Treehugger's rant

I am very concerned about the state of our world. The animals, environment, people are all threatened by the biggest predator this planet has known,us humans and many do not seem to give it a second thought. Whole species are being threatened with extinction like the orangutans of Sumatra, sharks world wide, amphibians world wide, elephants and rhinos. At the root of this is greed, money. In Sumatra the rain forests are being slashed and burned displacing the orangutans so that palm fields can be planted and palm oil harvested. Palm oil is in high demand nowadays and is used in just about everything on the grocery store shelves. Never mind the animals are being sacrificed and orphaned or that the precious rain forests of Sumatra are being eradicated at an alarming rate which causes all kinds of environmental problems. One big one it is causing now as I sit here typing is the carbon being sent up into the atmosphere because of the burning. It is said that the smoke over this region of Indonesia can be seen from space. It pollutes the air in Sumatra. Our oceans are so over fished that it is killing the shark population. They are running out of food sources. The practice of fining them in order to sell the fins to make shark fin soup in Asia and the US is also taking its' toll besides causing cruel,painful, torturous deaths to these creatures who have been in the oceans since the days of the dinosaurs. Pollution of the oceans as well as global warming are also causing big problems. Humans depend on the life that comes from these waters but we are destroying them thus we are destroying ourselves. The use of mass pesticides and herbicides being sprayed on our food is depleting the soil which is a source of many vegetables nutrients. It is also making us sick and contaminating everything surrounding these farm areas.
We have to wake up ans speak up. We can't keep letting the almighty dollar, a piece of paper, dictate how and what we do. We are part of this ecosystem too yet we act like we are above it and who cares if we crush it. We will be responsible for our own extinction and death of this planet. We must take responsibility now. The excuse "what difference will one person, me, make" doesn't get anyone out of this situation but makes it worse. Our choices make a huge difference not just for ourselves but for future generations of our species and other species. Collectively we have caused these problems and collectively we can solve them. No person can close their eyes and ears to these realities any longer.
I know it is Thanksgiving week and that is why I am writing this now. We have much to be thankful for but we have much to work on so we can continue to be able to be thankful for years to come and so will our children.