There is a house on 1300 East in Salt Lake City that has a powerful draw for me. It has large expanses of green lawn, both in front and stretching back behind it to what looks like beautiful green gardens and shrubbery. It feels like home, even as I drive by and catch just a tiny glimpse of it.
But as an environmentalist in the West, being drawn to that beautiful green place, even coveting it for my own, is truly a dichotomy. After all, as Patty Limerick said at this week’s Stegner Symposium, the environmental movement in the west should not so much be called green, as brown.
There are many colors that make up the palette of Mother Nature in the West. Green has a minor role, and is usually quite pale and pastel. Much more prominent are tones of red, gold, brown, gray, and blue. The colors of the spectacular vistas of the west have little room for green.
Water is such an intrinsic part of who we are, and perhaps we must surround ourselves with its byproducts, namely lush green lawns and bushes, and even water features such as ponds and fountains, so that we can feel secure in an otherwise hostile and waterless environment.
We evolved in the lush green jungles of the world, thrived and grew as a civilization in the green expanses of Africa, Europe, and Asia. We staked our places on the banks of lakes, rivers and oceans and the lush green countrysides bountifully watered by the skies. Only much more recently have we begun to find our places in the desert, where storms are sporadic, brief, and powerful, and evaporation extreme.
It would seem that living in such a hostile environment would breed an appreciation for water…even a religious fervor for it. But somehow, we in the west have managed to ignore the precarious nature of what little water we have.
With so many environmental issues pressing on our minds, it is hard to prioritize where our focus should lie. But if I learned anything at the Stegner Symposium these past few days, it is that every issue in the West, and indeed worldwide, that we can imagine either affects or is affected by water. Climate change will affect water. Power production is affected by water. What we do each day in our showers and with our lawns affects our neighbors both upstream and down. It is not an issue that can easily be overlooked…indeed, it is a life and death issue in the arid West.
I was also privileged to hear a speech from Pat Mulroy, the controversial head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which has proposed various water projects and has many people up in arms around the west. The conservation methods that have been undertaken both in Las Vegas and other major cities in the West, such as Phoenix, are inspiring. But it is not enough for just a few cities, or even just for the major urban centers, to conserve water. It is essential that all people in the west rid their minds of the idea that water is abundant and theirs for the taking, and begin conserving everywhere from the banks of the Colorado to the edges of the Great Basin, to the small towns of backcountry Wyoming. We must take a larger view of the water supply in the west, no matter where we live or how many people surround us.
We must change our hearts and minds when it comes to green. In a land of so many colors, we must let go of our ancestral affinity to the color that is most harmful in the West. We must embrace brown, gold, gray, red, orange, and blue.
We must change the message of environmentalism in the West. Through our water conservation actions, through the rethinking of water systems in the west, through innovative ideas and approaches to water use and conservation, we must fight together for the browning of the west, and the embracing of a new life in the desert.
3.03.2007
There is a house on 1300 East in Salt Lake City that has a powerful draw for me. It has large expanses of green lawn, both in front and stretching back behind it to what looks like beautiful green gardens and shrubbery. It feels like home, even as I drive by and catch just a tiny glimpse of it.
But as an environmentalist in the West, being drawn to that beautiful green place, even coveting it for my own, is truly a dichotomy. After all, as Patty Limerick said at this week’s Stegner Symposium, the environmental movement in the west should not so much be called green, as brown.
There are many colors that make up the palette of Mother Nature in the West. Green has a minor role, and is usually quite pale and pastel. Much more prominent are tones of red, gold, brown, gray, and blue. The colors of the spectacular vistas of the west have little room for green.
Water is such an intrinsic part of who we are, and perhaps we must surround ourselves with its byproducts, namely lush green lawns and bushes, and even water features such as ponds and fountains, so that we can feel secure in an otherwise hostile and waterless environment.
We evolved in the lush green jungles of the world, thrived and grew as a civilization in the green expanses of Africa, Europe, and Asia. We staked our places on the banks of lakes, rivers and oceans and the lush green countrysides bountifully watered by the skies. Only much more recently have we begun to find our places in the desert, where storms are sporadic, brief, and powerful, and evaporation extreme.
It would seem that living in such a hostile environment would breed an appreciation for water…even a religious fervor for it. But somehow, we in the west have managed to ignore the precarious nature of what little water we have.
With so many environmental issues pressing on our minds, it is hard to prioritize where our focus should lie. But if I learned anything at the Stegner Symposium these past few days, it is that every issue in the West, and indeed worldwide, that we can imagine either affects or is affected by water. Climate change will affect water. Power production is affected by water. What we do each day in our showers and with our lawns affects our neighbors both upstream and down. It is not an issue that can easily be overlooked…indeed, it is a life and death issue in the arid West.
I was also privileged to hear a speech from Pat Mulroy, the controversial head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which has proposed various water projects and has many people up in arms around the west. The conservation methods that have been undertaken both in Las Vegas and other major cities in the West, such as Phoenix, are inspiring. But it is not enough for just a few cities, or even just for the major urban centers, to conserve water. It is essential that all people in the west rid their minds of the idea that water is abundant and theirs for the taking, and begin conserving everywhere from the banks of the Colorado to the edges of the Great Basin, to the small towns of backcountry Wyoming. We must take a larger view of the water supply in the west, no matter where we live or how many people surround us.
We must change our hearts and minds when it comes to green. In a land of so many colors, we must let go of our ancestral affinity to the color that is most harmful in the West. We must embrace brown, gold, gray, red, orange, and blue.
We must change the message of environmentalism in the West. Through our water conservation actions, through the rethinking of water systems in the west, through innovative ideas and approaches to water use and conservation, we must fight together for the browning of the west, and the embracing of a new life in the desert.
But as an environmentalist in the West, being drawn to that beautiful green place, even coveting it for my own, is truly a dichotomy. After all, as Patty Limerick said at this week’s Stegner Symposium, the environmental movement in the west should not so much be called green, as brown.
There are many colors that make up the palette of Mother Nature in the West. Green has a minor role, and is usually quite pale and pastel. Much more prominent are tones of red, gold, brown, gray, and blue. The colors of the spectacular vistas of the west have little room for green.
Water is such an intrinsic part of who we are, and perhaps we must surround ourselves with its byproducts, namely lush green lawns and bushes, and even water features such as ponds and fountains, so that we can feel secure in an otherwise hostile and waterless environment.
We evolved in the lush green jungles of the world, thrived and grew as a civilization in the green expanses of Africa, Europe, and Asia. We staked our places on the banks of lakes, rivers and oceans and the lush green countrysides bountifully watered by the skies. Only much more recently have we begun to find our places in the desert, where storms are sporadic, brief, and powerful, and evaporation extreme.
It would seem that living in such a hostile environment would breed an appreciation for water…even a religious fervor for it. But somehow, we in the west have managed to ignore the precarious nature of what little water we have.
With so many environmental issues pressing on our minds, it is hard to prioritize where our focus should lie. But if I learned anything at the Stegner Symposium these past few days, it is that every issue in the West, and indeed worldwide, that we can imagine either affects or is affected by water. Climate change will affect water. Power production is affected by water. What we do each day in our showers and with our lawns affects our neighbors both upstream and down. It is not an issue that can easily be overlooked…indeed, it is a life and death issue in the arid West.
I was also privileged to hear a speech from Pat Mulroy, the controversial head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which has proposed various water projects and has many people up in arms around the west. The conservation methods that have been undertaken both in Las Vegas and other major cities in the West, such as Phoenix, are inspiring. But it is not enough for just a few cities, or even just for the major urban centers, to conserve water. It is essential that all people in the west rid their minds of the idea that water is abundant and theirs for the taking, and begin conserving everywhere from the banks of the Colorado to the edges of the Great Basin, to the small towns of backcountry Wyoming. We must take a larger view of the water supply in the west, no matter where we live or how many people surround us.
We must change our hearts and minds when it comes to green. In a land of so many colors, we must let go of our ancestral affinity to the color that is most harmful in the West. We must embrace brown, gold, gray, red, orange, and blue.
We must change the message of environmentalism in the West. Through our water conservation actions, through the rethinking of water systems in the west, through innovative ideas and approaches to water use and conservation, we must fight together for the browning of the west, and the embracing of a new life in the desert.
3.02.2007
Taking Action for Education
As I posted during the legislative session, there are more than a few reasons that vouchers are not the answer to helping the public education system help our schools. Although some dirty back room deals got the vouchers bill passed in the Utah Legislature by one vote, and various conservative groups across the nation are hailing it as a landmark, the idea is fundamentally flawed, and the politics behind it are untrue to the people of this state, a majority of whom do not support it in polls.
I have just returned from a UEA function I attended with my father. It is inspiring that despite huge odds, the people who know and love education are not willing to give up in the face of the adversity that is Utah. In fact, they have started a petition to gather at least 92,000 signatures from across the state, that would put this issue to Utah voters. It may be a close call...but every fight worth fighting usually is. Read about it in both the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune.
The group that is running this petition drive, called Utahn's for Public Schools, also has a website that will be up at www.utahnsforpublicschools.org.
This is democracy at its best. When the legislature does not represent the majority of the people, but blindly ignores their opinions and even votes (Curtis is a fantastic example...after nearly losing his last election he not only ignored what the people were trying to tell him but turned around to slap them in the face on voucher legislation), the only choice is for a groundswell of people to take it back to them and make them hear what the people have to say.
They may not have the dollars of Parents for Choice, but they do have the passion and the people, and a firm belief that public education is the greatest achievement and strongest foundation of a representative democracy.
I have just returned from a UEA function I attended with my father. It is inspiring that despite huge odds, the people who know and love education are not willing to give up in the face of the adversity that is Utah. In fact, they have started a petition to gather at least 92,000 signatures from across the state, that would put this issue to Utah voters. It may be a close call...but every fight worth fighting usually is. Read about it in both the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune.
The group that is running this petition drive, called Utahn's for Public Schools, also has a website that will be up at www.utahnsforpublicschools.org.
This is democracy at its best. When the legislature does not represent the majority of the people, but blindly ignores their opinions and even votes (Curtis is a fantastic example...after nearly losing his last election he not only ignored what the people were trying to tell him but turned around to slap them in the face on voucher legislation), the only choice is for a groundswell of people to take it back to them and make them hear what the people have to say.
They may not have the dollars of Parents for Choice, but they do have the passion and the people, and a firm belief that public education is the greatest achievement and strongest foundation of a representative democracy.
2.28.2007
E.O. Wilson: The Rock Star of Conservation
I have just returned from the keynote lecture in the Nature of Life series sponsored by the Utah Museum of Natural History and The Nature Conservancy. The speaker was Dr. E.O. Wilson, the world-reknowned entemologist, scientist and conservationist that has taken on the taboo task of merging science and religion in the pursuit of a common goal: the preservation of biodiversity around the world.
His lecture was insightful, sprinkled with humor, and surprisingly optimistic. He spoke with certainty not only of the ability for these two seemingly diametrically-opposed forces to join together for the good of the environment, but of our ability to surmount the mind-boggling problems of global warming, loss of biodiversity, and the destruction of our planet.
His most resounding message was just that...his optimism. He firmly stated that no matter the challenge, we are not incapable of halting the destruction or indeed, of reversing some of the damage, if we act quickly and with resolve. He continued by saying that no nation on Earth is more poised and able than ours to take on these challenges.
But first, he said, we must create a cohesive force among the different religious and scientific factions. Dr. Wilson has stepped out from the crowd of scientists and environmentalists: the ones that are crying wolf but refusing to cross the chasm to reach out to the very people who need to be reached the most.
It may be a lonely place, for the time being, but E.O. Wilson stands with resolve and undying optimism that his work will lead to the changes necessary. He refuses to give in to extremist stubbornness that characterizes so many of his colleagues, but instead cavorts with the "enemies" of science in the hope that together, their love of The Creation, no matter their beliefs on how it came to be, will motivate the saving of it.
He called this the "Century of the Environment", and perhaps the most important time for us to focus on the planet and how we have affected it over the years. We can work together to save the places we love most. The places that are not only our most amazing and diverse places, but the most necessary to our survival as a human race. We cannot do it alone, but must embrace those of different backgrounds and beliefs to create the changes necessary. Dr. Wilson has begun this work, and it is my hope that the scientists and Evangelicals he continues to meet with will follow his lead.
Check out the other lectures in the series here.
His lecture was insightful, sprinkled with humor, and surprisingly optimistic. He spoke with certainty not only of the ability for these two seemingly diametrically-opposed forces to join together for the good of the environment, but of our ability to surmount the mind-boggling problems of global warming, loss of biodiversity, and the destruction of our planet.
His most resounding message was just that...his optimism. He firmly stated that no matter the challenge, we are not incapable of halting the destruction or indeed, of reversing some of the damage, if we act quickly and with resolve. He continued by saying that no nation on Earth is more poised and able than ours to take on these challenges.
But first, he said, we must create a cohesive force among the different religious and scientific factions. Dr. Wilson has stepped out from the crowd of scientists and environmentalists: the ones that are crying wolf but refusing to cross the chasm to reach out to the very people who need to be reached the most.
It may be a lonely place, for the time being, but E.O. Wilson stands with resolve and undying optimism that his work will lead to the changes necessary. He refuses to give in to extremist stubbornness that characterizes so many of his colleagues, but instead cavorts with the "enemies" of science in the hope that together, their love of The Creation, no matter their beliefs on how it came to be, will motivate the saving of it.
He called this the "Century of the Environment", and perhaps the most important time for us to focus on the planet and how we have affected it over the years. We can work together to save the places we love most. The places that are not only our most amazing and diverse places, but the most necessary to our survival as a human race. We cannot do it alone, but must embrace those of different backgrounds and beliefs to create the changes necessary. Dr. Wilson has begun this work, and it is my hope that the scientists and Evangelicals he continues to meet with will follow his lead.
Check out the other lectures in the series here.
Why Today is a Good Day
Here's why today is a good day (despite being a mostly bad day):
1- Tomorrow, there will be no legislature to roll my eyes at.
2- Tonight, a great event to see E.O. Wilson live at Kingsbury Hall.
3- Today, giving blood at 1:00 like I promised I would.
4- Currently, it is not snowing, but the snow is still white!
5- My Alma Mater, UVSC, has been given the go-ahead to become Utah Valley University.
6- I do not have class tonight!
What makes today a good day for you?
1- Tomorrow, there will be no legislature to roll my eyes at.
2- Tonight, a great event to see E.O. Wilson live at Kingsbury Hall.
3- Today, giving blood at 1:00 like I promised I would.
4- Currently, it is not snowing, but the snow is still white!
5- My Alma Mater, UVSC, has been given the go-ahead to become Utah Valley University.
6- I do not have class tonight!
What makes today a good day for you?
2.27.2007
More Reasons not to visit Kanab
It seems that one developer in Kanab will capitalize on anything, including ancient Anasazi ruins located on a site he plans to develop into 700-800 homes...but he'll preserve 20 acres of open space for an active archealogical dig among the new homes. Does anyone else feel slightly uncomfortable about this?
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