The Best Evers

Oil is currently spilling upward into the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate. I don't necessarily identify as an environmentalist (I'm more of a feminist and socialist), but this is still a disturbing problem from my perspective. As a species, we may be killing ourselves with our own consumption.

I remember my grade 3 environmental economics class and the perfectly logical argument that the teacher would present to us: As we pollute our environment and begin to use up our non-regenerating natural resources, people will move their money into abatement technologies (in order to improve human health) and products made of recycled or reused materials (they'll be cheaper than products made of new material).

This is well and good and may be an accurate description of how humans react economically to changes in our natural environment. But, will this reaction save us when the end draws near?

What if we can't abate enough pollutants to save the most vulnerable? What if some of our natural resources don't have alternatives? I guess the answers are easy: the vulnerable die and the rest of us do without some of the products we have learned to enjoy.

I don't believe that we will wipe ourselves out, not completely anyways.  Sad truth, it's the poorest who will really suffer. They won't be able to protect themselves from pollutants in their air, land and water and will therefore pay the highest price for our poor treatment of the environment.

Those of us with good income and assets will likely be fine. We will be able to buy clean water, safe food and air filters.

I think we should be environmentalists not because our environment has any intrinsic value, but because the environment has such a high value to us. Our responsibility is to the world's most vulnerable people, not a stupid tree that pokes you in the eye when you aren't paying attention or a pathetic rosebush trying to protect itself from predators with those annoying little thorns. To hell with you, vegetation.

Maybe I should call myself an envirosocialist or tree hugging jebus.

Yours,

Ramk