by
Institute. He recently gave a lecture called "Selfish Guide to Nature's Conservation" because, he says, the nations of the world have done a terrible job of educating people about how the environment connects with their daily lives.
A: most people are motivated by the things they have
to confront on a day to day basis, that they confront
and their families confront. And they don't see that
they environment is actually connected to that. And
what are the day to day needs people have? Well, they
need air to breathe, they need water to drink, they
need food to eat, they don't want to be sick from
disease, they don't want to be hammered by extreme
weather events, like hurricanes or floods. All of
those areas can be linked back to the condition of the
environment. And the problem that
i think we're facing now is that we're always treating
the symptoms. What are the symptoms? the symptoms are
hunger and poverty and disease. Those are symptoms of
a larger disease, and the larger disease is
environmental degradation.
Q: Tell me about your "selfish guide to nature's
Conservation." Why do we need a selfish guide?
A: By a selfish guide I mean you want to actually
protect forests and upland habitats not because
forests are beautiful. That is a nice reason. Not
because it protect all of the species of birds and
mammals and plants that are in those forests, another
very good reason. But you really want to protect them
even if you don't care about those things you want to
protect them--because it has everything to do with the
quality of the water you drink and how you're gonna
feel after you drink that water. This is not just an
issue of fresh water---it's a issue of life and death.
So approximately 250,000 people die every month from
drinking polluted water. That's a huge number of
people.
Q: What are some of the ways that we can prevent these
kinds of environmental problems that kill so many
people?
A: Basically we have to change the way we do things.
Humans being humans, we attach no value to things that
are free. It's why every morning in New York City
because we don't pay for water, people turn on the
tap, they're brushing their teeth and the phone rings
and you walk over and they answer the phone and they
leave the water running. If they were paying for the
water you can be assured they'd turn the water tap
off. So if you're asking me what do we have to do, the
first thing we have to do is get our accounting right,
trace back the impacts on us as individuals to the
activities of others much of this will take care of
itself. If you expand this out to the United States,
our Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, unfortunately
under assault right now, but for a long time, were
really model acts. and they were motivated by the fact
that people understood that clean air and clean water
were absolutely essential to their health and their
children's health and their grandchildren's health.
Right now. Not in the future, but right now.
Q: When you think about today being Earth Day, are you
optimistic about the future of the environment both in
the united states and globally?
A: If you're the half empty type you're gonna say
"look at all the species that have been destroyed over
the last 400 years, look at all the species that have
gone extinct. Look at all this land degradation, look
at all the people that don't have water, that are
living in misery." Absolutely, there's no question
that that is the case. I'm in the half full group. I
still see the promise and the future of us
understanding the connection between our daily life
and these systems, and beginning to act in our own
self interest. I'm putting my money on people acting
in their own self interest and they will. So if you're
asking me am I pessimistic, given what clearly has
been a 50-year period of extraordinary degradation of
many many different natural systems, I'm still
optimistic. I think there still is plenty of room for
that optimism and plenty to build on to create a
sustainable future.
Q: Thank you for joining us today.
A: Thank you for inviting me.
Professor Don J. Melnick is founder and director of
the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation
at Columbia University's Earth Institute. He also
co-coordinates the UN Millennium Project task force on
reducing poverty and disease in developing countries.