“The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called civilized.”
~ Rachel Carson
MEGA hats are available from the Center for a Sustainable Coast, www.sustainablecoast.org
Earth Day 2024
We must fulfill our obligation to serve democracy & the common good
It has been said that human life is driven by a series of decisions, personal and otherwise. That proposition has special significance in a democracy, where we have the opportunity to use our moral authority as citizens to make political choices that can have profound consequences for our collective future. In light of this valuable political opportunity, it should be acknowledged that over the past century, the rapid proliferation of commercialism has come to dominate the choices presented to Americans.
Accordingly, our decision-making role has increasingly shifted to becoming consumers, with a proportional decline in well-informed political engagement. Whether that trend has been orchestrated or is simply a result of gradual adaptation to economic circumstances, the implications should be taken seriously – not only by expressing our views in the voting booth, but also by voicing them in many state and local decisions providing procedures for making public comment through agency review processes, as well as in the media.
There can be little doubt that if our era is objectively chronicled, it will be marred by escalating, corrupt opportunism – exploitative practices being rewarded rather than punished. When the growing injustices of abusing the common good repeatedly go uncorrected, victims becomecynically disengaged while grifters are emboldened and empowered.
Consider two prominent examples related to Georgia’s Public Service Commission, the agency supposedly responsible for representing the public interest in issues related to the price of electricity, as well as how it’s generated and distributed. Contrary to their legal obligation, PSC members have shifted billions-of-dollars in Plant Vogtle expansion cost-overruns from Georgia Power executives and Southern Company stockholders onto residential energy consumers. Southern Company stock-returns and executive salaries soared during the 15-year project, while its subsidiary, Georgia Power, caused massive cost burdens that the PSC converted to a 40% increase in residential utility rates to compensate for corporate blunders. Apparently, the PSC would rather sustain the ample incomes of company executives and stockholders than protect household energy-users and the common good.
Similarly, after a federal court determined that the method for electing PSC members violated the Voting Rights Act, instead of immediately correcting the problem, Georgia courts delayed the next election, extending the terms-of-office for two members by two years. Moreover, while enjoying their unfairly prolonged PSC authority, these members helped worsen Georgia’s pollution of air and climate for many years ahead by irresponsibly approving expanded fossil-fuel-burning power-generation instead of converting to clean energy. That decision fundamentally contradicted well-informed public hearing testimony as well as national climate-policy objectives.
Oppression undermines democracy, environmental justice, and the common good when flagrant exploitation by special interests is politically sanctioned instead of being prohibited. As citizens and voters, we must vigilantly strive to fulfill our obligations and use our moral authority to reform political institutions so that they consistently serve urgent priorities essential to safeguarding the future.
Our active engagement in these critical decisions as citizens is imperative.
David Kyler, Center for a Sustainable Coast
The above statement is based on a letter-to-editor published in The Brunswick News and The Albany Herald, and The Bryan County News.
Ten Policies to Help Make Earth Great Again
- Prohibit environmentally degrading activities, based on balanced, thorough assessment of their consequences for life-support systems and at-risk communities.
- Immediately adopt escalating restrictions on the emission of heat-trapping emissions, with the goal of eliminating all such emissions no later than 2050.
- Eliminate all government subsidy of activities that threaten or degrade environmental quality, critical species, and social justice.
- Issue comprehensive monthly reports based on well-researched scientific evaluation of key ecosystems essential to life-support and food supplies.
- Adopt federal procedures requiring mandatory review of all legislative proposals and existing laws to revise them as needed, based on these ecosystem threat-assessments.
- Tax all incomes over $10 million annually at a minimum of 20% and provide a 50% carbon-emission-reduction tax-credit for all households earning less than $200,000 a year.
- Use at least half the proceeds from high-income-bracket taxes to restore damaged ecosystems, correct environmental injustices, and enforce emission-reduction activities.
- Implement a comprehensive international environmental education and internship program, strengthening capabilities for global ecosystem restoration and protection.
- Adopt federal requirements applicable to licensed media outlets to eliminate all environmental disinformation, while disseminating weekly updates on ecosystem conditions.
- Create federal trade policies that strictly prohibit products, services, and practices that degrade essential ecosystems, consistent with the latest scientific assessments.