Smith College

There is a cost to our apparent prosperity and we are just beginning to be able to recognize what that means. The good news is that you have come along for the first time in history when enough is known about our dependence on the natural world to be able to take actions that can stem the losses, reverse the trends and set us on an enduring course of compatibility with the natural systems that sustain us. Protect the natural systems as if your life depends on it because it does!

I personally -- I hope you are too -- I am a “hopeaholic,” I confess. So is Jane Goodall. She gives four big reasons to hope: The human mind -- our ability to craft solutions -- coupled with the human spirit, which is perhaps unique on the planet. Third the resilience of nature that gives us hope -- we still have reason to think we can turn things around. The fourth thing is her belief and mine, too, in the youth of today who don't know what they can't do, who don't realize that there are things “impossible” to change. We have the power. You have the power.