Reaching New Heights in the Rockies

The novelist Wallace Stegner wrote that the American West is "a region where optimism consistently outruns resources." That was certainly true of the past century, when companies extracted the West's treasures with little thought to its wildlife, old-growth forests, and limited water supply. It is even truer today. Our nation is in the throes of an energy boom, though you might not have noticed it if you live outside of the Rocky Mountain West. In 2006, almost 45,000 new oil and gas wells were drilled; 2007 promises to be another record breaker. And there are consequences.

Last summer I flew over the Roan Plateau, which rises 3,500 feet above the Colorado River valley. From my airplane window, I could see green expanses of rolling grassland and thriving aspen stands--home to cougars, black bears, and golden eagles. When our plane veered away from the plateau, the land turned a dull brown, scarred with drill pads, pipelines, and waste dumps. The contrast was startling, yet this same fate could befall the Roan Plateau: the Bureau of Land Management has announced its intention to open the area for energy exploration. Thanks in part to NRDC members and activists, these plans have been temporarily halted while a provision to protect the plateau moves through Congress. But even if the Roan Plateau wins a reprieve, thousands of new drilling leases remain on the drawing board at the bureau.

Still, I see signs of a new strain of western optimism, one that recognizes our finite supply of natural resources and points us to a more sustainable energy future. Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico have committed to statewide mandatory caps on global warming pollution, and Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are poised to follow. Salt Lake City has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions to 30 percent below 2001 levels, largely by making public buildings more energy efficient, expanding public transit, and promoting green building.

The rising tide of state-based action across the country has prompted Congress to begin focusing on global warming. More than a dozen bills have been proposed on Capitol Hill. All of them, including the promising Lieberman-Warner bill, highlight two imperatives: we must set the bar very high for greenhouse gas reductions, and we must act without delay before global warming gets worse.

Ultimately, our nation's leaders will create both rigorous and fast-moving global warming solutions only if enough Americans demand it. Many westerners are raising their voices. I encourage you to join them.