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Environmental Quotes Homepage
Environmental Quotes To Lend Support for
the Preservation of Our Natural Environment
Commentary © 2007  Richard Chandler & Bonnett Chandler

Rachel Carson

“There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings ... Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change ... There was a strange stillness ... The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.” 

- Rachel Carson  (1907-1964)

 Thus Rachel Carson’s most famous book, Silent Spring begins, elegant and dire, influencing the culture that was for the most part, oblivious to environmental dangers.  It was published in 1962, and influenced President Kennedy, who after reading it, to called for the testing of those chemicals mentioned in the book. They included DDT and some lesser-publicized pesticides that have since been placed under a nationwide ban.

In the face of character-assassinating criticism from the corporate industrial chemical giants, Carson’s campaign to outlaw those poisonous chemicals prevailed and she has been called the mother of the modern environmental movement. The grass roots public outcry that she inspired led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. And in addition to inspiring a generation of activists, and feminist scientists, Carson is recognized as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Norway has an annual prize called the “Rachel Carson Prize” which annually awards money to women who have made a contribution to the environment. Ms. Carson died of cancer at the age of 56.

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.”

“The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is for the most part irreversible. In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world - the very nature of its life.”

                  

“Like the resource it seeks to protect, wildlife conservation must be dynamic, changing as conditions change, seeking always to become more effective.”

- Rachel Carson  (1907-1964)

“For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it is a pity that you use it so little.”

“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species - man - acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.”

“Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”

“It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.”

“The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery - not over nature but of ourselves.”

- Rachel Carson  (1907-1964)

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Leonardo DiCaprio

In recent years Leonardo DiCaprio, an extraordinarily skilled, prolific and commercially successful actor, has focused time and resources on raising awareness for the plight of environmental destruction, and our role in reversing the long-term damage to planet earth. He produced, co-wrote and narrated the documentary film, ‘The 11th hour’, which is now premiering.

DiCaprio flies on commercial flights rather than private jets, to lessen his impact on the environment. His home in Los Angeles uses solar panels and he drives a hybrid car. He has collaborated with Al Gore on global warming education. In addition to his acting website, he also maintains an environmental website, www.LeonardoDiCaprio.org which is a good resource for basic information on sustainability, the George Bush record for environmental support, (The 1st President ever to receive an “F” from the League of Conservation Voters.), biodiversity, global warming, oceans and fresh water.

“It’s not just global warming, it’s not just a loss of biodiversity, it’s not just the pollution of our oceans and the clearing of our rainforests and all these complicated systems, The [11th Hour] movie talks about the world economy, it talks about politics, it talks about personal transformation and environmental consciousness that we need to have in this generation to implement a lot of these changes that need to occur.”

“Drugs? Every one has a choice and I choose not to do drugs.”

“Brothers don’t necessarily have to say anything to each other… they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other.”

“What I really wanted was to travel and see all the different animals that were on the verge of extinction.”

“This is the way that people are educated about issues nowadays. This is the main avenue for learning in today’s world.” I would just hope that enough people go to see them, so the studios will be encouraged to make more films like that in the future and that there is an audience for them and they are profitable.”

- Leonardo DiCaprio (1974- )

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Nobel Peace Price recipient Al Gore was the 45th Vice President of the United States, serving under President Bill Clinton from 1993-2001. Many believe he should have been the 46th President. Gore lectures widely on the topic of global warming, environmental issues, green living, alternative energy and a sustainable future for planet earth. He starred in the Academy Award winning documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.  In October 2007, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in raising awareness for climate change. Here are several of his quotes…

“You see that pale, blue dot? That's us. Everything that has ever happened in all of human history, has happened on that pixel. All the triumphs and all the tragedies, all the wars all the famines, all the major advances... it's our only home. And that is what is at stake, our ability to live on planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization. I believe this is a moral issue, it is your time to cease this issue, it is our time to rise again to secure our future.”

“Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination.”

“I am Al Gore and I used to be the next president of the United States of America.”

- Al Gore (1946- )

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Ed Begley Jr. is a character actor and environmental activist who, along with his wife, Rachelle Carson, currently host their own show on the Home and Garden network, Living with Ed.  He has been considered an environmental leader in Hollywood for many years. Environmental lawyer and long-time friend, Bobby Kennedy, Jr. has said “Ed has a greater sense of social obligation than anyone I know. He’s like a West Coast cadet who gets up every morning and says ‘reporting for duty’.”

“Recycling just seems like the right thing to do, I mean really, it makes us responsible for the messes that we make. It’s all about just picking up after yourself, not shoving our trash in our oceans and streams. We might as well reuse it before we lose it.”

“I can't imagine a right more basic than the right to breathe clean air. We've debated for years how that might be possible. Now that we know it is, will we have the courage and the conviction to get there?”

“This is a deeply spiritual issue...Do we want to spend more time trying to care for our fellow man or do we want to just pursue more virtual reality? That's the issue before us and it's being played out in the world of the environment.”

“We, who have so much, must do more to help those in need. And most of all, we must live simply, so that others may simply live.”

- Ed Begley Jr.  (1949- )

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Jane Goodall is best known for her work with the chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park in Africa.  A world- renowned primatologist and anthropologist, she continues to work tirelessly for animal rights and the environment. Here are three quotes from Goodall.

“We can't leave people in abject poverty, so we need to raise the standard of living for 80% of the world's people, while bringing it down considerably for the 20% who are destroying our natural resources.”

“The long hours spent with them in the forest have enriched my life beyond measure. What I have learned from them has shaped my understanding of human behavior, of our place in nature.”

“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”

- Jane Goodall  (1934- )

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One of Hollywood’s superstars and a legend in American popular film culture, Robert Redford is not only an actor and producer, but and environmentalist and philanthropist, as well.

“I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?”

 - Robert Redford (1936- )

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Just 2 credits shy of a 4-year degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, Brad Pitt drove out to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. Combining philanthropy along with his long-term interest in architecture, he recently sponsored a contest to design an environmentally friendly house in his hometown of New Orleans. Like many celebs, he has 'gone green'.

“By employing the intelligence of natural systems we can create industry, buildings, even regional plans that see nature and commerce not as mutually exclusive but mutually coexisting."

- Brad Pitt (1963- )

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Environmentalist Al Gore was one of the first people to grasp the seriousness of climate change. The 45th Vice President under former President Bill Clinton, Gore lectures widely on the subject of global warming and the environment. He starred in the film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, which won the 2007 Academy Award for best documentary.

“The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action.”

- Al Gore (1946- )

 

“What changed in the United States with Hurricane Katrina was a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences.”

- Al Gore (1946- )

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In addition to his success as an actor, Leonardo DiCaprio is a leading advocate for the environment. He lives in a solar house, bikes around New York City and is now producing the “11th Hour,” a feature length documentary film, to include the state of the environment as well as practical solutions to restoring our earth’s long-term health.

“Global warming is not only the number one environmental challenge we face today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity,” said DiCaprio. “We all have to do our part to raise awareness about global warming and the problems we as a people face in promoting a sustainable environmental future for our planet.”

- Leonardo DiCaprio (1974- )

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Environmental Quotes Continued Here

 

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