Why are environmental issues important to some and not to others?  Everyone benefits from clean air and water, but not everyone is motivated to act from this perspective.  I would venture that many who have made decisions in their lives based on respect for the environment have done so based on a personal relationship with nature established in childhood.  It turns out that Community Energy employees offer examples that support this theory.

One Community Energy employee grew up near the ocean with a love for that ecosystem and a desire to protect it.  Another employee grew up snowboarding and skiing and feels that affinity with snowy mountains.  Another built forts in the woods and enjoyed camping trips as a boy scout.  I spent summers boating and swimming in the Chesapeake Bay and exploring the woods.  We all developed an early affiliation with the natural world that dictated our career paths and the daily choices that we make.

This theory gives me reason for concern when I also observe that children in our current culture are spending significantly less time in nature than past generations did.  There is a great book written on the topic of children’s relationship to nature called “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv.  To quote Louv, “Many members of my generation grew into adulthood taking nature’s gifts for granted; we assumed (when we thought of it at all) that generations to come would also receive these gifts.  But something has changed.  Now we see the emergence of what I have come to call nature-deficit disorder.”1

Louv presents research which confirms the observation that children’s relationships with nature are changing dramatically in this generation.  As children spend less time in nature, there are effects on physical and mental health.  What will the effects be on the new generation’s interest in protecting the environment and supporting renewable energy?  Louv writes “Studies of environmental activists in locales as diverse as Kentucky and Norway indicate that childhood experiences are significant precursors for adult activism on behalf of the environment.”2

If children do not form attachments to nature, will they act to protect it as adults? We can reverse this trend as a culture by preserving open space in our communities and integrating environmental education into our schools.  The National Wildlife Federation and The Sierra Club are on the forefront of this movement and offer ways to participate.  We can also act directly by regularly encouraging children to spend time in natural places.  If you believe that renewable energy is the future, you may want to take a member of the next generation on a walk through the woods.

1) Louv, Richard.  “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.”  Algonquin Books, 2005. 10.
2) Louv, Richard.  “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.”  Algonquin Books, 2005. 149.