A 262-page book that the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) recently published offers life-long lessons in appreciating the Earth’s gifts and how to conserve the sea, air, and land.
Environment lawyer Antonio Oposa’s “Shooting Stars and Dancing Fish” is a picture-and-story book written for both the young and decision makers in mind. The climate crisis, he explained, gets lost in jargon and the notion that this is someone else’s problem to fix.
Believing the subject is still not real to many despite its disastrous impact everywhere, he partnered with RAFI to create a reader-friendly book of eye-catching visuals and prose that tackle the case for climate change through essays and poetry, full-color photos, paintings, and fun illustrations.
Oposa calls for a mind shift from wasteful consumption to “CPR Economics” that fosters Conservation, Protection, and Restoration. At the end of the book, he invited readers to “paint the future” they want to see.
Some highlights of the book:
- Why developed nations are “OC” or over-consuming countries that should not be admired or copied
- Road sharing or bayanihan sa daan to solve traffic congestion
- Why the car is a “metal monster” feeding global warming
- Stories of CPR Economics or models around the world
- Personal notes on Oposa’s legal battles over illegal logging, the Manila Bay reclamation, fishponds in Laguna Lake, Bantayan beach encroachment, and other disputes
- How youths and ordinary citizens can support the International Climate Justice Movement