Thirty-four years ago today, I wore a homemade green armband on my left sleeve when I went to school in recognition of the first Earth Day. That lasted until I got to Mrs. Wright's class, and she wasn't having it. The armband came off, and I suppose that was the beginning of the end of my liberal-ish leanings.
In truth, I was interested in Earth Day and wore the armband because my best friend at the time, John, was pretty liberal and stayed up on these kinds of things. Probably still does to this day, but I haven't seen him in over thirty years now. And yet, while I don't intend to wear a green armband or anything like that, my conservative leanings don't make me an "anti-environmentalist," as some might claim. I believe in preserving our environment; I disagree with the so-called "environmentalists" over some of the methods we should use. There are many others we agree on. I don't throw trash out my truck window. I pick up other's trash when I walk past it. When I go hunting, I come back with everything I took in (and hopefully come out with a little extra something that will end up in the freezer). I'm glad we've worked so hard over the decades to reduce harmful emissions from most vehicles. I believe we should do more to reduce those emissions from diesel-powered vehicles. I support research to find alternative, renewable energy sources. I ride a bike. I walk to pick up the kids from school (which really irritates both the kids and my wife). There's more, but you get the idea.
So, in recognition of Earth Day, I'm going to go out and hug a tree and tell it how important it is to me.
