December 7, 1972 – On the last Apollo mission to the moon, astronauts took a photo now known as the “Blue Marble” photo – very likely the most reproduced photo in history – the first ever “whole earth” photo.
As a much more recent astronaut – Karen Nyberg, the 50th woman in space — stated: “In the future, I would like to be more of an advocate for animal conservation. Every single part of the Earth reacts with every other part. It’s one thing. Every little animal is important in that ecosystem. [Seeing the planet from above] makes you realize that, and makes you want to be a little more proactive in keeping it that way. If I could get every Earthling to do one circle of the Earth, I think things would run a little differently.”
We will not all have an opportunity to go into orbit, and if Karen is right, our planet is the worse off for it. Too many of us interpret the biblical assignment of “dominion over the earth” to mean “domination” rather than “stewardship.” But we can all take action to halt both the violence against women and the violence against the Earth.
Women have been in the lead of the environmental movement from the start. Rachel Carson wrote the 1962 book Silent Spring which many credit with launching the entire global environmental movement. In fact, one of my mentors credits that book with launching women’s ongoing engagement with the UN system to force world leaders to confront global issues. Another high profile woman at the UN was the late US Congresswoman Bella Abzug who co-founded and led WEDO – the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization – which still continues that legacy today.
You must be logged in in order to leave a comment