Letter criticizing Earth Day hasty, uninformed

Editor,

I am compelled to make a few statements regarding Michael Carrasco’s April 26 letter to the editor, “Earth Day Should be Renamed Human’s Day.” The letter was an attack on environmentalists and the conservation movement and was an uninformed opinion.

The stereotypes that Carrasco presents are inappropriate and inaccurate. He criticizes the destructive militant environmentalists, who comprise about 1.5 percent of the movement, and accuses environmentalists of viewing the “environment as a new quasi-god ... far beyond the comprehension of mere men.”

It is the word “new” in this statement that disturbs me. Perhaps political science students are not required to take any history classes? Someone needs to inform Mr. Carrasco that earth-centered religions existed long before capitalism.

He arrogantly suggests renaming Earth Day to “Human’s Day,” ignoring that every day that the earth’s resources are polluted and exploited is, in fact, “Human’s Day.” He reduces environmentalists’ mentality to “humans bad, Earth good.”

I have been active in grassroots environmental groups around the country during the last five years and have come across only a handful of activists who think this way. Many environmentalists, myself included, are active in various human rights groups.

Had he taken the time to attend PIRG and Green Community’s Earth Day festival, Mr. Carrasco would have found that the theme of the event was “Humans: The Fifth Element.”

Finally, Mr. Carrasco is under the unfortunate misconception that all environmentalists are concerned with saving “obscure animals in far-off places.” While species preservation is certainly important to many activists, every good one knows that environmentalism begins in the home.

It can be as simple as recycling your dishwater. Pour it on your garden instead of down the drain and save on your water bill. Or re-use the backs of old papers rather than buying multiple notebooks throughout the school year. Ride your bike and decongest the highways, saving money on gas.

Claiming that environmentalists are “divorced from the reality of mainstream society” and “radical” is as ignorant as saying that all Christians are bigoted abortion clinic bombers.

Amanda Veile

Anthropology Student