Month: July 2016

Outlaw cockfighting

“Outlaw cockfighting, too”, published 12/06/2007, The Hook

By Marlene Condon
Published online 8:00am Thursday Dec 6th, 2007
and in print issue #0649 dated Thursday Dec 6th, 2007
Under news shorts in the November 29 issue of the Hook [“Dogfight: Locals enabled Vick indictments”], Delegate Rob Bell is quoted as saying, “You don’t have to be an animal rights activist to find [dogfighting] absolutely repulsive” and “This kind of animal cruelty has to be stopped.”
If that’s truly how Bell feels, I don’t understand why he didn’t pass a law that made cock fighting illegal as well.
All animals feel pain, and it’s just as wrong for people to attach razor blades to the legs of roosters to tear each other apart as it is for them to set dogs upon one another. Such blood sports are an abomination. A legislator who is sincerely compassionate would have passed a law to put an end to all of them– period.
Bell seems to quickly sponsor legislation being pushed by a large number of people, as if his true impetus is the thought of gaining votes for the next time around. The dogfighting legislation is a case in point. Plenty of folks were complaining about dogfighting, so Bell worked to get a bill passed for them.
Sadly, the outcry against cockfighting was not as loud, and, in fact, it was reported in the media that a group of folks made the trip to Richmond to persuade legislators that cockfighting should not be a part of this legislation. Not too surprisingly, our supposedly caring lawmakers bowed to their wishes.
I hope folks with a genuine compassion for animals will contact Bell to let him know how disgraceful it is for Virginia to allow cockfighting.

Who’s killing the Easter Bunny

“Who’s killing the Easter Bunny?”, published 03/23/2007, The Roanoke Times

Editorial commentary

Marlene A. Condon

Condon, of Crozet, is author of “The Nature-Friendly Garden.”

Soon Easter will be here. Smiling young children, no doubt, are eagerly looking forward to Easter morning.
If they have been good, they can expect to discover baskets full of sweets that were left by the beloved Easter Bunny.
But as the kids chomp down on their chocolate candy bunnies, they probably have no idea that the Easter Bunny’s real-life counterpart, the Eastern cottontail and many other species of rabbits, are disappearing from our landscape. These nonthreatening and lovable creatures are being killed off — not deliberately, but mindlessly.
Americans are so obsessed with manicured yards that no food or nesting spots exist around their homes to help rabbits and other wildlife to survive. Also guilty are the people in neighborhood homeowner associations who have such distaste for overgrown fields that they mow what are supposed to be “common natural areas” in their subdivisions.
Once upon a time, rabbits were common around houses in small towns and suburbs as well as in the country, but they are no longer wild animals that children (or anyone) can easily see. Indeed, rabbits may soon be as much a figment of the imagination as is Peter Cottontail hoppin’ down the bunny trail, Thumper, and the rabbit that Alice followed down the hole in her Wonderland adventures.
With so much prime grassland habitat being destroyed for houses and businesses, cleared for golf courses and plowed under for farmland, it is not surprising that many kinds of once-common wildlife are becoming scarce. Some of these animals are of particular interest to humans, such as butterfly species like the regal fritillary and numerous varieties of songbirds such as the Northern bobwhite and American woodcock. And as these animals disappear, the predators that feed upon them also disappear.
But a magician with his big black hat can’t bring back our adorable Eastern cottontails. The only way to save this species and others is for landowners to jump into action.
Huge, sterile yards around homes need to be replaced with more-natural landscaping. Allowing broadleaf “weeds” such as plantain to grow in lawns provides food for rabbits. Growing many kinds of nectar-producing flowers provides nourishment for numerous insects, such as butterflies. Letting flowers go to seed and leaving the stalks standing throughout the fall and winter assists birds and small mammals to survive the harshest time of the year.
In an out-of-the-way corner of the yard, a brush pile can be built so that a rabbit can make a nest at the bottom of it for her young. Letting another corner become a “wild” area of tall grasses and wildflowers will permit birds to gather nesting material and perhaps allow some kinds to actually nest there.
These practices can also be applied to businesses, golf courses and farms.
Twenty years ago, after I excitedly pointed out a wild bunny to my two young nieces, my sister-in-law asked, “Haven’t you ever seen a rabbit before?” She was amused that I could sound so thrilled to see one of these small creatures because rabbits were so easily viewed back then.
We can prevent wild rabbits from becoming nothing more than memories. If the Eastern cottontail becomes scarce, how will children understand the Beatrix Potter tales of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny or the story of Bambi and his friend Thumper?
Indeed, can the Easter Bunny exist if there are no real wild bunnies?

Water woes

“Renewable? Water woes require drastic measures”, published 11/08/2007, The Hook

By MARLENE CONDON | MARLENECONDON@aol.com
Published online 8:00am Thursday Nov 8th, 2007
and in print issue #0645 dated Thursday Nov 8th, 2007

It has been said that water is a renewable resource, but whether that statement is true depends upon the whims of Mother Nature. Weather is not predictable. We can’t assume rain will come; it’s quite possible it may not come. And if rainy weather does arrive, it may not bring enough moisture for all the people now settled in the region as well as future residents expected to occupy the huge number of homes being built.
Many streams in the Sugar Hollow area dried up this year, some for the first time in the more than 20 years I’ve been monitoring them. Even following the recent rains October 24-26 (during which I measured a total of 4.6 inches– a substantial rainfall) some streams remained dry! This is extremely serious because it illustrates how low our water table is.
According to the National Ground Water Association, ground water provides much of any stream’s flow, so they are “windows” on the water table, the ground water that also supplies private wells. Therefore “permanent” streams that have dried up are an irrefutable indication that our groundwater is being depleted, and if streams aren’t being replenished, water withdrawn from reservoirs won’t be replenished either.
It’s quite difficult to replenish ground water. According to the Association, only one quarter of all U.S. rainfall becomes ground water. Thus, when there’s lower-than-normal precipitation, that 25 percent represents a very small quantity of rain available for replenishment. When this goes on for years, the water table simply goes down as people continue to withdraw water from the ground.
Obviously then, residents on wells do not only affect their own source of water but also the amount of water available for stream flow to reservoirs. This is why our current policy of restricting water to those using publicly piped supplies while putting no restrictions on well users is completely nonsensical.
Another problem is that water flow through our clay soils can be quite slow, meaning that the water from rainfall requires time to reach the saturated area below the land surface where ground water collects. Where developers have exposed our landscape by totally removing trees and other vegetation far in advance of construction– think of the old Sperry Marine site for the future Albemarle Place and the Hollymead Town Center on 29N– rainfall hasn’t a chance of making its way downward before evaporating or running off bare ground.
Such open areas “see” an increase in sunlight and dry air, both of which rapidly deplete soils of moisture. Growing a sparse groundcover of grass doesn’t help to slow down evaporation very much. The Association has determined that “46 percent of the U.S. population depends on ground water for its drinking water supply– be it from either a public source or private well.” So denuding of the land should be regulated at the state level because it affects people across municipal borders.
Now consider that some areas acquiesced to the horticultural industry’s arguments to ease drought restrictions– an industry that devotes most of its effort to lawn-growing and maintenance that should not be embraced during drought-stricken times. It’s a disgrace to waste– yes, waste– dwindling supplies of water on a purely unnecessary bit of landscaping. Have you seen anyone lately actually doing anything– other than mowing!– on these large swards of non-native grass?
These properties should instead be growing other kinds of plants that could not only sustain the horticultural industry (in sales and maintenance) but also the wildlife we need to keep our environment working properly.
Meanwhile, proper lawn maintenance is important. Most homeowners and the companies employed to keep grass cut around homes and businesses mow lawns far too short. Extremely short grass can’t shade the soil to slow evaporation, so this increases moisture loss. Warm-season (Bermuda and zoysia) and cool-season (rye, fescue, and bluegrass) grasses should not be cut to less than three inches, especially during the summer. Taller leaf blades mean deeper roots less susceptible to drought and browning. And as most lawn grass in temperate areas can go dormant during drought, it should not be watered.
Local governments should immediately embrace the following actions:
(1) allow people to water only established plants in the ground with water from a rain barrel or other device that catches roof run-off (this could help support the horticultural industry if they sold and installed these systems).
(2) not allow new lawns– in either new construction or older residences– to be put in under drought conditions because they are likely to die anyway after the “establishment” period if there is insufficient rain. (In slope situations, erosion-control blankets can be employed for stabilization and control until sufficient rainfall brings the water table back up to normal levels. At that point, a groundcover (not grass) should be grown; it’s dangerous to mow slopes.)
(3) demand that automatic irrigation systems be shut off until drought conditions end because many of these devices run when it’s totally unnecessary. And it’s not at all unusual to see unregulated sprinklers watering the pavement.
(4) require builders not to clear any more area than necessary when starting construction.
Efficiency– as builders would probably argue– be damned! Desperate situations demand desperate measures.
People cannot afford to behave like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.
Marlene A. Condon (author of The Nature-friendly Garden) managed to take several geology courses while pursuing her degree in physics.

Keep your leaves

“Fall ball: don’t rake the leaves or tinker with daddy”, published 11/13/2008, The Hook

By MARLENE CONDON | marlenecondon@aol.com
Published online 8:00am Thursday Nov 13th, 2008
and in print issue #0746 dated Thursday Nov 13th, 2008
0


Greg Rogers, right, gets engulfed October 30 in leaves on the UVA Grounds, with the Rotunda in the background.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Leaves are falling from the trees. This year, instead of burning them or raking them into bags to be carted away, try gathering them together under your trees in a neat circle. Once thoroughly dampened, they will mat down and provide a natural mulch layer that moderates soil temperatures and helps preserve soil moisture for the benefit of your tree roots.

Numerous organisms depend upon such leaf litter to hibernate through the coming winter. For example, Gray Treefrogs that protect your trees and shrubs from too many insects during the warm months (thus serving as your natural insecticide) must move to the ground as it starts to get cold.
The treefrogs helped the leaves to survive all through the growing season. Now it’s the leaves’ turn to help the treefrogs to survive until next spring. They offer protection from freezing temperatures and predators to the cold-blooded amphibians.
Some kinds of animals, such as the Hackberry Emperor butterfly, overwinter as caterpillars that wrapped themselves in the leaves of Hackberry trees before autumn winds knocked them off. If you wish to experience the beauty of these butterflies next year, you must let those leaves stay put under your trees. When spring comes, the caterpillars can then climb back up into the trees to continue feeding, and you will be rewarded for your patience during the summer when the adults fly.
At this time of year, you may happen to spot a large grouping of daddy longlegs taking shelter in a protected area, their many legs overlapping. These spider relatives are trying to survive the cooler temperatures of the season.
If you live where it’s not usually freezing from late fall to early spring, some of these 8-legged creatures may survive the winter. But in areas that get quite cold, most or all of them will die, leaving behind eggs in the ground or among leaf litter to provide a new generation of individuals next spring.
Although very similar in appearance to a spider, a daddy longlegs has one main difference that is easy to see: its small oval body does not include the narrow waist that is typical of spiders. Another aspect of its anatomy that you might notice, but only if you get up close and personal, is that it has two eyes instead of the eight a spider usually possesses.
Daddy longlegs are also known as harvestmen. In fact, the indexes of many books only list them under one name or the other. If you don’t think to check under both names, you might not realize the book actually does contain information about this kind of animal.
There are varying accounts of how daddy longlegs got the name harvestmen. The most plausible is that these animals are more noticeable to humans in fall when, years ago, folks would be in the fields harvesting crops. An old English belief told of the critters assisting farmers with their reaping and it was said to be bad luck to kill one.
Worldwide, there are about 3,400 species, with at least 200 in North America. You can get an idea about the number of species around your home by checking out the various colors and patterns on your local daddy longlegs.
Because daddy longlegs are related to spiders, it’s reasonable to expect them to be hunters, just as spiders are. But I used to wonder how that could be since they seemed too small to be able to easily overpower many other creatures.
Then one day I stepped out onto my carport and spotted a daddy longlegs with a European Hornet— an insect much larger than the arachnid. I immediately realized that this daddy longlegs could not possibly have killed the big hornet that it was eating. I had discovered for myself that daddy longlegs, at least those around my home, were scavengers! Since that day, I have observed and photographed these animals taking advantage of the opportunity to feed upon many kinds of dead insects.
Although people often have the urge to touch wildlife, it’s always best to take a hands-off approach. In this way, you don’t needlessly frighten the critter (not a pleasant thing for it to experience), nor do you risk getting hurt or harming the animal as it tries to defend itself (it doesn’t know you mean it no harm).
In the case of daddy longlegs, you could cause one to lose a leg if you try to pick it up. This defensive tactic, similar to that of skinks whose tails break off to escape, allows the arachnid to scurry away from danger. But as adult daddy longlegs can not regenerate legs; the loss of one or more legs will impact their lives.
By the way, if you have not yet set up a system for catching and holding the rain that runs off your roof, you should consider installing rain barrels or other water-catching devices (I have two 350-gallon agricultural tanks). You will then be all set next spring to use less ground or reservoir water and instead take advantage of local rainwater— a resource that has been severely limited in recent years.
If you take your cues from nature, you’ll have less work to do and more time to enjoy your surroundings.

Those dead insects matter

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An Emerald Ash Borer sticky trap coated with insects. Photo by Marlene A. Condon.

Marlene A. Condon
Condon is a naturalist, writer, photographer and speaker living in Crozet. She is the author and photographer of “The Nature-friendly Garden.”
Re: “Trapping the borer,” May 9 news story:
The purple boxes hanging throughout the state to detect the Emerald Ash Borer appear fairly innocuous, until you take a closer look.
A Roanoke Times reporter found a dozen Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies — our official state insect — stuck to just one box in Botetourt County. In Virginia, 5,500 such (death) traps are being hung this year, effectively killing any insect that steps foot upon them.
Should people care about the unnecessary killing of nontarget insect species? Yes, because these insects all have important roles to play in the environment, and the numbers of insects are way down from what they were just a half-century ago.
This fact matters because our lives are possible only if we co-exist with unimaginably large numbers of insect species that provide services we require, such as pollination of plants to help perpetuate them and the necessary recycling of organic matter to enable optimal plant growth.
If this environmental cost doesn’t seem significant to you, then perhaps the colossal waste of your tax dollars will. Nine million dollars have been spent annually for these survey activities in each of the last several fiscal years, but what happens when a survey finds the borer is in a new area? A quarantine — a restriction of the movement of ash products capable of transporting this insect to nonquarantined localities — may be put into place to try to slow the spread of EAB.
However, enacting a quarantine after detection is too late — as has been empirically shown in Northern Virginia. EAB was found at multiple sites in Fairfax County in 2008, resulting in the establishment of a quarantine for 10 Northern Virginia counties and independent cities. Yet the quarantine had to be expanded in 2010 to two more counties and the city of Winchester due to additional EAB detections.
Instead of wasting tax dollars and the lives of numerous innocent insects, common sense dictates that quarantines and public education should be enacted before EAB has a chance to be transported from one locality to the next.
People should notify federal and state representatives, as well as Gov. Bob McDonnell, to stop funding EAB surveys.

“Those dead insects matter”, published June 22, 2011, The Roanoke Times

Native plants aren’t always better

“Native plants aren’t always better”, published 04/21/2008, The Roanoke Times

Editorial commentary

Marlene A. Condon

Condon is the author of “The Nature-Friendly Garden” and is a Virginia naturalist.

A war is being waged against aliens. Your children are probably being trained and enlisted to fight the battles. Even your local power company may be getting its employees to volunteer in the effort to root out aliens.
Illegal immigrants? No. Non-native plants are the aliens sought out and destroyed.
Yet without these aliens in our midst, our wildlife will find it harder to find food and our soils will not be rehabilitated for the benefit of native plants.
When early European colonists arrived in North America, they found an ancient landscape of huge trees growing on nutrient-dense, dark soil composed of humus. Much decomposition had occurred throughout the eons to produce the rich soil required by the plants growing beneath the leaf canopy.
When settlers cleared the land, they opened the canopy and planted crops that immediately began to deplete the aged soils of their nutrients. Many of the flower seeds brought, intentionally or unintentionally, by the human immigrants became naturalized citizens of their new environment.
Over time, these new plants spread, moving into the clearings where native plants were no longer able to grow because conditions had been altered.
And throughout the next 400 years, people continued to change the landscape as well as bring in new plants that could take advantage of disturbed areas created by man — and sometimes by nature.
Now such plants are considered invasive and are much maligned. But do they truly invade and destroy habitat for wildlife? This perception is unequivocally wrong.
Physics tells us that no two objects can simultaneously occupy the same space. Alien plants verify this by moving only into areas where open space is available for them to grow. After a few decades have passed without native-plant competition, they may fill the area.
So-called invasive, non-native plants are survivors and rehabilitators that can withstand poor-quality habitat (such as highway medians), polluted areas (dredge spoil, sewage sludges and mining tailings, for example) and the well-trodden soil of hiking trails (in national parks and forests).
Indeed, alien species grow successfully in our yards because subsoil has been exposed or topsoil compacted. They also do well in wetlands with soil profiles that have been disturbed by man or weather.
It’s simply not true that many non-native plants are invaders that take over important habitat for wildlife. These plants move into degraded areas that are devoid of good-quality soil upon which most of our native-plant species depend, and we should leave them to do their work.
To try to replace aliens too soon with native plants is misguided; it serves only to impede the necessary rehabilitative process. Once rehabilitation is accomplished, our native plants will move back into these areas.
Man, however, may wish to hasten the process along by removing the non-native species instead of letting them die out naturally. But this task should be done only after the really hard work of transforming the soil so that it is usable by native plants has been completed, free of human effort and expense.
Tax dollars should not be wasted on highway medians in an effort to replace, for example, common mullein with fescue grass that is just as non-native, or purple loosestrife with common cattail that can just as quickly create a monoculture.
Additionally, it’s questionable whether public funds should be spent on the removal of non-native plant species from wetlands with environmental issues, such as degraded water quality.
All of this is not to say that people should deliberately plant non-native species. It is extremely important to maintain our native diversity of insects, many of which are dependent upon a very limited selection of plants to survive. Thus, folks should incorporate native plants into their landscapes as much as possible.
But it’s foolish to root out alien plants that can and do provide habitat for numerous mammal, bird, insect, arachnid, amphibian and reptile species. That’s something bare ground cannot do.

Freedom Tower

“Freedom Tower”, published 09/30/2004, The Roanoke Times

Editorial commentary

Marlene A. Condon

Condon, of Crozet, is a nature writer, photographer and speaker.
According to New York Gov. George Pataki, the proposed Freedom Tower that is to be built at the site of New York’s former World Trade Center will demonstrate to terrorists that they did not destroy America’s faith in freedom. Although the Freedom Tower design may provide a sense of pride for many Americans, it should also invoke a sense of dismay.
Many people know that songbirds often fly into windows. These airborne creatures either see the sky and trees reflected in the smooth surface of a window or they are able to see right through the glass to the interior of the building. In each case, their bird brains cannot discern the solid material that blocks their flight path.
The result is literally millions of birds killed every year by crashing into windows. Obviously, we cannot design our homes and businesses without windows, but is it necessary for architects to design what will be the tallest building in the world – at a height of nearly one-third of a mile – with a faade almost entirely made of glass?
Volunteers in New York City and Chicago have documented 147 different kinds of birds injured or killed by window strikes since 1978. In the fall of 2003, volunteers in Toronto counted 2,000 dead birds that had collided with lit skyscraper windows while migrating south at night.
Our birds are disappearing at an alarming rate due to many causes, such as habitat loss, an increased vulnerability to predation and introduced diseases like West Nile Virus. We should be concerned about their welfare because birds – and many other creatures – provide necessary environmental services for us, such as limiting insect, arachnid and weed populations, and pollinating our plants.
Such aid, given to us free of charge, is a huge benefit to mankind. Thus it is extremely important that we do the very best we can to limit our negative impacts upon our world.
The architectural plan for the Freedom Tower demonstrates ignorance of, and/or perhaps a total disregard for, the effect of our actions upon the environment that sustains us. An architect familiar with the natural world would never design an enormously tall glass building that will take a grim toll upon birds.
There is obviously a dire need for schools to teach students about the natural world, and this teaching should extend to the university level, as well. Otherwise, we will continue to behave as if we live in a vacuum – somehow apart from our surroundings – and our ignorance will doom not only birds and other creatures, but also ourselves.

Coyote story stoked fear

“Coyote story stoked fear”, published 05/14/2009, The Hook

By Marlene Condon
Published online 7:00am Thursday May 14th, 2009
and in print issue #0819 dated Thursday May 14th, 2009
I am extremely disappointed with the sensationalized article about coyotes [“Invasion of the doggy snatchers? Uptick in area coyote sightings has residents nervous,” April 23.]that served only to create unwarranted fear. Instead of demonizing an animal that would be very useful to us by limiting deer and Canada goose numbers, you would do better to sensationalize the deaths and injuries that result from vehicular traffic. This type of story, along with pictures of dead and injured people instead of coyotes, might at least wake people up to the far more dangerous nature of their own behavior in cars– speeding, tailgating, running red lights, and talking on cell phones.
I have never come close to colliding with a coyote, but my car has been hit by drivers engaged in the aforementioned poor driving habits, causing me to be hospitalized and then suffer severe neck, shoulder, and arm pain for years after one such encounter. The fact is that people fear something they are not familiar with way out of proportion to the more-familiar things they should fear a lot.
We need to learn to live with predators, or else we will continue to have an overpopulation of deer and geese to contend with, both of which do bring death, injuries, and property damage via car and plane collisions. (I discuss this issue in my book, The Nature-friendly Garden, which is available at local libraries.)
If parents and pet owners watched over young children and pets as they should be doing anyway, and if farmers purchased guard dogs or llamas to protect their animals, there would be no reason we could not coexist with coyotes.
And for Mike Dye of the Department of Game & Inland Fisheries to say that coyotes are listed as a nuisance animal because they are not native to this area is ludicrous when the DGIF spends a lot of money stocking non-native trout and other fish in local waterways.
The only bright spot of knowledge in this entire article was Mr. Kirschnick’s comment about coyotes bolting if they smell a human. Otherwise, this entire article is nothing more than fear-mongering.
The Hook usually adheres to a higher standard of journalism. I hope we won’t see this type of “reporting” again.
Marlene A. Condon

A barking dog is a mistreated dog

“A barking dog is a mistreated dog”, published 06/12/2008, The Daily Progress

By Marlene Condon | MARLENECONDON@aol.com
Published online 7:00am Thursday Jun 12th, 2008
and in print issue #0724 dated Thursday Jun 12th, 2008
In the June 5 article regarding the barking dog ordinance being considered by the Albemarle Board of Supervisors [“Ruff story: Will neighbors bark out summonses?”], Hank Martin’s observation that dog disputes “can and should be” settled outside the courtroom represents an idealistic vision that, sadly, clashes with reality. The reason we need so much government intervention is that so many people refuse to be considerate.
Allowing a dog to bark continuously is not only incredibly disrespectful of neighbors, it also represents animal cruelty. A dog that barks and barks without an obvious cause– such as at a person or another animal– is a dog that is terribly unhappy. A dog that has companionship does not bark continuously.
Even though they exhibit a great deal of diversity in size, molecular genetic evidence shows that domestic dogs are gray wolves, which means that dogs are highly social and do not want to be alone. Dogs continuously barking are dogs that have been placed in what amounts to solitary confinement.
With approximately 45 million Americans owning dogs, it’s really surprising that our society doesn’t seem to recognize that (1) barking for hours on end is not normal dog behavior, and (2) such behavior should be recognized as resulting from inhumane treatment.
As for Dave Heilberg’s concern that false accusations could be “lobbed by feuding neighbors,” this is easily avoidable. If Animal Control officers arrive to find a dog barking, you can bet that dog has been barking for more than the 30 minutes required by the proposed ordinance because often you can’t even reach an Animal Control officer for more than 30 minutes.
It’s unbelievable that dogs are exempt from the noise ordinance anyway. A barking dog is every bit as aggravating to put up with, if not more so, as loud music. Considering the inhumane aspect of it, it’s hard to understand anyone justifying opposition to this ordinance.
Marlene Condon

God created “very good water”

“God created ‘very good’ water”, published 09/24/2009, The Hook

By Marlene Condon
Published online 7:00am Thursday Sep 24th, 2009
and in print issue #0838 dated Thursday Sep 24th, 2009

Duane Snow is a likeable soul, so I regret having to use his words, but they make a very important point. [August 14 news: “Snow softens: Only Fenwick is jonesin’ for dredging”
Mr. Snow’s comment that NASA technology for recycling urine into drinking water “may be great for members of the Sierra Club, but [he’s] not excited about it” illustrates the necessity of limiting human population.
Hard as it is to believe these days, water used to be drinkable right out of streams. When we didn’t have so many humans and so many concentrated sources of farm animals and plants to feed them, streams weren’t contaminated by an overabundance of animal waste, pesticides, and soil runoff.
But nowadays they are. Consequently, public-water supplies require purification via technology that is far inferior to the natural cleansing the Earth is capable of performing. That’s why folks on wells tend to have tasty water whereas folks on many public water-supply systems suffer with the taste of chlorine.
All of our environmental woes boil down to human overpopulation. In the Bible, God didn’t tell only humans to go forth and multiply; He said that all of His creatures should do this. We know what happens whenever there’s an overpopulation of other kinds of critters: they eat themselves out of house and home and then they start to die of disease. Even if technology could save us from this same fate, the quality of our lives is negatively impacted— as should already be obvious to all.
Limiting the number of humans is not about abortion. It’s about folks choosing to bring fewer children into the world for the benefit of all. People know how to do this; they are obviously already practicing birth control. Otherwise healthy, sexually active women would be giving birth to upwards of a dozen children by the time they reached the end of their childbearing years.
Christians who argue in favor of not limiting population growth often say that environmentalists worship the creation instead of the Creator. They argue that God granted man dominion (i.e. ruling power) and, in so doing, granted man the authority to degrade the creation.
But permission to rule is not permission to destroy. In Genesis 1:4-31, God declares seven times that everything He had created was either “good” or “very good.” It’s hard to understand how anyone who worships God could consider harming, if not totally destroying, that which his God considers good.