Food for Thought
“Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Category Archives: Politics
New kids in town get to work
[Note: I normally don't clog the blog with big swaths of text lifted verbatim from other sources, but in this case I couldn't resist. This is a copy of one of the Policy News issues I get periodically from the … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Politics, Science, Sustainability
3 Comments
What the President(s) said
What a week it’s been. Martin Luther King Day followed immediately by the swearing in of a pathbreaking President of the United States. I would like to write at length about the tide of hope that President Obama’s measured words, … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Patriots, Politics
1 Comment
I have a dream
It’s as predictable as the seasons — every year, when I hear the excerpts from Martin Luther King’s historic speech on the radio at this time of year, it brings tears to my eyes. I just watched the speech on … Continue reading
Is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
[Natural Patriot's semi-trivia contest: My 11-year-old son wants to know if any alert reader out there can identify the source of that quote.] In the meantime, a note to the Ex-President-to-be: Dude, stick with the flag pin on the lapel. … Continue reading
Some advice to the President-elect on the state of the world
[Below is a letter making the rounds on the internet from Professor Steve Carpenter, an eminent ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, offering advice to President-elect Obama on the importance of serious and prompt environmental action as he begins his … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Science, Sustainability
9 Comments
A New Era begins
[I beg your pardon if this seems a bit over the top. They don't let me out of my cage very much . . . and how often do we get a chance like this?] What a time to be … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
5 Comments
The big day
The big day has arrived at last (son: “Dad, will we still have to watch politics every night after the election?). I am on my way out the door to two meetings in Europe, plane leaving Philadelphia at 4:35 this … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
6 Comments
Getting to the root of the problem
Question: What is more fundamental to sustainability than fixing climate change, even more certain to lead to catastrophe if unfixed, far more politically sensitive, but even more essential to passing on a habitable planet to our grandchildren and their children? … Continue reading
Swingin’ in Virginia
This weekend we drove back north to the ancestral homeland in Arlington, Virginia, for my high school reunion — I can’t bring myself to reveal which one it was except that it’s been quite some time. The return trip brought … Continue reading
Grading the presidential candidates in science
In the last few months we have learned a lot about John McCain’s heroic service and travails as a prisoner of war, about Barack Obama’s history on the streets of Chicago, and we are beginning to learn — with some … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Politics, Science, Sustainability
2 Comments
