Environmental Crisis Quotes

“It has often been said that our environmental crisis is a crisis of perception. We do not readily see the patterns that would reveal our dependence on the natural world, nor are we commonly aware of the systems within which we are deeply embedded. Our attention, entrained on objects and focused on flat screens, is far removed from the dynamic and animated nonhuman world. We are as good as blind to the wonder at our feet or the daily spectacle of an ever-changing sky.”
― Laura Sewall

“The crucial consideration, however, is where reliable solutions to the world’s problems will come from if it is not further development of chemistry. Chemistry holds the key to the enhancement of almost every aspect of our daily lives, from the cradle to the grave and all points in between. It has provided the material foundation of all our comforts, not only in health but in illness too, and there is no reason to suppose that it has reached its zenith. It contributes to our communications, both virtual and physical, for it provides the materials along which our electrons and photons travel in the complex network of patterns and interactions that result in computation. Moreover, it develops our fuels, rendering them more efficiently combustible and through catalysis minimizing their noxious products, and helps in the migration from fossil fuels to renewable sources, such as in the development of photovoltaic substances. Chemistry is the only solution to the problems it causes in the environment, be it in earth, air, or water.”
― Peter Atkins, Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction

“How can we, despite countless government pledges and programmes and a groundswell of civic society, remain quietly on course to sacrifice swathes of this planet's people and lifeforms to the demands of an affluent and powerful minority?”
― Adrienne Buller, The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism

“Είμαστε έτοιμοι να διαστρέψουμε την πραγματικότητα αν το διακύβευμα είναι να μην ηττηθούμε ολοσχερώς. Θέλουμε απάντηση στο παραμικρό άγχος μας, κι έναν τρόπο να σκεφτόμαστε τον κόσμο χωρίς να τίθενται υπό αμφισβήτηση οι αξίες μας, τα συναισθήματα μας, οι πράξεις μας. Πάρτε την κλιματική αλλαγή. Δεν ακούμε ποτέ τους επιστήμονες. Εκπέμπουμε ξέφρενα εικονικό άνθρακα από ορυκτές πηγές ενέργειας, εικονικές ή μη, αναθαιρμένουμε την ατμόσφαιρά μας, εικονική ή μη, και το είδος μας, πάντα εικονικό ή μη, θα εκλείψει. Τίποτα δεν κινείται. Οι πλούσιοι το' χουν σίγουρο πως θα τη γλιτώσουν, μόνοι τους, ενάντια σε κάθε λογική, και οι άλλοι περιορίζονται να ελπίζουν.”
― Hervé Le Tellier, The Anomaly