If, in our haste to 'progress,' the economics of ecology are disregarded by citizens and policy makers alike, the result will be an ugly America. We cannot afford an America where expedience tramples upon esthetics and development decisions are made with an eye only on the present.
Interpretation
Disregarding ecological economics for immediate progress can lead to environmental degradation.
This quote by Stewart Udall emphasizes the importance of considering ecological economics in the decision-making processes of citizens and policymakers. It warns that prioritizing short-term gains over long-term environmental aesthetics and health can result in a deteriorating society and landscape, ultimately affecting the quality of life in America.
In practice
In a lecture about urban development, this quote can highlight the importance of sustainable practices.
America today stands poised on a pinnacle of wealth and power, yet we live in a land of vanishing beauty, of increasing ugliness, of shrinking open space, and of an over-all environment that is diminished daily by pollution and noise and blight.
Each generation has its own rendezvous with the land, for despite our fee titles and claims of ownership, we are all brief tenants on this planet. By choice, or by default, we will carve out a land legacy for our heirs.
He who does not become familiar with nature through love will never know her.
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
What more delightful avocation than to take a piece of land and by cautious experimentation to prove how it works. What more substantial service to conservation than to practice it on one's own land?
Recycling is what we do when we're out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first. Firstly: Reduce. Don't buy what we don't need. Repair: Fix stuff that still has life in it. Reuse: Share. Then, only when you've exhausted those options, recycle.
There are flood and drought over the eyes and in the mouth, dead water and dead sand contending for the upper hand. The parched eviscerate soil gapes at the vanity of toil, laughs without mirth. This is the death of the earth.
Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.
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