Happy 35th Earth Day
Saturday, April 23rd, 2005Earth Day is as traditional a holiday now as Easter or Labor Day. But instead of hunting for chocolate eggs deposited by mystical rabbits, it is observed as a day to search for reasons to blame civilization for destroying or endangering the future of all real rabbits, and humans as well.
But this year, can’t we step back a bit and ask: “Are we really paving paradise and putting up parking lots?”
No, says the Pacific Research Institute, which has published its annual index of environmental progress.
The environment is, in fact, flourishing. By most standards, air and water are the cleanest they have ever been. Forests are expanding, not shrinking.
But if Earth Day is all about blaming corporate greed, it is also about praising big government regulations for any progress that has been made.