DEAR READERS: This is the second half of the column I began last week on the topic of "making America GREEN again."

Only intergenerational justice can secure the well-being of future generations. Any truly democratic government would be founded on the Seventh Generation Principle, a central tenet of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy. This principle emphasizes our responsibility to consider the well-being of people seven generations in the future when making decisions today.

Worship services can be a meaningful place to start for many, regardless of your specific beliefs. A new Catholic Mass, titled “Mass for the Care of Creation,” has been added to the Roman missal. This new Mass emphasizes the church’s commitment to environmental stewardship and integral ecology, echoing Pope Francis’ "Laudato Si" encyclical. Catholics and non-Catholics alike should embrace this new rite on care for the environment.

There is every reason for us all to follow the tenet of Judaism called "tikkun olam" -- repairing the world. I see this as an ethical imperative and our collective moral responsibility for the quality of life for all generations to come. In addressing our existential responsibilities for animals, nature and each other, we should embrace the spiritual doctrine of ahimsa -- the avoidance of harming or killing any living being -- shared by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, as well as the pan-religious doctrine of loving one's neighbor as oneself.

Once, we knew the language of the trees and of other plants -- their whys and ways. Fellow creatures, wild and tame, lived with us and around us and spoke to us. Today, our degrees of illiteracy in relation to other sentient beings, not to mention our ecological ignorance and environmental indifference, are indices of our humanity and civility. Both need to be restored.

Having felt this way for over 80 years now, I am world-weary and impatient for our recovery: what I call the Great Healing. But I am heartened by the efforts of the younger generations and nonprofit organizations who are choosing the path of making America -- and the world -- green again. For instance, youth around the world are joining the Extinction Rebellion organization to demand action on climate change (rebellion.global).

The quest for sustainable, carbon-free energy sources -- including geothermal, solar, wind and hydrogen, as advocated by the scientific community, environmentalists and the United Nations -- should be supported by our current administration and all other governments around the world. (For details, see un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-renewable-energy.) My new book, “One Health: Veterinary, Ethical and Environmental Perspectives,” provides documented evidence, direction and inspiration for things we can all do to live simply so that others may simply live.

DR. FOX ON PROJECT COYOTE WEBINAR

I will be participating in a webinar with Project Coyote ambassador Vanessa Chakour on Aug. 12 at 3 p.m. Eastern time. A description from the website: "Vanessa and Michael will guide a conversation about how to increase our understanding of, and appreciation for, other animals, in order to build stronger relationships with nature and improve our health and well-being in the process."

Full details available here: projectcoyote.org/webinar-series-nourishing-earth-nourishing-ourselves.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I expect you have gotten dozens (at least) letters regarding L.O. in Florida. Though tempted, I will not stoop to her level and call her names. I think, however, she is an example of someone who, at heart, is not really a cat person, and maybe not even an animal person, since her convenience seems to be first and foremost in her mind. At her age, she is unlikely to change.

Long ago, I worked for a vet who very rarely, and only in exceptional situations, would consider declawing a cat. How rarely? There was only one done in the four years I worked for him. I will not go into why he agreed to it that one time, but I was assisting during that operation.

I think anyone who is thinking about having a cat declawed should watch a video of how it is done. It is brutal and bloody. I don’t know if people are simply ignorant or if they do not care, but they need to understand that it is equivalent to amputating all 10 of their fingers at the last joint. Since cats are quadrupeds, the effect is also equivalent to doing the same amputation of all 10 of a human’s toes. While a person could manage to function, to some degree, if this was done, no one would be so callous as to suggest that everything would be just “fine” or “normal” after the procedure if done to a human.

I also wonder if the same people who routinely declaw cats are also in favor of declawing dogs who scratch or are diggers. It is done, unfortunately, as I understand, but not as often. Most people seem more willing to work on training their dogs, keeping their nails trimmed and filed, and either fencing off no-dig areas or keeping their dogs on leashes when outdoors rather than routinely mutilating their feet for their own convenience. Why aren’t cats given the same consideration?

In my 65+ years, I have had many, many cats and have never even been tempted to declaw one of them. I have provided them with various types of scratchers and even trained them on their use when they did not “get it” on their own. I have trimmed and filed nails. I have used nail caps. Yes, I have still had furniture scratched, and I have been scratched more than once myself. I have also had chewers (cats and dogs) and been bitten, but I have not yet stooped to having an animal’s teeth removed to solve that problem.

If a person is not prepared for all that comes with sharing a home with a pet, maybe they should stick to cuddling up with a big, soft plushie instead of trying to surgically modify an animal to suit their preferences.

Thanks for letting me vent. -- K.D., Sebastopol, California

DEAR K.D.: Many thanks for your contribution about this detestable mutilation of cats. Many countries and states have banned declawing of cats due to its harmful nature. Declawing is banned in at least 42 countries, several U.S. states, and 9 out of the 10 Canadian provinces.

Your own personal experience witnessing this surgical procedure is a wake-up call that all cat owners and would-be cat owners should consider whenever a veterinarian in the U.S. suggests it be done while the kitten is anesthetized for spay/neuter.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: While the mainstream media are pointing to the rise of authoritarianism in the democratic republic of the United States of America, where the Constitution and rule of law are being usurped, some are documenting how the rich are becoming even richer. This is the underbelly of mammonism, not authoritarianism.

Mammon is the deification of the accumulation of wealth. One’s life becomes a quest to accumulate more and more wealth and property until it becomes a religious practice supplanting all other things, and wealth becomes an object of worship. For more insights, go to earthandaltarmag.com/posts/what-is-mammon.

I see this as an ethical and spiritual crisis of these times where there is deepening engagement in the blatantly mammonist, energy-consuming cryptocurrency industry and little evidence of the executive branch of the U.S. government caring for the poor and needy at home and abroad. For many Americans, caring for an animal companion, of significant emotional benefit for millions, is too costly, and animal shelters are now filling up across the country. For desperate immigrants, all now declared “criminals” for entering the U.S. without visas, there is no justice, due process or compassion.

Many Americans who are not poor and are aware of their carbon footprints are buying and traveling less. Others struggle to pay for medical insurance and costly medications or to be free from addictive purchasing in a culture of hyperconsumption, living beyond their means and going into debt.

Following the template of Project 2025 to dismantle federal agencies and public health standards, including vital environmental protection and biodiversity restoration, the ill-advised Trump administration is limiting investments in safer, alternative, “green” energy sources, and promoting more oil, gas and coal extraction and deforestation of public lands. This is a stolen future for generations to come, whose quality of life under increasingly extreme climate change perturbations we are already experiencing.

I am struck by the irony of the climate change-associated, post-drought torrential rains and flood tragedy in central Texas that took so many lives on July 4, when Trump signed his Big Beautiful Bill that ignores climate change, reference to which he has had deleted from federal websites.

We should take this tragedy in Texas as a warning, without blame, shame or climate change denial. Crimes against humanity and crimes against nature are coins of the same currency.

On a related note, I would propose renaming Columbus Day, which is an insult to Native Americans. I propose going further than Indigenous Peoples Day, which has already replaced Columbus Day in many locales, to declare an Interdependence Day in honor of all our relations -- human and nonhuman alike.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this topic next week.

MAKING SENSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

The increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, from burning fossil fuels -- coal, gas and oil -- along with devastating forest fires, causes our atmosphere to absorb and retain solar radiation, preventing it from escaping into space and causing global temperatures to rise. With the Arctic warming three times faster than the average for rest of the world, the temperature difference between north and south decreases, and so does the speed of the jet stream’s westerly winds. As these winds slow down, its waves typically grow bigger and extend farther to the north and the south. Larger jet-stream waves move eastward more slowly, affecting weather patterns across North America to Central Europe and Asia.

“The big swings of the jet stream tend to be very persistent and to stay in the same place for a long time,” explains Dr. Jennifer Francis, senior atmospheric scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. "As each wave brings either warm or cold air to a region, this slow movement can cause extreme weather patterns, such as heat waves, floods, cold spells, storms and droughts -- and we are seeing these wavey patterns happen more frequently." For more details, go to arctic-council.org/news/shifting-winds-how-a-wavier-polar-jet-stream-causes-extreme-weather-events/#: See also: e360.yale.edu/digest/jet-stream-climate-change-heat-wave.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)