Timestamp 1:28:
Interviewer: So what do you do to protect the environment in cases like this?
Senator: Well, the ship was towed outside the environment.
Interviewer: Into another environment?
Senator: No, no, no-- it was towed beyond the environment. It's not in the environment.
Interviewer: No, but from one environment to another environment.
Senator: No, it's beyond the environment. It's not in an environment.
Interviewer: But it must be somewhere.
Senator: It's been towed beyond the environment!
Interviewer: Well, what's out there?
Senator: Nothing's out there!
Interviewer: Well, there must be something out there.
Senator: There is nothing out there: all there is, is sea and birds and fish.
Interviewer: And?
Senator: And 20,000 tons of crude oil.
Interviewer: And what else?
Senator: And a fire.
Interviewer: And anything else?
Senator: And the part of the ship that the front fell off. But there's nothing else out there.
Interviewer: Senator Collins, thanks for joining us.
Senator: It's a complete void!
Interviewer: Yeah, we're out of time.
Senator: The environment's perfectly safe.
The environment is you. People may try to convince you that you can separate yourself from the environment. They may insist that what's going on in the environment has no effect on you. However, because your body cannot exist without the environment, there is no way that the environment can have no effect on you. In spite of what the fictional politician above says, you cannot travel outside of the environment.
Given how the world is currently, this may sound unpleasant or unfair. Why must our existence be dependent on an environment which is not only dilapidated, but also complex? Equilibrium, is the answer. For the environment to function, all aspects of the environment must have equilibrium, both within themselves and between one another. Without this equilibrium, life loses the ability to continue, whether this happens quickly or slowly.
“The environment is you” extends beyond just physical effects. The environment also effects your thought process, feelings, state of mind, and choices. This becomes painfully obvious when environmental disasters strike. In such situations, every aspect of a person's life becomes centered around the disaster. In this way, the person's life becomes an extension of what is going on in the environment. In reality, however, a person's life is always an extension of what is going on in the environment. This may not be obvious when things seem relatively peaceful and stable, but it is still true.
It's no coincidence that feelings of stress are so common amongst humanity today. The environment we live in, across all of planet Earth, is also mightily stressed. It is as if she cannot provide enough resources for us, the hungry little rapscallions that we are. In reality, however, we have just used those resources incorrectly. We have stressed the earthly environment by making improper demands of it, and now that stress has become us. Indeed, the environment is us.