Regional Roundup

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

noreply@blogger.com (EC Communications Team) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:22:00 +0000

Water is always a big topic in the west. Water is required for life. Without it our crops die, our cities dry up, and eventually we would die. According to a Durango Herald editorial, Colorado’s Front Range is seeking new sources of water to fuel their population. Where do you think they’re looking? Across the continental divide, to the green and fertile western slope, at least that’s how they see us. One plan designed by Aaron Million, a Fort Collins developer, calls for a private pipeline that would carry as much as 250,000 acre feet of water from the Green River to the Front Range. The Green River, which begins in Wyoming and travels all the way into Utah where it merges with the Colorado River, is the primary water source for Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Southwestern Wyoming, and is one of the more popular river routes in the region. Luckily, Governor Bill Ritter does not support the idea of taking water from the Western Slope to support the Front Range. Gov. Ritter sees that the Western Slope may have more water running through it, it is just also a very arid region. Ritter also believes that the water from one watershed should not be used to support another, especially one that drains to the east instead of the west. If you want to learn more about this discussion check out the Durango Herald’s article here.

Is the Western Slope that wet? The Durango Herald reported that the Animas River, the river than runs through Durango, Colorado, is well below what it was in 2002. Why is this important? 2002, was one of the worst drought, and fire, years in Colorado history. The low water levels have been attributed to early runoff and a dry monsoon season. Hopefully, Colorado will have a snowy winter that will make up for the lack of a monsoon. But only time will tell. If we don’t get a good winter base it is likely that we could find ourselves in a drought with fires raging around us. If that happens we might need to steal some water from the Front Range.

- Ben Rogers

Schools LEED the Way to Eco Justice

noreply@blogger.com (EC Communications Team) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Growing vegetables has been taken to a new level for students at Escalante Middle School who installed a photovoltaic system. This system is capable of powering electricity that the school would usually buy. This will allow students in Sharron Orrs class to learn more about the environment and sciences. The Durango Herald reported this story about the new photovoltaic system. Students will also engage and learn about plants, composting, and weather.

In Arizona The Arizona Republic reported on what their schools are doing to more energy efficient. Arizona schools will use stimulus funds to generate energy efficiency. $20 million dollars totals the amount to make schools more energy effective. $13 million will be used for grants that Arizona school districts can apply for. $5.5 million will be used to install solar panels in 25 districts. The other $1.5 million is set aside for administrative funding.
Pleasant Grove charter school in Utah is wanting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, reported by Deseret News. There are only 25 buildings in Utah that are certified and Pleasant Grove wants to join that list opening for the 2010-2011 school year.

Schools are a fundamental building block for knowledge and going green is a great aspect to learn at a younger age. Theses schools are setting the right example for other elementariness, middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the company to strive for eco-excellence.

Devon Dey

Energy in the West

noreply@blogger.com (EC Communications Team) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:01:00 +0000

While it may not be green or (entirely) renewable energy, nuclear power has been a potential contender for energy usage within the United States. In Montrose county, for example, there has been heated debate as to whether a new uranium mill should be built. Telluride News reports on the Rocky 4-esque clashing of two ideals (albeit less violent). The entire meeting had an economic undertone, as many decisions were based on the recession alone. It has been estimated the mine would create more than 85 new, much-needed jobs; while this may be a brief stimulus package, a more useful, long-lasting job-maker would be reprocessing (recycling) uranium. To explain it simply, a byproduct of reprocessed nuclear fuel is plutonium, which can also be used to fuel a nuclear power plant. Not only would this method keep the Colorado landscape unscratched, but also keep unnecessary uranium from being mined and put into production. Since this nonrenewable resource may be a little more renewable than given credit for, we should take advantage of this and direct our capabilities to recycling uranium rather than our wasteful, “throw-away” lifestyle.
Now on the other side of things: putting resources into the ground. The Denver Post reports on the newest form of the “green” movement: green burials. A one acre piece of the Fort Collins cemetery will be designated for burials without any type of vault or embalming. While my spiritual side is all for a part of the deceased becoming a piece of the flowers, the bloom; my ethical side can't seem to accept a ceremony as sacred as burying the dead labelled as part of the “green” movement. As great as the green movement is, there has to be a line drawn somewhere; I can imagine a grieving, vulnerable family going over such a trivial yet painful process of finding the resting place of their loved one and being offered a “green” alternative. Rest the deceased anyway you like: burying, cremating, setting sail on a burning viking ship; just don't attach a label to whichever way you do it.

Jamison Griffith

Tea Parties of the 21st Century and new Green Collar Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (EC Communications Team) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:53:00 +0000

According to the Vail Daily about 50 people from Summit and Eagle counties rallied against federal spending of tax dollars. As the crowd walked down Main Street, in Frisco, chanting that they had already been taxed enough and told the government to stop spending now. No one likes taxes but how else is our government supposed to get the money necessary to run itself. The people who were demonstrating seem to see the US as becoming socialist, or as one man put it fascist. We’ll see what happens to our nation, but for some reason it seems like we won’t become the next fascist nation.

According to the Arizona Daily Sun community colleges across the country are seeing an increase in their classes that train students to work in what has been termed green collar jobs. These types of jobs include solar panel construction and installation, wind turbine construction and installation. The move towards green jobs seems like it may be a way out of the problems with the economy. The more new jobs we can create the sooner the economy will right itself. This movement was started with President Barrack Obama’s drive to promote alternative energy systems. This movement will, hopefully, produce millions of jobs.

Ben Rogers

Purely a Matter of Equality

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:36:00 +0000

One of the most debated controversial issues of today’s society is the issue of gay rights. Senators here in Colorado have recently been debating the topic. The Rocky Mountain News reported on a spat between senators when Democrat Sen. Jennifer Veiga proposed the idea of equal health insurance for same sex couples. Veiga made the proposal on Monday, February 23 in Senate Bill 88. She stated that this was purely an equality issue. Many Republican senators, such as Nancy Spense from Centennial and Kevin Lundberg from Berthoud, argued with this idea. The Rocky Mountain News reported senators commenting that it was not time for this sort of change. Perhaps the most shocking argument was that of Republican Sen. Scott Renfro from Greely. Renfro stated, “I am not saying this [being gay] is the only sin that’s out there. We have murder. We have all sorts of sin. We have adultery. And we don’t make laws making those legal and we would never think to make murder legal (On Top Magazine).” Many gay and lesbian peoples, including Veiga, found this extremely offensive. Furthermore, several of the Republican senators pleaded that they do not stand by the remark that their fellow party member made, even if they do not agree with the bill. It is slightly difficult for most to make the analogy between a heinous crime such as murder and a shared affection between two people, even if they are of the same sex.

In 2006 Coloradans voted that ‘marriage’ was between a man and a woman and denied any proposals that would award same sex couples equal rights as married heterosexual couples; however now 17 counties have officially decided not to restrict that equal privileges for homosexual couples. Therefore, on Monday the Legislature gave S.B. 88 the initial ‘o.k.’ regardless to Refro’s comment. S.B. 88 is a bill that awards same sex couples group benefits.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country is not as accepting to these sorts of proposals. There are only two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, which have allowed same sex marriage in the courts. Many states have had a back-and-forth verdict about whether same sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples. The New York Times reported on states such as Rhode Island that are having issues with the decision to allow bills such as those like Colorado’s to pass. Many of Rhode Island’s dominant senators are opposed to these proposals. Other states such as Utah, New Mexico, Montana, and even California struggle with this change.

Kaitie Haagenstad

Great Government Goes Green

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:32:00 +0000

Around the country it seems to me as if the government, both on the national and state levels is trying to become green. It is great that the government is getting involved so we can try to save the planet from ourselves. Here are some regional and national examples of the government involvement that is beginning to go into effect.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that during a city council meeting in Salt Lake, green initiatives were the topic of discussion. Talks ranged from becoming a more biker friendly city to recycling initiatives and almost everything in-between.

The Telluride Daily Planet reported on the 4-3 vote by the Colorado Senate Business, Labor, and Technology committee to back the ban on plastic bags in grocery stores and other large stores by 2012. Thank goodness, plastic bags have bothered me for years; it seems like such a waste to just throw these bags away. Mandating the use of canvas bags will greatly reduce the use of plastics.

Then on to the help the national government is giving the cause. With our recently passed economic stimulus package green programs are going to be looking good. Commondreams.org reports that almost $60 billion dollars, of the $787 billion stimulus package, is going to green projects and research.

Now that the national and local governments both on our side we need to take these dollars and policies that are coming our way and work on the future of green. Maybe someday the term green will not have the connotation of being eco-friendly because that is how everybody will be.

Royce Johnson

Drilling to the Center of the Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:28:00 +0000

There are some interesting debates about drilling for fossil fuels this week in the news. The Arizona Daily Sun published an L.A. Times article on drilling near national parks. Is drilling outside the park boundary legal? Some say that the 1916 Organic Act, which mandates clean air, water and other resources in national parks, would be broken even if the drilling were to be done outside of the boundaries of the park. You would be able to see the roads and see and hear the noisy construction equipment used to search for fossil fuels. Some of the heads of different national parks have spoken out against the Bush administration and say that he caused a problem that we will be fighting for years to come.

It seems energy companies always manage to find the bright side of global warming. Truthout reports that the melting ice caps are uncovering about 25 percent of the Earths oil and gas reserves. It seems also that there is somewhat of a dispute over what country will have the rights to these resources. The maritime law is a little unclear about how far from the coast line of a country gets to claim it's territory.

And while drilling rigs move into these newly uncovered lands, temperatures in Australia have been skyrocketing. Alternet reports that just last week a power station blew up in Melbourne due to absurdly high temperatures in the region, presumably linked to global warming. This caused the train to stop, stop lights blew and half a million homes were without power. There have several deaths that have resulted from these temperatures. The heat wave actually has been impacting professional athletes in the Australian Open tennis tournament. Some have even been taken to the hospital.

Ah, drilling. The answer to every problem.

-Royce Johnson

The Exxon Way

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:16:00 +0000

A revealing article in this Sunday's New York Times showcases the perspective of Exxon Mobil, the largest company in the world. If Wal-Mart is the greatest elaboration of the low-cost, low-price model for retailing, Exxon Mobil seems to be the epitome of a closed-loop corporate culture literally strapped to an economic IV of fossil fuels.

Exxon Mobil still believes that oil is the future and with company assets that rank between Austria and Greece in a ranking of world economies you wonder about their ability to impose this vision of the future on the rest of us. In fact, the article paints an eery picture of low-level recruits trained in the Exxon way that disregards dissent in a ruthless push for efficient extraction of oil and natural gas. These recruits get infected with the Exxon DNA that reminds one of the Borg in the The Next Generation Star Trek series. A recent suggestion at a shareholder's meeting that maybe the company should think about a carbon-free future was quickly dismissed.

Perhaps the most interesting fact in the article is that with its vast cash reserves and completely clean credit sheet, the company is well-positioned for all kinds of extracurricular activities that have nothing to do with oil extraction, such as lobbying federal agencies, influencing, through various means, the affairs of developing countries, and manipulating financial markets in more dubious ways than through rollercoaster gas prices.

The Exxon way is described as patience, determination, and long-term vision -- all qualities that in an of themselves are admirable. They have worked together to create a well-oiled (excuse the pun) organizational model and culture uniquely suited to the era of globalization. These values applied to the movement for a carbon-free economy might prove equally useful. Still, the inefficiencies not allowed by the Exxon Way are often the source of innovation. Unproductive muddling becomes the source unprecendented invention. When the earthquake comes, in the form of peak oil, rigid companies like Exxon Mobil will likely be the first to fall.

Redemption

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:12:00 +0000

In the spring of 2004, I had the privilege of spending 2 1/2 weeks in South Africa and Bostwana scouting study abroad programs for the college I was working for at the time.

South Africa was a revelation for me. I knew a bit about the history of South Africa as divestment in the apartheid regime was a hot topic as I was graduating high school and entering college. The injustice I read about and saw on television was a psychic link to the battle for Civil Rights in the American South. Here, I was living through what seemed confined to the black and white films of an earlier time. My senior year in high school, Victor, a young black activist from South Africa, came to our high school as part of an international peace program. The police had imprisioned Victor in South Africa and my friends and I spoke late into the night with him about the situation in South Africa and about Bishop Desmond Tutu, who he knew and looked up to as a leader.

So, I knew a bit about South Africa when I got off the plane in Cape Town. What I wasn't prepared for was the spirit of transformation that permeated the country. South Africa is in many ways still a desperate place. Life is still far too cheap. Violence is still far too common. When I was there South Africa had the highest rate of sexual assault in the world. And yet, around every corner it seemed was a country that was consciously trying to re-invent itself, a country trying to find redemption by looking the pain of the past in the eye, by bearing it all.

It's difficult to visit South Africa and not come away hopeful about the capacity of human beings, both as individuals and as a species, to turn a corner. There is a story in today's Los Angeles Times about Amy Biehl, an American student killed by a mob outside Cape Town and how her parents dealt with this tragedy. The story is remarkable and the article doesn't do it justice.

When I was in South Africa I visited the township where this happened. I spent a night there and played checkers with a young girl for over an hour as her family fed me dinner. Outside the smoke of the township was thick and sooty. What the Amy Biehl Foundation represents should never be forgotten -- a courageous and compassionate heart can cut through the smoke and open up the sky.

Time for Direct Action?

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0000

During a discussion last month at a gathering of the Clinton Global Initiative, Al Gore called on young people to engage in civil disobedience to stop new coal-fired power plants from being built. Reports indicate that President Clinton, who was moderating the discussion, quickly moved the discussion on to another topic.

I was able to find a partial transcript.

Also of note is Gore's hammering of "clean coal" as an illusion. Joe Biden recently said something similar in a rope line, but was then quickly reigned in by the Obama campaign that is courting votes in coal-producing states, such as Colorado.

I think everyone is holding their breath right now waiting for the election to see which way the energy debate is going to tip. Obama has said that Gore would be a close advisor on climate issues. A recent article in the Durango Herald discussed "clean coal" and its nebulous meaning.

What do you think? Is civil disobedience a good strategy to stop coal-fired power plants? What about China's plans to build numerous power plants to spur their economy? What should young people do? Is there potential for students in the U.S. to work with students in China to stop what Gore called at the Clinton Global Initiative "insanity."

Wither the Global Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:01:00 +0000

The financial crisis that's dominated the news this week and the conflicting prescriptions for how to deal with it make one thing clear. No one knows how the global economy works anymore. Sure, some people have some ideas. But no one really knows exactly what to do. The most straightforward explanation of what's going on that I've read comes from Paul Krugman at the New York Times.

But the entire episode highlights what many environmental authors have been saying for some time: the global economy based on cheap energy is extraordinarily fragile. Today folks dismissed as doomsday scenariarios, predicting financial collapse and a return to backyard gardening, seem a lot closer to reality than those extolling the virtues of global cosmopolitan culture. If this last week is the beginning of a true shift in the structure of our economic lives, what will the future hold? What aspects of the global economy will remain in place and which will become distant memories of a bygone era?

There is a great longing for economic security in this country, a security based on a reliable supply of life's necessities. Here in La Plata County, our local food movement is spirited but still far from providing anything close to what we need to survive. The counties and towns that I think will thrive in the future are those with a re-invigorated commons that provide for food production and materials for housing. This is the basic structure that will allow communities to make the most of their natural, social, and financial capital.

What do you think? Should what will be the structure of the economy in the future? How will we define "wealth" and what is responsible action today, at this very moment?

EC Core Values League

noreply@blogger.com (EC Communications Team) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:18:00 +0000

Welcome to the EC!

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:43:00 +0000

Greetings,

The Fort Lewis College Environmental Center is gearing up a great year! We are at a critical time in the history of our country and the history of our world. There is so much great work to be done, so many exciting changes that are now within our reach. The Environmental Center brings students together to make change happen -- on the Fort Lewis College campus, in Durango, and across the Four Corners. In the process, students learn skills that they can apply to create change once they graduate, spreading the influence of the EC far and wide.

This year we will be helping Fort Lewis create a sustainability action plan to guide the College as it seeks to become a greener campus. Part of this plan will lay out a timeline for becoming a "carbon neutral" institution. We will also be collaborating with the Garden Project of Southwest Colorado this year to help mobilize around community gardens. We will continue to develop a new youth leadership program. This weekend is the retreat for the LIFE (Learning to Invest in the Future of the Earth) program. And in November we will help release the Be Local Coupon Book, which will help jump start a new independent business alliance for La Plata County. All these projects are expressions of our core values: positive action, integrity, community, creativity, and learning. Ben Rogers, our communications coordinator, will be posting a movie we've made about our core values on this blog next week. Check back to see our Core Values Super-heroes in action!

A Teenager with a Squirt Bottle

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:47:00 +0000

Tuesday during Earth Week 9th grader Kiki Brown appeared on the front page of the Durango Herald. She held a squirt-bottle she was using to tie-dye a t-shirt at one of the EC’s Earth Week events. At the same time some commentators were saying with the fire sale on Bear Stearns that the world was on the brink of financial collapse. The juxtaposition of these two facts brought the apathy that so many young people feel into sharp relief. Last week, the EC held 11 events for Earth Week focused on engaging young people in the most important questions facing the world. But who were we kidding? When we can be brought to edge of a worldwide depression by the failure of a mortgage underwriting firm, it’s time to look up in the sky to see who’s really pulling the strings. Before last week I would have guessed that Bear Stearns was a football player. The whole episode made me feel that there are so many layers of entrenched interests with an unquestioned expectation of privilege that any measure of equality, justice, and opportunity is far beyond our grasp.

And then there’s Kiki with her squirt bottle. Why did the EC focus on youth for the month of March? The answer for me is that young people recognize truth. While apathy is certainly present, it most often grows from witnessing how adults and the adult world either ignore or compromise the truth to serve self-interest. The adult world has walked away from the truth of climate change, the truth about poverty, the truth about themselves and their potential to change. Young people recognize these truths, and when the truth faces off with entrenched and moneyed interests, it makes for an interesting staring match.

It is this ability that can shake the corporate foundations of our world. And it is this ability of young people to recognize the truth about the world’s challenges, about how people should treat each other, about the tradeoffs that are a part of life, which will rise from the rubble if our world should collapse. The shirt that Kiki was making that Tuesday had facts on it about the environment and was one way to demonstrate what young people already know about these issues. It was a small way to give voice to the truth. In a staring match between truth and entrenched interests, I’ll take the teenager with a squirt bottle every time.

Appreciation or Action

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:22:00 +0000

Greetings,

First entry for the EC's blog from the EC Coordinator's Desk. Leading up to our Youth-Powered Earth Week Celebration, we decided to feature the topic of youth empowerment. Here's a question for those interested in such matters....Should environmental education for youth focus on teaching appreciation and love of the natural world or focus on changing the world by passing on concrete, community problem-solving skills? The easy answer is both.

But let's not make it easy. Say you've gotten a grant to start up a program for sixth graders. You have to choose a focus. You either teach these young people how to identify trees or how get their school to start a recycling program.

For many years, conventional wisdom in environmental education was to start with apreciation and then move to knowledge and then start teaching problem-solving skills. The problem was that surveys of EE programs showed that students never got to these higher-order outcomes. Other research has shown that the supposed link between knowledge and action is not there. More knowledge can create apathy and despair.

An alternative is to jump right into problem-solving, but without an appreciation for the natural world, problem-solving loses its mooring. Without experience of the non-human, it is easier for youth to discount its value.

I've worked in environmental education for almost twenty years and tried it both ways. Forced to pick, I would teach problem-solving first with numerous breaks for rolling in the leaves and starring at stars.

What do you think?

The Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College

noreply@blogger.com (Environmental Center) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:55:00 +0000