Do you agree with this?

[kalm]

It is often difficult to judge how our actions and their impact on the environment are likely to affect others. What is clear is that we are the only species with the power to destroy the earth. Birds and insects have no such power, nor does any other mammal. And yet if we have the capacity to destroy the earth, we also have the capacity to protect it. I believe we have an urgent responsibility to do so.

- Dalai Lama

Why or why not?

[Ibanez]

It is often difficult to judge how our actions and their impact on the environment are likely to affect others. What is clear is that we are the only species with the power to destroy the earth. Birds and insects have no such power, nor does any other mammal. And yet if we have the capacity to destroy the earth, we also have the capacity to protect it. I believe we have an urgent responsibility to do so.

- Dalai Lama

Why or why not?

Yes. Humans have a responsibility to take care of their environment, be it local or global. It is in our best interest and the interest of self preservation to protect it. I don't think that's ever been the question. The controversial questions are:

To what extent are we damaging the Earth?
What are we doing to protect the Earth?

Man has an impact, no doubt. But the political interests in the science have skewed perception and the results that nobody trusts it. There's no real consensus on what to do. We're in a ideological stalemate, IMO. Should we protect the "insert random animal?" Should we search for cleaner, more efficient fuels even if that means we won't have the 500 hp car (as if that's even fucking necessary) or go 90mph?

Just yesterday, Pope Francis said,

"A Christian who does not protect creation, who does not let it grow, is a Christian who does not care about the work of God; that work that was born from the love of God for us," Francis continued. "And this is the first response to the first creation: protect creation, make it grow."

[89Hen]

Disagree. Deer have the power to destroy the Earth. Well, at least all my flowers and bushes.

[Ivytalk]

I believe the Dalai Lama has access to the most high-powered weed commercially available.

[dbackjon]

Disagree. Deer have the power to destroy the Earth. Well, at least all my flowers and bushes.

They appreciate you planting them for you.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Nope we cannot destroy the earth even if we set out with a plan and tried.

The same way we cant stop hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes we cant fix the world.

[clenz]

Nope we cannot destroy the earth even if we set out with a plan and tried.

The same way we cant stop hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes we cant fix the world.

To a large extent I agree with this sentiment.

We can make earth uninhabitable for humans but the earth will never be destroyed by man made issues.

It'll sneeze us off well before we get anywhere close to doing "real damage"

[JohnStOnge]

No. At this point we are not capable of destroying the Earth. We can greatly alter things. But we could not destroy the Earth nor could we eliminate life on Earth. We could eliminate ourselves and many species along with us. But even if we decided tomorrow for some reason that we WANTED to destroy ourselves along with all life on Earth we could not do it.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Nope we cannot destroy the earth even if we set out with a plan and tried.

The same way we cant stop hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes we cant fix the world.

To a large extent I agree with this sentiment.

We can make earth uninhabitable for humans but the earth will never be destroyed by man made issues.

It'll sneeze us off well before we get anywhere close to doing "real damage"

Exactly

[93henfan]

We could kill off everything but cockroaches and stink bugs. Nothing will ever be able to eliminate those two species.

[kalm]

To a large extent I agree with this sentiment.

We can make earth uninhabitable for humans but the earth will never be destroyed by man made issues.

It'll sneeze us off well before we get anywhere close to doing "real damage"

Exactly

You two struggle with reading between the lines.

[ASUG8]

Exactly

You two struggle with reading between the lines.

Fan of a nanny state?

I'd agree with clenz on this one - the Lama has it right to an extent, but if we dismantled the EPA and began polluting like China and India we'd eradicate ourselves in the process and the earth would recover eventually. I think we do have a responsibility to self-preservation, i.e. attempting to minimize our impact on natural resources and most importantly preserving potable water. We're smart enough to do that, but I think costs and politics cloud our vision on actually enacting the correct decisions much of the time.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

I agree with this guy.



Do we have the power to destroy the earth? Probably not in the literal sense, but we certainly have the power to make it pretty f-ing unrecognizable.

I think we have a responsibility as a species to protect nature and our natural resources. We are certainly the only ones able to protect it from ourselves.

[93henfan]

I agree with this guy.



Do we have the power to destroy the earth? Probably not in the literal sense, but we certainly have the power to make it pretty f-ing unrecognizable.

I think we have a responsibility as a species to protect nature and our natural resources. We are certainly the only ones able to protect it from ourselves.

That guy was a communist and so are you! Fuck the earth and our kids!!

Vote republican, drink Coke, and go to Disney World for vacation once every couple of years.

[JohnStOnge]

Guys, we do not have the power to destroy the Earth or life. We could do everything we could do. We could discharge all our nuclear weapons. We could belch all the pollution we could belch. And life would go on until the life cycle of the Sun made it impossible. By that I mean that increasing radiant energy from the Sun will make life on Earth impossible within maybe a billion years (which means the tenure of life on Earth is well past its halfway point).

Can we make things different than they would otherwise be? Yes. Can we destroy the Earth or life on Earth? No. Not a chance.

We have been around for about 200,000 years. An instant in terms of geological time. We will do our thing. We will go extinct. And after that there will be life on Earth and some alien from another galaxy coming here might not even notice that we were ever here provided they came here long enough afterward.

That's the way it is.

[Ibanez]

Guys, we do not have the power to destroy the Earth or life. We could do everything we could do. We could discharge all our nuclear weapons. We could belch all the pollution we could belch. And life would go on until the life cycle of the Sun made it impossible. By that I mean that increasing radiant energy from the Sun will make life on Earth impossible within maybe a billion years (which means the tenure of life on Earth is well past its halfway point).

Can we make things different than they would otherwise be? Yes. Can we destroy the Earth or life on Earth? No. Not a chance.

We have been around for about 200,000 years. An instant in terms of geological time. We will do our thing. We will go extinct. And after that there will be life on Earth and some alien from another galaxy coming here might not even notice that we were ever here provided they came here long enough afterward.

That's the way it is.

So you think our industry has ZERO affect on the environment? Destroy isn't the best word. Degrigate. Degrigation is an appropriate word.

Are the skies blue in your world?

[SunCoastBlueHen]

Guys, we do not have the power to destroy the Earth or life. We could do everything we could do. We could discharge all our nuclear weapons. We could belch all the pollution we could belch. And life would go on until the life cycle of the Sun made it impossible. By that I mean that increasing radiant energy from the Sun will make life on Earth impossible within maybe a billion years (which means the tenure of life on Earth is well past its halfway point).

Can we make things different than they would otherwise be? Yes. Can we destroy the Earth or life on Earth? No. Not a chance.

We have been around for about 200,000 years. An instant in terms of geological time. We will do our thing. We will go extinct. And after that there will be life on Earth and some alien from another galaxy coming here might not even notice that we were ever here provided they came here long enough afterward.

That's the way it is.

I realize you are very caught up in your own verbosity, but if you actually read the other replies you would see that no one is making a point that we have the ability to completely destroy the earth and all life on it. We do, however, have the power to negatively affect the natural order of things . I happen to think there is great value in preserving this order as best we can. You like to fish and enjoy the outdoors, wouldn't you like future generations to have the opportunity to enjoy these things to same extent you do? We do certainly have the ability to screw that up, which is the point the original quote was trying to make.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Guys, we do not have the power to destroy the Earth or life. We could do everything we could do. We could discharge all our nuclear weapons. We could belch all the pollution we could belch. And life would go on until the life cycle of the Sun made it impossible. By that I mean that increasing radiant energy from the Sun will make life on Earth impossible within maybe a billion years (which means the tenure of life on Earth is well past its halfway point).

Can we make things different than they would otherwise be? Yes. Can we destroy the Earth or life on Earth? No. Not a chance.

We have been around for about 200,000 years. An instant in terms of geological time. We will do our thing. We will go extinct. And after that there will be life on Earth and some alien from another galaxy coming here might not even notice that we were ever here provided they came here long enough afterward.

That's the way it is.

So you think our industry has ZERO affect on the environment? Destroy isn't the best word. Degrigate. Degrigation is an appropriate word.

Are the skies blue in your world?

WTF is degrigation? Do you mean degrade... degradation?

[Ibanez]

So you think our industry has ZERO affect on the environment? Destroy isn't the best word. Degrigate. Degrigation is an appropriate word.

Are the skies blue in your world?

WTF is degrigation? Do you mean degrade... degradation?

Fucking auto correct. Yes.

[travelinman67]

WTF is degrigation? Do you mean degrade... degradation?

Fucking auto correct. Yes.

Auto-correct, my ass. That's 120 proof typing.

[houndawg]

Guys, we do not have the power to destroy the Earth or life. We could do everything we could do. We could discharge all our nuclear weapons. We could belch all the pollution we could belch. And life would go on until the life cycle of the Sun made it impossible. By that I mean that increasing radiant energy from the Sun will make life on Earth impossible within maybe a billion years (which means the tenure of life on Earth is well past its halfway point).

Can we make things different than they would otherwise be? Yes. Can we destroy the Earth or life on Earth? No. Not a chance.

We have been around for about 200,000 years. An instant in terms of geological time. We will do our thing. We will go extinct. And after that there will be life on Earth and some alien from another galaxy coming here might not even notice that we were ever here provided they came here long enough afterward.

That's the way it is.

We're born in pain, we live in fear, we die alone. Happy New Year, Johnny.

[Ibanez]

Fucking auto correct. Yes.

Auto-correct, my ass. That's 120 proof typing.

No. Sober as a judge.

[Gil Dobie]

Maybe life in the 18th century was better. No automobiles, trains, electricity, nukes, and use only fire and steam power. It's easy for the Dalai Lama to talk, has not had to work to live. He probably receives donations and has people work for him.

Anyone that lived in the 1960's and early 1970's realize how much cleaner America is now compared to then. Less smog, less litter, just takes time to change.

[Skjellyfetti]

I thought people that had people work for them were the "job creators"?

[Gil Dobie]

I thought people that had people work for them were the "job creators"?

Unless the people that work for them are volunteers or slaves.