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Children show their scroll paintings about environment protection in Qinhuangdao, north China's Hebei province, April 22, 2011. With the arrival of World Earth Day, the Yanxiuli Primary School in Qinhuangdao launched an activity on the theme of "Cherishing Earth's Resources and Building Green Homes" on Friday. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)
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BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Earth Day, the brainchild of former US Democratic Senator Geylord Nelson, was first observed on April 22, 1970. Twenty years later, Denis Hayes, the national coordinator in 1970, made it a global event by organizing activities in 141 countries. In 2009, the United Nations declared April 22 (Friday) as International Mother Earth Day.
So far, so good.
But somewhere down the years, Earth Day's original objective seems to have got lost. To begin with, Nelson rejected the suggestion that economic development should take precedence over environmental protection, saying the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around.
In a way, and perhaps unknowingly, Nelson paraphrased what Marx had written in Capital (Vol. III): Even an entire society, nation, or simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not the owners of the earth. They are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath in it an improved state to succeeding generations, as boni patres familias (good heads of the household).
Marx's reference to boni patres familias, "hearkened back to the ancient Greek notion of household or oikos from which we get both 'economy' (oikonomia or household management) and 'ecology' (oikologia or household study)", says John Bellamy Foster, professor of sociology at the University of Oregon, US, in his book, The Ecological Revolution. "Marx pointed to the necessity of a more radical, sustainable relation of human beings to production in accord with what we would now view as ecological rather than merely economic notions."
This is as good as it gets, for environmental groups now seek to establish a more sustainable relation of human beings with production. And to do that they are trying to turn Earth Day into a day of action, hoping it would change human behavior and force governments to change their policies of exploiting natural resources.
But many have criticized Earth Day organizers for the involvement of some questionable companies in the event. Some environmental activists have accused these companies of "greenwashing", meaning deceptively using eco-friendly public relations or marketing to mislead people into accepting their products as green.
The involvement of greenwashers in Earth Day promotion, however, is neither new nor surprising. Even in 1990, two groups fought to observe the event. One group, Earth Day 20 Foundation, was led by Edward Furia (project director of the April 16-22 Earth Week in 1970), and the other, Earth Day 1990, by Denis Hayes. Interestingly, Nelson was honorary chairman of both groups. The two groups disagreed over structures and strategies, and more importantly, Earth Day 20 Foundation lashed out at Earth Day 1990 for including on their board a multinational that was the second largest emitter of chlorofluorocarbons in Silicon Valley and had refused to switch to alternative solvents.
The hidden persuaders have turned goading, coercing and encouraging status seekers to vandalize, sometimes unwittingly, Earth's resources to further imperil our endangered children into the highest art form. Even the biggest emitting companies come draped in green flags to sell their products. They bombard us with their advertisements and promotions in the print and electronic media, and on the Internet. It's not easy for the uninitiated and green greens to escape their tentacles.
No wonder, the consensus among mainstream economists is for unfettered production. It is the only way, they say, that the world's 6 billion-plus people can be fed and clothed.
But is that so? Let's see what the Food and Agricultural Organisation had to say in its 2000 report: " world agricultural production today is more than sufficient to feed 6 billion human beings adequately. Cereal production alone, at about 2 billion tons or 330 kg of grain per caput/year and representing 3,600 calories per caput/day, could to a large extent cover the energy needs of the whole population if it were well distributed."
Global production of cereals has increased significantly since 2000. Yet the number of hungry across the world has risen to 1 billion. For whom do we need to produce more food or other products? Certainly not for those who don't have it.
True, we ordinary people cannot prevent surplus production. But we can refuse to buy more than what we need to save what is left of Earth's natural resources. There are other small ways, from saving water and electricity to reducing waste, to help the Earth and turn every day into Earth Day.
(Source: China Daily)
