“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” KnowsChildrenHas BeensWholePainChoicesCreationEnvironmentalGloriousFrustrationDecayBondageLiberatedChild Of GodChildbirthPresent TimeGroaning Author:Paul the Apostle
“Conservation is sometimes perceived as stopping everything cold, as holding whooping cranes in higher esteem than people. It is up to science to spread the understanding that the choice is not between wild places or people, it is between a rich or an impoverished existence for Man.” PeopleMenSometimesChoicesUnderstandingExistenceRichColdHigherEnvironmentalSpreadEsteemSustainabilityConservationStoppingCranesWild Places Author:Thomas Lovejoy
“Humans, like all other creatures, must make a difference; otherwise, they cannot live. But unlike other creatures, humans must make a choice as to the kind and scale of difference they make. If they choose to make too small a difference, they diminish their humanity. If they choose to make too great a difference, they diminish nature, and narrow their subsequent choices; ultimately, they diminish or destroy themselves. Nature, then, is not only our source but also our limit and measure.” IfsHumansKindHumanityChoicesDifferencesSourceCreaturesLimitsEnvironmentalScalesMaking A DifferenceSustainabilityDiminish Author:Wendell Berry
“It is much easier to make intellectual messes than it is to clarify complicated issues, especially when real solutions would challenge the status quo and require much careful thought across many fields of knowledge. Problems of climatic change, biotic impoverishment, population growth, and the choices to be made by various technologies and the transition to a sustainable and decent society with an economy that works over the long-term are difficult, complex, and intertwined problems with many possible answers.” LongMadeRealProblemChoicesDifficultGrowthTermChallengesAnswersTechnologyEconomyIssuesFieldsEasierIntellectualSolutionsComplexesEnvironmentalPopulationCarefulVariousComplicatedMessLong TermDecentTransitionSustainabilityStatus QuoIntertwinedPopulation Growth Book:The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror Source: The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror
“Before it's too late, we need to make courageous choices that will recreate a strong alliance between man and Earth. We need a decisive 'yes' to care for creation and a strong commitment to reverse those trends that risk making the situation of decay irreversible.” MenNeedsCareEarthChoicesStrongSituationRiskCreationLateCommitmentEnvironmentalToo LateCourageousTrendsDecayReverseStewardshipAlliancesIrreversibleBefore It's Too LateCourageous Choices Author:Pope Benedict XVI
“Technologically, modern man does everything he can do-he functions on this single boundary principle. Modern man, seeing himself as autonomous, with no personal-infinite God who has spoken, has no adequate universal to supply an adequate second boundary condition; and man being fallen is not only finite, but sinful. Thus man's pragmatically made choices have no reference point beyond human egotism. It is dog eat dog, man eat man, man eat nature.” MenHumansDoeMadeChoicesCan DoPrinciplesSeeingModernConditionsDogUniversalFunctionInfiniteEnvironmentalBoundariesFallenFiniteAdequateStewardshipEgotismModern ManAutonomous Author:Francis Schaeffer
“Very few people would choose to have even the most fabled assortment of goods if it meant getting cancer within the year. But the choice involves not the certainty of cancer very soon but an increased probability of cancer at some time in the future. The cancers are no less real; millions will die painfully and prematurely because of what we do to our environment. But the choice is not an easily visualizable one, and our capacity of denial comes strongly into play - as it tends to whenever we must weigh future costs against immediate benefits.” PeopleIfsYearsRealPlayDiesChoicesMillionsEnvironmentCostBenefitsCapacityEnvironmentalCancerCertaintyDenialGoodsPollutionProbabilityOur Environment Author:Paul L Wachtel
“Now our biggest environmental problems come from our own actions, our own choices, rather than pollution produced by big business.” ProblemBigsActionChoicesEnvironmentalPollutionBig BusinessEnvironmental Problems Author:Jesse Ventura