David Peat

158 From Certainty to Uncertaintynology in our desire for ever more progress created an ecological threateven while it alerted us to the dangers it posed to the environment.Rachel Carson’s book appeared at a particularly appropriate time.It was at the start of the swinging sixties, that turbulent period whenyoung people were questioning the wisdom of their parents, exploringalternative lifestyles, and discovering the power of political protest.Clearly environmentalism was an issue that politically aware peoplewanted to support.As we look at our own contemporary environment, with its issuesof global warming, genetically modified foods, the human genomeproject, and the depletion of the ozone layer we realize just how complexthe world has become and how important it is to have clear andimpartial information. We are now less certain about the consequencesof that development we call “progress.”Most of us pay lip service to the idea that environmentalism is agood thing, that we should care for the planet, and that “someone”should do “something” about such issues as global warming, depletionof the ozone layer, and the destruction of forests and natural habitats.“What can we do about these important issues?” we ask. “Surely theycan only be resolved through legislation and international agreements.”We are certainly willing to support environmentalism during a dinnerparty discussion. But what else are we supposed to do?On the other hand, each day we face a host of tiny decisions thatcall for a small degree of effort on our part. It’s all too easy to throw anempty soup can into the garbage, or drop the newspaper we have finishedreading into the nearest wastebasket. Yet we know we should takethe time to sort bottles, newspapers, and cans into the correct recyclingcontainers, and maybe doing so gives us a little thrill of pride that weare doing something positive for the planet. The problem is that we arenever sure if what we are doing is important or not. In the long term,just how much impact will our individual actions have on the fate ofthe earth?