Environmental Problems Quotes - Page 2

• Americans long thought that nature could take care of itself-or that if it did not, the consequences were someone else's problem. As we know now, that assumption was wrong; none of us is a stranger to environmental problems.

  Jimmy Carter

  Long, Environmental, Care

  Carter, Jimmy (1977). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977”, p.967, Best Books on

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• The Earth faces environmental problems right now that threaten the imminent destruction of civilization and the end of the planet as a livable world. Humanity cannot afford to waste its financial and emotional resources on endless, meaningless quarrels between each group and all others. there must be a sense of globalism in which the world unites to solve the real problems that face all groups alike.

  Isaac Asimov

  Real, Emotional, Civilization

  Isaac Asimov (2009). “I, Asimov: A Memoir”, p.591, Bantam

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• If man has not found ways to deal with environmental problems such as water and air pollution by 1998, it will be too late. The future is not determined and it lies in our own hands.

  Margaret Mead

  Lying, Men, Air

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• We know it (meat eating) is indisputably the number one cause of global warming. So what does it mean exactly to be an environmentalist on a daily basis if you are not thinking about the number one cause of global warming or one of the top two or three causes of all other environmental problems? Does it mean you are necessarily someone who doesn't care about the environment? Obviously not, but it might mean you have a blind spot for something big.

  Jonathan Safran Foer

  Mean, Thinking, Blind Spots

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• Our ingenuity in feeding ourselves is prodigious, but at various points our technologies come into conflict with nature's ways of doing things, as when we seek to maximize efficiency by planting crops or raising animals in vast mono-cultures. This is something nature never does, always and for good reasons practicing diversity instead. A great many of the health and environmental problems created by our food system owe to our attempts to oversimplify nature's complexities, at both the growing and the eating ends of our food chain.

  Michael Pollan

  Technology, Animal, Diversity

  Michael Pollan (2009). “The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Search for a Perfect Meal in a Fast-Food World”, p.11, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• The oceans are in trouble. There are some serious problems out there that I believe are not clear to many people. My hope is to continually find new ways of creating images and stories that both celebrate the sea yet also highlight environmental problems. Photography can be a powerful instrument for change.

  Brian Skerry

  Photography, Powerful, Believe

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• Most Americans don't know about environmental problems, because we have in our country a negligent and indolent press. The biggest lie that the right wing holds in our country is that there is such a thing as a liberal media. Americans are getting their news from the right-wing media.

  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

  Country, Lying, Wings

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• On almost every environmental issue I care about, in fact, I've been wrong at one point or another. I used to think that climate change was no big deal, that most environmental problems were massive exaggerations, that oil reserves were effectively unlimited, and more.

  Ramez Naam

  Thinking, Oil, Issues

  "Q&A with Ramez Naam: Dialogues on the Environment". Interview with Mark Tercek, bigthink.com.

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• I think environmentalists do no service to their cause by taking fundamentalist stances. I am not defending corporate India's track record, but for many environmental problems, there are technological solutions.

  Jairam Ramesh

  Thinking, Track, Environmental

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• Our nation's continued prosperity hinges on our ability to solve environmental problems and sustain the natural resources on which we all depend.

  John McCain

  Environmental, Conservative, Problem

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• If we want to address global warming, along with the other environmental problems associated with our continued rush to burn our precious fossil fuels as quickly as possible, we must learn to use our resources more wisely, kick our addiction, and quickly start turning to sources of energy that have fewer negative impacts.

  David Suzuki

  Impact, Addiction, Environmental

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• The NFL, sadly, has a fatal environmental problem: It kills its workers.

  Matt Taibbi

  Nfl, Environmental, Problem

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• For anyone inclined to caricature environmental history as 'environmental determinism,' the contrasting histories of the Dominican Republic and Haiti provide a useful antidote. Yes, environmental problems do constrain human societies, but the societies' responses also make a difference.

  Jared Diamond

  Differences, Environmental, Making A Difference

  Jared Diamond (2011). “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition”, p.308, Penguin

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• You go into a community and they will vote 80 percent to 20 percent in favor of a tougher Clean Air Act, but if you ask them to devote 20 minutes a year to having their car emissions inspected, they will vote 80 to 20 against it. We are a long way in this country from taking individual responsibility for the environmental problem.

  William Ruckelshaus

  Country, Responsibility, Air

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• Today when the public thinks of the products of science it is likely to think about environmental problems, an unproductive armament industry, careless or dishonest 'scientific' reports, Livermore cheers for 'nukes forever' and a huge amount of self-serving noise on every subject from global warming to 'the face of God'.

  Leo Kadanoff

  Cheer, Science, Thinking

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• The destruction of aquatic ecosystem health, and the increasing water scarcity, are in my opinion the most pressing environmental problems facing human kind.

  Maude Barlow

  Ecosystems, Water, Environmental

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• It is one thing to impose drastic measures and harsh economic penalties when an environmental problem is clear-cut and severe....It is foolish to do so when the problem is largely hypothetical and not substantiated by observations....we do not currently have any convincing evidence or observations of significant climate change from other than natural causes.

  Frederick Seitz

  Cutting, Convincing Evidence, Environmental

  "2008 Climate Debate" by William F. Jasper, www.thenewamerican.com. March 31, 2008.

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• It is one thing to impose drastic measures and harsh economic penalties when an environmental problem is clear-cut and severe...

  Frederick Seitz

  Cutting, Environmental, Problem

  "2008 Climate Debate" by William F. Jasper, www.thenewamerican.com. March 31, 2008.

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• We have a basic notion that unless we find a solution for environmental problems, we will not achieve sustainable growth in the coming years

  Hiroyuki Watanabe

  Business, Years, Growth

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• To solve the new century's mounting social and environmental problems, people of color activist and white activists need to be able to join forces. But all too often, the unconscious racism of white activists stands in the way of any effective, worthwhile collaboration. The Challenging White Supremacy Workshop is the most powerful tool that I have seen for removing the barriers to true partnerships between people of color and white folks. If the CWS trainings were mandatory for all white activists, the progressive movement in the United States would be unstoppable.

  Van Jones

  Powerful, Color, White

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• Practically every environmental problem we have can be traced to our addiction to fossil fuels, primarily oil.

  Dennis Weaver

  Oil, Addiction, Environmental

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• An environmental revolution is taking shape in the United States. This revolution has touched communities of color from New York to California and from Florida to Alaska - anywhere where African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans live and comprise a majority of the population. Collectively, these Americans represent the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States. They are also the groups most at risk from environmental problems.

  Robert D Bullard

  New York, Native American, Alaska

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• Civilization’s shortening attention span is mismatched with the pace of environmental problems.

  Stewart Brand

  Civilization, Environmental, Attention

  Stewart Brand (1999). “The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility”, p.141, Basic Books

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• We must alert and organise the world's people to pressure world leaders to take specific steps to solve the two root causes of our environmental crises - exploding population growth and wasteful consumption of irreplaceable resources. Overconsumption and overpopulation underlie every environmental problem we face today.

  Jacques Yves Cousteau

  Population Problem, Two, Roots

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• Reliable and affordable energy is essential for meeting basic human needs and fueling economic growth, but many of the most difficult and dangerous environmental problems at every level of economic development arise from the harvesting, transport, processing, and conversion of energy

  John Holdren

  Growth, Environmental, Energy

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