MAN refuses to see and to believe what humanity is doing to our environment until Mother Nature decides to teach us a lesson. Trish Portmann has this to say: “Humanity is the only creature in this planet which continuously shits in its own nest.” One picture shows a balding mountain similar to a tomahawk haircut with only a few strands of hair remaining. The caption: The blunder of Brazilian rainforest is being repeated here in Canada.” In the Philippines, balding mountains are very common. Not that we don’t have the agencies to protect our environment. Greed simply prevails over protectiveness. Those who are supposed to protect have succumbed to the glitter of gold. Disasters after disasters that are man-made failed to inject fear in the hearts of these unscrupulous people. “When the last tree is felled, it’s the only time we realize that we cannot breathe money.” The Mir mine in Russia is the largest mine in the world. Avery big dump truck looks like a grain of rice in a regular dinner plate. Here, we allow foreigners to rape our mountains and forests for rich minerals, legally and illegally. How we hated China for its behavior in the South China Seas but are willing partners in siphoning our natural resources for a fee. “A dead albatross shows what happens when we litter.” The oceans are littered with plastic wastes. Fish eating birds die not being able to distinguish food from plastic. Plastic waste materials block our waterways and cause flooding. Not only that we cannot teach people not to throw their wastes into the rivers and creeks, our government seems resigned to lack of logistics to sustain clean-up operations. “The scars left behind from mining of oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta” is a lot similar to what is happening in some parts of Surigao. Surigao is within the typhoon belt. If Surigao is hit by a typhoon similar to “Pablo” that hit Davao Oriental in 2013, the devastation may be beyond imagination. Blood would be in the hands of DENR, EMB and MGB. In one part of Oregon, trees were cut down to as far as the eyes could see. It looks eerie. In Maldives, the paradise island may be lost due to rising sea level. Melting ice cause by global warming may have been one of the causes for the rising sea level. And what is polluting the air we breathe? Back home, we are erecting power plants that are being used in other countries for decades but are now being rejected and replaced with more environment-friendly technology. It is never about having the technology to capture toxic materials coming out from these plants but money coming out from the pockets to silence opposition. Yes, a quick way to generate power but also a sure and slow way to kill ourselves. One day, all those dirty money will find their way to hospital bills. Why would Vice Gov. Joey Pelaez go against the biomass power plant in Medina town? Are we to see the same turnaround similar to another official who, at first, vowed to oppose the coal plant project of the Gotianuns of Filinvest? I smell money in every protest. Man will self-destruct the way man abuses Mother Nature.