A RANDOM WALK: Save the people

by Robert Beck | September 30th, 2019

I think we should rephrase the discussion. We say we are reaching a critical tipping point with regard to our ability to “save the environment.” But I think it might be more realistic to frame it as saving the people. There’s no doubt that the earth will survive – perhaps in  a considerably different mode. The question is whether humans and the biosphere we know and love will survive. It’s easy to think that government is where the leadership in the battle against environmental degradation and overuse should come from. After all isn’t the government’s primary responsibility to protect the people? But governments take cues from disparate influences and at least in national American politics those influences currently seem to be more animated by rolling back prior EPA regulations that were designed to protect and preserve than by enforcing them. Many states and local governments are doing a better job …