There needs to be a balance in how we look at the world we live in. I certainly enjoy the benefits of civilization and technology and the personal safety and opportunities that come from taming the natural world. I also am glad we have found and are finding cures for diseases that nature attacks us with. At the same time I feel a sense of awe that we have this incredible stable ecosysem that can bring forth intelligence out of star dust, and in Carl Sagan's words "the universe can know itself." People who don't treat nature with respect are as bad as those who don't respect the achievements of humanity.
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I find it difficult to disagree with anything said above. I think we should be fairly cautious about ecological issues since we really don't have the science to understand the consequences and some outcomes are irreversable. To me, this means neither radical environmentalism nor unchecked corporate "development".

-philw (tries to minimize his footprint on nature)