In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to celebrate his birthday, I am posting a tribute to him that I wrote and distributed on February 2, 2002. I am posting it here today for the same reason as then – to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and to celebrate his birthday (his exact birthday is January 15). After all, where would we be had Martin Luther King Jr. never been born?
Dr. King worked and died for the cause of freedom; he fought to end racism and do away with poverty and war but by peaceful means only, never by violence, even knowing his speaking out for these causes would likely ultimately cost him his life.
Dr. King would no doubt agree with humanitarian, environmentalist, and antiwar/nonviolent singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, who says on his newest album “Standing In The Breach”, in the song Walls and Doors : “There can be freedom only when nobody owns it”.
Preserving Our Climate for Children and Humanity (February 2, 2002)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong advocate for positive change for all people, especially children. Continued global warming will make the world we all share a much more hostile place for all people, especially today’s children who have a full life ahead of them. It will take a worldwide effort to stop global warming, and we owe it to children everywhere to do all we can before it becomes an irreversible, worldwide catastrophe.
My proposal is that we ALL petition our governments (with letters, petition, phone calls…) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by adopting programs that REWARD PEOPLE AND FAMILIES WHO USE LESS ENERGY – by DRIVING LESS, FLYING LESS and USING LESS fossil fuel derived energy in their HOMES.
MLK once said: “We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to humanity.” We can serve humanity better by consuming less fossil fuel (gasoline, jet fuel, coal, natural gas and oil) by driving less, flying less and using less energy in our homes. Our children and their children will thank us for that.
Like this:
Like Loading...
About Mike Neuman
Identical twin; Long-time advocate of protection of our environment; Married; Father to three sons; Grandfather to one granddaughter; Born and raised in Wisconsin; Graduate of University of Wisconsin; post graduate degrees in agricultural economics and Water Resources Management fro UWMadison; Former School Crossing Guard for City of Madison; Bike to Work for 31 years with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Retired from DNR in 2007; Biked to school crossing guard site 2 X daily for 7 years retiring in 2019; in addition to being an advocate of safeguarding our environment, I am also an advocate for humane treatment of animal, children, and people in need of financial resource for humane living. I am presently a Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Madison, Wisconsin.
I oppose all long (>500 miles) distance travel (via fossil fuel burning) for nonessential purposes and all ownership of more than one home.
I am opposed to militarism in any form particularly for the purpose of monetary gain.
I am a Strong believer in people everywhere having the right to speak their minds openly, without any fear of reprisal, regarding any concerns; especially against those in authority who are not acting for the public good?in a timely fashion and in all countries of the world not just the U S..
My identical twin, Pat, died in June 2009.
He was fired from his job with the National Weather Service despite having a long and successful career as a flood forecaster with the Kansas City National Weather Service. He took a new position in the Midwest Regional Office in Minneapolis.
Unfortunately, Pat’s work for the NWS went sour after he began to see the evidence for concern about rising global temperatures shortly after relocating to Minneapolis, and how they appeared to effect of flooding on the Red River that flows out of Canada before entering the U.S. in North Dakota.
. Pat and I conversed on a regular basis with other scientists on the Yahoo Group named “Climate Concern “ and by personal email. The NWS denied his recommendation to give his public presentation o n his research at the “Minneapolis Mall of America” in February 2000, which deeply affected h,im. I will h He strongly believed the information ought be shared with the public to which I concurred. That was the beginning of the vendetta against my brother, Patrick J. Neuman, for speaking strongly of the obligations the federal government was responsible for accurately informing the citizenry.
A way great similar response to my raising the issue of too many greenhouse gases being emitted by drivers of vehicles on Wisconsin highway system, my immediate supervisors directed: “that neither global warming, climate change nor the long term impacts upon the natural resources of Wisconsin from expansion of the state highway system were to be any part of my job requirements, and that I must not communicate, nor in a memorandum to all the bureau, shall any person who works in the same bureau I do communicate with me, neither verbally on the phone, by email.
All Things Environmental 
Recent Comments