Life & the rest

Blog Action Day

By Robert ⋅ October 15, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅ Post a comment

So here it is - faster than I thought: the strength of thousands of bloggers united - concerned about the future of our world. What’s so special about it? Well, ’cause it doesn’t happen very often that millions of people are writing about the environment on the same day.

As I thought about my prospective content I asked myself: why is it necessary to emphasize the importance of our environment? Shouldn’t it go without saying - like brushing teeth (well, according to a recent study Austrians have the worst oral hygiene of all Europeans).

The learning curve is apparently one of the most overestimated talents of human beings or should at least be reciprocally drawn. One could jump to this conclusion when looking at history. Environmental concerns are not new. We can find hints in the epic of Gilgamesh some 4700 years ago. In Ur, the ancient city of Mesopotamia, the first laws trying to protect the remaining forests were written around 2600 BC! In the Seven Pillars Edicts of King Ashoka (India) from 300 BC several animals were declared to be protected.

So where do we stand thousands of years later? The more we know about the effect of pollution on our environment and about the means to avoid it the more we must admit that nobody cares. Apparently it is more important to have all electronic equipment on standby, drive alone in a 1000HP frikkin SUV to get more lightbulbs for the roof on Christmas Day (well, not as much as the neighbour, but still).

As I try to come to a conclusion I must admit that I will not win a Nobel Prize for it. I can just pose questions and at least try to avoid the biggest mistakes in my personal environment. But I’m happy that the Nobel Prize Jury did that job for me with the nomination of Mr. Gore and the IPCC…

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