BY TULONG KABATAAN DAVAO CITY
The Commemoration of the World’s Earth Day, established on April 22, 1970, fast approaches. Forty three years had passed yet protests showing concern and condemnation about the deterioration of our environment caused pandemic and continued thereon. Thousands of different colleges and universities were mobilized upon realizing that the human race have the daunting task of reviving the planet’s life just as it has the power to bring it to its death.
On April 22, 1970, twenty million Americans participated in this environmental movement inscribed in the history as the delivery point of the contagious tradition around the globe and across time. Establishment of the World’s Earth Day was motivated tangibly by the high awareness of the human race regarding the imminent danger posed by anthropogenic contaminants.
According to US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), CO2 is the most significant among all greenhouse gasses being the leading cause of climate change. The concentration of this gas in the atmosphere has increased up to 40% since the Industrial Revolution.
Industrial Revolution changed everything in the world in a flip. This is the ripe stage of capitalism where production was mostly driven by profit. It is in this era that people began to use coal – the cheapest yet the dirtiest source of energy. Yes, it was the start of ‘development’ of commerce and industries, at the same time the beginning of the plunder of our natural environment.
As the years passed by, humans were sunken with the idea of mass production for profit and got ruthless and harsh in dealing with the environment. Humans began to use more than what is needed. Aside from the carbon emissions the industries release, the world’s natural resources are extracted in an uncontrollable manner. The presence of large-scale mining and logging operations particularly in our country are proofs. The natural landscapes are destroyed, many trees are cut down and our lush forests are dying. Not to mention land conversion which transforms our agricultural fields into subdivisions and plantations that alienate the poor people.
As a result, we all have experienced this abnormal changes in our temperature and climate. Mindanao for instance was known to be a typhoon-free area, but now experiences the wrath of typhoons. Sendong, and Pablo were the record-breakers. Death and damages were enormous.
Humans have a big role in the fast-changing climate. The capitalist system patronized by the few elite population caused such huge devastation in the world. The capitalists have turned heartless as they run after for more profit. The good thing is, humans are highly conscious about it. That is why ‘World’s Earth Day’ was created to help ease the guilt. But a number of people see as irreconcilable the participation of the profit-oriented system that propagates the idea that everyone’s failure to do little acts of energy-saving or waste segregation is to blame for the current environmental situation, despite the fact that the contribution of the poor consumers is very negligible relative to that of the capitalist industries.
World’s Earth Day is not a celebration but a commemoration. It should remind us of the possible ill-fate humanity would suffer if the exploitative system continues. Earth day is more than tree-growing, coastal clean ups, saving energy or what not. As long as there is unregulated cutting of woods, extraction of minerals, and disposals of toxic wastes from factories in the sea and atmosphere is still present, the problem will never be solved.
Why would we settle for short-term solutions when there is a long-term alternative? It’s simple, abolish the exploitative profit-oriented system through collective movement and establish a truly humane and eco-friendly economic system which is socialism.
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