It would be nice to forget
about the world while walking
back country roads.
Some days it is more possible
than others. Today was
a particularly beautiful
day. There is a bank of oak
trees set against a nearby
hillside whose burnt orange
leaves remind me of these
opening lines in John Keats's
poem Endymion: ``A
thing of beauty is a joy fore
ever:/Its loveliness increases;
it will never/ Pass into
nothingness.’’ Of course,
the leaves will eventually
fall to the ground, leaving
the branches bare until
next spring.
But I think what Keats
means is that the tree’s loss
is our gain. The image remains
in memory and can
never be erased. In fact, it
gains in beauty and significance
over time. It will be
helped by the few acorns
that I picked up, slipped
into my jacket pocket, and
which now sit atop my
study windowsill.
As I sauntered down the
road a red-tailed hawk
soared in ever widening
concentric circles above me
and I was reminded again
of the infinite array of wonders
this beautiful earth offers
up to us, no questions
asked.
Unfortunately, an insistent
voice inside that I
could not quell started listing
some of the more unpleasant
indignities against
the planet that our species
has managed to commit.
The worst part of it is that
we seem hell bent on doing
these things despite incontrovertible
evidence that
clearly points out the inescapable
consequences of
our actions. But that should
not be much of a surprise,
since consequences have
never seemed to matter
much when it comes to sating
our thirst for more and
more things.
The debate over natural
gas drilling is a case in
point. Most of the discussion
surrounding this volatile
issue focuses on the
process. How can it be done
safely? How can we protect
our wells, aquifers, lakes,
and streams from chemical
pollution? What safeguards
can be put in place to safeguard
the public’s health
and well being?
How can we treat the
millions of gallons of toxic
wastewater so it can be
safely disposed of (if that is
possible; the bad stuff has
to go somewhere?) What
about damage to infrastructure,
noise pollution, etc.?
The questions are many
and the answers are varied,
often confusing, and certainly
complicated.
But my question is this:
why are we not talking
about conservation, about
ways in which each of us
can reduce our energy
needs so that these invasions
of the earth’s crust
need not occur in the first
place. Unlike some of my
environmentally conscious
friends, I expect that drilling
will take place and that
the best we can hope for is
the establishment of procedures
and regulations that
answer the questions I have
posed and the countless
others.
The driving force, as always,
is our incessant thirst
for more and more energy,
no matter the environmental,
aesthetic, or moral consequences.
As I have pointed out
elsewhere, what is needed
is a new cultural paradigm
in this country, one that
privileges conservation
rather than consumption.
There is reason to be hopeful.
There is a lot of good
work going on, both at the
individual and the federal
level. We just need more of
it. My hope is that over not
too long a swath of time the
paradigm shift required
will occur.
There was a time when
there would be no reason to
question the perpetual existence
of the beautiful.
Even that will be in doubt
unless we are willing to
change our ways. The promise
of enduring joy is in our
hands.
