There is No Planet B (Following President Emmanuel Macron’s address to the US Congress April 2018)

There is no Planet B, that can credibly be  

home to eleven billion*,

needing drinkable water to survive,

food enough that they might thrive;

air that is safe for all to breathe;

energy that does not bequeath

problems for all their children.

If there is, it is far too far 

for all but a few to access

and even then improbable

that migration would stand any chance of success

for the transit time – generations long

and the perils enormous – mostly unknown

thus we need Planet A to be viable.

So, with thoroughgoing determination 

of leaders and people of every nation,

the tools are here to be wisely used

to reverse the damage, the commercial abuse

and make Planet A, our earth, truly flourish;

so let us renew every effort to cherish

the water, the soil, the air and all creatures:

that as we progress, we might quite clearly see

there is no point in thinking about Planet B.

May God’s people, stewards, as the Bible presumes^
be aroused by this peroration,

knowing justice for the poor, can only bloom

when we work to sustain God’s creation.   

*A UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Report in 2015 estimated that by 2100, world population would be in the order of 11 billion (compared to 7.3 billion in the first half of 2018)

^These Biblical references, among others, acknowledge proclaim God’s sovereignty over the earth, its people and resources  

> "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." (Psalm 24:1)

>  To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it." (Deuteronomy 10:14)
>  Psalms 104 and 113 
>  Colossians 1:16