Radios and TVs sound the alarm about the world economic woes. Despite it all, I find contentment and enjoyment when I am surrounded by the New England fall colors, the blissful sounds of the wind as it rustles the golden and rusty-red leaves, and the sound of the small brook in my back yard as it moves musically over the rocks towards Highland Lake.

We all long for some word that would indicate that we could once again live a simple life with only small daily concerns and the serene pleasure of a New England fall.

Store those memorable times deep within your consciousness, because it may be many years before life will seem that simple again. But, read on to find there are some bright spots for jobs in Maine that will not damage our precious environment and can help boost our economy.

Lester Brown founded Worldwatch in 1974. As president of that environmental organization, he published numerous books and articles about the man-made destruction of the planet. I say he is a prophet among us.

Brown left Worldwatch and founded the Earth Policy Institute, and in his book, “Eco-Economy,” we learn that the rapid economic growth did not reflect the mismanagement of our forests, rangelands, fisheries and croplands. These happen to be the four ecosystems that supply our food. We are destroying our support systems, and “consuming its endowment of natural capital.”

Some of the many prescient suggestions he offers are to shift taxes from income and to environmentally destructive activities, to stop the subsidies for environmentally destructive practices and to control population growth.

In 2003, he wrote “Plan B 2.0, Rescuing a Plant Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.” The suggestion by Earth Institute was for buyers of the book to buy extra copies and take them to our legislators. I bought four copies – one for myself, one for the environmental committee at my church, the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland, and I took one book to Sens. Snowe and Collins.

In “Plan B 2.0,” Brown reveals that to restore our forest, rangelands, fisheries croplands and stabilize water tables, it would cost an estimated $93 billion per year. And if we choose not to finance these initiatives, Maine could find itself with depleted forests and further depleted fisheries. He also tells us that the U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing $3 billion each year to fossil fuel and nuclear industries.

How about using some of that $3 billion to bring green jobs to Maine? We could offer incentives to our graduating seniors to further their education in a field that would place them in the forefront of the industries and universities needed to bring about Earth-affirming businesses and culture.

Let us begin with an American Indian prayer often used in a sweat lodge:

“Let us begin this very day,

This very hour

The Great Healing to come,

Let us walk the Red Road in peace.”

Sally Breen lives in Windham.