I take joy in Valentine’s Day following so closely on the heels of the season of love and rebirth. Here are ideas for three Valentines you can send to Mother Earth to express your love of her and your hope for her future:
• Support organizations like Doctors Without Borders that provide medical services to women worldwide. Family planning and prenatal care are vital to enabling the earth to support its human population.
• Support organizations like AfricAid that encourage girls to complete their education, training them to become leaders and providing mentors for their development. Educated girls marry later, have fewer children and value good education for the children they do have, thus creating less stress on Mother Earth.
• Support legislation like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act either by individually contacting your representatives and senators or visiting energyinnovationact.org to learn more about it. The act was introduced last year into both houses of Congress supported by both Democrats and Republicans. The act has been reintroduced this year in both houses of Congress. The fees assessed will be returned to American households to assist with any energy price increases during the transition to sustainable sources. Predictions are that such a fee and dividend program will decrease pollution by 40 percent in 12 years and provide an additional 2.1 million jobs. That is a Valentine Mother Earth will love.
None of these ideas require much red paper, lace and glue, but they will bring joy to Mother Earth and the billions of people who share her life support.
Kamilla Macar, Boulder
