Speaking for the Trees

I'd be remiss if I let the anniversary of the birth of the great Dr. Seuss go by without at least a mention. I know that the ol' Doc had at least some impact on me as his work was some of the first I ever read on my own. While "The Cat in the Hat" was early in the reading list and it seems that you cannot attend a graduation these days where the valedictorian doesn't quote that poem that I once loved to hear, there is another Seuss book that comes to mind today.

I don't make a lot of bones about the fact that I am a capitalist, a proponent of private property rights and a believer in progress of a reasonable and healthy development of society. I'm not really what you would call an environmentalist.

Ok, by now you have caught on to the fact that my favorite Seuss book of all time is The Lorax.

To me, matters of environment and conservation are just common sense. As long as they remain matters of common sense, I stand behind them. Although I tend to be more judgemental of the environmentalists, I want to admit that there is a serious need for a lot of what they say.

So here is what I really want to say. The ol' Once-ler went belly up because he had no restraint. There was no planning for the future - just lop Truffulas as long as they are there and worry about the rest later. Yeah, he made a lot of money while the getting was good but he fouled up his surrounding and lopped himself out of a living. It is a basic struggle between waste and responsibility.

So, I look at this struggle through my eyes and see what the Lorax taught me. I like to recycle. I don't see it as some crusade that I have to stick to but the fact is, there really is no "away" to throw things. If we just keep filling up landfills and finding new ones, we are using up habitat for many animals...AHEM!...many of the game animals that we like to hunt. Any of you guys try to find a good place to hunt lately? What about all that junk that winds up in the water? Do you really want to eat that fish?

Practically speaking, many conservation efforts make practical sense to everyone. And that is why I don't mind pondering "UNLESS". I know that the story takes the issue to the extreme - like I've never done that to prove a point. I know that it is impressionable to the young children that make up its targeted audience. That is why we have to be there to balance the message and to make sure that the message does not become fulfilled prophecy.

I could go on and on about how many innovative products can be made from petroleum (making the combustion of it sort of silly) and how many different fuels could actually propel our vehicles. I could ramble about wasting space, wasting material, putting too much nasty smog in the air and, most important to me, all the noise, noise, noise! But there is no need to go to extremes.

So don't let the governments and the Al Gores of the world make the determinations about environmental issues. Let's look at waste vs responsibility for ourselves. I don't think the Lorax would be as excited about Kyoto or Copenhagen as he would be about me and the decisions I make in Georgia and you and the decisions you make where you are. Know what you are using, buying, discarding - where it comes from and where it goes. It matters.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss. Thanks for all the stories and the memories.