"This situation is intensified by the fact that, in spite of the appearance of polluted cities of the Third World, the United States continues to lead the way in exploiting the environment. With only five percent of the worldâs population, we Americans consume one-fourth of the worldâs energy and one-third of its raw materials. I am not proud of this. My own sense of grief is especially heightened by the fact that I am a citizen of the leading polluter nation, as well as being an individual member of a supposedly sentient species which is causing the greatest mass extinction since that of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Most of us are complacent, distracted or conveniently ignorant, in part because of the overwhelming depth of the situation. As Walt Kellyâs Pogo said, âWe have met the enemy, and the enemy is us!â"
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Memoirists from the United StatesBloggers from the United StatesAstronauts from the United StatesAstronomers from the United StatesSpace advocates
Original Language: English
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pp. 36-37.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brian_O'Leary
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Brian O'Leary
Brian Todd O'Leary (January 27, 1940 â July 29, 2011) was an American scientist, author, political activist, alternative energy advocate, and NASA astronaut. He was part of NASA Astronaut Group 6, a group of scientist-astronauts chosen with the intention of training for the Apollo Applications Program.
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