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I'm Going to Moab Again
I was amused to see the reference in "Loving the West to Death" [Winter 2009], by David Gessner, to the Moab MUni Fest, for that is the event that first drew me to the area in 2003. I've returned every year since. Eco-tourism has an impact, but often the alternatives involve more onerous development: slash-and-burn farming, resource depletion, cattle grazing. Clearly a balance must be struck. Moab continues to draw me and dozens of my friends to appreciate its natural beauty, support the local economy, and, yes, ride on trails and occasionally disturb the soil or plants. Any use has an effect, even though our group has a strong environmental conscience. I'll be back in Moab in March, appreciating the breathtaking beauty and, to the extent that is possible, leaving no trace.
posted online by Tom Holub
David Gessner can hardly conceal the ax he's trying to grind on the backsides of mountain bikers. Regardless of what they're wearing, those "Lycra-clad" folks have often been on the leading edge of land-protection movements. Dozens of mountain bike groups all over the country have worked tirelessly and successfully to prevent extraction industries, ORVs, and developers from gobbling up even more of our precious resources.
posted online by Green Biker
Another Beef
I agree with Marina Iandoli's letter in the Winter 2009 issue concerning the impact of the meat industry. Our culture's meat-based diet is the elephant in the room of environmentalists. It's as though everyone is afraid that talking about it will brand the whole movement as fringe. But sooner or later, we are going to have to face this inconvenient truth: meat is unsustainable.
posted online by Sattie Clark
Economy Versus Environment?
In "Obama Is Just the Beginning" [Winter 2009] Frances Beinecke writes, "Undoubtedly President Obama's top priority should be jump-starting our economy. But environmental concerns need not be sidelined." Why must the economy undoubtedly be the new president's top priority? Only by convincing our elected officials and the nation as a whole that the environment cannot take a backseat to the economy will we be able to arrest and begin to reverse the environmental devastation our economy has caused.
posted online by Joshua Bellin
The Fire Next Time
Wendy Sunshine's Frontlines article, "A Blazing Success" [Winter 2009], only reinforces my suspicion that carbon-offset deals are part of the problem, not the solution; there are too many opportunities for tricky arithmetic. In the case cited, in exchange for permitting a liquefied natural gas plant in Australia, ConocoPhillips will pay aboriginal communities $670,000 a year to set controlled burns, thus avoiding the greenhouse gases generated by uncontrolled wildfires. This is a standard forest management tool, but one that the government should be undertaking on its own, using the same aboriginal communities. Passing off its responsibility to ConocoPhillips may save the government a few bucks, but it does little for greenhouse gas reduction. It merely allows the oil giant to claim offsets for an initiative that could and should be taking place anyway.
Marc Fried
Gardiner, New York
Hand-Me-Downs
I really appreciated "How Green Are Your Jeans?" [Winter 2009], by Josie Glausiusz, which called into question the myth that everything bearing the word green is eco-friendly. A healthy dose of reality-thanks! I would just add, there's nothing more eco-friendly than buying gently used clothing. Secondhand is sexy-cheaper, greener, and you don't have to worry that they're going to shrink!
posted online by Julie S.
The Word of God
Enlisting the energy of religious people to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that threaten us with global warming, as Tim Folger describes in his article on Sir John Houghton ["‘We're Doing God's Science,'" Winter 2009], is possibly the best way for the United States to lead in confronting this problem.
posted online by James H. Cooley
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