Re: Slamming Eco-Groups (was: Navajo/Hopi)
Andre Carothers (acarothers@igc.org)
Wed, 28 Aug 1991 07:36:00 PDT
All else aside, the above reference to "extinction happens all the time,
animals have a lifecycle," is misleading. The rate of species
extinctions occuring now is anything but "natural," under the
meaning of the word in general usage for the last century. It is
far faster than anything experienced since the age of dinosaurs,
and it is accompanied by a decline in the pace of evolution. That is,
the production of new species is curtailed by habitat loss, etcetera,
making the net genetic production of the earth far less than it might
be. This is my understanding, as a layperson, and I think that the
argument that "extinctions are natural" is dangerous, misleading,
and needs to be countered vigorously.
[ Andre is the editor of _Greenpeace_ magazine. I met him at a conference
last summer in New York, and had the pleasure of seeing him again recently
in Washington, D.C., where I introduced him to the executive director of
the National American Indian Council. Andre said that _Greenpeace_ maga-
zine will be running a series of articles on American Indians during the
coming year, in observance of the need to give balance to the analysis of
the effects of the landing of Christopher Columbus on North American shores
in 1492. Andre can be reached directly at the address given above. --Gary ]