“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so.” – Genesis

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” — Albert Einstein

“There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value.” –  Speech by Theodore Roosevelt in Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910.

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I deeply care about the planet earth and about all of the creatures living on the land and in our seas, rivers and oceans. However, I am not a environmentalist. Rather I am a conservationist.

According to Merriam-Webster, a conservationist is “a person who advocates conservation especially of natural resources.”

In contrast, an environmentalist is defined as one “concerned about environmental quality especially of the human environment with respect to the control of pollution.”

Do you see the difference?

Conservationism

A conservationist uses what has been given to us to use. He or she does not want to control people but give people access to all natural resources but task people to use these natural resources for the good of all of mankind. Not to do so is blasphemy.

The U.S. Department of the Interior says this about the conservationism:

President Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most powerful voices in the history of American conservation. Enthralled by nature from a young age, Roosevelt cherished and promoted our nation’s landscapes and wildlife. After becoming president in 1901, Roosevelt used his authority to establish 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks and 18 national monuments on over 230 million acres of public land.

Today, the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt is found across the country. There are six national park sites dedicated, in part or whole, to our conservationist president. Along with others like John Muir and Rachel Carson, Roosevelt’s words and actions continue to affect how we approach and appreciate the natural world. In honor of his birthday, check out some great Roosevelt stories and quotes below.

I believe that it is mankind’s duty to use our God given natural resources. I also believe that God tasks us to use them wisely. I believe in waste not, want not.

Aldo Leopold wrote,

“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. By land is meant all of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and co-operate with each other. The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as the co-operations. You can regulate them—cautiously—but not abolish them.”

Love the land and its creatures but partake of earth’s bounty.

As John James Audubon wrote,

“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.”

Environmentalism

An environmentalist is focused not on nature or science. An environmentalist is focused on controlling pollution by controlling people. Environmentalists have killed millions of people.

In order to control the people environmentalists have over time pushed three myths (big lies):

1. Myth #1: Human Extinction Due To Climate Change Is Imminent

2. Myth #2: The Climate Is Getting Substantially More Dangerous for Humans

3. Myth #3: Natural Disasters Are Getting Substantially More Frequent And Severe

Biden’s Build Back Better agenda has a climate basket.

Biden’s Climate Basket:

This basket is filled with green energy goodies. It’s the Green New Deal on steroids. Unfortunately, if you heat your home using natural gas or electricity you are being tricked because you energy bill will go up, not down. If you drive a car, SUV, truck or van that uses fossil fuels you have already see gasoline and diesel prices go up over 323%. There’s no treats in this basket for us consumers too. For you see went the cost of energy goes up so does the prices of consumer goods. This basket is filled with tricks and no treats.

Here are three absolutes that John Casey, a good friend of mine, taught me about the climate:

1. The climate changes.
2. These changes of the climate follow natural cycles (e.g. summer, fall, winter, spring).
3. There is nothing mankind can do to change these natural cycles.

Conclusion

I believe Theodore Roosevelt said it best, “To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.”

It’s not about pollution at all.

Environmentalists want to reduce the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere. They forget that it’s CO2 that feeds the plants and makes them green and grow faster thereby producing more for mankind to consume. Remember learning about osmosis in high school?

Genesis 1: 27-30 reads:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground–everything that has the breath of life in it–I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.

Don’t fall for the environmentalist’s big lies. Believe in the truth. God’s truth.

We have been given great bounty and we are tasked to give thanks for it.

Remember what Edmund Burke wrote,

“There is but one law for all, namely that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity – the law of nature and of nations.”

As we approach Thanksgiving Day 2021 perhaps we should bow our heads in prayer and be most thankful for our conservationists who give us food, drink and with this bounty, health and prosperity.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.