The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can DO wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.
~ Mark Twain
The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can DO wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.
~ Mark Twain
Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.
~ John Muir
I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.
~ John F. Kennedy
The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity ... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.
~ William Blake
In a recent article in the US 1 paper by Karen Hodges Miller, I read an article that I found astounding. NJ has become #2 in the nation (only to California) as the leader in the production of solar energy!
Be it recognition of climate change or the increased activity by government to open up doors to businesses via benefits being given to companies who embrace green energy, the actions are clear; NJ is on the move. Not only has NJ become 2nd in the nation for solar energy production, it is now also entering into the development of wind energy. Twenty miles offshore, facilities are in development from data obtained for areas from Seaside Park to Sea Isle City.
Perhaps this will bring the cost of living down in NJ? This remains to be seen. But the most important thing to recognize is that we finally seem to be a nation that is taking notice not only in the potential economic growth that can be sustained from solar/wind/water energy, jobs that can be created, but also the positive effects it will have on future generations to come.
Kudos to NJ for stepping up to the plate and advancing in the pro-active and positive change that we all need! Here's to hoping that many other states take notice and vamp up their own efforts to make a change for the well-being of this planet and all its inhabitants.
What nature delivers to us is never stale. Because what nature creates has eternity in it.
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that fountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life!
~ John Muir
Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye — it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.
~ Edvard Munch
Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.
~ Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
With the upcoming month of April approaching quickly, so does Earth Day and the HSUS's promotion of Animal Cruelty Prevention Month. These two concepts heavily coincided for me as I was reading the most current issue (March/April) of the HSUS magazine, 'All Animals'. As I flipped through the pages, it became inherently apparent to me the connection with us, the world we live, and the delicate balance by which our environment survives every day.
Via a multitude of articles based upon that same delicate balance, it was shown time and time again how we have not and if we do not preserve this wonderful world of ours, the landscape will forever change never to return. For anyone who believes that extinction is not a form of animal cruelty (i.e. - starvation due to climate changes, senseless hunting to brink of extinction, and oceanic changes diminishing food supply) think again. Going to the grocery store is a simple task but foraging for food has become dire for many creatures. The HSUS issue touched upon the extinction of dozens of creatures, ocean habitats, and climate changes threatening our very existence. We may not worry now with the adage, "I'll be dead before I seen things like that" but guess what...your children won't...and their children won't. What would it be like to grow up in a world without natural ocean habitats abundant?
Two decades ago, people bristled at the audacious thought of living in a world without polar bears, with melting icecaps, and coral reefs becoming extinct. And surprisingly enough, in this day and era of people living longer, you may just get to see these horrific events occur. The face of climate change threatens to diminish such animals as polar bear, walruses, monk seals, and certain shark species just to name a few ocean creatures. With respect to land lovers, koala's, the arctic fox, wolverines, and bison all stand to perish or diminish into such drastically small numbers that any effort to save them would be difficult at best. Just one look at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is the size of Texas one realizes that it is definitely not one of the 7 great wonders of the world to behold. The site of it would make almost any human being blanch at its imposing expansiveness.
Yet with all this real information at our fingertips, we continue to support factory farming, the purchase of plastic bottles for water, dismiss massive food recalls as an inconvenience, and not once do we scream at the top of our lungs to the government to "Take a Stand" and "Make It Stop". People think the government won't do anything. Perhaps not yet they won't. But when millions upon millions of people stop buying plastic water bottles, spend an extra $1.00 a week on non-factory/organic farm raised meat, and buy more local fruits and vegetables, industries would come to a crashing halt and suddenly say, "What is happening here?”
It may sound crazy, but one small change every 6 months has an enormous impact locally, globally, and spherically.

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