The final details with the herald have been hammered out and the first issues of WilderPress! is scheduled to be out the second Friday of February. Thanks to some much appreciated local support the publication will be stocked at Maria's Bookstore, and Durango Natural Foods. I have to also thank those who kindly contributed their thoughts and feelings about the environment. We received some great submissions and look forward to the next issue already. In addition to the publication we have also set up a blog site to follow up on articles and keep track of environmental issues across the globe including stories of direct action, and pressing articles that don't make their way into the publication. Feel free to check the site out at www.wilderpress.blogspot.com/ Be sure to check out the link to Capitol Climate Action scheduled for March 2009. This is a collaboration of many organizations, and individuals who are descending upon the Capitol to protest the large coal fired power plant in Washington D.C. that powers Congress with the very energy system we must not let become the new crutch of industrial civilization. A push for a more sustainable future must continue, and we must ensure that Congress is continually pressured to act on global climate change, as well as pressing national environmental issues. A great place to begin would be a sustainable Capitol.
Please continue to contribute to WilderPress! and the greater environmental struggle in general. Times are changing, and the hour is upon us. We must make the changes necessary to ensure a future livable world for ourselves, future generations, and the natural world itself. Part of this change must surely come from rebuilding our sense of community, and coming together to stand up against a system that is failing people and the environment. Thank you again to those wild folks who have contributed their time to our efforts.
Stay Wild. Stay Free.
WilderPress!
2 comments:
earth first! redux in the four corners. and i support these folks. good for them! we need more warriors for the earth. but, as someone who works the political process, is no compromise really tenable if we want to save things anymore? is it time to steamroll the opposition, or can we accomplish more by collaboratively working through issues with our enemies, and arrive at workable solutions, instead of merely shouting slogans in public demos? it's a question we have to keep asking ourselves
Paleohippie,
Thanks for the response, and the support. We certainly do need more warriors for the earth. However, I'm not sure we can approach the environmental crisis with the same strategies as past social movements. The destruction of our natural world is a problem that, unlike past social challenges, will affect every person on this planet. The idea of no compromise, to me, has to do with your level of involvement, and ultimately believing that at the very core of everything is the earth. We CANNOT falter in the understand that to even debate this issue we need a livable world that supports life. At the very core of human existence (and this comes as a surprise to some) is our biosphere-we simply can't exist without a planetary system that supports life.
That being said: To someone who partakes in the political process no compromise may mean spending your time fighting legislation and policy makers; defending the environment through law, debate, and movements within the policy system. To a teacher no compromise may mean integrating the environment into their classroom. To someone who feels that the destruction of the natural world threatens their very existence no compromise may mean doing anything necessary to halt the destruction. The difference with the environmental movement is a matter of degree. To what degree do you feel connected to the earth? Some can feel the pain of a tree falling-some cannot. Some people, myself included, fill with anger and sadness at the sight of another oil or gas well penetrating the ground, another road scarring the earth, or another development expanding the edge of civilization further at the cost of losing wild land. It is all a matter of degree, but ultimately I don't believe any one avenue of defense will work--the environmental crisis is a multifaceted battle that requires multifaceted strategy. I'm not sure there will be any real "steamrolling" of the opposition, especially in this country where our very existence is fueled by everything that is not sustainable. Capitalism, in of itself, requires growth, and the fact is that sustainable lifestyles don't necessarily fuel growth. This country, in my opinion, will only change out of necessity. That being said, I believe that much of the opposition to the environmental movement will never come to a collaborative agreement with environmental activists.
To make a long story short I see what you mean in saying that developing working solutions, and attacking policy can have a huge impact, however at the same time I believe that as a sole strategy it will fail. On the same hand I don't believe an entirely radical call to arms in defense of the environment is the final solution either. I do, however, believe that a combination of the two, as well as other tactics, will provide the best solution... Occasionally, desperate times call for desperate measures. Anyone who can comfortably say that the systematic destruction of the biosphere doesn't constitute desperate times is in severe denial. At the end of the day I support, whole heartedly, anyone who takes measures to ensure we halt the destruction of the planet, and that we find a way to develop a livable world where life is valued...human and non-human alike. To this concept there can be no compromise...our very existence depends on a world that can sustain us. We must find it in ourselves to develop a stronger land ethic, to reconnect with our natural world, and to take the responsibility we have, to date, thrown to the wayside. This is our home, and the only one we have, we must protect it and learn to work with the natural systems rather than against them.
Stay wild. Stay free.
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