That instituions & societies are often slow to accept new ideas & are even slower to actually change their practices & lifestyles is not surprising & somewhat understandable.

But we are in a particularly different situation now & stand at a crossroads more pivotal than previous epochs. The problem at present isn't so much a lack of knowledge of how to address the pressing environmental & social justice issues of our time, but a lack of will.

The old guard is reluctant to change a status quo that has so enriched & empowered them. But even the lesser classes that do not benefit so directly from the System retain cultural viewpoints & attitudes at odds with reality & everyone's best interest.

Skepticism about new movements is generally healthy & those purporting to have the interests of the whole at heart quite often have ulterior motives. Science is not above obstinate orthodoxies, destructive experimentation or prurient scheming, but are not mega-corporations more likely to guild the lily for the sake of stability & sales than a department head?

To reactionary rednecks, conservacrats & yuppie scum alike, Environmentalism is oft considered merely the latest assault of the multi-culturalist, feminist, socialist agenda upon heterosexual, free market, mainstream Christian America. And they are generally correct in their assessment of the culture of many at the core of a movement that turns out to be broader & more diverse than polemicists would admit or have you believe.

And as scientists study & postulate, politicians posture & pontificate & most folks tune out & dont participate in the transformation of society into a post-petroleum eco-topian organism, activists are educating people & coordinating resources to nurture the renaissance in consciousness about the interconnectedness of all beings & how our lives impact the lives of others around the world.

It'll be interesting to see the backlash of the free marketeers if the City puts forth ordinances mandating that new construction be energy efficient & ecologically friendly. Even if only applied to Municipal projects & buildings, it's a major step toward dealing with the environmental & economic crises we face in our time.

It'll also be interesting to see whether utility rate hikes will be enough of a motivator for hoosier consumers to join the gathering opposition to a new coal-fired power plant in Edwardsport, Indiana. Indiana is already in the top eight states that produce the highest levels of greenhouse gases, not to mention other pollutants like particulates, ozone, acid rain gases. And then there's Mercury, a potent neurotoxin, at such high levels in the fish in Indiana waterbodies that a statewide advisory stands against its consumption by humans, particularly the young or pregnant.

How much worse does it have to get before we can admit that we are having an enormous negative impact upon the system that sustains us? Don't eat the fish anywhere in the state? Don't swim near Bloomington because it's laden with PCBs?
That Mercury is also in the very air we all breathe, most of it coming from coal-fired power plants in South-Western Indiana.

What will it take before we all wake up? It may already be too late to avert many of the effects of Climate Change, but we must take bold measures to make a dent in the statistics. Much like the genocide in Darfur, half-asses dally until most of the decimation is over.

Do what you can people, to give a shit & to help something happen. There is no better time than now to begin healing ourselves, our communities & our Planet. Change your lifestyle & get involved with the Movement for a sustainable future.