I don't like Earth Day so much

I have tracked with the environmental movement for the past five or six years. It's been a rewarding experience all in all. But my views in matrix to those commonly held by an environmentalist and whatever their polar opposite may be are simply paradoxical looking at it from a political standpoint. I think I tend to classify myself as a moderate because I watch both conservatives and liberals do things that flush out rage from me. In example I'm reading a book about the political history of old growth redwood forests and I read as a 1980s Reaganomics Shark bought out one of California's best logging companies to turn it into a shareholders, profit focused company (bad thing for trees, they kind of take their sweet time to grow and Wall St has about a quarter's worth of foresight). And I read as EarthFirst! destroyed people's livelihoods for the sake of activism and giving their sorry lives purpose. Also, the cuteness of the spotted owl probably added to it. Then as they demonstrated against loggers a man died in an accident, and their response was "You win some, you martyr some" indicating that he was a necessary death. This has kind of killed earth day for me. The politics and mindless politics behind the "green movement" makes me feel violent inside. One of my biggest problems is while Coal is still ok in the US, which is horrifically pollutant, we oppose Nuclear reactors. And then we advocate solar which outputs about the same energy in its lifetime as it takes to build it which nullifies its worthwhile as anything but a solution to get you off the grid. Everybody has their own agenda because Capitalism is militant. Ol' Chucky Darwin was in the wrong field, he was describing economics when he discussed the "survival of the fittest." So, in response, I believe I espouse to a distinctly Christian belief of economics: use what you need, give sacrificially, we are to be stewards of creation.

My incoherent rambling aside, I think this Earth Day should be used to think critically about this green movement. I would advocate a simpler life style, one that understands man's mortality by focusing on a more local economy. But, favoring the earth over human life (which is what is easily seen at the heart of the green movement) is wrong and to be quite honest I feel very manipulated by this whole global warming kick. I have yet to see compelling evidence that it's a problem and that CO2 is to blame. Though I do agree that we should release less toxins into the air. Instead of focusing on maintaining capitalism by feeding the greed beast and worrying about retirement, I think the answer should be for the American people to live within our means and to buy locally. To live simply, not to stop using the earth responsibly. I would advocate with the 100 mile diet crew. With Wendall Berry too. Locally grown food and manufactured items are much better for the environment, are more easily monitored for fair trade practices, and makes us realize that we can't consume everything. Happy Earth Day.