DeSmogBlog has a
magnificent project, a call for letters to one’s descendents a hundred years from now.
Sharon Moore offered an apology:
Most of all I want to tell you I am sorry for how short-sighted we were. I thought I was doing all that I could to leave a good world for you to inherit, but it turns out I could have done more.
Kevin Grandia offered hope.
Many people were scared of the massive changes that needed to happen, and many more refused to move on. But I’m glad to say, that in the end the world made the right decision and that’s why you today, way into the future, are enjoying a quality of life that I can only dream of.
I sought to offer both. Even though a bit late, it seemed time to post my thoughts here … and perhaps provoke others to think.
My contribution to the project.
Dear Great-Great Grandchild,
With each passing day, I realize just how much I’ve stolen from the heritage that we should have left behind for you.
The magnificent collection of biological materials in fossil fuels that we, I know it is crazy, burned up to pollute rather than to husband these rich resources for making into products that, well, I can’t even begin to imagine.
But, rather than guilt, I wish to speak across the generations of hope, of seeing and creating possibilities. You are half-way there in the guiding principle for my life today: think not for seven years, but for seven generations.
This is a wise way to consider the world.
Realizing the errors of my 20th century youth, I and millions of others began to transform ourselves and our societies at the beginning of the 21st century. It is a long and hard struggle, with triumphs and tribulations along the way, to create a meaningful path forward.
Now you, three generations removed from me, have the opportunity to look back at how you arrived at where you are. And, you have the privilege and responsibility to look forward seven generations, as I strive to do.
May you, with great joy, find fruitful success in creating a path which will make the world of seven generations hence ever better than the one you live in yourselves.
Great-great Grandad,