slashing budgets, slashing ecology

With all this talk about slashing budgets whether it is on a national, state, or town level – public funding is taking a big hit. Why?  Well, simply so we don’t leave a huge gaping hole in our children’s children’s pockets. One problem with this thought though, or at least a bit of irony, is that many of the same people who are trying to reign in government and public spending are calling for the opposite in the way we look at our future ecologically.

And no, this isn’t just about greenhouse gases or wind turbines – although that is a big part of it. The way we are tearing apart the earth our children’s children’s pockets may be nothing to worry about if there is no land or resources to be had, whether it is that the land is gone through buildings, houses, giant malls, etc, or through laws (or lack thereof) that allow companies and people to destroy and pollute the land at will.

Through over-killing of such animals as the beaver, buffalo, and fish, many animals are scarce, some even extinct because of human interaction.  Here on Cape Cod a huge complaint is in regard to fish limits. They complain but don’t acknowledge their ancestors overfishing from the past making their living more difficult today. The laws for catch limits are there, in fact, not to keep companies and people from making as much money as they can, but indeed to make sure that their children can continue to fish in the future.

Once upon a time places where animals and birds could be seen in abundance were plenty. What can you see in those places now?  Homes, grocery stores, or even abandoned strip malls. Sprawl is everywhere and is causing a gaping hole in our children’s children’s ecological future.