Green/Simple Living

» Robert Dailey - Detractors and conservationism

Shirley,
I agree with you about green living, especially about sustainable agriculture and organic foods.
A serious problem facing the world today is pollution of our ground and surface water, much of it by runoff from agricultural chemicals, which have caused untold damage.
In a study we conducted about 12 years ago on Lake Ponchartrain (the lake north of New Orleans...where most of the flooding from Katrina took place), the two major pollutants were 1. Gasoline and oil pollution from out board motor boats and 2. Agricultural runoff from rivers, bayous and streams feeding the lake.
We were successful in banning oil and gas drilling operations there for two decades, but there was nothing we could do about motor boats and agricultural runoff (pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers).
Anything you can do to raise awareness of sustainable and responsible use of the land and other resources, like water, is a step in the right direction.
B

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» Shirley Siluk Gregory - Detractors and conservationism

In response to Detractors and conservationism posted by bobcajun:

Bob, thanks so much for your thoughts. I visit New Orleans regularly, and am pained more than ever now to see the destruction there, both environmental and human. Katrina had a terrible impact, but it's also true that if there had been better stewardship of the environment, in particular the wetlands that have long provided a natural buffer against storm surges, the damage could have been far less. Our environmental mistakes can have terrible human consequences as well.

Living as I do in the Florida Panhandle near the Gulf, I take the issue of gas and oil drilling personally too. Recent changes make it seem more likely such drilling will occur nearer to our beautiful beaches, and all it takes is one accident (or storm) to wreak havoc on the nature here. That, too, has a human cost, because our beaches and fishing are some of the top reasons poeple visit our area and contribute to our economy.

All things really are interconnected, aren't they?

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