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Editorial: Air Boats and the Golden Rule
February 2nd, 2004

Editorial: A Year of Opportunity
January 24th, 2004

Editorial: Sports on TV
January 15th, 2004

Editorial: Mad Cow Disease in the US
December 26th, 2003

Editorial: Jeb`s Water War
November 25th, 2003

Editorial: Citizen Input Needed
October 27th, 2003

Editorial: Congrats to Our Commission, Now We Must Help
October 17th, 2003

Editorial: Remember Owens Valley
September 29th, 2003

Editorial: Gold Plating Reality, Reconstruction Chic
September 21st, 2003

Editorial: The Responsiblities of a Journalist
August 27th, 2003

Editorial: A Fable: The Great Guano Concord
July 24th, 2003

Editorial: Music for Children
May 26th, 2003

Editorial: Speak Out
May 15th, 2003

Editorial: Parking: Our Biggest Problem?
May 2nd, 2003

Editorial: Vote and Vote Well
April 22nd, 2003

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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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