Editors Note: Having jumped right into blogging without really doing an introductory statement, I wanted to take a step back and write about the big picture. Why I am interested in the environment, and how I view our place as humans in it. It is from this starting point, that all my future environmental discussions go forward from, so this post essentially acts as a broad mission statement for the blog.

---------------

Sustainability. Perhaps no one word is more relevant, more important, and more vital to the future of the human race. It is a word that is easily defined, yet achieving it in practice will require a vast rearranging of how we as humans interact with our planet and our fellow inhabitants. This blog was created to explore this simple, yet the same time almost incomprehensibly complex idea and the immense implications that it has for our way of life and our future.

As the dominant organism on this planet, we have been able to use our intelligence to conquer the highest mountain peaks and deepest oceans, yet we still have been unable to recognize our true place in the context of the planet on which we live. As the human population continues to increase and resources are exploited at the cost of the environment, this understanding will be a requirement to our survival. While our intelligence has previously given us free reign of this planet and all its resources, we have yet to decide that with this knowledge we must be stewards rather than pillagers. As humans, we are simply another tenant on this planets surface, and our continued evolution as a species is as much dependent on the survival of the other organisms on this planet as they are on us being responsible caretakers. There is no longer any time to wait to exercise this responsibility, as human caused environmental change nears the tipping point of catastrophic effects for all organisms, ourselves included, it has become absolutely critical to alter the course of how we interact with the resources of our planet.

The 21st century will undoubtedly be one of great change, as the fossil fuels that lead us through an industrial revolution dwindle and continue to create a greenhouse heating effect on our planet; as our fresh water sources become more scare and polluted, and industrial agriculture, deforestation and overfishing simultaneously contribute to global warming and create food shortages. These are not doomsday scenarios, they are simple facts. The only question is, will the human species rise to meet these challenges, and create a world that humans can live in balance with nature, or will the short term goals of the masses drive us all over the cliff to disaster? Solutions to all of these problems are either already available or developing, but the time frame to put these solutions into practice is short, and there will be many tough choices along the way. Hopefully, through this countries leadership, the world will be able to put aside political, ideological, religious and racial differences and unite behind this common goal.

This blog is dedicated to my journey through this mass of interconnected issues regarding our relationship with our environment, our place on the plant, and how to reach a sustainable future, while analyzing the current problems and solutions that are available, and trying to fit them into the context of what is a very complex and often short sighted world.