This past month, there was the largest oil disaster in the United States since the 1980’s with the Exxon Valdez disaster. This horrible accident happened just weeks after Obama announced more offshore drilling projects (which he now is considering halting). In the midst of the huge ecological consequences of this disaster, we need to realize what this can teach us as a nation.
There are consequences to our actions. We cannot continue have a cavalier attitude towards the environment and ecological issues and expect it not to catch up with us, whether it is through incidents such as this, climate change, or overall pollution. We might not see the consequences immediately, but they will come to us. Though right-wing figures like Ann Coulter may think that God gave s permission to “rape the earth” (her actual words), this kind of lack of care of the environment will lead to our demise and will mar the beauty of God that is seen through his creation.
We also have to realize as the one of the largest countries in the world, and certainly the most powerful, we have to take the lead in environmental protection and activism. Small countries can do all they can to protect the environment, but it will be in vain if large nations continue to disregard the mandate to protect the planet. When we pollute it does not just affect the citizens of the United States, it affects the rest of the world. In the end, it is more than just preservation of the earth; it is protection of all humanity. Overconsumption and environmental disregard will naturally lead to more disease, famine, and death in much of the world.
Finally, hopefully if we learned that more government regulation is not necessarily a bad thing. The mining disaster in West Virginia demonstrates this greatly. Government needs to be there to regulate and keep business in check; otherwise there will be more and more events such as this.
The days of the non-chalant attitude that Sarah Palin made popular in her “drill-baby drill” line has left the political arena for a long time, perhaps forever. These events sober us to the reality that we do not have free range to do whatever we want in the environment. Rather, we need to be careful and conscientious stewards of the land God has given us.
