作为庆祝地球日的一种方式，我将花一点时间与诸位分享这一天对我个人的意义，以及“地球日”精神是如何引导我们整个团队的。
地球日提醒我们，是什么使生命成为可能。我们享受生活的果实，是因为大自然的恩赐。我们所拥有的一切都是对自然的改造。不幸的是，我们生活在人类史上前所未有的、极不寻常的时代。自然系统——提供给我们清洁的水、赖以生存的空气，维持食物生产，提供栖身之所——正濒临它的极限。在过去的50年里，我们这些研究和参与这些问题的人亲眼目睹，人类忽视了正在迅速逼近我们的灾难性时刻。每年的地球日都在提醒我们，我们是多么地接近悲剧的结局。如果所有人都视若无睹，那么这个后果没有谁可以承受得起。
如果我们继续采取折中的态度，相信明天和今天也差不多，那么将造成无人能逃脱的、极其恶劣的影响。我们每一个人都对这场正在演变的危机负有同等责任。因此，每一位负责任、有爱心的人都需要应对这一挑战。
那我们该怎么做呢？从我的角度来看，在照顾好家庭之后，我们能做的下一个重要承诺就是爱护地球。不是以某种抽象的方式，而是通过我们的生活方式和做的事情。公司和政府不会养活我们，也不会保护我们的安全——大自然会。没有自然系统的正常运转，我们无法维持现代文明。
作为企业团体，我们可以通过日常工作来发扬“地球日”精神。我们有幸拥有令人印象深刻的工具，能够产生有价值的影响。我们的规划团队有能力更多地关注可持续规划、乡村振兴、低碳设计策略、改善自然城市景观和栖息地等领域。我们的儿童设计团队将在儿童体验项目中融入环保理念和元素。艺术展陈团队可以通过寻找促进习主席生态文明的项目来支持这些努力。建筑团队可以提高设计更环保建筑的能力。户外团队可以专注于服务年轻人，教会他们自然世界的价值。最后，我们当然需要有自己的秩序。我们可以通过成为一个零碳集团来做到这一点，将我们对地球资源的影响降到最低。
作为个体，最终我们都需要诚实地面对我们个人的影响。我一生的大部分时间都在组织和宣传生态问题，但多年来，我未能将我个人对环境的影响降到最低。在我年老的时候，我正努力按照自己的标准做得更好。我没有完全做到，但我每天都在努力做得更好。我们必须认识到，我们是在窃取未来，除非每个人都能探索出“地球日”精神下的生活方式，否则我们将留给子孙后代极度贫困的生活。
地球日最终是为了庆祝大自然带给我们的祝福。我们应该努力以我们的生活方式来尊重这一祝福——无论是作为一个公司团体，还是作为未来世界的父/母亲。
Note to the MCM Group Team on Earth Day
As a way of celebrating Earth Day, I thought I would take a moment to share with you what the day means to me personally, as well as how the spirit of Earth Day would hopefully guide our mission as a group.
Earth Day serves as a reminder of what makes life possible. We enjoy the fruits of living because of nature’s support. All that we are and all that we have is simply a reworking of nature. Unfortunately, we live in very unusual times that have never before been faced by mankind. The natural systems that clean our water and provide the air we breath, that sustain our food production, and give us the materials to shelter, are being strained to their breaking limits. Those of us that have studied and participated in these issues over the last fifty some years have watched humanity ignore the disastrous cliff that we are rapidly approaching. Earth Day is a yearly reminder of how near we are to a tragic reckoning.
None of us can ignore the outcome if we don’t act. The forces are simply too large to escape if we continue to take half-measures and rely upon things being the same tomorrow as they were yesterday. All of us bear equal responsibility for this unfolding crisis, and as such, all responsible, caring people need to respond to the challenge.
So what do we do? From my vantage point, after taking care of our families, the next most important commitment we can make is to take care of the Earth. Not in some abstract way, but in terms of how we live and what we do. Corporations and governments do not feed us and keep us safe – nature does. Without her basic systems working properly, we cannot maintain modern civilization.
As a corporate group, we can advance the spirit of Earth Day through the type of work we do. We are fortunate enough to possess impressive tools that can make a valuable impact. Our planning team has the ability to focus more on sustainable planning, rural revitalization, low carbon design strategies, enhancing natural urban landscapes and habitats, and the like. Our children’s programs can provide environmental awareness elements and programs as part of their wonderful designs. Our exhibit group can support these efforts by seeking projects that promote President Xi’s Ecological Civilization. The architectural team can improve their ability to design more environmentally friendly buildings. And the outdoor team can focus on serving youth and teaching them the value of our natural world. Finally, we certainly need to have our own house in order. We can do that by becoming a zero-carbon group that minimizes our impact on the earth’s resources.
As individuals, in the end we all need to honestly face our personal impact. I’ve spent much of my life organizing and promoting ecological issues, but for many years I failed at minimizing my personal environmental impact. In my old age I’m trying to do a better job of living up to my own standards. I’m not there yet but I try every day to do better. We must recognize that we are each currently stealing from the future and we will leave our children and grandchildren with a greatly impoverished life unless we each find ways to live in the spirit of Earth Day.
Ultimately Earth Day is here to celebrate the blessings that nature has provided us. We should try to honor that blessing in the way we live – both as a company group and as the fathers and mothers of tomorrow’s world.
Michael