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Have we gone too far with environmentalism? My answer is a resounding no. We haven't gone far enough. Repeated reports of the accelerating effects of global warming, the damage caused by the travel and bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals, and evidence of quickly deteriorating ecosystems around the world should make this patently obvious. We've done a lot of damage to this planet, some of which we won't feel the full effect of for years.

The worst part is that we don't fully understand what we're messing with the study of ecosystems is only a few decades old. Do we really believe that we have a complete grasp of how these complex sets of relationships work? We're throwing monkey wrenches into systems we don't even understand. This kind of destructive activity needs to stop. It's time to take the environment and our interaction with it very, very seriously.

Let me take a moment to make one caveat. I have enough experience and sophistication to be able to critique the environmental movement. It has been too focused on negativism for years, extremists sometimes give the movement a bad name, purists have been unable to make compromises for the sake of real change, etc., etc. However, these are issues that are addressed by intelligent research, open-mindedness, and the willingness to work with the greater community to solve issues that affect each and every one of us. Walking away from the environmental movement altogether won't solve these problems it will simply mean the end of the human race, and perhaps even all life on earth.

We've done a lot of terrible things to our beautiful blue planet and the creatures we share it with. Some of this has been done in ignorance, some of it in full knowledge of the damage it would cause, and in the worst cases it has been done maliciously. We need to deal with the Earth on better terms than we have with the past. We have to go forward with compassion, awe, and respect for the planet we call home and the complex systems that keep it from becoming an inhospitable wasteland.

Finally, the environmental movement needs to arm itself with the best science and technology it can find in humanity's battle to control itself. An open mind and a respectful worldview are a good start, but we won't get very far if we're using the same destructive methods as we always have. The only way we'll win this battle against time is to develop (truly) green technologies as fast as we possibly can. If we don't make the shift to a sustainable way of life in time, we'll end up making the shift to no life at all.

Learn more about this author, Jen Power.
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