Environmental Apocalypse Now

By Robert Bridge

In 1971, American television audiences were treated to a public ad campaign against pollution and litter in between their favourite late-night serials. The commercial clip featured a Native American Indian paying a visit to his sacred stomping grounds.

With the silhouettes of belching factories looming in the background, he slowly navigates his canoe through the black rivers of an industrial wasteland. Then he seems to recognize his surroundings and docks his boat on the shore of the river. After a short walk, he stands in bewilderment before a roaring 6-lane highway, perhaps at the same spot where he once hunted buffalo, or learned to ride a horse. At this point, a passing motorist tosses out of a window the remains of a fast-food dinner, which breaks open at his feet. This public awareness commercial ended with the heartbroken Indian turning towards the camera, revealing a tear rolling down his prominent cheek, accompanied by a slow fade-out of the bold-faced command: KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL.

It was a memorable moment in American television history, and a cold reminder that media, when it has the will, can be used as a force for good. The “Crying Indian” commercial shamed us, provoked us, and made millions of viewers ponder the uncomfortable idea that – no matter how much we revered John Wayne – the cowboys were no match for the Indians when it came to being responsible custodians of the good earth.

In 1626, Francis Bacon released a utopian novel entitled The New Atlantis, where he advanced the idea that the scientific community “conquer nature” in order to improve the human condition. Bacon would undoubtedly be surprised at how literally we have put into action those two words over the years. Just over one century later, in 1750, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Europe, and the planet has not stopped to catch its breath since.

In these techno-obsessed days, whenever we speak of “evolution” it seems to be more about the latest computer system, automobile or flatscreen television, as opposed to the Darwinian notion of biological evolution.

Today, the environmental debate has moved from the question of simple aesthetics (rubbish, urban sprawl, recycling) to pure survival (global warming, animal extinction, violent weather patterns). Everybody – corporations, writers, politicians and filmmakers – has jumped on the environmental bandwagon. A lot of very intelligent people are doing a lot of talking, but the almost impossible problem before us worsens with each passing day. Perhaps never before in history has so much depended upon the decisions of so few.

Some of the best advice I have heard recently on how we should approach environmental degradation came from Vaclav Havel, the former president of Czechoslovakia, who wrote in the International Herald Tribune: “Maybe we should start considering our sojourn on Earth as a loan. There can be no doubt that the past hundred years at least, the Euro-American world has been running up a debt, and now other parts of the world are following its example.

“Nature is now issuing warnings and demanding that we not only stop the debt growing but start to pay it back.”

And if those somber words do not make us jump off the couch, there is no shortage of hard facts. According to a just-released report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is “unequivocal” evidence that global warming is a direct result of mankind’s activities on earth. The deadly result: this giant cocktail called Earth, complete with its Arctic ice cubes, is melting rapidly. The scientists – at least those who are not on the payroll of big corporations – are in unanimous agreement that within the blink of a geological eye, 100 years at most, much of the planet’s landmasses will be submerged under the sea. So in many ways, Bacon’s prediction of A New Atlantis is becoming a grim reality, although certainly not in the way he had envisioned.

But yet few people – not to mention governments, as the Bush administration proved when it retreated from the Kyoto Protocol – are prepared to sacrifice their consumer lifestyles or economic standing to save the planet. Future generations – if there are any – will have no kind words for us when they reflect upon their inheritance. (Abridged)

From Moscow News, 2007, № 46

Language and Culture Focus.

• John Wayne – a legendary Hollywood actor famous for westerns and cowboy movies

• Francis Bacon – an English philosopher, statesman and author

• bandwagon – the activity that more and more people are becoming involved in

• the Kyoto Protocol – a protocol to the International Framework Convention on Climate Change

Think of the best way to translate it.

1. This public awareness commercial ended with the heartbroken Indian… revealing a tear rolling down his prominent cheek…

2. In these techno-obsessed days, whenever we speak of “evolution” it seems to be more about the latest computer system, automobile or flatscreen television, as opposed to the Darwinian notion of biological evolution.

3. The deadly result: this giant cocktail called Earth, complete with its Arctic ice cubes, is melting rapidly.

Comprehension questions and tasks.

1. Why did the commercial clip shame and provoke people? Can you think of any other ads of the kind?

2. In what way has the environmental debate changed today? Why?

3. Do you think tat the Kyoto Protocol can be an efficient tool to solve environmental issues?

4. Get ready to speak on the topic “Keep Belarus Beautiful”.