To: letters@nytimes.com
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Dear Sir/Madam, Nations, like individuals, find it difficult facing up to their own faults, even though doing so is an expression of strength and maturity rather than of weakness (Draft of Air Rule Is Said to Exempt Many Old Plants, August 22, 2003). Because
of your immense power and
influence, we desperately
need America to face up to
its faults, in particular
to the non-sustainability
of its economy and way of
life, not least because
they are being emulated,
once they can afford it,
by billions of people
around the globe. It is a lot to ask, I know, but the alternative does not bear thinking about. It
was an American astronaut,
James Lovell, who radioed
back to Earth the immortal
words, “Houston, we have
a Problem”, when the
life-support systems of
his spacecraft, Apollo 13,
were damaged by an
explosion on its way to
the Moon. Our
planet, Spaceship
Earth,
also has a Problem: one of
creating sustainable
economies and ways of
life, not just for 300
million Americans, but for
7-9 billion people, before
its limited resources and
finite carrying capacity
cease to take the ever
increasing drain and
strain that we are placing
on them. There
is no lunar module for us
all to crawl into and hold
out until our safe return.
Either we solve the
Problem on board – or we
perish. Because
of the vast differences in
scale, the Problem that
took just seconds to
become apparent on board
Apollo 13, is taking years
(decades) aboard Spaceship
Earth. But for those with
eyes to see, the signs are
clear enough. Hopefully one day, we or our descendents will all be able to say, “God bless America” for leading us to sustainability, rather than “God forgive America” for leading us to our own destruction.
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