I liked what I read in this guest post from Sarah Parker, who challenges the audacious assertion from commentator Lou Dobbs about the anti-business leanings of green champions. She writes convincingly that green support has less to do with a person’s liberal or conservative leanings than it does the condition of the planet we leave to our children.
As a small child, one of the highlights of my day was right before bedtime when my Mother would gather my siblings and me in her bedroom and read to us. This was a nightly ritual that included books on all types of topics, most with wonderful illustrations that helped keep us engaged.
One such book I remember enjoying was “The Lorax,” written by the late, great Dr. Seuss. It was a tale about, you guessed it, a little orange creature called the Lorax, and his attempt at stopping the capitalist character Once-Ler from cutting down all the trees in order to provide everyone with an invention he believed was necessary for everyone to own. As the environment becomes depleted and the water and air are polluted, the animals residing in it are forced to leave and the area becomes a lifeless wasteland. The once healthy and happy forest is now dead, and as the trees that the Once-Ler needs to continue manufacturing his invention are all gone, he goes bankrupt.
Nice, innocuous story about the need to respect our environment, right? Well, not according to Fox Business Networks’ Lou Dobbs, who believes that this book, and the movie that it’s based on are an attempt to “indoctrinate our children,” espouse(ing) green energy policies and fill them with liberal ideas.
Dobbs goes on to say that this movie is trying to pit the “movers against the takers” and is giving our nation’s youngsters an anti-business message. One of his guests, talk-show host Matt Patrick, somehow manages to best him on the ridiculous comment scale. Mr. Patrick advises anyone who sees the film to “buy huge tubs of popcorn, ram it in your face, they’re all made of paper, crinkle it all up, walk out. You spend all kinds of money on stuff, and you leave it on the floor.”
The fact is, this tale shows the dangers of over-using our limited resources, failing to recycle, and the consequences that follow. I am unable to see how this is something that should not be taught to our children, as they will be the ones stuck dealing with the mess that we created. We are destroying our environment more and more everyday, and once things are gone, they are gone forever. I believe that this is not an anti-business message, but that it instead highlights the need for us to come up with sustainable sources for energy and consumer goods. I would like to hear Mr. Dobbs explain himself further, but I have a strong feeling that he is so set in his beliefs that there would be no point.
Sarah Parker is a part-time blogger, full-time Mom and has a passion for all things green. She lives in Greensboro, NC along with her husband, two children, and her Golden Retriever, Millie.
Photo: ~db~
