70
An Open Letter
To Save You
april 22,1970 the caroli na journal page 7
Fellow Human Beings,
The pollution of the earth has created
the most urgent and terrifying problem
ever faced on this planet. Our scientists
know that if there are not drastic
programs in relation to birth control and
the economy of planned obsolescence
and waste. The human species will die
from a poisoned environment in 35 years.
This country alone pours 20 million
tons of waste a DAY into the air, water,
and land. The United States is
Responsible for almost half the total
pollution of our earth. On February 7th
the NEW YORK TIMES reported on a
State Environment Quality Council in
Which Kenneth Watt, University of
California Ecologist, predicted “that by
the winter of 1975-76, smog in the Los
Angeles basin will be bad enough to cause
niass deaths."
Our federal pollution programs are
completely inadequate in every respect.
The Nixon Administration's program is as
affective as putting a band-aid on
someone suffering from cancer.
The Organization for Economic
Development and Co-operation estimates
that it will cost the United States $40
hillion a year merely to stem the tide of
the effects of the pollution we have
already created. It will cost an estimated
Sl20 billion a year to prevent universal
death—the same amount this nation has
spent for the Viet Nam war. We cannot
afford to continue to have a military
budget of $68 billion a year. We must
flange our priorities rapidly or we will
have the dubious distinction of being the
IJ^ost powerful military state in the
history of man that could not defend
'fself from suffocation by its own
9arbage. Making peace with nature is one
^ace movement everyone must join.
Those mothers and fathers who have
l^cently joined the anti-war movement
®r the sake of the lives of their
draft-eligible sons now have at stake the
Wes of ALL their children. If these
heople do not act to stop the destruction
“f the air, land, and water of the earth, all
'heir children will die.
We speak for the youiig and for
generations that are not yet born, and it
's now time to act. We must address our
Scievances to those who control industrial
htoduction. Since the automobile
"’dustry is responsible for 68% of the air
^llution, we must begin a national
boycott on the purchase of all new cars
'jPrnediately. The American people
Should not buy any new cars until the
Automobile industry uses its resources
''''cl influence to provide transportation
'''hich is pollution-free. We can no longer
j'lovv a small group of elderly rich
Id^'nagors to make a profit in the short
^"n and ensure the destruction of human
■’'istenco in the long run.
Since all industries are responsible for
“"r jiresent danger, we must call on the
®"sumers of this nation for positive
bon in the form of a second boycott,
ho retail stores sell |)roducts from
niost every corporation in the United
^les, and they receive 40% of their
l''siness during the Christmas season.
/A'tead of exchanging presents with each
d)or during the holiday season of 1970,
^ will celebrate a "Christmas for Life",
encourage all citizens to give instead
® some valuable cause such as
'^b-|)ollution.
April 22 has already been designated
urti, Day." The students, faculty and
•binistrators of the universities of this
^^untry must live up to their moral
i^TPonsibility to inform all of our fellow
^'tian beings of the problems of
L lution as well as the relationship
^I'Wecn the limited resources of this
^^Uet and the continuing population
Such a national campaign is
^’icult because there are powerful
jj^'biomic interests who will attempt to
biedit this effort by claiming they are
[, * to blame, or saying they are doing all
can.
those two actions do not move
fo ^Tate power to preserve this planet
the future, more drastic action will
r This is not a threat, but a
j^sinty. People in govcrmental
Thority think that the student
®fation has been turbulent over the
Viet Nam war, but they will fully
understand the meaning of student power
only when the full implications of the
enviromental problem become widely
known. We must demand in the coming
election year, regardless of party, that all
candidates place pollution control as the
number 1 priority of the United States.
We are going to ask each candidate if he
or she supports these boycotts, and if
not, why not. We are sensitive to the
problems of poverty, racism, and war, but
these afflictions of society must take
second priority. For if we abolished war,
solved the problems of poverty, and
created a society of equality this instant,
failure to act concerning the pollution of
the earth would still mean that we will all
perish in 35 years regardless of class,
color, or politics. OUR APPEAL IS TO
ALL HUMAN BEINGS FOR THE SAKE
OF THE YOUNG, BECAUSE THEY
HAVE THE MOST TO LOSE.
Green Mountain Boys
“What Now?”
(^itilitiiK.il (rotn !j
the people who never talk about
ecology... the housewives, secretaries,
schoolkids and blue collar workers who
notice the smokestacks, see the mud in
the Catawba, and then let ecology go by
as something about smokestacks and
rivers. It has, in other words, served to
spur at least a few imaginations to the
fact that much more than these are
included, that you can't really talk about
air, water, urban sprawl and trash without
getting into poverty, crime, the War, and
all the rest that we now know are
manifestations of a society gone wrong.
For those that already knew this, the
Teach-In has served a different purpose.
It has made the facilities for action
known the programs for the problems
and the people who should be contacted.
It has even put some coherency in the
movements and, in short, let us "get it
together." The step which awaits us all
now is keeping it together, making
something out of the momentum that has
been created, and then rapping it out
where its needed... Sugar Creek, Lake
Norman, the air pollution control laws,
protection of wilderness areas, and all the
rest.
If and when that is done... when the
talk turns into enlightened action, then
we can say in retrospect that the Teach-In
was worthwhile.
If not, well... sorry I wasted your time.
Bob Welch
Chairman, The Environmental
Teach-In.
City Hall wants a gas station here.
Power To The Park
By Alan Guggenheim
Tlie People want a park wliHe the
Charlotte Redevelopment Commission
wants an expressway and an influx of
new business.
The Power, of course, lies in the hands
of City Hall. As a result, 85% of the 47
acres of rough, hilly terrain known as
Blue Heaven are to be developed for
highways and business, leaving 15% of the
land for a park big enough for three trees
and a water fountain - and maybe a park
bench.
Last Sunday, a diverse group of people
picked up again the job of improving this
land. At 10:00 Sunday morning, a time
when the respectable thing to do is go to
church, these people - straights, hippies,
blacks, whites, kids, and preachers began
building a retainer wall to prevent erosion
along the banks of a creek.
Three boys on their way to play
baseball stopped to see what the
commotion was about. When they found
out about the proposed park, they went
home and deposited their baseball gloves
and bats and returned to the park with
boxes and shovels.
The work was dirty and tiresome. The
trash and debris from a past ghetto was
collected. Slings were used to cut the
higher grasses. The mixed gathering of
people were taking a big bite of humble
pie because, as of now, there is to be no
park, and their work was in vain. Despite
the odds - you do not figlit City Hall -
there was a steadfast spirit and rapport
among the People. There was not a bad
word for anybody.
At 1:00 the Reverand Henry Pressly of
Tabernacle ARP and the Reverand Ed
Neff of Pilgrim United Church of Christ
held services in the potential park. The
People stopped their chores and took
time to rap about the environment with
the ministers. Questions about the new
ecological ethics and the need for low-key
grassroots work within the system were
raised.
Kathey and Marvin Sparrow, editors of
the INQUISITION, and originators of the
People’s Park idea said that the work
done Sunday was “not a one shot deal.”
By 5:00 in the afternoon the endeavor
was halted in lieu of supper. However the
Park still does not exist in the eyes of the
Charlotte Redevelopment Commission.
After Sunday on McDowell Street there
are now some People who have earned
their rights to speak - at least speak - with
City Hall about getting the People a Park
in Blue Heaven.
f-iitiifeiMMiiua."!'".
® ^ ’ koKOJI ) n.l,-ntBI»nai0F BXXOGV WHICH
««• THt TTSAre OF ™e BELMTOKS BETVSIN CWFUISMS WCTHtR ehvironment:
BOHOMICS 2. THE WWNCMOFSOCIOlOGirCWCOTeDWITHTHESPRUNG
our«rwHOit^TNH«rMC OFPeOPUMDOrtNSTmmONSMOT>CJDPESUlTW6lMnRt)EPDD€NCy.
HMunfmmmtMmKm. []ov«DR)QH>HaotficmicMOr-GBCO ohioMHDuec-f locy^ (hcusehold)
environment
EARTH
EDEN
ETCRNAL
EVOUmON
ENaiXXE
ENRICHMENT
ENLIGHTENMENT
EROS
EDUCE
EMRWHY
EVE
EMOTION
ECSTASV
EXISTENCE
KTC.
TOEELUHSl
A >yH»0UC ■""N.
vmBmmtmr. . \
*J
SV?»BC5L
ORGANISM
ONENESS
CASIS
OM
OMNIFIC
OMNIPRESENCE
OMNIPOTENCE
OMNISCIENCE
ORtaN
ORACLE
OPEN
ORPHIC
ORGY
ORGASM
ONTOLOGY
KTC.
MAT KirwM* AU MM.-
ITUS
NAin m WM WMMM •
EOIANOK
-O-
; — —\ f ^ SANtMC
VtAWAL^
*^‘Teach-In
99
o
THE CIRCLE
(MANCMNkA)
IWIIMVIAML
arMBOLOF
WHOUNus or
^ IMnV~T)K CtM-
TCMNB OAMVCHt MTTH ODI-
rtoS'TMi pcsoumoN or au
0M0A(nBteoa»4tviLB Mllf
MU T *«HAU « uavr) SMAIY,
ruci.kvDNPTiricAMSMa.
TM MuncK cr AucKATTVrry
ANorowui,
THE SQUARE
MUMOtU SUIMcm
MCOHCWT
IMA1HMIK>
lUMUPOMItn.
PRESS Ran(4««S put JMOUCNJF.90046
Continued from page 5
oil companies that they must not driii
offshore? Are we prepared to develop a
land-use policy, to say, "You must not
destroy anymore".
The massive demonstration on April 22
will dramatize these questions. And this is
important: in a democracy, people must
be informed before they can demand
action from their public servants. But the
demonstration must do more than
inform. It must spark a national
commitment to do something.
Such a commitment seems increasingly
likely. Only a few short years ago there
were few political figures interested in
environmental questions. Today more
than half of Congress is committed to the
cause. Last January, in his State of the
Union Message, President Nixon himself
sounded the alarm. "Shall we surrender
to our surroundings?" he asked. "Or shall
we make our peace with nature and begin
to make reparations for the damage we
have done to our air, to our land and to
our water?"
Nobody knows the final answer to that
question. But Teach-In—and the
growing movement it represents-offers a
dramatic reason for hone
Reprintod from tho April 1970 issue of
THE READERS DICES'^