A meditation on the state of our planet [Video]

As I enter my 66th year on planet Earth, I often struggle to be optimistic about prospects for the future of life.

Our country is celebrating its 248th birthday next week, and while we have accomplished phenomenal things, we have failed at too many others. It’s not an overstatement to say that our democracy hangs in the balance, but even more concerning is the state of our natural world.

We say we love nature, but not if it gets in our way. If we want a giant house, or shopping center or industrial site, we don’t hesitate to send in bulldozers.

We don’t hesitate to slash and burn forests for any number of reasons, including cheap hamburger. According to a recent editorial in The New York Times, about 17% of the Amazon is gone and three-fourths of what remains has been weakened by drought. As trees disappear, the drying will …