What we can do is call or write our Senators and Congressional representatives and let it be known that as voters and taxpayers we demand that they take an active roll in protecting the environment. We can also call the White House to voice our opposition to efforts to roll back environmental regulations and encourage President Clinton to use his veto power. Locally, we also must make a stand. City Councils who promote over-development must be put on notice that this is no longer acceptable. As elections role around there is a need for volunteers to help get the word out about the issues.
Education is power.
We need to counter the propaganda which tells Americans that protecting the environment will cost them their jobs. The Green Movement must assert that greed and disregard do not a patriot make. The ethics of Americans such as Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold were based on the preservation and protection of the natural world. Their idea of stewardship had nothing to do with the wholesale liquidation of our biological heritage to wealthy and powerful interests. As long as old growth forests, mountains and rivers are considered resources, they will not be treated with the reverence they deserve as watersheds and life-support systems.