The Brockovich Report

Let me start off by saying (again) that I am as green as I have ever been. My concern for the environment and health and welfare for all of us has not lessened, nor will it. If anything, my feeling is stronger than ever, as the need for personal responsibility grows.

We are all responsible for our own sphere of influence.

I would like to address the "green" movement going on in the world today. What does that really mean to each of us as individuals? Even those who perceive themselves as being green or living green manifest their greenness in different ways.

Some people see green as a way to make money. That is okay as long as we progress and don’t jeopardize more of the environment.

Some people see it as recycling.

Others see being green in terms of carbon credits.

Being green means more than just being aware that the ice caps are melting and that global warming is upon us.

It means acting upon that knowledge in an infinity of small ways.

Being green is about fighting air pollution, and cleaning up the contamination that exists today. Being green is about changing to efficient light bulbs and being generally more energy efficient in our daily lives.

Being green is about finding other energy sources to use besides oil.

Being green means saving our oceans, our wildlife, our air, water and soil.

Being green means bypassing the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents in order to choose organics.

Being green is both a state of mind and activist issue because being green is something that is not merely spoken; it is a thing that is done. Thinking about it is the first step. Doing something about it is the next piece of the puzzle. If one doesn’t happen, the other won’t and the continuum of life will be broken.

Green is not a fad. It is a matter of survival--that’s how crucial every individual contribution and commitment is. We all caused the problem, and it will take all of us to clean up after ourselves.

Green is the natural state. It is what we come from and where we must return if we want to survive. We can only do that by working together. We must join in this commitment to this our common cause. After all, nothing is more common among us than our need for the air we breathe and the water we drink. Our very lives are contingent upon these elements.

We have got to take our places on the front lines of our battle for the environment--each and every one of us--to keep the continuum going. This is the daily battle and the long term movement inching us towards a better environment and a better life for us all.

I know I've talked before about politicians and heroes, but now I am speaking of the power and reach each of us as individuals. In this sense, we do not need politicians standing on the stump. We are all Oprahs. We are all Al Gores. We are all--if you will pardon sharing my name--Erin Brockovich--up on the big HD screen of life, fighting the fight for the environment.
Nothing in nature stands still. We need to remember if we simply do nothing, we will get pushed back. In order to have progress, in order to maintain progress we have got to keep fighting forward together.

The time has come to stop feeling that we have no hand in our own fate. We do have a hand in our fate; it is our choice to do or to do nothing.

This being nearly election time, I must also add that the best expression of freedom that I know of is the freedom to think for oneself and to act in our own defense. So with that in mind, may we always choose truth over deception, whatever political face it wears. May we always see clear enough to know which is which. And may we always choose green.