Local opinion: A legacy of protest for the seedlings of the future

Earth Day turned 55 April 22. People of my generation really did try. We did fight for a better world for our sisters and brothers. And for many of us in the streets again — proudly continuing a legacy of protest — Trump is the destroyer of all we worked for and hoped for. Our legacy destroyed in front of our eyes. He is the shadow lurking in the nightmares of H.P. Lovecraft’s grotesque unknowns. The “horror” that Marlon Brando suffered within the cinematic jungles of Vietnam in the brilliant “Apocalypse Now.”

When Earth Day was first celebrated, the New York Times described the crowd as joyous. We were, and we were young enough to believe that if we tried hard and had faith in our country to do the right thing, we could make a difference. We did. We helped stop a war and depose a president. And we made major strides in women’s rights, but not enough. And our rights are in jeopardy again.

Rather than a day solely of song and celebration, Earth Day is a day spent in solemn respect for Mother Earth, injured in her pure form and noble function by the industrialists of a century ago and the greed of the present. We are all complicit; some more than others. For the 1% and the pretenders, excess is best. More cheap products made of plastic.

I’ve spent a good amount of my time and thought on climate change. The destruction that we are watching is painful, because within the past decade we were doing something right and doing it in a united world effort. I know someone at NOAA who watched the destruction going on around him and the programs he helped develop rendered moot. “Every day is hard,” he says. The motto is “break it so you can rebuild.” God knows what plans they have for rebuilding.

What astounded him and his colleagues most is the attitude of the DOGE invaders. Clueless. Arrogant. They are mindless as to what it means to do something of value for the greater good. “They don’t understand the concept of ‘service,’” he told me. “They called us ‘suckers’ and admitted that they don’t understand ‘mission-driven’ people. We are aliens to them.”

As DOGE and the administration wreak havoc, the Earth is being ravished for its bounty and will feel more pain in a world where we “drill baby drill” and “dig baby dig.” Where forests are “trimmed” for the lumber industry; where coal is “clean,” and natural gas is the panacea for the plague of petroleum.

We are still facing a damaged climate. I read that baby saguaros are dying. The older ones, the grand armed sentinels that make us smile, are resilient, for now. It is the next generation that is of concern to botanists.

Same is true of our seedlings, the children of a damaged planet.

“We are still in real danger,” my contact said. “The climate is still in real danger. And they are putting their foot on the accelerator.”

A harsh way to end my tribute to Earth Day 2025, but it’s true. Reality is a motivator. It is why thousands of Tucsonans and multi-thousands of Americans are protesting the Trump Administration.

We had the power then; we have more power now. That is the good news. Hold on to it.