Count down to 60-- Before the damage is done

Why, do we take so much for granted?

I received a message the other day, thanking me for one of my writings about water. I responded, and then began pondering the question, why, do we take so much for granted? That and, what have we done, and what is it we continue to do to this planet we reside on?

Nature, wastes nothing. When the leaves or pine needles fall from a tree, they fertilize and protect the earth. When a tree dies and crashes to the ground, animal life use it for a home and insects use it for food. Depending on the size of the tree, this could be a long term use.  When an animal dies, it in turn becomes food for others or in its turn, adds things to the soil where its carcass rests. The trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide and create oxygen. The rains wash impurities from the air and replenish ground water basins. Every plant is a food source for an insect or mammal. Every insect is an important addition to the food source production. Whether they are a source themselves or a part of the production such as the bees are. It begins with the most minute of life forms and works its way upward.

In the beginning, the world was amazing and incredibly beautiful. The water ran clear and pure. the skies were without snog, the land free of debris and stretching out with an amazing bounty of treasures.

What have we done?

What has man, in his belief of self importance and quest for more, done?

What can we do, to correct and prevent more damage?

We see and hear about more and more people standing up and speaking out about damages and dangers. But these are things already done. They are speaking up after the fact. A big energy corporation has collection pools for coal ash, that is seeping out and creating problems in ground water. Manufacturing plants have filled the skies with the smoke from burning coal. Millions of vehicles travel the highways pumping exhaust into the air. Ships carrying fossil fuels have wrecked or sprang leaks losing millions of gallons of oil into the water. We've seen the images of wild life and beaches effected. After the fact.

We try to come up with actions to clean up our mess. Smoke stacks must have special filters to clean what they are releasing. Vehicles have been repeatedly modernized to clean the exhaust. Ingredients have been removed from products, think fluorocarbons, in attempts to help the ozone layers. Some governments have stepped in making laws to correct issues going on. But others seem to have no concern. Still, there are those who ignore even the laws created as they seek to line their pockets with the almighty dollar. The dollar seeming to be more powerful and important than the future of the planet on which we live.

Currently, in a place called North Dakota, there is a gathering such as has never been seen. Here is a link to the history of the protests of the pipeline that is currently being built and being protested. A history of Native Americans protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline

				A history of Native Americans protesting the Dakota Acce... "We have not been consulted in an appropriate manner about...the traditional cultural properties, sites, or landscapes vital to our identity and spir...
				View on www.motherjones.com	Preview by Yahoo

They are doing, what we all should be doing. They are protesting something that they see as, and is, a threat to the safety of the water in which is necessary to survive.

What are we doing, to protect this earth?

We have strip mined. We have dug deep to extract coal, diamonds, oil and more.  We have pumped tons of pollutants into the air. We have tossed trash out of car windows and off boats into the ocean. We leave plastic everywhere. We take no time to protect because its quicker to toss and forget. We kill whales and net tons of fish, cleaning out the oceans of its life, leaving it imbalanced and damaged.

We build roadways and cities clearing forests to make room. We destroy in the quest for more of what we want, not thinking of the damage we are doing.

Yes, it is good to advance, no one wants to live in caves and carry clubs to hunt for food. We have grown accustomed to the modern things of life, but most it come at such a cost to this planet? Must we put our future at risk? What are we leaving for our children? Is the almighty dollar so important that we run ahead  not looking forward and not considering the potential for damage? What is the great hurry that we can not stop and fully assess the risks involved and seek better alternatives and not just the easiest one? Is the almighty dollar more important than promises given and laws passed that we can ignore and push forward no matter what?

Before the irreparable damage is done, we must stop and think. We must consider all, not some, but all of the possible impacts on the land, the air, the water, the future. Damaged land can heal, but it takes a long time, what does one do in the meanwhile? When the water is filled with leaked oil and pollutants, what do we do?

I watch the group in North Dakota and I applaud them, they are doing what we all need to be doing. They are standing strong in protecting the water and land. They are reminding us, that those small steps that have been taken, need to be made larger and more often. We need to protect now, before the damage is done, because our future and the future of our children depend on it and us.