If, in our haste to 'progress,' the economics of ecology are disregarded by citizens and policy makers alike, the result will be an ugly America. We cannot afford an America where expedience tramples upon esthetics and development decisions are made with an eye only on the present.
Interpretation
Disregarding ecological economics for immediate progress can lead to environmental degradation.
This quote by Stewart Udall emphasizes the importance of considering ecological economics in the decision-making processes of citizens and policymakers. It warns that prioritizing short-term gains over long-term environmental aesthetics and health can result in a deteriorating society and landscape, ultimately affecting the quality of life in America.
In practice
In a lecture about urban development, this quote can highlight the importance of sustainable practices.
America today stands poised on a pinnacle of wealth and power, yet we live in a land of vanishing beauty, of increasing ugliness, of shrinking open space, and of an over-all environment that is diminished daily by pollution and noise and blight.
Each generation has its own rendezvous with the land, for despite our fee titles and claims of ownership, we are all brief tenants on this planet. By choice, or by default, we will carve out a land legacy for our heirs.
Tell me of what plant-birthday a man takes notice, and I shall tell you a good deal about his vocation, his hobbies, his hay fever, and the general level of his ecological education.
How sublime to look down on the workhouse of nature, to see her clouds, hail, snow, rain, thunder, all fabricated at our feet!
We live on a finite planet. We have finite resources, and we're running out of good, arable land.
You could look at something a hundred times from space, but the next time you come around the world, suddenly it's very different and gorgeous-looking, just because of the change of weather or the angle of the sun.
A weed is but an unloved flower.
As a child, I used to have a secret dread - and a recurring nightmare - of the whole world becoming city, being covered with cement and buildings and streets. No more country. No more woods.
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