Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Herb Rothschild Jr.: Respecting limits ... A Q & A with Schneider interim director Scott Malbaurn ... Four & Twenty Blackbirds Bakery takes flight to new roost ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Respecting limits ... A Q & A with Schneider interim director Scott Malbaurn ... Four & Twenty Blackbirds Bakery takes flight to new roost ... WILD SIDE Earth Day: Hope for our 'pale blue dot' Comment By Joseph Vaile DailyTidings.com By Joseph Vaile Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 8:12 PM By Joseph Vaile Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 8:12 PM » Social News When I explained to my 3-year-old that we were going to ScienceWorks in Ashland to an Earth Day celebration, he asked, “What is Earth Day?” This inevitably led to that never-ending barrage of 3-year-old questions. Why? Why? Why? Trying desperately to find satisfying answers, ones that would end the questions, I started thinking more and more about “Earth Day.” The whole thing started to seem ludicrous. Do we really need a day to remind ourselves not to pollute and destroy the planet? Shouldn't it be obvious that we don’t want to ruin our one and only home? It was 45 years ago that 20 million Americans took part in the first-ever Earth Day. That day will be remembered as the coming of age of the environmental movement. Earth Day 1970 led to the creation of modern conservation laws — the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. It elevated environmental consciousness, creating a public more in tune with the urgent need to create a sustainable relationship with our planet. Today, the polar ice caps are melting and the Amazon rain forest is still disappearing. Species are going extinct. And there are so many people. When my grandfather was born, the human population was less than two billion people. Today, we share our planet with seven billion other humans and most estimates show us reaching 10 billion in a few decades. The human footprint just keeps growing and we continue to alter Earth’s climate as well as its landscape, life forms and oceans. Is a sustainable relationship with Earth even possible? I hope so. As the famous astrophysicist Carl Sagan put it, in the “Pale Blue Dot”: "The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. "It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." I have the hope that as rapidly as we have brought about the nearly devastating impacts to the planet, we can change the way in which we relate to our environment. I know this is possible, because on Earth Day, as my 3-year-old and I strolled through the festivities and checked out the fun exhibits at ScienceWorks, we witnessed demonstrations of harnessing free energy from the sun, designing zero-emission cars and growing local GMO-free food with zero waste packaging. We then landed at the KS Wild table. We were immediately talking to folks about saving the wild places in the Klamath-Siskiyou. People were eager to hear about the specialness of this region, and also about efforts to protect this corner of the planet from threats, such as a proposed gas export pipeline across the Rogue Valley and a nickel strip mine in the headwaters of the Smith River. Heading home after Earth Day, I realized that, while we need action on a global scale, maybe there is no better place to show a way forward than right here in this region. In southern Oregon we still have wild rivers that flow through a backdrop of ancient forests and vast wilderness areas. We now have wolves roaming free after being brought to the brink of extinction. Local food systems, restoration-based forestry, and clean water conservation are happening here and now. But they all need our attention and support if we have any chance of succeeding, and not just on Earth Day. As Carl Sagan said, it is our responsibility to preserve and cherish the only home we have ever known — the pale blue dot. Joseph Vaile is executive director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild, 541-488-5789, www.kswild.org). His Wild Side column appears every three weeks.             By Joseph Vaile DailyTidings.com By Joseph Vaile Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 8:12 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501