Learning to live in balance with Earth's limits

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Hans Noeldner, an active member of the Madison Peak Oil Group shared the statement he intends to make at the Dane County Board meeting tonight:

The debate about creating a Regional Transit Authority isn't really about the RTA. It's about adapting to the future versus clinging to the past. It's about learning to live in balance with Earth's limits versus denying that there are any. It's about working together versus fighting each other to get ahead.

And for you, Supervisors, this vote isn't really about an RTA either – it's about the sobriety of your expectations and the courage of your convictions. It's about voting for those who cannot speak for themselves because they are too young – or not even born yet. After all, they don't have a radio station to broadcast their demands to you.

If you are fearful when the times call us to be bold, ask yourself what our great-grandchildren might say to us if they could come back in time.

"Great-grandpa, where did all the farmland in Dane County go?"

We would have to say, "We covered it with highways and parking lots so we could drive everywhere and park."

"Great-great-grandma, why is there so little oil left in the ground? We still need some to plant and harvest our food!"

We would reply, "We burned it up driving our cars. We figured `they' would discover something else to keep civilization running by the time you came along."

"Great-great-great-grandpa, why didn't you remember to share with us? You had so much to begin with! Did you really need all you took?"

And our excuse would be, "Well, at first we couldn't imagine running out of things like oil or water or more land to build on. After all, there was always a lot more somewhere else! So we got spoiled; we said to ourselves, `I deserve it!' Then, when it began to sink in that there really ARE limits to how much people can take, the thought of not always having more of everything scared us so much that we refused to think or talk or do anything about it."