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Editorial: Independence Day
July 2nd, 2006

Editorial: Once Again...
June 25th, 2006

Editorial: Home Ownership
June 24th, 2006

Editorial: Mosquito Control in Cedar Key
May 11th, 2006

Editorial: Will Gas Prices Go Up?
April 30th, 2006

Editorial: Tree Ordinance Violations
April 26th, 2006

Editorial: Why Worry about Global Warming?
April 21st, 2006

Editorial: The Purpose of Government?
March 23rd, 2006

Editorial: Air Boat Regatta, Guests or Pests?
January 29th, 2006

Editorial: The East-West Management Plan
December 21st, 2005

Editorial: Water, Water, Water
December 13th, 2005

Editorial: Bad News for Print News, Good for Online
November 14th, 2005

Editorial: A Bad Tradition
November 10th, 2005

Editorial: For the Birds
October 17th, 2005

Editorial: If It Killed the River....
October 4th, 2005

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Editorial: Earth Day 2010

Editorial: Earth Day 2010

Editorial

Earth Day 2010

Earth Day, April 22, marks the fortieth year that people have set aside a day to recognize the need for stewardship of the communal home that we share on Earth. That stewardship was recognized by a very early tourist that arrived in Cedar Key in 1867, namely John Muir. Muir later founded the Sierra Club and persuaded Presidents to protect the natural resources and beauty of our country.

The conservation movement, begun by Muir and other far-sighted souls, has expanded far beyond preservation of wild lands. We now see the need to protect our rivers and beaches from pollution. Game laws, fishing limits and endangered species legislation are now recognized as necessary to counteract selfish and thoughtless assaults on nature. Recall the whaling industry`s excesses or the pollution of an Ohio river to the point it caught fire. Both cases relate to human demand for energy, in the form of whole oil and kerosene.

The conservation movement has grown to include efforts to dampen if not stop the population explosion and establish a sustainable life style. Populations have stabilized in most "developed" nations, a sign of progress.

Mountains of trash in the form of sanitary land-fills demonstrate that a sustainable life style is an ideal not yet attained.

The Cedar Key Commission has taken a step toward a sustainable life style, and our reputation as a green city, by voting to try once-a-week garbage collection. Once-a-week collection encourages recycling of waste. Furthermore, once-a-week collection reduces the volume of waste taken to the dump and cuts fuel consumption by lumbering garbage trucks.

On April 22, Earth Day, we need to give thanks to John Muir for National Parks and wildlife refuges. We need to thank the founders of Earth Day for the expansion of the conservation ethic to the many ways to keep the Earth inhabitable.

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