this is bizarre--someone tell me it's not true

> > On Receiving Harvard Medical School's Global Environment Citizen
> > Award
> > by Bill Moyers
> >
> >
> > I accept this award on behalf of all the people behind the camera
> > whom you never see. And for all those scientists, advocates,
> > activists, and just plain citizens whose stories we have covered
in
> > reporting on how environmental change affects our daily lives. We
> > journalists are simply beachcombers on the shores of other
people's
> > knowledge, other people's experience, and other people's wisdom.
We
> > tell their stories.
> >
> > The journalist who truly deserves this award is my friend, Bill
> > McKibben. He enjoys the most conspicuous place in my own pantheon
of
> > journalistic heroes for his pioneer work in writing about the
> > environment. His bestseller The End of Nature carried on where
Rachel
> > Carson's Silent Spring left off.
> >
> > Writing in Mother Jones recently, Bill described how the problems
we
> > journalists routinely cover - conventional, manageable programs
like
> > budget shortfalls and pollution - may be about to convert to
chaotic,
> > unpredictable, unmanageable situations. The most unmanageable of
all,
> > he writes, could be the accelerating deterioration of the
> > environment, creating perils with huge momentum like the
greenhouse
> > effect that is causing the melt of theArctic to release so much
> > freshwater into the North Atlantic that even the Pentagon is
growing
> > alarmed that a weakening gulf stream could yield abrupt and
> > overwhelming changes, the kind of changes that could radically
alter
> > civilizations.
> >
> > That's one challenge we journalists face - how to tell such a
story
> > without coming across as Cassandras, without turning off the
people
> > we most want to understand what's happening, who must act on what
> > they read and hear.
> >
> > As difficult as it is, however, for journalists to fashion a
> > readable narrative for complex issues without depressing our
readers
> > and viewers, there is an even harder challenge - to pierce the
> > ideology that governs official policy today. One of the biggest
> > changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no
> > longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the
seat
> > of power in the oval office and in Congress. For the first time in
> > our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in
> > Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven
true;
> > ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted
by
> > what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology
> > couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always
blind.
> > And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious
to
> > the facts.
> >
> > Remember James Watt, President Reagan's first Secretary of the
> > Interior? My favorite online environmental journal, the ever
engaging
> > Grist, reminded us recently of how James Watt told the U.S.
Congress
> > that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the
> > imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said,
'after
> > the last tree is felled, Christ will come back.'
> >
> > Beltway elites snickered. The press corps didn't know what he was
> > talking about. But James Watt was serious. So were his compatriots
> > out across the country. They are the people who believe the bible
is
> > literally true - one-third of the American electorate, if a recent
> > Gallup poll is accurate. In this past election several million
good
> > and decent citizens went to the polls believing in the rapture
index.
> > That's right - the rapture index. Google it and you will find that
> > the best-selling books in America today are the twelve volumes of
the
> > left-behind series written by the Christian fundamentalist and
> > religious right warrior, Timothy LaHaye. These true believers
> > subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the 19th century
by
> > a couple of immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from
the
> > Bible and wove them into a narrative that has captivated the
> > imagination of millions of Americans.
> >
> > Its outline is rather simple, if bizarre (the British writer
George
> > Monbiot recently did a brilliant dissection of it and I am
indebted
> > to him for adding to my own understanding): once Israel has
occupied
> > the rest of its 'biblical lands,' legions of the anti-Christ will
> > attack it, triggering a final showdown in the valley of
Armageddon.
> > As the Jews who have not been converted are burned, the messiah
will
> > return for the rapture. True believers will be lifted out of their
> > clothes and transported to heaven, where, seated next to the right
> > hand of God, they will watch their political and religious
opponents
> > suffer plagues of boils, sores, locusts, and frogs during the
several
> > years of tribulation that follow.
> >
> > I'm not making this up. Like Monbiot, I've read the literature.
I've
> > reported on these people, following some of them from Texas to the
> > West Bank They are sincere, serious, and polite as they tell you
they
> > feel called to help bring the rapture on as fulfillment of
biblical
> > prophecy. That's why they have declared solidarity with Israel and
> > the Jewish settlements and backed up their support with money and
> > volunteers. It's why the invasion of Iraq for them was a warm-up
act,
> > predicted in the Book of Revelations where four angels 'which are
> > bound in the great river Euphrates will be released to slay the
third
> > part of man.' A war with Islam in the Middle East is not something
to
> > be feared but welcomed - an essential conflagration on the road to
> > redemption. The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at
> > 144-just one point below the critical threshold when the whole
thing
> > will blow, the son of god will return, the righteous will enter
> > heaven, and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire.
> >
> > So what does this mean for public policy and the environment? Go
to
> > Grist to read a remarkable work of reporting by the journalist,
Glenn
> > Scherer - 'the road to environmental apocalypse. Read it and you
will
> > see how millions of Christian fundamentalists may believe that
> > environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded but
actually
> > welcomed - even hastened - as a sign of the coming apocalypse.
> >
> > As Grist makes clear, we're not talking about a handful of fringe
> > lawmakers who hold or are beholden to these beliefs. Nearly half
the
> > U.S. Congress before the recent election - 231 legislators in
total -
> > more since the election - are backed by the religious right.
Forty-
> > five senators and 186 members of the 108th congress earned 80 to
100
> > percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian
> > right advocacy groups. They include Senate Majority Leader Bill
> > Frist, Assistant Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Conference Chair
> > Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Policy Chair Jon Kyl of Arizona,
House
> > Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Majority Whip Roy Blunt. The only
> > Democrat to score 100 percent with the Christian coalition was
> > Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, who recently quoted from the
biblical
> > book of Amos on the senate floor: "the days will come, sayeth the
> > Lord God, that i will send a famine in the land.' he seemed to be
> > relishing the thought.
> >
> > And why not? There's a constituency for it. A 2002 TIME/CNN poll
> > found that 59 percent of Americans believe that the prophecies
found
> > in the book of Revelations are going to come true. Nearly
one-quarter
> > think the Bible predicted the 9/11 attacks. Drive across the
country
> > with your radio tuned to the more than 1,600 Christian radio
stations
> > or in the motel turn some of the 250 Christian TV stations and you
> > can hear some of this end-time gospel. And you will come to
> > understand why people under the spell of such potent prophecies
> > cannot be expected, as Grist puts it, "to worry about the
> > environment. Why care about the earth when the droughts, floods,
> > famine and pestilence brought by ecological collapse are signs of
the
> > apocalypse foretold in the bible? Why care about global climate
> > change when you and yours will be rescued in the rapture? And why
> > care about converting from oil to solar when the same god who
> > performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes can whip up a few
> > billion barrels of light crude with a word?"
> >
> > Because these people believe that until Christ does return, the
lord
> > will provide. One of their texts is a high school history book,
> > America's providential history. You'll find there these words:
"the
> > secular or socialist has a limited resource mentality and views
the
> > world as a piethat needs to be cut up so everyone can get a
piece.'
> > however, "[t]he Christian knows that the potential in god is
> > unlimited and that there is no shortage of resources in god's
> > earthwhile many secularists view the world as overpopulated,
> > Christians know that god has made the earth sufficiently large
with
> > plenty of resources to accommodate all of the people." No wonder
Karl
> > Rove goes around the White House whistling that militant hymn,
> > "Onward Christian Soldiers." He turned out millions of the foot
> > soldiers on November 2, including many who have made the
apocalypse a
> > powerful driving force in modern American politics.
> >
> > I can see in the look on your faces just how had it is for the
> > journalist to report a story like this with any credibility. So
let
> > me put it on a personal level. I myself don't know how to be in
this
> > world without expecting a confident future and getting up every
> > morning to do what I can to bring it about. So I have always been
an
> > optimist. Now, however, I think of my friend on Wall Street whom I
> > once asked: "What do you think of the market?" "I'm optimistic,"
he
> > answered. "Then why do you look so worried?" And he answered:
> > "Because I am not sure my optimism is justified."
> >
> > I'm not, either. Once upon a time I agreed with the Eric Chivian
and
> > the Center for Health and the Global Environment that people will
> > protect the natural environment when they realize its importance
to
> > their health and to the health and lives of their children. Now I
am
> > not so sure. It's not that I don't want to believe that - it's
just
> > that I read the news and connect the dots:
> >
> > I read that the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection
> > Agency has declared the election a mandate for President Bush on
the
> > environment. This for an administration that wants to rewrite the
> > Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act
> > protecting rare plant and animal species and their habitats, as
well
> > as the National Environmental Policy Act that requires the
government
> > to judge beforehand if actions might damage natural resources.
> >
> > That wants to relax pollution limits for ozone; eliminate vehicle
> > tailpipe inspections; and ease pollution standards for cars,
sports
> > utility vehicles and diesel-powered big trucks and heavy
equipment.
> >
> > That wants a new international audit law to allow corporations to
> > keep certain information about environmental problems secret from
the
> > public.
> >
> > That wants to drop all its new-source review suits against
polluting
> > coal-fired power plans and weaken consent decrees reached earlier
> > with coal companies.
> >
> > That wants to open the Arctic wildlife refuge to drilling and
> > increase drilling in Padre Island National Seashore, the longest
> > stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world and the last
great
> > coastal wild land in America.
> >
> > I read the news just this week and learned how the Environmental
> > Protection Agency had planned to spend nine million dollars - $2
> > million of it from the administration's friends at the American
> > Chemistry Council - to pay poor families to continue to use
> > pesticides in their homes. These pesticides have been linked to
> > neurological damage in children, but instead of ordering an end to
> > their use, the government and the industry were going to offer the
> > families $970 each, as well as a camcorder and children's
clothing,
> > to serve as guinea pigs for the study.
> >
> > I read all this in the news.
> >
> > I read the news just last night and learned that the
> > administration's friends at the international policy network,
which
> > is supported by ExxonMobil and others of like mind, have issued a
new
> > report that climate change is 'a myth, sea levels are not rising,
> > scientists who believe catastrophe is possible are 'an
embarrassment.
> >
> > I not only read the news but the fine print of the recent
> > appropriations bill passed by Congress, with the obscure (and
> > obscene) riders attached to it: a clause removing all endangered
> > species protections from pesticides; language prohibiting judicial
> > review for a forest in Oregon; a waiver of environmental review
for
> > grazing permits on public lands; a rider pressed by developers to
> > weaken protection for crucial habitats in California.
> > I read all this and look up at the pictures on my desk, next to
the
> > computer - pictures of my grandchildren: Henry, age 12; of Thomas,
> > age 10; of Nancy, 7; Jassie, 3; Sara Jane, nine months. I see the
> > future looking back at me from those photographs and I say,
'Father,
> > forgive us, for we know now what we do.' And then I am stopped
short
> > by the thought: 'That's not right. We do know what we are doing.
We
> > are stealing their future. Betraying their trust. Despoiling their
> > world.'
> >
> > And I ask myself: Why? Is it because we don't care? Because we are
> > greedy? Because we have lost our capacity for outrage, our ability
to
> > sustain indignation at injustice?
> > What has happened to out moral imagination?
> >
> > On the heath Lear asks Gloucester: 'How do you see the world?" And
> > Gloucester, who is blind, answers: "I see it feelingly.'"
> >
> > I see it feelingly.
> >
> > The news is not good these days. I can tell you, though, that as a
> > journalist I know the news is never the end of the story. The news
> > can be the truth that sets us free - not only to feel but to fight
> > for the future we want. And the will to fight is the antidote to
> > despair, the cure for cynicism, and the answer to those faces
looking
> > back at me from those photographs on my desk. What we need to
match
> > the science of human health is what the ancient Israelites called
> > 'hocma' - the science of the heart..the capacity to see.to
feel.and
> > then to actas if the future depended on you.
> >
> > Believe me, it does."