V'yirdu

I remember some years ago listening to one of our rabbis read the section of Genesis where Adonai grants humans "dominion" over all of the creatures of the earth, sky, and seas. Afterward, Rabbi said something that has stayed with me-that some of the commentators look at this as "stewardship" instead. I've wondered for a long time about the thinking behind this idea because these two words, at least on the surface, have very different meanings. Recently, I asked Rabbi Block about the Hebrew word and how he would translate it. He said the word is "v'yirdu." Technically the root, y-r-d, means, "to come down," which is usually translated as "to rule from above," making it much closer to "dominion" than "stewardship." Yet, might one also "come down" to be among the creatures of the earth as a caretaker? One could "come down" to make a difference in this world of ours by helping to preserve nature for future generations to enjoy. Or one might "come down" to stand up for what he/she believes is right. Many look at dominion as permission to use up all of our resources. They look at the words in Torah as an excuse to take over the lands of the earth for their benefit, without giving much thought to the other creatures who inhabit it, nor to the future when the earth's non-renewable resources will be gone. With dominion, some people consistently put their desires for money or power above the other animals by doing such things as drilling for oil and destroying habitats, too often for irresponsible reasons. I've been thinking about this lately due to the recent news’ stories denigrating scientists who weren't completely forthcoming with their global warming research. Here's yet another excuse for continuing on the path we've been on for so long. Even if global warming isn't the imminent threat we thought it was, shouldn't we be doing our best to take care of this Earth God so generously gave to us? Shouldn't we be actively working to develop renewable sources of energy instead of squeezing out every last drop of oil on our planet? If we indeed have dominion, isn't it also our charge to dominate wisely? And in that wisdom, doesn't taking care of what we have make much more sense? That sounds a whole lot more like stewardship to me. What do you think?