Canyon Country Zephyr | 2008-08-01 | Page 22

THE ZEPH YR/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2008 speech with the nightmare of reality. Referring to King’s haunting review of racial in- THE MOB RULES...continued - Given that prosperity is the basis for ecological concern, our political goal must be to create a kind of prosperity that moves everyone up Maslow’s pyramid as quickly as possible while also achieving our ecological goals. p.6-7 - the most gratifying aspect of the experience [was that] Local environmental leaders told us that they had become more focused on creating a new kind of development than on “protecting the justice at the time, in which he said that “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment”, N&S now say, In the end, it was probably for the best that King gave a nightmare speech before giving the dream speech. Had. he ignored his feelings of frustration and anger, his dream speech would not have been nearly as powerful. Had he avoided the dark valley, the mountaintop would not have been as high or as bright. p.18 But we who believe criticism environment.” p.10 - We argue for an explicitly pro-growth agenda that defines the kind of prosperity we believe is necessary to improve the quality of human life and to overcome ecological crises. p.15 - if we are to overcome ecological crises, we must no longer put concepts like nature or “the environment” at the center of our politics. p.17 to be the more honest approach should be prepared for a difficult time ahead. The Really Brave New World In order to justify the abandonment of the environment as a value, N&S must establish anew set of ethics for progressivism to adopt. And they certainly have done that. I would call it something like ‘new rules for a video game planet’. Read ‘em and weep: What's needed today is a politics that seeks authority not from Nature or Science but from a compelling vision of the future that is appropriate for the world we live in and the crises we face. The idea that we should respect Nature implies that Nature has a particular single being (or dream) to be respected. If we define Nature as all things, then it is not at all clear which natures we should respect and which we should overcome. We are Nature and Nature is us. Nature can neither instruct our actions or punish them. Whatever actions we choose to take in the name of the survival of the human species or human societies will be natural. p.142-143 Given what's at stake and the quickly diminishing time frame for action, we must quickly embrace-a politics that understands that humans are constantly creating new natures. We must abandon the environmentalism that thinks of itself as representing and defending — but never imagining, constituting, or creating — nature. ... Overcoming the ecological crises and realizing humankind’s potential will require abandoning efforts to return to some Edenic past. It will require going through modernity and materialism, not avoiding them. And it will require that we leave environmentalism behind as we construct a postnatural politics. p.238 the ecological crises will replace the reductionist question “What must we do to save the envi- ronment?” with “What new environments can we imagine and create?” p.239 Apologists for humanity will no doubt prefer to dwell on the mountaintop, as N&S do throughout the remainder of their book. But we who believe criticism to be the more honest approach should be prepared for a difficult time ahead. We should remember that King’s withering social commentary caused even those who supported him to eventually call him “radical” and “out of touch.” (9) What the youngsters will never know: freedom The ability to adapt. It’s humanity’s greatest evolutionary asset and our fundamental character flaw. Leave the past behind. Get on with it. Change Is Good. New Technology. The Market. Work Harder. Don’t Worry. Learn faster. Move. Start a New Life. Get a New Job. Make More Money. Don’t Worry. Everything’s All Right. Don’t Sit There. Keep Talking. Take a Pill. Just Do It. Don’t Worry. Everything’s Fine. ID Confirmed. Tracking Initiated. Have A Nice Day. The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” is playing in my head. We're in the long, drawn-out last crescendo. And I am just aching for that final chord. Besides ignoring the fact that humans will still need food compatible with our biol- ogy in the coming centuries, what's really scary about this is that it attempts to absolve humanity for causing global-scale natural destruction before people have even begun to grasp the moral implications of it all. If followed through, it would be our most damning adaptation to-global warming. . For ample, by. mid-century, when. the Great Barrier Reef is completely dead8, N&S would have us rationalize it away with something like, oh well, that biology didn’t make the cut. I guess for these guys, the idea of stewardship of the environment is just a big Notes: 1James Hansen, Makiko Sato, Pushker Kharecha, David Beerling, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Mark Pagani, Maureen Raymo, Dana L. Royer, James C. Zachos, “Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?”, April 7, 2008 2 IPCC AR4 WGI “Tlhe Physical Science Basis”, Chapter 10, “Global Climate Projections”, p.791. 3 Robert H. Socolow and Stephen W. Pacala, “A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check”, Scien- joke. Likewise, if a society chooses to maintain its primacy at the expense of millions of non-human species, then does that society have any character left to defend? No more tific American, September 2006. 4The End of Nature, Bill McKibben, Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1989, p.169 excuses. Cultural criticism anyone? 5 Jim Ruch, Grand Canyon Trust Executive Vice President, from The Colorado Plateau A critic to remember Perhaps the most memorable quote from the original “Death of Environmentalism” essay criticized the negative See of honest environmentalists by invoking the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King: “Imagine how history would have turned out had King given an ‘[hayea nightmare’ speech instead.” Having been caught by their lack of study of King’s famous 1963 speech, N&S had no choice but to capitulate on this point in their introduction to Break Through. They now acknowledge that they didn’t know in 2004 that King had actually opened the dream RELLY S51 EL TEM (C) 435.260.8011 CH). 435.259.2339 [e-mail] Advocate, A Publication of the Grand Canyon Trust, September 1990, p.5 6 IPCC AR4 WGI “The Physical Science Basis”, “Summary for Policymakers”, p.3. 7 IPCC AR4 WGII “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, Chapter 4, “Ecosystems, their properties, goods and services”, p.235 8 “Black anger and the pulpit” By Erin Aubry Kaplan, ae Friday, March 21, 2008 to the Los Angeles Times, nist/20080321_guest_14.txt Be eine cee. 150 EAST CENTER ST. MOAB, UT 84532 if he comes here, he'll have to deal with ol’ Barney... Ue — 435.259.5693 | FAX: [phone] www.moabproperties.com We figure he must have his good points, but after Jan 20, we're sort of hoping Dick Cheney doesn’t make Moab his next “undisclesed location.” 08 eceralts MASON (CQ) 435.260.2374 [e-mail]