Dyer Pond. Beautiful, quiet, serene, polluted. Polluted? Yup. This morning NPR brought the news that pharmaceuticals have been detected in the ponds of Cape Cod. Also, this morning, the Seventh Generation newsletter informed its readers about the Devra Lee Davis Charitable Foundation, the only such organization to actively raise public awareness about the environmental causes of cancer and work for change on this issue. I went to the site and on the first page found questions about cell phone usage, a subject I have covered often in this blog. The incidence of cancer has increased 48% from 1950 to 1990. Remember Tom Lehrer? "Don't drink the water, and don't breathe the air. Pollution, pollution, wear a gas mask and a veil. You'll be all right, as long as you don't inhale." Sometimes we do not remember lyrics correctly. My mind retained YOU'LL BE ALL RIGHT. In fact, the correct verse is THEN YOU CAN BREATHE. (Read full song here.) We were warned back then, but people did not pay attention. We wanted to be all right, so we believed in government. Corporations got richer and richer. Their lobbyists managed to crush opposition to environmental reform. The world became more and more polluted. Now, at last, people are beginning to pay attention. If we band together, there is hope for the future. Considering a charitable donation this fall? How about the Debra Lee Davis Charitable Foundation?
