Finding common ground key to preserving Earth

Most baby boomers were raised with a certain reverence for science. Their parents had just witnessed the invention of the atomic bomb, and the boomers themselves marvels like man's first trip to the moon and technology that links individuals worldwide with handheld computing power -- smart phones -- that would have been the envy of scientists working on the Manhattan Project.

But science no longer carries the weight it once did.

According to an Associated Press-GfK poll, scientists have their work cut out for them if they hope to influence public policy, especially in some issues.

Only 4 percent of us doubt that smoking causes cancer, 6 percent doubt mental illness is a medical condition that affects the brain, and 8 percent doubt there's a genetic code in our cells.

But 15 percent doubt childhood vaccines are safe and effective, nearly 40 percent doubt the earth is warming because of manmade heat-trapping gasses, that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old or that life evolved through natural selection, although most were at least somewhat confident in each of those concepts.

A slight majority of us question the Big Bang theory.

While some religious leaders see no conflict with biblical accounts of creation, confidence in evolution the Big Bang, the age of the Earth and climate change decline sharply as faith in a supreme being rises, according the poll.

"Most often, values and beliefs trump science" when they conflict, said Alan Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Politics plays a major role as well; Democrats are more apt than Republicans to express confidence in evolution, the Big Bang, the age of the earth and climate change.

But citizens of all stripes and political persuasions should be able to on some very basic issues, conservation of natural resources chief among them.

In preparation for Tuesday's Earth Day observance, Gov. Dave Heineman and the Nebraska Cattlemen named the Pelster Family of Ericson as recipients of the 2014 Nebraska Leopold Conservation Award.

The $10,000 award, accompanied by a Leopold crystal, is named in honor of world-renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold.

The Pelster Angus Ranch, situated along Cedar River in Garfield County, has been in the family for six generations.

"The Pelster family carries on a longstanding family commitment to ranching practices that benefit the land, wildlife and all of us," said Brent Haglund, president of the Sand County Foundation, which, with Cargill, present the award annually.

Resources, specifically Republican River water, irrigation and conservation measures that have reduced flow into Kansas, are of the utmost concern in Southwest Nebraska.

While ground and surface irrigators, regulators and Nebraska and Kansas officials find sources of disagreement on important issues, the effort to preserve natural resources for the benefit of all should not be one of them.