The epidermis is composed of the outermost layers of the skin. It forms a protective barrier over the body 's surface, responsible for keeping water in the body and preventing pathogens from entering...
The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis provides tensile strength and elasticity to the skin...Wikipedia
Is the earth truly a living system or is it simply an agglomeration of chemical elements? Were and are "primitive" indigenous peoples correct about this planet being a "mother" with feelings and a soul? Does any of this really even matter?
If you answered yes to any of these these questions you probably will be an enemy of the state if the Republicans win this election.
Last week there was an earthquake outside of Dallas, Texas. It is being suggested that fracking was to blame. This has also happened in Arkansas and Ohio. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/fracking-earthquake-conne_n_1752414.html
Mitt Romney regularly ridicules "Green" energy solutions.
I live in Texas -- the state that petroleum built. Texas has a large "Green" support base. However oil is King here and if Texas is representative of the country as a whole, oil will remain King unless we as a country can switch our allegiances. The Democrats don't have a much better record on this than the Republicans. But at least it is and can be discussed and debated in Democratic circles. "Green" anything in Republican discussion is lumped in with "Socialists", "Wimps" and "Anti-Americans." Discussing the environment in a Right Wing room is like discussing the pastor's wife's sexual indiscretions.
As a landscape designer and gardener for almost forty years I know the top layer of this planet (the epidermis) to be simultaneously vulnerable and resilient, depending on the forces acting upon it. I don't believe the next layer (the dermis) can respond in a similar fashion. Damage done to the earth's epidermis by violent weather, man-made catastrophes (deforestation, loss of topsoil due to poor farming techniques, overuse of herbicides and pesticides, etc.) and poorly planned development can, with strong will and perserverance, be ameliorated and reversed by coordinated effort. Can the damage done by fracking be repaired and have we already set in motion a chain reaction that we cannot stop?
Isaac Newton's third law of motion, mechanics, states that " To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions." Fracking is a violent act not unlike rape: a body, the earth, is forcefully entered and injected with fluid. In the case of fracking the fluids injected contain poisonous, hazardous chemicals. And according to Newton this forceful injection should solicit "an equal and opposite reaction" -- earthquakes in Dallas, Arkansas and Ohio? In the past we have mostly robbed the earth of her treasures i.e., mining and well drilling. We have progressed from ambivalent thieves to paranoid rapists.
Most of the rhetoric and hyperbole promoting fracking and the vigorous continuation of an oil-based economy is fear based: the American Dream is dying, the Chinese are coming -- the world is a dangerous place (yet easily accessible by car or airplane). However the real fear should be fear of the reaction, according to Newton, of the earth to it's being purposely violated. We have become delusional in our self-deception. We believe our own press, ecclesiastical and profane; we are masters of this world. This Eden is ours to do with what we will. More of everything is our mantra. Our ultimate deception is our belief in technology as the cure. If we just can hold on, building ever more sophisticated gadgets, using petroleum based products and technologies, destroying the air, water and, well, just about everything, we will create something, a better gadget, and prevail. It ain't gonna work. We need to reassess our priorities and ponder the question: Who was the savant -- Steve Jobs or Sitting Bull?
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