If We Want to Protect our Children from Gun Violence Shouldn’t We Also Want to Protect them from Deadly Pollution?

“I react not as a president, but as anybody else would as a parent…every
parent knows there is nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm.
 …we bear a responsibility for every child because we’re counting on everybody
else to help look after ours; that we’re all parents; that they’re all our
children.”

What happened in Newtown calls us to create a world that actively engages the
threats that endanger children. Those that feel the weight of this terrible
tragedy should be looking for ways to do a better job of protecting kids. If we
are serious about protecting children from gun violence, shouldn’t we also want
to protect them from starvation, disease and deadly weather?

“This is our first task — caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we
don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we
will be judged. And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are
meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our
children — all of them — safe from harm?…And if we’re honest with ourselves, the
answer is no. We’re not doing enough and we will have to
change.”

Clearly we are not doing enough to curtail gun violence, nor are we doing
enough to combat climate change and eliminate harmful pollutants.

“We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them,
we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex,
and that is true…But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do
better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another
child…then surely we have an obligation to try.”

Although the President’s remarks are intended to address the horrors of gun
violence, they can just as easily be applied to dealing with the ravages of
environmental decay.

“I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow
citizens…Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as
routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such
carnage, that the politics are too hard?”

If the President is prepared to do all in his power to address the issue of
gun violence, is it not also evident that he should do everything he can to
address the deadly threats posed by climate change and environmental
pollutants?

There is no doubt that the fight to end gun violence will be contentious,
just like the fight to pass climate change legislation will prove very
difficult. But as the President said about the Connecticut massacre, ”we’re
going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more
tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

“If there is even one thing we can do to prevent any of these events we have
a deep obligation, all of us, to try…that conversation has to continue but this
time the words need to lead to action….The fact that this problem is complex can
no longer be an excuse for doing nothing”.

Obama has rightly called for immediate action to prevent thousands of people
from being killed by firearms.  Surely, we also need timely action to prevent
pollution and climate change from killing millions.
The Vice President has been tasked with putting together recommendations for
an action plan next month. The President has demonstrated that when motivated,
he can marshal the powers of his office to act quickly.

“I will use all the powers of this office to help prevent tragedies like
this…saying enough on behalf of our kids…we can make a sensible intelligent way
to make the United States of America a safer and stronger place for our children
to learn and to grow.”

If the President can muster the will to act on gun violence, surely he can
find the will to address a threat of the magnitude of climate change and
pollution. If we love our children we owe it to them to act before it is too
late. Sadly, for some families in Connecticut, it is too late, but it is not too
late to reduce our impacts on the Earth.

The perpetrator of the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary school was
clearly mentally and morally ill, but if we continue to add to the horrors of
climate change, are we not also guilty?

It is not too soon to explore ways of putting an end to these mass shootings,
in fact, it’s much too late.  Likewise, efforts to stave off the dramatic
implications of a warming planet are long overdue. We cannot afford to wait for
the world to pass tipping points to make a serious attempt to reign in climate
change.

The senseless killing of 20 children and six adults is indeed horrific, but
the pollution induced deaths of millions each year is far worse.

The protection of our children is a sacred trust and environmental action is
a fundamental part of making the world a safer place.


We do not inherent the earth from our Ancestors. We borrow it from our
children.


Source: Global Warming is Real