· Carbon Spike – The rapid rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere that began with the Industrial Revolution and the massive burning of fossil fuels – principally coal and oil – is the largest contributor to the rapid warming of Earth’s atmosphere known as global warming.

· Extinction Spike – Biological diversity as measured in the number of species that share the planet with us is disappearing as more and more species go extinct. We are now in the midst of the fastest mass extinction in Earth’s history – faster than the catastrophe that annihilated the dinosaurs. Though we think that disappearing species that have little to do directly with humans’ economy, their disappearance threatens to unravel the web of life that sustains us all.

· Consumption Spike – As national economies in Asia grow – particularly in India and China – consumption of "stuff" grows as well. The average American household uses 85 tons of natural resources per year. If Indian and Chinese households consumed the same amount per household as we do, it would take three planet Earths to supply them.

· Population Spike – Today Earth’s population exceeds 6.5 billion people and is predicted to top out at between 9 and 10 billion. Where will the resources come from to feed these people, to help them build a better life for their children, the goal of parents worldwide? What lengths will parents go to grab a slice of the shrinking Earth’s pie for their children? Consequences take shape and are reported in newspapers every day.

· Unsustainable and destructive use of the environment

· Climate change

· Growth of hostile neighbors

· Lack of friendly trading partners

· Society’s failure to identify and decisively respond to these four elements.

· Eat local food produced in a way that respects nature. To the extent possible, we should eat certified organic produce or its equivalent as well as grassfed, humanely raised meat, dairy, cheese and eggs produced close to home. The Sweetwater Local Foods Market is one place to find such healthy homegrown food. This single step will do much to preserve the diversity and health of the Great Lakes’ natural environment.

· Support local business. Choose to shop at locally-owned businesses that make an effort to source their products locally. When purchases must be made at multi-national stores, visit the closest ones and combine errands. This consumes less gasoline, a major source of the CO2 rising global temperature.

· Reach out to neighbors. America’s evening news from Iraq is filled with the bloody and terrifying images of what happens when neighbors hate neighbors. We need to create places for neighbors to get to know neighbors, places like block parties, picnics, food buying clubs, carpools and after school programs for children. We can do this without government funds or formal programs. The key is to act "as if" none of us is going to make it unless we all make it. Every world religion embraces a principal similar to the Christian command to "love thy neighbor as oneself." Humanity’s survival depends on it.

· Conserve fossil fuel and promote solar energy. We absolutely must reduce our state’s consumption of coal for energy. Coal is the most environmentally destructive form of energy causing destruction of water sources as mining and burning emissions poison vital water and air resources. Let’s take advantage of West Michigan’s abundant wind energy, instead. And work together to conserve energy wherever we can. Every household can save tons of CO2 just by replacing all its incandescent light bulbs with long-lived fluorescent bulbs. We can better insulate buildings. And we can do more to drive less, carpool and car share. Working together to adapt to our new reality, we will prompt local government policies to do the same.

· Work to build a green economy. As workers in both paid and unpaid jobs, we can do much to change how those jobs impact the environment, finding large and small ways to make them more sustainable, more community friendly. This may mean helping co-workers access healthy food. It may mean helping to recycle computers by making them available to people without one or at least ensuring proper hazardous waste disposal. Literally thousands of opportunities exist to go green.