Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization
Inspiring Integrity in Environmental Science
Earth Day – April 22nd, 2021

In 2003, following the invasion of Iraq and his heroic efforts to save war-zone-traumatized animals at the Baghdad Zoo, Lawrence Anthony established The Earth Organization to address the biggest and most critical worldwide environmental threats. The amazing story told in his book Babylon’s Ark is an insightful and heartwarming read.  But it, too, exposed the often inept and poorly organized efforts by well-intentioned but mis-guided environmental groups who seemed to have lost their way on the mission to save Earth and its environments.

At the end of his selfless and dangerous war-time mission, Lawrence returned to his South African home – the game preserve residence of the Elephant Whisperer’s enchanted wild elephant herd. There, he sat down to write his reflections of the world in its current state and pondered what must be done to reverse its deteriorating condition.

“It is no secret that massive tracts of wild places and habitat are vanishing forever, taking countless animals, birds, and insects with them. Most of the planet’s rivers and streams no longer function naturally, and many coral reefs and mangrove swamps, the priceless breeding grounds for aquatic life, have started dying off.”

With decades of experience in wildlife conservation and planet saving endeavors, his personal observation and cumulative facts confirm that the majority of well financed environmental conservation organizations and related NGOs are failing. This isn’t a random criticism or opinion, but actual statistics say so. Despite six decades of environmental activism pushing expanded government oversight, growing public support and the funding for all things green, and working to fix contaminated ecosystems–all this attention has not significantly reversed these threatening trends. Why?

There are no fast and easy answers. However, the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) has taken on the task of identifying truth from falsity in the Environmental Science sector to reform ecological education and bring the Earth Sciences into a collaborative focus towards more workable solutions.

While there are many dedicated and genuine professionals in these fields, one finds a number of well-intentioned but mis-informed people and groups directing attention and funding towards incorrect targets for resolving the issues. If you put out spot fires in the wrong places and have no workable contingency plan, you get raging fires burning millions of acres. How could it be that in the high-tech age we live in, we are not able to safeguard our forests, waters, lands, wildlife and the health of humanity?

Although the crises are seemingly obvious, unless we identify the true causes and effects for environmental declines and bring forth correct, applicable technologies for addressing them, the health of our planet and life on it is under existential threat.

IDENTIFING TRUTH FROM FALSITY

Determining the causes and effects of environmental degradation is a towering responsibility.

Trying to force into use ‘remedies’ or implement Earth Science programs that don’t align with natural laws will negatively impact decision-making and the fate of ecosystems, water, and soil health for scores of generations into the future.

The early scientists before us who purveyed the fixed idea that the Earth was flat, if they were living today, would incredulously wonder how such a conclusion would have been possible. As exploration has advanced, the more recent examples of catastrophic failures in science, such as the discretionary development and deployment of bio-chemical weapons or the use of certain drugs and chemicals that are harmful to life and the environment, demonstrate the urgent need for better controls and enforcement of standards within some professions.

There isn’t a single scientist or individual residing on this planet who should not demand constructive decision making. Errors or omissions in problem-solving stem from influential individuals, teachers and scientists, who are responsible for addressing these problems, unwittingly adopting false datums, that then skew outcomes.

We are all becoming more aware that the integrity and slant on Environmental Science is somewhat dependent on what interests it serves.

This reality was in stark relief during the biggest ocean oil disaster in history – the BP Deepwater Horizon gusher release in the Gulf of Mexico. Millions of gallons of chemical pollutants (Corexit) were sprayed over miles of ocean and coastal regions as the scientific solution to “clean up” the spill despite its official Material Safety Data Sheet clearly stating it’s extraordinary levels of toxicity and the warning “Do Not Spray on Surface Waters”. Government and private industry scientists defended their chosen destructive measures for cleaning up oil spills, content with the result of approximately 8% of the oil being cleaned up and “letting nature do the rest” – a task that will take at least a century for nature to accomplish. LAEO carefully researched the underlying chemical science, and, as a result was able to propose an alternative method that better aligned with natural laws and which had proven efficacy for near full cleanup. The top scientists in this field along with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard and NOAA experts insisted, instead, on backing their toxic ‘science.’

In the field of geology and water science, one notable engineer and scientist documented just how absurd the level of intellectual intimidation and the suppression of ideas can get. False information creeps in as a destructive force against legitimate scientific discovery and truth.

Professor Lance Endersbee wrote a courageous textbook exposing that many professional geologists and engineers around the world were operating on more than a century of error with scary consequences. It is astonishing how a scientific field could persist in such error when much evidence over the years has contradicted their assumptions. After reviewing existing science regarding surface water and groundwater resources, Endersbee embarked on his own voyage of discovery to correct the century of errors in the Earth sciences and address dangerously declining water supplies and climate change, sifting out truth from false data.

“During my voyage I discovered some outstanding scholars of the past. Their scientific curiosity was inspirational. I came to admire the breadth and intellectual rigor of their work. But on certain critical issues they did not inspire their own colleagues, because their theories were ahead of their time. Some of their most important ideas were criticized, even ridiculed, and subsequently ignored.

“In all science, the pressures to conform can be overwhelming to the dissident, while remaining quite unnoticed by all those in the mainstream of science and professional practice.

“I believe the scholars I discuss in this book were intellectual giants. They followed their scientific enquiries wherever they led and resisted intellectual intimidation. Incredibly, they are still showing the way.” Lance Endersbee

The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization is facilitating water science advancements and we are proudly part of the growing science intimidation resistance movement.

We are grateful to be serving with and supporting the many high integrity environmental scientists across the world holding the line on truth. We salute them all as heroes on this Earth Day 2021.

By Diane Wagenbrenner-Stivey
Managing Director Operations
Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization U.S.