The Road Ahead

This is BlueVoice team member Marigolds, welcoming you to our new team blog. I've had a journal on AOL for almost two years now where I have mainly written about environmental concerns. I'm not a scientist, a naturalist, nor a politician. What I am is a citizen of this planet, a place which I love at a cellular level. For most of my adult life I have gardened organically, birded and hiked in many different places and environments, swum in many of the world's oceans, lakes and rivers, found my deepest spiritual fulfillment in the out-of-doors. I read widely, keep my eyes open, and am aware that this beautiful planet is in deep trouble. We all live here, this is not a "special interest," it's our global nest that is being befouled. And each and every one of us is part of it.

The planet's troubles may not affect me too badly during what is left of my lifetime. However, my partner and I have two adult sons, and four very young grandchildren. I have many nieces and nephews, both adults and children. I teach at a community college and work with young children in an afterschool homework help program. I love all these young people, and believe that they deserve a decent life: a future of air they can breath, water they can drink, oceans they can play and swim in, at the very least a climate in which survival is possible.

So my territory here on The Blue Voice will usually be the environment, not just its problems and depredations, but also things we can all do in our own realm to make a difference. The two biggest issues about the environment today are global warming, which I prefer to call climate disruption, and what is being called peak oil. I will speak much more about both of these in coming posts. Because much of the media is controlled by Republican interests, opposing views seldom get much publicity. The current administration has chosen to ignore, or outright deny, these problems, changing facts at will, and advancing policies to help environmentally damaging industries, utilities and corporations. However, both of the above-mentioned situations are finally beginning to get the attention in the mainstream media that they have had for quite some time on environmental websites, blogs and in scientific journals.

We may feel powerless in the face of these overwhelming planetary problems and governmental indifference to them, but the world is made up of each one of us doing what we can where we can, living with awareness and trying to open the eyes of those around us. It is my intention to focus readers' attention on the Big Picture through my writing as well as through links to those who are better informed on these issues. I also intend to regularly write about everyday efforts you and I can take towards making this a healthier Earth, with links to some of the many great ecology and environment sites on the Internet.

I welcome comments, and any reader input that will help us all to become better citizens of this lovely little planet.

With this in mind, I give the link to my personal page on a site called Stop Global Warming, where you can sign on with thousands of other ordinary citizens (as well as celebrities, yes it's true) to create a sea-to-shining-sea collection of names to be delivered to Washington. This is in hopes of moving this administration to taking some action, no longer in favor of Big Oil, but for the future of the planet.

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