Toxic World

I am 58 years old. It doesn’t take an environmental scientist or health specialist to observe the dramatic changes that have occurred in our planetary environment and human health since way back in 1953. Our planet is sick, and so are we.

Quite simply, “there is no separation between environmental issues and human health.”

Back in the 60’s we used to say: when you throw something away…there is NO away. Another lesson we never learned. At only increasing rates, we continue to dump billions of tons of toxic wastes into our lakes and waterways, our soil, air, and food supply. And, either stupidly or naively, we believe it doesn’t harm the planet, or our health or the health of our children. 

“One of the most alarming disasters facing us today is the invasion of man made chemicals into every corner of the world, including our own bodies.”

Our planet and our bodies are under siege of a toxic load they can no longer bear. The evidence abounds before our eyes, yet we fail to see it, let alone act to change anything. Increased incidence of extreme weather is devastating the planet and becoming the norm, just like the rapidly rising incidences and pandemics of cancers-obesity-diabetes-and heart disease are ravaging the human population.

“A child born today faces high odds of developing at least one of the following ailments: ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, diabetes, obesity, cancers, abnormal genitalia development, infertility, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases. All have been linked with prenatal exposures to toxic chemicals.”

 Our delusional response is to increase medical testing and screening for earlier detection and treatment. This after-the-fact disease-care model conveniently generates massive profits for the health care industry (companies which, all too often, are either the same companies, or have strong ties to the companies, that are generating the toxic wastes creating disease) but does nothing to find solutions that stem the rising tide of disease.

           

Better to declare a war on cancer, and create another multi-billion dollar industry, than force industries to spend billions to stop polluting and clean up their toxic dumps. Corporations and their political minions will do nothing to adversely affect the bottom line or the economy. It is tough to realize that human life, and life on the planet, really don’t matter.

Our best corporate-sponsored scientists scratch their heads and write scientific papers authoritatively broadcast by the media as fact;  linking these diseases to the sun, animal fats, red meat, our genes, etc…all things natural; and never to corporate byproducts of toxic wastes, chemically raised foods and  artificial food concoctions, and toxic home and personal hygiene products.

While they struggle for explanations and answers, this third-grader’s science experiment lays it out for all to see with a simple elegance, that most often, characterizes the truth.

 As difficult as it may be to believe, it was President Richard Nixon who championed major environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act of 1970, which included national fuel economy standards for cars. He also created the Environmental Protection Agency. He called for new laws “that ensure that the price of goods…be made to include the costs of producing and disposing of them without damage to the environment.”

We would do well to heed the words of his 1970 State of the Union Address:

“The great question is, shall we surrender to our surroundings, or shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations, for we still think of air as free. But clean air is not free, and neither is clean water. The price tag on pollution control is high. Through our years of past carelessness we incurred a debt to nature, and that debt is being called.”

*Here is an interesting link to “to obtain your community report on land contamination.”

http://scorecard.goodguide.com/env-releases/land/community.tcl