On Saturday, February 12th, Sister Dorothy Stang was assinated in the rainforest in Brazil.

Sister Dorothy had worked in the Amazon for 37 years. She was a vocal opponent to illegal logging and large corporations who stole land from the small landowners in the Amazon.

It is thought that Sister Dorothy, who was shot three times, was killed by those who did not like her oppositions to the changes in the rainforests.

To read more about Sister Dorothy Stang, please visit Politiscape.com.

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The Kyoto Treaty/Protocol/Agreement went into effect today around the world. The United States and Australia are the only two “progressive” nations that did not sign the Treaty citing economic hardships if the Treaty went into effect. The United States government has claimed that because China and India are not signing the Treaty, it puts undue hardship on the U.S. economy for them to do so.

As an American, I find this so irresponsible. When we are dealing with issues that concern the earth, we are not only affecting the citizens of this nation. We are affecting the rest of the world. As one of the world’s leaders in economic and political arenas, we are also responsible to be a leader in environmental arenas.

Unfortunately, we currently have an administration that does not treat the environment kindly. Our air, water, and forests are under a direct line of attack. The current administration would have Alaska drilled, the forests in the West logged, mountains mined, waters polluted, and the air thick with pollution.

I’m sickened by our mistreatment of the earth. I’m dismayed that an administration that has a blatant disregard for the environment around us has been re-elected.

I hope that this can be turned around and that the United States can be a world leader in environmental issues and not the country that refuses to clean up its act.