10/23/2012
Dear Colleagues:
I share with you some of Rachel Carson’s observations that shook the world 50 years ago:
“For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.”(Silent Spring p. 15) Rachel Carson was referring here to the accumulation of pesticides after a mere two decades of widespread use. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention perform bioassays on statistically representative samples of our population, including newborn infants, documenting the accumulation of hundreds of synthetic chemicals in our bodies, including at least 79 known mutagens and carcinogens. While Rachel Carson’s voice raised in objection to the blatant broadcast of poisons was effective in bringing change to the gross pollution of air, land and water rampant up to the early 1970’s, the more insidious contamination from toxic chemicals persists. Her message of caution in preventing exposure of the living earth to synthetic materials whose ultimate effect is not known has not been encoded in law here…not yet.
The work initiated in Silent Spring remains as the most challenging need of our time – to live in harmony with natural laws, to preserve our life support system on this Earth – fresh air, clean water, fertile ground and biodiversity of species with whom we share this living planet. The arrogant assumption that we can control nature, subjugate it to our immediate benefit and exploit it indefinitely must be challenged if we are to survive at all. Rachel Carson’s challenge in the closing chapter of Silent Spring speaks to all of us today:
“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress at great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road – the one “less traveled by” – offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth.” (Silent Spring. Page 277.) In January 1963, in a speech to the Garden Club of America, Rachel Carson gave “A New Chapter to Silent Spring” in which she said: “The battle for a sane policy for controlling unwanted species will be a long and difficult one. The publication of Silent Spring was neither the beginning nor the end of that struggle. …. We should be very clear about what our cause is. What do we oppose? What do we stand for?”
The study of environmental science, environmental health, sustainability, renewable energy systems, organic gardening and green chemistry offer many productive pathways forward to a system of living and running our economy that does not continue the path of destruction. The next phase of the environment movement that Silent Spring helped to launch must focus on what we stand FOR. We can articulate the solutions to our past pathway, illustrating a new way forward to preserve a living earth for ourselves and the generations that come after. Rachel Carson changed the world’s thinking about our relationship to the environment. Her one strong voice through the written word moved our entire culture. We are her living legacy. Be bold to add your own voice to meet the challenge of the 21st century with her preparedness, passion and courage.
Best regards,
Patty
Live in harmony with nature.
