21-10-2013, 08:07 AM
[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="width: 84%"]
[TR]
[TD="width: 60%"]
[/TD]
[TD="width: 40%"]10/20/13[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[TD="width: 16%"]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
"Climate Change: FirstThey Came For "
First they came forthe Arctic sea ice, and I did not speak out--even though its volume is two thirds what it was thirty years ago.
Then they came forour mountainglaciers-- Kilimanjaro, Glacier National Park, the Andes, and Himalayas--and still I didn't speak out. My water supplies were not threatened.
They thawed the permafrost and continental shelves even though these areas could release planet alteringgreenhouse gases. Still Iremained silent.
Then they came after the coral reefs, crustaceans and other ocean life with rates of warming and acidification we have not seen for millions of years. Eventhough our oceans are being devastated, I did not speak out.
Then they came after our winters, but I enjoyed the earlier springs, so I did not speak out.
Then they came forthe boreal forests of North America with bark beetles and wildfires. They ravaged our tropical forests, the lungs of our planet and home to most of its species. I love and need trees, still I did notspeak out.
Then they came for our coastlines, slowly, inch by inch. It adds up over the years, but like the fool on the hill I kept perfectly still.
Then they came afterour wheat, corn and livestock in the record 2012 US drought and 2011 floods. Even when heat waves decimated grain harvests in Russia and China, my supermarket shelves remained full. I had no reason to speak out.
I did not speak outwhen thousands of species I'd never heard of began moving and vanishing each year, even though the rate of extinction could surpass anything we'd experienced infifty million years.
Then they despoiledour gulf, farmlands andcommunities with drilling rigs and pipeline spills, fracking and mountain top removals, and dangerous storage ponds of toxic wastewater. It wasn't happening in my neighborhood so Ikept quiet.
They hijacked ourwater supplies to operate their nuclear and coal plants--for fracking and tarsand production. Even though a warmer planet will mean severe water shortages for hundreds of millionsof people, I did not speakout.
When they came afterthe tribal lands of our Native Americans with their uranium and coal mining, I was speechless.
They've been comingafter our governments for decades, manipulating politicians across the US and in othercountries with money, lobbying firms and "grassroots" movements so our leaders won't speak out.
Now they're coming after our minds, distorting and reducing the amount of science in the news, even in our children's schools and continue to attack climate scientists and their credibility to keep them from speaking out.
They've rebranded and treated those who did speak out as "terrorists" and I had good reason to be afraid of speakingout.
They continue to stall and undermine international negotiations and agreements, hoping that even if we speak out it won't make a difference.
Now what they'vedone is threatening the habitability of the planet for our children and grandchildren. We must speak out for their sake while there is still time.
[TR]
[TD="width: 84%"]
Climate Change: First They Came For ...
By Louallen Miller[TABLE="width: 100%"][TR]
[TD="width: 60%"]
[/TD]
[TD="width: 40%"]10/20/13[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[TD="width: 16%"]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
"Climate Change: FirstThey Came For "
First they came forthe Arctic sea ice, and I did not speak out--even though its volume is two thirds what it was thirty years ago.
Then they came forour mountainglaciers-- Kilimanjaro, Glacier National Park, the Andes, and Himalayas--and still I didn't speak out. My water supplies were not threatened.
They thawed the permafrost and continental shelves even though these areas could release planet alteringgreenhouse gases. Still Iremained silent.
Then they came after the coral reefs, crustaceans and other ocean life with rates of warming and acidification we have not seen for millions of years. Eventhough our oceans are being devastated, I did not speak out.
Then they came after our winters, but I enjoyed the earlier springs, so I did not speak out.
Then they came forthe boreal forests of North America with bark beetles and wildfires. They ravaged our tropical forests, the lungs of our planet and home to most of its species. I love and need trees, still I did notspeak out.
Then they came for our coastlines, slowly, inch by inch. It adds up over the years, but like the fool on the hill I kept perfectly still.
Then they came afterour wheat, corn and livestock in the record 2012 US drought and 2011 floods. Even when heat waves decimated grain harvests in Russia and China, my supermarket shelves remained full. I had no reason to speak out.
I did not speak outwhen thousands of species I'd never heard of began moving and vanishing each year, even though the rate of extinction could surpass anything we'd experienced infifty million years.
Then they despoiledour gulf, farmlands andcommunities with drilling rigs and pipeline spills, fracking and mountain top removals, and dangerous storage ponds of toxic wastewater. It wasn't happening in my neighborhood so Ikept quiet.
They hijacked ourwater supplies to operate their nuclear and coal plants--for fracking and tarsand production. Even though a warmer planet will mean severe water shortages for hundreds of millionsof people, I did not speakout.
When they came afterthe tribal lands of our Native Americans with their uranium and coal mining, I was speechless.
They've been comingafter our governments for decades, manipulating politicians across the US and in othercountries with money, lobbying firms and "grassroots" movements so our leaders won't speak out.
Now they're coming after our minds, distorting and reducing the amount of science in the news, even in our children's schools and continue to attack climate scientists and their credibility to keep them from speaking out.
They've rebranded and treated those who did speak out as "terrorists" and I had good reason to be afraid of speakingout.
They continue to stall and undermine international negotiations and agreements, hoping that even if we speak out it won't make a difference.
Now what they'vedone is threatening the habitability of the planet for our children and grandchildren. We must speak out for their sake while there is still time.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass