Evan+B's+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech

New Environmentalism (Disclaimer: I understand some of the evidence I'm using to justify my points is debated among differing beliefs, and I don't mean nor have the authority to say one if the definitive way to look at geological/ecological history or more righteous than another. I respect the differing beliefs on this evidence, and am not trying to argue their validity in this speech.)

As a species we have no authoritative effect on the presence of life on our planet; although we are able of affecting the ecosystem we currently preside in, and have substantially before, mass extinctions and further the destruction of ecosystems on Earth have occurred before, and will continue to occur. We have a certain type of “God-complex” when it comes to regarding the environment; we think of all other forms of life with which we share Earth with as being fragile and prone to damage by human action; and while it is true that certain elements of the world we inhabit have been harmed by our move for energy and excess (such as aerosols in our hairspray affecting ozone levels in the atmosphere, the melting of the icecaps due to global warming deforestation due to unregulated harvesting and the need for land for cattle, etc), the only ultimate threats we pose are within our own small sphere of existence. We know from the radiometric dating of grounded meteorites that our planet is nearing 5 billion years old; and we know from geological and biological research that the end of the Permian era, around a quarter of a billion years ago, was marked by a mass extinction in which 96% of all species perished. Yet, the Earth adapted and reformed. If we use reasoning derived from this evidence, then we know an absolute ecology will outlive the human race and adapt to the changes we make to it. The drive then for environmental conservation is not unjustified or non-impactful, but unrepresented truthfully as it really is; a self-concerning cause. We promote treating the Earth and our ecosystem with environmental responsibility; but really what we're promoting is a sense of false entitlement over it. We do not own the Earth; it owns us. Whatever we do for environmental cause is not for the prosperity of the Earth and the presence of any ecosystem, but for the duration of our own. And, conserving the environment under the cause of protecting other species is truly in stride of continuing factors of the current world we rely on for sustenance. We do not protect other species because we have a real understanding of selfless action, but because we need them to fuel our growth; our prime motivation to do so is only a veiled form of survival instinct. A pet owner only does so to fulfil social needs (teaching children responsibility, or as a filler for children themselves), and we only keep other species from extinction so that they continue to affect ecosystems we need resources from, or so we can study them to further our biological understandings and therefore make progress in fields of science directly affecting human prosperity. I’m not trying to argue that we should abandon environmental cause; I enjoy being a human, and would like our species to continue. So, support environmental cause, and practice responsible consumerism; but keep in mind your actions are in support of the duration of the human race on Earth, and not the other way around. Don’t recycle or compost or clean the beaches because you say you care about sea turtles; you might think you do, and granted they are cute, but really I think you don’t. I think there is a difference between doing things completely selflessly (which I believe is almost impossible for humans to do), and doing things in support of your own species (even if these actions are unclear or indirect). The America I want to see then is one where we are conscious of this separation; where we are conscious of our powerlessness, and stop believing we are greater than our home. The time for solipsism in the face of the idea that we are in control is over.