Walking North on a Southbound Train *

Trading stories one day about animal smarts, I heard one from an old farmer who described a wily fox that appeared one day at the edge of a clearing in which his dog was tethered to pole in the yard. Inferring from the pattern of tracks, the empty dog dish, and the fact that the dog was bound up to the pole he deduced that the fox had run in circles just outside the radius of the dog's tether until he had tied the dog up at which point he strutted in to devour the dog's food while the helpless mutt looked on. Something like that has happened to all of us who believe nature and ecosystems to be worth preserving and that this is a matter of obligation, spirit, true economy, and common sense. Someone or something has run us in circles, tied us up, and is eating our lunch. It is time to ask who and why and how we might respond. Here is what we know: 1. Despite occasional success, overall, we are losing the epic struggle to preserve the habitability of the Earth. The overwhelming fact is that virtually all important ecological indicators are in decline. The human population increased three-fold in the 20th century and will likely grow further before leveling off at 8-11 billion. The loss of species continues and will likely increase in coming decades. Human driven climatic change is now underway and is occurring more rapidly than many scientists thought possible even a few years ago. There is no political or economic movement presently underway sufficient to stop the process short of a doubling or tripling of the background rate of 280 ppm CO 2 . On the horizon are other threats to humanity and nature in the form of self-replicating technologies that may place humankind and natural systems in even greater jeopardy. 2. The forces of denial in the United States are more militant and brazen than ever before. Every day millions in this country alone hear that those concerned about the environment are "wackos" or worse. A former Wyoming senator charges that the environmental movement is "a front for these terrorists" and no significant Washington politician utters any objection (Walkom, 2002, F-4). And people holding such opinions have been appointed to strategic positions throughout the federal government. 3. The movement to preserve a habitable planet is caught in the cross-fire between fundamentalists of the corporate dominated global economy and those of atavistic religious movements. It is far easier to see the latter than the former, but in a longer perspective those of perpetual economic expansion will be perceived to be at least as