A Few Thoughts On Earth Day

What we need to change to survive

“Falling,” 40”x72” 1985 oil on linen Aviva Rahmani.

The image preceding this short essay is of a man floating free in air, his body's vulnerability completely exposed. When I painted it, I thought, "this is what social change will require. Tolerating that scale of vulnerability from men."

Five years ago, David Orr wrote, "If today is a typical day in capitols around the world, the dismantling of even the flimsiest laws protecting air, water, lands, biota, climate, and health will proceed apace, but mostly out of sight…