Sunday, April 22, 2007

"We wouldn't have oil were it not for the dinosaurs"

It's Earth Day. In honour of the occasion, I found this patently silly quote which pretty much describes the attitude Big Oil, much of the religious right and PMS have when it comes to protecting the environment -- it's today's entry in the "Stupidest Things Ever Said" calendar, by siblings Ross and Kathryn Petras, and it was said in relation to protecting the Pacific salmon stocks:

I applaud the people that are trying to save species that are endangered, but it might be good that we don't have dinosaurs now. We've gotten oil from dinosaurs. If we had preserved the dinosaur, we wouldn't have that oil. -- Gretchen Borck

Well, we can get oil from salmon and almost any organic source, but it's not like we can put it in cars without producing greenhouse gases just to get that oil; let alone pumping it in our cars. So as we try to take in nature and put our food scrapes in the green bin instead of the garbage and whatever we do to reduce our footprint, let's remember that we do have resources that while they can be exploited should be done so in a sustainable manner. After all, when God gave us dominion, He didn't give us the right to dominate or destroy the Earth.

And if we destroyed the salmon for the oil, what does that do to the food supply? Or for that matter, other kinds of food? Not to mention clear cutting and whatever else we do to destroy God's creation.

As many aboriginals say, "O Great Spirit, grant that I may not judge a man unless I walk a mile in his moccasins." If Big Oil, Big Agra and Big anything actually lived the way many natives do -- off the land -- they might not have misguided ideas like the one above.

I'm not an eco-freak, and I do not worship the Earth. I worship God and honour the Earth He created -- and there's a huge difference.

But our ancestors, faith-based people, lived sustainably until the Industrial Revolution; and many countries have figured out how to live within its means in the post-industrial era. It's time the world's leading economies, including Canada, did the same.

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