DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE
In Paonia, Colorado, the United States of America, on Earth;
this twenty-first day of September, 2005.
A DECLARATION FOR HUMAN SURVIVAL
When, in the course of human events, it becomes apparent that the activities of humankind are causing severe and potentially catastrophic injury to the land, air and water that compose our home - the Earth - it becomes necessary to declare humanity’s innate Dependence on Earth, and demand that governments take immediate action to redress such harmful acts and make elemental changes to prevent further injury. Such declaration requires the causes that impel such demands be set forth.
I hold these truths to be self-evident: that all humans are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; that humans are but one life-form amidst the chaotic perfection weaving the web of life that exists on Earth; that should human activity damage the web, life, as it is now known, will cease to exist; that time is of the essence. – That to safeguard these rights and ensure the continuity of Homo sapiens as a viable species, Governments are instituted among People, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. - That when world business practices coalesce with the laws of governments to harm life on Earth, it is the right of people to bring an end to such injurious practices and ineffectual laws, and enact new laws; laws rooting their foundations in principles that will secure the continued vigor of the web of life, and provide for the prolonged existence and welfare of humanity. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that laws long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that people are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by modifying the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of environmental abuses, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to overwhelm life on Earth; it is their right, it is their duty, to alter such design and demand new laws to protect the web of life, thus securing sanctuary for the human race. Such has been the patient sufferance of humans, and such is now the necessity, which compels them to demand fundamental changes to laws not suited to safeguard the environment. - The history of humanity’s relationship with the Earth is a history of greed and power to take from nature without recompense, all having in direct object the establishment of monetary wealth with little, if any, regard for the sacredness of life.
The world’s current and growing population of nearly 6,500,000,000 humans transcends the Earth’s capacity to absorb our consumptive and polluting behaviors. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:
I. We are fouling the skies with greenhouse gases that have altered the Earth’s atmosphere, initiating global warming. Such warming is causing planetary climatic change that endangers all life forms.
II. We are polluting the air, water and land in, and around, towns and cities of the world so that the health of humans, flora and fauna is imperiled on a global scale.
III. We are diverting, depleting and polluting the Earth’s fresh water resources so that humans are oft unable to find potable water and, in many locales, water borne flora and fauna struggle to survive.
IV. We are overfishing and polluting the Earth’s oceans, seas, lakes and rivers so that survival of a growing number of aquatic species is threatened.
V. We are endangering and causing the extinction of a wide variety of plant and animal species by disrupting, polluting and destroying their habitats.
VI. We are contaminating productive soils with fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides; modifying natural crop species via genetic engineering; and paving over and building upon untold acres of fertile land. Taken together, these practices jeopardize the Earth’s agricultural bounty.
VII. We are cutting vast tracts of natural forests resulting in denuded hillsides that erode in rain showers and, in countless locations, no longer sustain trees that recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen.
VIII. We are mining immense amounts of the Earth’s rich ores and minerals causing pollution to land, air and water.
In summary, we are taking freely from the Earth, irresponsibly using her natural resources with a wanton disregard of the future. We now live in fear of our own unyielding and disposable lifestyles, which gravely injure life on Earth and threaten our ongoing survival.
In every stage of human activity causing harm to the web of life, citizens have
petitioned courts for Redress in the most humble terms. These incessant petitions have been met by new and ever-increasing injury to the Earth. Thus, the laws involved are tainted by every act that despoils the environment and are unfit to shield the Earth from harm.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our governments. We have relentlessly warned them of the daily injuries inflicted upon the Earth and the far-reaching consequences thereof. We have reminded them of our inherent connection to the Earth for everything we have – from air, water, food, clothing and shelter to cell phones, palm pilots, computers, automobiles and atom bombs. We have drawn their attention to our birthright on Earth, and appealed to their intrinsic bonds with nature and religion. They too have been deaf to the voices of reason and action. Hence, I must acquiesce in the necessity, which demands immediate attention to humanity's peril on Earth and hold them, as I hold myself and present-day civilization, Enemies to our continued existence.
I, therefore, a human on Earth, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the Universe for the rectitude of my intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good people of the world, solemnly publish and declare: that humans are dependent on the Earth for our survival; that the Earth is in imminent danger of irreparable injury to her life supporting functions; that we have found these functions unique to the Earth in our exploration of the near bounds of space; that now is the time to act firmly, with resolute conviction, to save our home – the Earth. And for support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, I pledge my life, worldly goods and sacred honor.
Cliff Seigneur - inspired by President Thomas Jefferson
Citizen of Colorado’s Western Slope, United States of America
Resident of the Earth
Joined by: ___________________ Signature:: _________________
Address: _____________________________________________
With the Earth enduring ever-increasing environmental harm each ensuing day, is it not time for such a declaration? If so, please join me and send a signed copy of this Declaration to the: Secretary General of the United Nations, UN Headquarters, First Avenue at 46th Street, New York, NY 10017; and the President of the United States, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500. Please also send unsigned copies of this Declaration and/or the following web site address to family members, friends and acquaintances. Together, we can save the Earth. CS
www.declarationofdependence.us
