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Use
these articles and their resources in your efforts to reconnect
to the natural world, to heal the separation that has been created
by hundreds of years of an overdependence upon technology and a
lack of appreciation of the web of life. Woven into these writings
are many tools for you to use including ecofeminism, ecopsychology,
deep ecology, spritual ecology and more.
We
must begin this journey now. We have no other choice.
(c)
2002 Jackie Alan Giuliano.
Permission is given to use these works in classroom learning situtations.
For any other use, contact the author.
NOTE:
Some of the websites in the commentary Resource links may no
longer exist, but most can still be found with the help of the Internet
Archive. If you are unable to find a site, go to http://www.archive.org
and enter the link address. The Archive keeps a copy of most files
from the entire Internet from the last 4 or 5 years.
NOTE:
The Environment News Service is in the process of migrating its
files to another server. As a result, some of the commentaries below
may not be available for a time. If that occurs, type the title
of the article you are looking for into a search engine and you
will likely find it posted at another site. Email me if you are
having trouble finding anything.
- December
21, 2001- How Can We Possibly Change Things?
As some nations stand on the brink of devastation and
the US braces for more senseless terrorist attacks, it is hard
to keep hope alive this Winter Solstice. What can we possibly
do to bring back sanity to a world with leaders who could care
less about the future?
- December
14 , 2001- Profit or Pain - Guess Which One They
Choose?
In another blow to food safety, the courts have recently
ruled that the US Department of Agriculture cannot shut down
a meat processing plant if they fail tests for the often deadly
bacteria, salmonella. This kind of thing happens all the time,
since the US gives authority over our health to people like
judges and other agency leaders who have little technical background.
They inevitably make decisions that benefit large corporations
and leave our health at risk.
- December
7 , 2001- Now We have The Facts - So Now What
Do We Do
What to do with all this disturbing news may be as important
as the news itself. People everywhere are asking the same questions
including, “How can I protect myself and my family,” and “How
can I change the direction this world is taking?”
- November
2 , 2001- Why Are We So Afraid - of Fear
Once you acknowledge your fears, wide-awake engagement
can follow. You may find that the people to be afraid of don't
always hide in caves.
- October
26, 2001- Say one thing, do another
Time and time again, environmental issues prove to
be the fundamental basis for major policy decisions. U.S. oil
interests have already begun planning to extract oil and natural
gas from Afghanistan.
- October
13 , 2001- Wanting Peace IS NOT Unpatriotic
Our leaders have declared the U.S. "good" and the terrorist
forces "evil." President Bush has declared consumption of natural
resources and spending money patriotic. But it is always dangerous
to declare oneself at the top of the moral high ground. Few
can withstand the scrutiny that accompanies such a position.
- October
5, 2001- Spend, Spend, Spend - Patriotism or Disconnection
In the wake of the September 11 tragedies, people all
over the world began doing what our political and business leaders
have deemed unpatriotic - they stayed closer to home, spent
more time with their families, and bought only what they needed.
A glorious opportunity was missed by those that govern us to
begin fostering a nation and a world whose values could not
be disputed.
- September
30, 2001- Biological and Chemical Warfare Are
Here Now
Every day, billions of pounds of deadly chemicals, many
of which were used as chemical warfare agents in World War I
and II, are applied as pesticides and herbicides to soil, plants,
and people around the country and the world.
- September
21, 2001- In Spite of It Al- The Seasons Come
All the people of Earth have, since the dawn of time,
experienced these rhythms of the planet of our birth. Those
rhythms, if made a part of our lives, create an ebb and flow
that can regulate the pace of our daily lives. Through the connection
with the Earth that our seasonal cycles foster, we don't get
caught up in the trap of our technology that keeps us moving,
nonstop, between events, separated from the natural world.
- September
16, 2001- With Terrorism, the Earth Suffers Too
The September 11th tragedies have given us all much
to think about. Now, evidence has surfaced that the health of
those in New York - and especially the rescue workers - is in
jeopardy from the vast amounts of toxic materials released when
the World Trade Center towers collapsed.
- September
7, 2001- The Myth of Ecotourism
The idea that tourism can be sustainable at all may
be a myth. It may not be possible for struggling nations around
the world to resist compromising their environment and their
culture to lure affluent foreigners and their dollars.
- August
24, 2001- It's Not About Choosing Fish or Farms
What do we do about farming practices that are not
sustainable and are resulting in environmental destruction and
societal dysfunction?
- August
10 , 2001- Human Arrogance and the Decline of
the Earth
Recent scientific studies have made it clearer than
ever before that the Earth was once filled with balanced ecosystems,
teeming with abundant life in numbers that are almost beyond
our comprehension. This new information clearly suggests that
today's fishing and hunting quotas may be nearly meaningless.
- August
3 , 2001- Fighting For Your Right - To Pollute
The American Recreation Coalition (ARC) lobbies Congress
and other local, state, and federal agencies regularly. The
members don't want protection for our precious public lands
or fuel economy for vehicles. The ARC wants everyone to be charged
to use nature and believes that the wilderness is best experienced
on the back of a Jet Ski, snowmobile or in a high speed boat.
- July
23, 2001- Trespassers Keep Out: The Loss of Public
Access to Nature
Private ownership of our forests, meadows, beaches,
riverbanks and lakefronts has reached epidemic proportions in
some states. Access to these natural areas has nearly been eliminated
in many communities and "No Trespassing" signs are the new badges
of achievement for the affluent.
- July
6, 2001- The Death Penalty - For Pooping?
This time of year brings a blood stain to the Emerald
city of Seattle as thousands of majestic Canada Geese are rounded
up and murdered. Their capital offence: they have defecated
on parks, golf courses and private property.
- June
27, 2001 - Missing the Target - Green Bullets
Millions of pounds of lead has leached into the Earth,
poisoning groundwater and upsetting delicate balances. The military,
historically exempt from environmental regulations, are working
to replace the lead in M-16 bullets, a move the Army says will
eliminate soil contamination by 2005 when the new bullet will
have replaced the old ones. But lead will continue to be used
in vast quantities in other activities.
- June
15, 2001- Let Solar Power See the Light of Day
Is it really a lack of the right technology that is
keeping solar power off the mass market? Or is the light from
our nearest star, the Sun, being held hostage by an economy
that is devoted to using up the Earth's last drops of fossil
fuel at all cost?
- June
8, 2001- Skinned is Skinned: There Is No Correct
Leather
Many people labor under the erroneous assumption that
leather products are acceptable because they are a necessary
byproduct of the food industry. The reality of the leather trade
trashes these comfortable notions. Leather production may be
the cruelest, most unnecessary of all evils perpetrated upon
our animal neighbors, causing more suffering than any other
practice.
- June
1, 2001 - Under Our Radioactive Noses - Nuclear
Plants Relicensed
The Bush administration has created a new reality that
we all must face: most of the nation's nuclear power plants,
whether they would be judged unsafe bsy today's standards or
not, will likely be relicensed, bringing us all closer to another
nuclear disaster.
- May
25, 2001 - Too Many People?
The way people choose to live their lives and their
consumption patterns may be a much more important factor than
the sheer number of people on Earth.
- May
11 , 2001
- We Can Choose Life
The reality is that we all have the power to act, to
change, to transform our relationships with the natural world
- and with ourselves. We don't need approval from anyone else
to make that choice.
- May
4, 2001 - Marketing Environmental Destruction
and Disease
Each day, activists and concerned citizens around the
nation are fighting to stem the tide of environmental destruction,
fueled by an economy based on endless consumption of resources
and supported by a conservative presidential administration.
- April
20, 2001 - Earth Day 2001 - A Celebration or a
Wake?
The 31st Earth Day this year will mark an unprecedented
time of resource consumption and chemical load in the environment.
- April
13, 2001 - The Latest Federal Report on Carcinogens
is Out - So What?
We are surrounded in our daily lives by thousands of
substances and combinations of substances that are affecting
the health of nearly every woman, man, and child on Earth.
- March
30, 2001 - Killing Tomorrow for a Few Megawatts
Today
The U.S. government is embracing coal, the dirtiest
form of fuel, and energy producers around the country have begun
expanding this archaic, filthy form of power generation.
- March
23, 2001 - Killing the Future - Pesticide Spraying
in Our Children's Schools
Before you assume that your child has the flu or see
your doctor about attention deficit disorder, check the school's
pesticide policy. The probability is high that you should consider
pesticide exposure as one of the possible causes, since most
schools, colleges, universities, and learning centers in the
U.S. (and probably the world) are spraying pesticides in classrooms,
locker rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and cafeterias.
- March
16, 2001 - Children: Silent Victims of Global
Greed
Every hour of every day, children die all over the world
because of short-sighted political choices that keep toxic substances
steadily flowing into our air, water, and food and keep the
world's water supplies clouded with human waste.
- February
23, 2001 - You Deserve a Break Today - From Contaminated
Meat
More and more, contaminated meat products are resulting
in millions of illnesses each year and estimates are that 7,000
to 8,000 people in the U.S. alone die annually from eating contaminated
meat.
- February 12 , 2001
- SPECIAL REPORT: Energy Crisis or Energy Hoax?
How could it be possible for power to be flowing on
one day and then, without an increase in demand, suddenly a
state of emergency exists the next day?
- February
9, 2001 - Energy Crisis or Greed Crisis
Some air quality controls have been suspended on federal
and state levels and the stage has been set for massive industrial
expansion. These actions will have a dramatic and immediate
effect on our air quality and our health.
- January
26, 2001 - Space Seeds in China - A Miracle or
Ecological Disaster?
For the last decade China has been sending seeds to
altitudes as high as 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth's
surface to be bathed in high energy radiation from outer space.
- January
19, 2001 - Fish: A Good Neighboor, but a Dangerous
Food
At the same time that the "Journal of the American Medical
Association" has published a study recommending that women eat
fish two to four times a week to cut the risk of stroke, other
studies are suggesting that fish may be one of our most dangerous
foods.
- January
5, 2001 - It Does Pay to Fight - Environmental
Success Stories
Every day, millions of people stand up for what they
believe in, demanding protection for the Earth's species and
life support systems.
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Copyright (c)2002, Jackie A. Giuliano Ph.D.
jackie@deepteaching.com
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