Let’s Save Our Planet Earth and Its People
by Duane Paul Murphy, Class of 2019
As Earth Day, which is going to be on April 22nd, approaches towards the global general public once again, we need to act and think bolder for the sake of our future generations in order to have a sustainable, blue and green terrestrial planet to live or exist on within this vast mysterious and wonderful universe or the entire realm of time, space, and matter. While it is satisfying to reduce, reuse, and recycle product materials such as paper and plastic, between 3 to 7 billion trees, if not more are still being cut down in areas of critical environmental significance such as the Amazon rainforests of South America and woods in Russian Siberia. Also, vast amounts of plastic materials as well as inorganic, non-biodegradable materials continue to poison our land, air and water as they gradually decay or disintegrate out of pure physical existence. While it is positive that we are now starting to drive energy and fuel efficient vehicles on our roads and bridges to and from various locations, greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are still being heavily polluted into our celestial body’s atmosphere by both developing and developed countries all over the globalized world. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers are still entrenched in our agriculture. Caged or compacted livestock are being feed antibiotics and other toxic substances to make them more desirable for profit and omnivorous consumption. Exotic flora and fauna are held captive in zoos, aquariums, pet stores and circuses rather than their own natural habitats or ecosystems in the wild.
Extreme droughts from the West and terrifying storms to the East are impacting populous areas of human concentration. Coastlines and islands are threatened by rising sea levels. Winters get dryer and summers got hotter almost every single year. While solar and wind are on the rise, most of the world is till heavily dependent on coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear fission in the name of cheap energy and wicked profits.
Our entire human civilization needs to divest from these types of energies, practices and chemicals that are going to dismantle the planet into an almost literal ghost town in outer space. If both the public and private sectors of the entire world start to divest, tax, and cap and trade non-renewable resources, we can finally transition and utilize renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biofuel, waste energy, and nuclear fusion. If we start to actually ban and tax inorganic, non-biodegradable materials such as plastic bags and Styrofoam, we can start to look into bio-degradable, ecological materials that will not harm humans and their own surrounding green environments. Increasing conservation, green tourism, and agriculture tourism benefits both the planet as a whole and local rural communities that are often left behind. Increasing wildlife sanctuaries and returns back into the wild can preserve exotic plant or animal species. If we divest from archaic practices that are killing off the planet Earth, we can start to invest our planet for all. We are one planet, one society, and one people in the eyes of the observable universe.
