Grunwald Journal

Endgame

Quotations by Michael Grunwald

“When our distant descendants move into the Fourth Millennium, I hope it will be remembered that this generation, at the beginning of the Third Millennium, put aside partisanship, narrow self-interest and short-term thinking by saving the Everglades (Grunwald 79).”

http://www.evergladesfoundation.org

After reading this excerpt, I couldn’t help but think why did the fight to save the Everglades have to be so political and surrounded around money. It’s sad that the main focus of some politicians did not solely focus on the nature and animals being saved and preserved. In my opinion, saving the Everglades should not have taken so much time and effort; it should have been a simple decision. The option of leaving the Everglades left to dry up and building an airport should not have been an option. I feel like since I live so close to the Everglades it is something that I hold dear to my heart, something that is so unique and beautiful. It hurts to think that the Everglades could have been a thing of the past. Without the help of so many environmental activists and some politicians, my future children would not have been able to see this wonderful thing that nature has to offer. After reading this excerpt, I have developed more of an emotional tie to the Everglades that I did not have before.

“Yes, restoring the Everglades would preserve aquifers and promote ecotourism, but Graham really wanted to restore the Everglades because it was singular, because it distinguished south Florida from other sprawling concatenations of tract homes, strip malls, CVS, and KFC (Grunwald 99).”

http://ushistoryimages.com/seminole-tribe.shtm

The thing that sticks out to me most in this quote is the word singular. There is nothing else like the Everglades; no place in the entire world resembles the Everglades. With that being said, I cannot contemplate why there was so much debate about whether or not to better restore and preserve the Everglades. It makes me think how twisted and demented the world we live in is. It has all contributed to greed and people wanting to make money. I can’t help but think about all the beautiful and majestic animals that live in the Everglades. Their homes would have potentially been destroyed, leaving them homeless. This quote makes me think about the book A Land to Remember, when Toby became so angry with Sol for destroying the land and building a farm on it. Sol was concerned about the money; Toby was concerned about the animals. I feel as if America’s priorities are out of order, somewhat like Sol when he became extremely concentrated on making money, nothing else mattered to him. America needs to have mindset of Toby, protecting the land not only helps the animals, but humans as well. Thankfully the Everglades are now protected and there will never be strip malls and homes that will destroy it.

“Everglades restoration could set an international standard for sustainable development. It could prove that man and nature could co-exist in peace (Grunwald 101).” 

http://www.trulygraphics.com/tg/nature/page/8/

I honestly wish I could agree with this statement. I think it is absolutely wonderful that the restoration of the Everglades became a priority, however I do not believe that man and nature will ever be able to co-exist in peace again. I believe I feel this way because I have never lived in a time where nature and preserving the land was a priority to the general society. People are so concerned about making money and creating bigger and better things that the love and respect for nature is throw away. It would be wonderful if the people could live in peace with nature but they must have respect for it, and I do not believe that there is. People will only begin to realize that peace with nature is necessary when they begin to directly be affected by the repercussions. The restoration of the Everglades is an amazing thing and I do want to take light away from that, however the fight to save the Everglades shows that it will never be easy to reach that peace that is necessary to reach sustainability.