Too many people are coming up with misguided and oftentimes fearful reasons for the environmental state of our world. The environmentalists of today are constantly attacking the American way of life, and are pointing their fingers at progress and technology as the cause of the Earth's demise. They try to put fear in the hearts of many by blaming the everyday average American, and come up with accusations that the world will be uninhabitable by the turn of the century. I ask all of you average Americans, do you feel at fault? Do you really think your lifestyle is harming the Earth? In the environmentalist mind set, mankind is the one great enemy of this planet.

I feel we need to first look at the environmental situation and assess if there is any danger in the first place, and if there is, what to do about it. Looking at it from an overall aspect, I think it is safe to say that we as humans are a part of this Earth. Are we necessarily capable of causing extreme damage to it? The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Throughout this time it has undergone dramatic environmental and geological changes. Do you really think that in the time humans have walked this Earth that we are capable of altering the Earth's climate (which many claim) by pollution? I do not think so. Man is not powerful enough to accomplish this.

There are many claims that the ozone layer is depleting and that if we continue to expel fluorocarbons into the air, the ozone layer will soon disappear. I beg to differ. For example, when Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines, more than a thousand times the amount of ozone-depleting chemicals that man has ever produced was ejected into the atmosphere. This was just from one eruption. Volcanoes have been erupting and spewing chemicals into the atmosphere for millions of years, and the ozone layer is still here. We as humans surely cannot stop volcanoes from erupting to save our atmosphere.

Now don't get me wrong. There are environmental issues in this world that must be tackled, such as reduction of waste, responsible water use, and better land and soil management. These concerns and others can be acted upon without the altering of the American way of life. The environmentalists spend too much time trying to change everyone else's way of life, and not focusing on the problem at hand.

Some environmentalists blame technology, but technology can be the solution to many environmental problems. For example, in the article "Last oasis: facing water scarcity" by Sandra Postel of World Water Institute, new technologies such as water-saving devices, leak detection and repair and more efficient irrigation techniques are being used all over the world to produce higher crop yields and cut average water use at the same time. Also, proper management of our land and forests, as well as better forms of waste reduction can be achieved. If there is an environmental problem to be dealt with, we need to come together, roll up our sleeves, and take care of the situation. Whether anybody likes it or not, technology and progression will always be present and they can be incorporated and coexistent with helping the environment.

The key to all of this is management and progression over blame and deceit. As stated before, the Earth is not fragile, and can take care of itself. We are not reaching a state of apocalypse here. We should continue as we always have, use the resources that are here, develop new resources and technologies that can help us progress in this world. The fear tactics need to be put aside, and cooperation needs to be enacted so the environment can continue to coexist with the American way of life.