I think religion(s) Don't have much influence over environmental issues. Rapid progress in Science paved way for increasing human life spans and survival.Industrial revolution paved way for mass production of goods resulting in increased consumption with attended environmental problems .Recycling looks good on paper but the over all impact is not significant .Unless rapid strides or made in scientific/industrial discoveries sustainable living, that can take care of environment , will not be possible.
It has been the case that there have been many strides in regards to sustainable living and development - and others have noted for the longest time where significant advancement has occurred.
However, greed is sadly a religious ideology - a worldview that can cause others to be consumed with however much they can consume and whatever they can gain for themselves. And unfortunately, this has led to many ignoring others who have truly made a difference and are helping others out.
As said before elsewhere:
Gxg (G²);61457069 said:
Growing Power Weekend - Urban Farming for Food Security
You Can Grow Food in the Snow - A Visit to Will Allen's Growing Power
...I think we have many of the same capabilities as other nations to do the same, if not more, seeing the many that've invested in green-collar resources and innovation via environment. However, what keeps funding back on a large scale is many have stereotypes of such careers (never mind that they surround people daily in a myriad of ways)--and thus, people resist what could help them while the rest of the world falls back. Great scientific minds such as
George Washington Carver (one of my all time favorite heros in the faith) were decades ahead of their time when it came to things such as ethanol based on corn syrup---and as he already revolutionized the agriculture of the South/saved it and even made inventions used in car doors via plants, he should have been listened to when he was encouraging others to look
into industrial uses from agriculture and biotechnology.
....As said elsewhere, it may never change so long as Big Buisnesses with oil/traditional energy sources keep up the mantra that alternative cannot be invested in without financial damage and unsustainabiltiy (despite where the traditional is already running out and has been shown to always be damaging long term). I really wish people would support him more in what it is he was trying to do with
Green-Collar" jobs and keeping jobs here locally...
.
And this, imo, is where $ in politics takes us - the old guard in business is interested in maintaining their position (which is understandable) and influences political decisions through various means.
How many oil companies are interested in shifting the focus on global warming to who caused it (rather than the what is of it) whilst waiting for the perma-frost to recede sufficiently to gain access for drilling ?
We could have jumped into solar in the 80s - and didn't. Had we, who knows what our present position in global sales would be ...
On "green jobs" - we've lost our competitive edge in that sector. At least four countries that I know of (in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe) are well ahead of us in R&D and implementation in alternative energy. The Brits have developed a paint that absorbs pollution, improving air quality in urban areas.
Super-polluted city tries to clean itself with smog-eating paint | AECDigest
The global market is eager to buy green tech.
I guess the US is satisfied to remain importers instead of entrepreneurs.
Gxg (G²);61283185 said:
Indeed..
...
They already have the resources to make fuel from algae--
with 5 companies already using it....and
we could do well with all of the trash/waste we make if we'd learn to make sustainable resources from it as other countries have....but so long as Big Buisnesses with oil/traditional energy sources keep up the mantra that alternative cannot be invested in without financial damage and unsustainabiltiy (despite where the traditional is already running out and has been shown to always be damaging long term), you'll see more of the same.
GREEN JOBS NOT JAILS - The Third Wave of Environmentalism
The Green Collar Economy - Van Jones of the Center for ...
God is all about sustainable development and responsible care of our world - be it with solar energy OR with oil and being careful how it is utilized....as well as always seeking to find more efficient ways to take care of our world. And God is HIGHLY concerned with
Eco-Imperialism where other impoverished nations are not allowed to choose their own destiny and things imposed on them in the name of "sustainable development" are often keeping them starving while those doing the imposing actions are living quite well. There's an excellent book on the issue I have been thankful for, entitled
"Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death"
Industrialized country proposals to integrate environmental protection into the WTO trade regime constitute environmental imperialism - the imposition of industrialized country values and preferences on less powerful nations....for although conservation is a wonderful and important thing, it should be noted that environmental protection is a luxury that poor countries can ill afford - and even though wealthy countries have played a leadership role in the protection of the global environment, it is hypocritical when wealthy nations throw away their own waste into poorer nations (i.e.
electronic waste, oil spills, etc.) and then tell those nations they have to be careful. The same applies for i
ssues of waste within our own nation when it comes to impoverished
areas being dumped upon in order to make other places look
clean and nice for the wealthy
As it concerns religion, believers (at least people claiming faith in God) should always take seriously the issue of environmental stewardship. And I'm glad for others who do so -
Sustainable Traditions: Home (
here). Moreover, I'm very thankful for believers taking seriously the issue of what it means to "Go Green" and see it from the perspective of others who are actually making a difference with it.
One of the most inspiring examples for me will always be George Washington Carver (more shared here in #
1, #
20 and #
45 ) - an AMAZING believer who did much to literally revolutionize the world via agriculture..with very little materials to work with many times and a system that was designed to be against him/other blacks....in regards to Jim Crow and Slavery. He did what he could with what the Lord gave him to promote the Kingdom of God - and show the miraculous...and others were amazed just as they are today with what he did despite the system. For a good read on the issue, one can go to
The Green Vision of Henry Ford and George Washington Carver: Two ... - Page 203
For those communities impacted the most by things that others don't deal with, going "Green" is a big deal. People like Majora Carter have done stellar work in the Bronx, which has a reputation as one of New Yorks most dangerous boroughs and one of the most polluted. Grassroots organizations like
Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) addressed both of those pressing needs with a single solution providing training and jobs that benefit the environment....as described by
Majora Carter, founder of SSBx, in her "Green the Ghetto" talk. I'm thankful for the ways that the organizations B.E.S.T. (Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training) Program provides residents with training for careers in ecological restoration, landscaping, green roof installation, hazardous waste cleanup and home weatherizing. All of those things are VERY RELEVANT when considering the ways that it impacts people in the hood.
It's already sad enough that we have
TOXIC Racism (i.e. placing waste in economically impoverished communities..especially minority ones and poor/rural white communities ) due to institutional discrimination...or choosing to push out communities in the event that the government finds a use for the land they live in/have chosen to adapt to. Seeking to have sustainable development/green energy is about survival rather than doing so as if it's one option amongst many. There's a significant need to address the deep/historical issues behind what keeps others from being able to grow/live healthy....including institutional systems in our government that have often fought against others seeking to grow healthy resources. The same thing goes for issues of the environment being damaged by many things which we use often (i.e. gasoline, fumes/pollution, toxic waste, run-off, etc.)
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