Planet Earth,

Your vast oceans boggle my mind and your craters and canyons are inconceivable beauties. You are recycled stardust in the most magnificent form.

You are the home of every king and queen, every mother and father, every hero and coward, every curious child, every couple in love, every inventor, explorer, and adventurer, and every teacher and student who has ever existed.

You are the home of every ideology, religion, idea of morals and ethics, books, plays and works of art that have ever existed.

You are the only home our humanity has ever known.

You have endured hardship and pain and millions of years of transformation to be able to house life. Because of you, life thrives up from the roots of the earth and from your heavenly skies. Your nature should never be taken for granted or ignored. You are our home. You belong to no one and everyone.

But, Earth, you are in trouble and it’s all our fault. The flawed and selfish human race has exploited your generosity and has robbed you of your nature.

The oceans are dying.

The Arctic is melting.

You are losing your lungs—your forests—acre by acre.

You are become warmer year by year.

We are destroying you.

We need to learn to love you again. We have become too caught up in our metropolitan disconnect and our blissful ignorance. And, unfortunately, the human race, the very same species that has destroyed you, is responsible for saving you.

Humans have time and time again committed these atrocious crimes against you and I see no justice. Paul Brooks, in "The Pursuit of Wilderness," wrote, “In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the cops.” We see justice when it comes to the murder of humans but none when it comes to the murder of you.

When did humans become so disconnected from nature, to the point that when we see you being destroyed, all we can feel is apathy? Humans need to immerse themselves in nature and learn to love you again.

I promise to you, Planet Earth, that there are passionate humans who love you who are trying to save you. They’re driving less and eating less meat and recycling and conserving water and advocating for you.

But it seems like every time we take a step forward, we go two steps backward. Last month, President Obama “cleared the final hurdle” that will allow Shell Oil to drill into oil-bearing zones in the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic. This puts the face of your beloved but fragile Arctic Ocean in the hands of a corporation who cares more about the health of its profit than the health of you, Planet Earth.

How many more irreplaceable plants and beautiful animals have to die before we, as a human race, realize that the madness must stop?

I don’t see how these crimes against you can go on any longer, but the greed of humanity has never failed to surprise me.

Just know, Planet Earth, that there are people here who love and respect you more than anything. We’re fighting for you, I promise. The rest of humanity just needs to get on board.

All my love,