So, it's Earth Day.
The time we're supposed to celebrate the place that we for decades have been treating as disposable.
A remarkable corner of creation that seems largely taken for granted.
Our little planet amid the universe is essentially an insignificantly tiny blue marble hurtling through time and space in tow of our Sun's gravitational pull.
Our home is the only oasis of life we're aware of among an endless, inhospitable and frankly exceedingly hostile vastness of infinite chaos filled with other mind bogglingly massive celestial bodies that make our little solar system seem like the most miraculous refuge among an otherwise endless ocean of certain cosmic oblivion.
The importance of this planet simply cannot be understated.
Nor deflected, dismissed, or denied.
We need nature, and all that Earth's limited bounties have to offer, far more than nature needs us. In fact, nature not only doesn't even need us around at all, but would undoubtedly benefit from our absence.
This plainly obvious reality does not yet seem to have meaningfully sunk in on a massive scale, at least not beyond another viral hashtag.
Rather than slowing down this frenzy of consumption, the pandemic has arguably pressed the pedal to metal. Amazon and Wal-Mart have never been so profitable.
And all too many seem quite keen to go back to pre-pandemic "normality" so we can eagerly run back to Black Friday and Boxing Day sales and pretend everything's fine while ecosystems collapse under the weight of mass consumption.
Pandemic or no, the march of unfettered consumerism, fuelled by economies founded on the wishful fantasy of infinite growth on a finite system, continues largely unabated.
But hey, it's Earth Day everyone!
Sadly, the noble spirit, intent and message behind this movement, has been "greenwashed" by slick, corporate spin campaigns to disarm a popular movement and manipulate popular opinion to favour their bottom lines.
I wonder what the activists who first fought corporate waste and environmental degradation enabled by politicians influenced by some of the world's most powerful lobbies, would have to say about what has become of the movement they helped inspire and popularize.
After all, the original intent was to fight wasteful and environmentally harmful, especially single-use disposable packaging made by corporations, by demanding regulations against such products.
Now, Earth Day seems to have been hijacked into continuing to peddle the propaganda started by these corporate-funded campaigns.
Stuff I grew up believing.
Pollution is basically my fault! I can control it by throwing trash in the bin and recycling!
Whatever you do, don't question why so many products are encased in layers of wasteful packaging!
The goal is to disenfranchise the masses from assembling and mobilizing for meaningful government reform and regulations that protect people and environment before private-interest profit.
Aww, well those poor multi-billion dollar corporations! They're just trying to turn a buck, you know! Give 'em a break. Economy and stock market and all, right? Not their fault some idiot from the city throws a plastic bottle out the window!
Sadly, for decades, we've been peddled the false notion that we can just keep churning out more and more and more and more plastic, as if we'll never run out, because hey! We can just recycle it, right? Actually, that might well turn out to be a complete lie.
Just like the idea that oil and gas companies can be reliably depended on to self-regulate responsibly for the benefit of all. The supposedly high standards I keep hearing about have over time left Albertans on the hook for hundreds of billions in clean up costs.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently pledged nearly $2 billion to help clean up orphan and inactive wells in Alberta. Classic example of privatizing the profits from public resources, and making the taxpayers cover the tab of the astounding costs of the clean up.
Unfortunately, plenty of voters indifferently shrug off this kind of corporate welfare, sometimes while railing against social programs that help regular people like themselves and do far more to stimulate the economy than so-called "job creating" tax cuts.
How to dispel decades of heavily funded corporate propaganda spin campaigns that have been so deeply imbedded in the minds of millions, is beyond my ability to speculate or even grasp.
On Earth Day, as I do every day, I think about my own consumption, which I try to keep in check. Even so, while well under average compared with North American standards, my carbon footprint is unquestionably vastly greater than the world average.
Oh, and by the way, turns out the term "carbon footprint" is just more corporate spin doctoring to sell the idea that consumers should be blamed for pollution, as opposed to industry, which of course is responsible for generating by far the most.
Without reducing consumption and far more importantly heavily regulating industry, the climate goals politicians have pontificated about since I was a kid, will remain empty words to placate people, and Earth Day, nothing more than another corporatized reason to make and sell merch while trying to feel better about ourselves.
Although perhaps the US president isn't wrong to call the decade ahead a decisive one if we are to mitigate the worst of climate change.
Because if we run back to the pre-pandemic status quo, expect emissions to soar way past targets. The children and especially grandchildren will have far more to worry about than debts and deficits. Hopefully, there'll be great grandchildren.
Or we could instead work to nurture our curious and kinder natures to help yield greener pastures for future generations by investing in people and public infrastructure, rather than so disproportionately catering to private interests.
Of course that largely comes down to the ballot box, when voters get a chance to remind politicians who elected officials are supposed to represent.
At some point, however, voters might have to go beyond the ballot box to make sure the message is getting across.
