Show Not The TIle Baby With The TIle Bath Last week we observed Earth Week during which we joined with the thousands who are bringing ne needed ded at attention attention attention at- at to the necessity for preserving this earth if we and our children are to have a hospitable place to live There is a danger however that in our enthusiasm for fora a restored environment we may swing the pendulum too far INDUSTRY IS receiving the large share of the blame for damage to ecology and in many instances there has been little effort to minimize the damage caused by our industrial machinery We must take care however that in our enthusiasm to preserve our environment we do not shackle industry with tasks they cannot accomplish It would be well weir for each individual to take stock of his individual attitude attitude attitude at at- in this problem before crying too loudly for in industry industry industry in- in to clean up the earth EVERYTHING comes from something and no manufactured manufactured manufactured man man- convenience is made from entirely man made materials Plastics come from coal paper from trees automobiles are made from metal which is dug out of the ground and the fuel they burn corries comes from the ground Science has learned how to take these raw materials and turn them into comfortable living standards for millions millions millions mil mil- lions of people THERE HAS developed within recent months an attitude attitude attitude atti atti- tude which almost amounts to a war on science Lewis Mumford cultural historian social philosopher and urban- urban of western civilization science and technology technology tech tech- as a I which he calls the greatest enemy of western civilization 4 This pointing of fingers at science and industry has become the thing to do by enchanted dis-enchanted youth who are seeking something to point fingers something at-something to rebel against It is ironic th that thai t these scientists anti-scientists use the tools developed developed developed de de- de- de by science to attempt to halt further industrial effort They use electric guitars stereo rigs and mass communication media to publicize their opinions they wear clothing made by mass production methods and eat food grown with mechanized agriculture and they ride in automobiles and fly on airplanes WE DO not doubt that industry and science can do much less damage to the earth than they have done in the past while still continuing their forward progress We question that the large majority of the people really want our industrial machine stopped even to protect our environment There was no reduction in automobile traffic during earth week People still drank beer in cans and tossed them out of car windows They still burned the newspaper newspaper newspaper news news- paper and wasted food THEN WHY should these people demand that industry be the first to stop destroying our environment Perhaps the answer lies in no more finger pointing but an individual acceptance of responsibility Industry can do much to cut down pollution but so can people individually We can also stop taking more than we need and throwing away that which we do not use |