It's Not All About Us Steve
When
I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will
remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living
creature. Genesis 9: 14-5
It's not all about us Steve. In the story of Noah's
Ark, the writer takes great pains to describe God's covenant as being
with the whole Earth, not just with Noah and his family. In
fact, this inclusivity of the covenant is repeated five times, where
Noah, standing in for humanity, is only explicitly mentioned twice.
As the environment has been relegated to a boutique issue in the halls of our government, one can only imagine
that every living creature in Canada is desperately scanning the skies
these days for rainbows seeking some reassurance the covenant stands. Perhaps we should join them.
In my 35 years as an environmental advocate I have never encountered a
government that appears to be so far removed from the reality that we
are embedded in the environment. It is being treated as a
luxury that we really can no longer afford, or at best, as a competing
demand distracting from the prime directive to grow the economy - when
the fact is Earth is the source of all life and every human economy that
has been created.
We breath air, drink water, eat food, construct our homes, reside in
habitable conditions, and consume resources, all supplied by nature. As does every living creature.
Two years ago Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Report issued report cards on the health of our environment. Never heard of them? It's no surprise. The
public servants who assembled the reports were not permitted to even
issue a news release announcing their existence, never mind promote them
to Canadians. The government scientists with the
expertise to comment on the worrisome findings had their jaws wired shut
in case a curious reporter stumbled across the report cards on the
internet and came looking for an interview...
