior).
2. Everything is connected (eg, see photosynthesis above): all animals either eat plants, or eat other animals that ate plants. This is however, a web of life, not a linear chain. ALl life forms are connected in multiple ways to other life forms and to the physical ecosystems with which all life forms interact. 3. Climate change is already happening, due to the burning of carbon- based fuels with concentrated energy from ancient sunlight. While we may be at Peak Oil, we are not even close to peak coal yet. SO we need to learn to release ancient sunlight at a minimal pace in order to slow and then reverse global warming. Just as the above three are closely related, any other items that make it to the top ten list will be closely related: my personal favorites: 4. Industrial agriculture unbalances many systems (soil nutrition, nutrition of humans and other animals, local and global economies, local and global ecosystems, etc), and adds significantly to global warming in the process (via more methane from animals eating food--eg, corn-- they are not meant to digest, due to petroleum based fertilizers used to grow--hmm, corn again--instead of having grass- eating animals fertilize while they graze. The e coli in spinach a year or so ago (some of which was nice, organic Earthbound mega- industrially grown in deserts) got there because it was processed next to a CAFO--concentrated animal feeding operation, even though itwas grown in 3 states and Mexico and shipped to CA for washing in contaminated water and being shipped to nice, crunchy health food sections of your local grocery store. 5. Let's make corn it's own point, and reference Michael Pollan's work. But since #4 is industrial agriculture, let's makes #5 be actually be US government subsidy of commodity crops, which make unecological, unsustainable agriculture profitable for corporations. 6-8 can be the changes we need to make to get back n balance with Earth systems: relocalization of production and economies (of power, food, goods and services), people-powered and public transportation, conservation of energy, demilitarization of our economies and international relations (since currently wars and "defense" interests trump many ecological and human rights issues). 9. Needs to be making public policy in the public interest, in order for the above changes to have a prayer of happening. Have governments protect the common good (people and other living things, plus the commons we all share: clean air, clean water, clean soil, etc), instead of protecting the interests of those with big lobbying bucks. 10. needs to be eco-justice: make sure that all the above changes are done in ways which apply to all people on Earth. We all win if people in every region can produce their own food and basic goods and services, to be supplemented with exports of regional or cultural high- value specialties. Make chocolate a super-special occasional treat, only grown by people who earn a living wage, in areas where they area able to also grow food crops in addition to cacao, so that farm workers in areas good for agriculture don't have to buy all their food. Sure fair trade organic chocolate costs a lot--but cheap M&Ms have hidden costs like like slavery in Ivory Coast. My 2ยข. THanks for the soap box. Margaret On Aug 20, 2008, at 10:51 AM, Joey Gates wrote: > Good morning, > > I am polling to see what this group feels are the 10 ten things to > know about the environment are. I am looking to compile a list that > is all encompassing-Earth, wind/air, water, food, fuel and so on. > These can either be problems or issues associated with or something > great about them. I will compile and "publish" when done. > > Looking forward to your input. > > Thanks, > Joey > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
