Thirty Days for the Earth presentation at Throop Learning Garden in Pasadena (Photo – January Nordman).
While listening to various state and local legislation conversations, I wonder which issue will have the greatest significance and impact on our futures.
By Cheryl Auger
Bay Delta
State legislation is proposed to protect the species and animals in the Bay Delta estuary and surrounding area. Already the Bay Delta smelt are extinct and the Bay Delta salmon are on the brink of extinction. The Bay Delta lacks enough water to protect these and other species because it is being diverted for farming in the Central Valley and drinking water in Southern California. This third year of severe drought is expected to be catastrophic to the habitats if changes are not made. The Bay Delta region is the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast. Some lobbyists argue that the Bay Delta is a crucial environment for Bay and Pacific Northwest fisheries and that the water diversion should be curtailed.
Plastics
Water lobbyists talk about water rights and the need for safe drinking water, but they don’t mention the millions of gallons used to water golf courses or the trillions of gallons used in processes like the production of plastic which primarily ends up as a pollutant. State Assembly Members discussed plastics’ negative impact on the world and all its its species; all marine mammals have ingested plastic; all humans have plastic in their blood streams and plastic has impacted our fertility rates.
Drought
California Assembly Members acknowledged that we are not getting the snow pack that we used to get and we can only expect to get drinking water and water supplies from rainfall which now is less frequent because of the changing temperatures. People in other countries facing droughts have reduced their water consumption to 20 gallons per day. We use about 110 gallons per day per person on average.
Animals
The state of animals worldwide is concerning. Our big fish population is dwindling because of reckless industrial fishing practices that include unintended collateral slaughter in the haul and mismanagement of fishing materials like netting. Large animals are dwindling because they have been hunted, sometimes for trophy pieces like horn, and their habitats are being destroyed for our palm oil consumption.
Around the time that Spring begins, our thoughts turn to appreciating our earth and thinking about what Earth Day means to each of us individually. There are so many daunting issues this Spring. This Earth Day I will just pray for more personal awareness of our individual impacts on earth, the environment and all of the remaining species, in the hope that we can change our actions to slow or change the course of the road to mass extinction.
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