Bob Burnquist at the X Games XI, where he
took the gold medal for Skateboard Vert Best Trick.

Photo: Jason Merritt/WireImage

Bob Burnquist isn't afraid of taking risks. In fact, he's made a career out of it. The 30-year-old pro skateboarder is a 12-time medal-winner at the X Games, has developed and named a number of signature tricks, and last year launched himself off a ramp into the Grand Canyon -- and into the history books.

But when it comes to his health and the health of the planet, Burnquist isn't willing to risk anything. Born and raised in Brazil, he grew up eating fresh, local, organic foods -- and it's a passion he's carried through his adult life. After running a vegetarian restaurant in Encinitas, Calif., with his family for several years, Burnquist has turned his foodie interests into a nonprofit effort to get organic gardening and farming into schools. Begun as a project of the Bob Burnquist Foundation, the program has taken on a life of its own, he says, expanding from a small effort at a school in California to a major undertaking in Orlando, Fla., thanks to a partnership with Toyota.

Watch Bob's Grand Canyon jump on YouTube.

In his professional life, Burnquist has also strived to stick to his principles, connecting with green corporate sponsors like Stonyfield Farm and Sambazon, a company specializing in energy drinks made from the antioxidant-rich Brazilian fruit acai. Burnquist has also been a major advocate for sustainable action-sports events, urging X Games officials to use Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood on their ramps and provide healthy food choices from sponsors like Whole Foods.

Along with his wife (and fellow skater) Jen O'Brien, Burnquist is a founding member of the Action Sports Environmental Coalition, a nonprofit organization bringing eco-awareness to the skate-surf-BMX crowd -- a crowd that extends far beyond the local skate park. In late January, some 70,000 people made their way to Aspen for the Winter X Games and millions more tuned in to watch the events on ESPN. In fact, the Summer and Winter X Games are the largest television productions the sports network puts on, and sponsors shell out at least seven figures to reach an audience largely comprised of the highly desirable 12 to 24 demographic.

Burnquist, too, is well aware that most of his fans are at an impressionable age. "As a kid, I remember looking up to professional skateboarders -- what they did was cool, to me," he says. "If the guy was like a punk rocker, I wanted to be a punk rocker." Now, though, he hopes to provide a positive influence as more of a "sustainable hippie type."

An overcommitted spokesguy for eco-issues and frequent traveler for skating competitions and other industry-related appearances (like starring in several of Tony Hawk's video games), Burnquist can be difficult to pin down. But I managed to catch up with him for a phone interview while he was in Hawaii recently for several skate and surf events. Enthusiastic and earnest, Burnquist chatted about moving to the U.S., turning down major dough from Red Bull, and realizing that skateboarders make great environmentalists.

On his evolution as an environmentalist:

I'm Brazilian -- born in Rio, raised in São Paolo with an American father and a Brazilian mother, so I kind of grew up with the Brazilian culture in me. I grew up with the fresh fruit and the good food, so lush and green and beautiful all around me.

When I moved to the U.S., I had a hard time with the transition in the diet. All of a sudden, I'm in the U.S. skating and traveling, and I'm eating fast food because that's where the guys are going and it's like, 'Oh I'll just go in here real quick, get it done, and then go skate.' And I start feeling it taking its toll on me.

Then one day, after eating a burger at In-N-Out, I cruised by a farm with all these cows, and it just put everything into perspective about how food was being mass-produced and how the animals are being treated. I started reading up on what was going on here in the U.S. and it just freaked me out. I was like, 'Oh man, I gotta change the way I eat for me to feel good so I can skate.' And then also, as a conscious consumer, if I do my part and everyone else does their part, then we could actually change the industry and change what's going on.

On why skateboarders make great environmentalists:

It's really hard for a skateboarder to take 'no' for an answer. I'll go out and skate, and if I'm trying a trick, I'll try it all day long, and if I don't make it, I'll try again the next day until I make it. Try it again, fall again. Try it again, fall again. I think that it's just so powerful because we're not going to stop trying. We're just going to keep trying until people are taking notice.

On starting the Action Sports Environmental Coalition:

ASEC became the perfect thing to do to be able to get the word out using my celebrity status -- whatever that is in skateboarding and beyond -- and connect with other like-minded skateboarders and BMXers and whoever's involved. We called it 'Action Sports' because we wanted to be all-involving. I think it involves surfing because of the coastal [aspect], and snowboarding because of all the mountains and the wilderness there, and skateboarding's important because of the urban impact. So if we try to get across to all the different lifestyles, we'll make an impact together.

On greening athletic catering:

The ultimate in green catering was the Toyota Challenge in San Jose for the Dew Tour this year. It was the best treatment we've ever gotten as skateboarders, as athletes, from the Whole Foods catering to the smoothie bar to the acai to all the energy bars, to the good food all over ...

Granted, the reason it was so good and I liked it so much is because I was able to be a big part in the consulting as to what goes in there -- and everything that I put down as a dream thing was in. I just couldn't believe that they went that route to spend that money to do it. It was insane, one of the best events -- everyone skated really well. I think [the catering] had a huge impact on our performance.

On choosing corporate sponsors:

I think that's where the biggest impact is. Instead of riding for Mountain Dew or Pepsi, I'd rather connect with a company like Stonyfield Farm or Sambazon. I mean I don't get nearly as much as I would have if I went with Mountain Dew or Red Bull or Monster or all that stuff -- they're throwing money like crazy at our industry. I'm a top guy; I could get a pretty hefty check just to put a Red Bull helmet on and go out there. But I can't do that ... If I believe in something, I'll endorse it, if I don't, I can't. I just can't.

On "Good Wood for the 'Hood":

X Games does buy a lot of wood when they go to build all the ramps, so we connected them with the FSC-certified wood and then had them buy all the wood through that. Then instead of throwing it away or storing it [after the Games were over], we had them donate it to Compton, to the neighborhood. [ASEC] did this thing "Good Wood for the 'Hood" -- built this skate park with the Salvation Army, and then went out there and skated with the Compton kids afterward. Home Depot and ESPN were involved and donated a lot of the wood.

On his effort to teach organic gardening in schools:

The Global Cooling Challenge at work
at San Pasqual Academy.

Photo: asecaction.org

Why is there junk food all over the cafeteria when you've got all this landscaping around and you're supposed to be a school. Why don't you turn it all into an edible landscape and teach gardening? ... How big of a lesson is that -- if you can plant your own food at school and feel good about eating it? The cafeteria is flush with good produce that the students planted, and they learned something as they did it ...

I just had this vision and feeling that the schools in the U.S. need to do more of that, especially with all these problems with obesity and diabetes and all that's going on. The idea is ultimately to be able to reach as many schools as possible and have them really think about the edible landscape solution for the future -- for the sake of the students and for the sake of everyone around.

On his Global Cooling Challenge:

You always hear about global warming, which we know is happening, right? But I think it kind of has a negative tone to it because it's alarmist. And we gotta realize that it's going down, but I think that people get turned off a lot of times ... Instead I feel like, 'Hey, what about the global cooling challenge -- what can we do to cool it?'

The reason we set it up as a challenge is because my life has been one challenge after another -- from skating, from contests, from doing all kinds of different obstacles, from grinding into the Grand Canyon ... I just felt like, well, if I can do this, you most definitely can do this. I challenge you: If I can go out there and figure out this stunt and put it together and materialize it and make it happen, then you can help me with global cooling.

Related Links:

The Triple Threat

Plus, Only Teams With Animal Names Can Play

Only 2,012 Days to Go

New plan would nearly triple Yellowstone daily snowmobile limit

Gentlemen, stroke your engines: The National Park Service has issued a draft plan that would nearly triple the number of snowmobiles allowed into Yellowstone National Park each day, from 250 to 720. While the limit is lower than the average number entering the park daily before the Clinton administration put the practice on ice -- a move reversed by the Bush administration -- it's still freakin' high. "The facts and science gave [NPS] a direction to take, then they softened, twisted, and contorted the science," says former park superintendent Michael Finley. "The plan deserves to be challenged. It deserves burial in deep snow." Other fans of peace, quiet, clean air, and critters agreed, but supporters of the new plan pointed out that it would allow only guided trips and would require noise-reduction gadgets on accompanying snow coaches. "We can achieve [natural-resource protection] goals with a managed program," said one park staffer. A final draft will be released for public comment in March.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Super Bowl gets greener, offsets emissions for first time

Until this year, we loved the Super Bowl for precisely three reasons: beer, commercials, and ass-slapping. But we're adding a fourth reason this year, as the NFL will be planting native trees and buying renewable-energy certificates to offset greenhouse-gas emissions from the game. Yes -- guilt-free beer farts! "Carbon mitigation: that to me is where the excitement, the challenge, and the opportunity are," says NFL Director of Environmental Programs Jack Groh, who might need to get out more. The Super Bowl has incorporated green elements for 14 years, but the upcoming game will be the first to offset its emissions. Such football-licious sustainability comes hot on the heels of other sporting events that have gone for the green, including an ethanol-fueled Indy 500, climate-neutral soccer World Cup, and recycle-happy Turin Olympics. Extra point! Forward pass! End-zone dance! And ... that's all the football terms we know.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

London Olympics striving to be all green, all the time

We were about to write yet another blurb on the current climate-change climate when we remembered: today marks 2,012 days until the London 2012 Olympics! So here's a quick rundown of plans for the "greenest games to date." Organizers say they'll cut Olympic Park carbon emissions 50 percent by 2013 and generate some power on site using wind and solar. They'll also reuse or recycle 90 percent of demolition materials and build 50 miles of new bike and walking paths. That's just a taste of an event that will be, says Prime Minister Tony Blair, "the catalyst for one of the most extensive urban and environmental regeneration programs ever seen in the U.K." It's all quite dreamy, except for a political squabble over the games' mushrooming budget and its reliance on National Lottery funds intended for community sports programs and other "good causes." A Parliament committee was expected to release a report this week telling the ambitious government to "get a grip" on its finances. Fun-stoppers.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Eric Brody.

What work do you do?

I am the sustainability manager at Nau Inc.

My other involvements include founder and coordinator of Portland Green Drinks; executive committee member for the Sustainable Packaging Coalition; and advisory committee member for the Oregon Natural Step Network.

How does your work relate to the environment?

Nau, Inc. is a retail (as well as direct) technical and lifestyle outdoor clothing company committed to integrating economic, environmental, and social factors into our business model. We aim to spark a dialogue among individuals and companies who are committed to doing well by doing good. We have aspired to design the entire enterprise from the ground up with the idea and ideal of sustainability at the center of the venture. That includes how we design and manufacture our products, the design and construction of our stores, how our products are shipped, and the people we hire. We give 5 percent of every sale to social and environmental organizations. Customers are encouraged to help decide which organization will receive that 5 percent.

What are you working on at the moment?

Stay warm, look cool.

Photo: Nau, Inc.

I'm working on wearing many hats without messing up my hair. Seriously, one of the exciting aspects of sustainability, especially in a start-up, is the wide range of projects. They include integrating sustainability attributes into our materials, products, processes, and stores; developing labor and environmental standards for the factories that make our products; and tracking, reducing, and offsetting our greenhouse-gas emissions.

We're working with Verité, an independent auditing and research organization that performs third-party audits, to ensure that our requirements relating to human rights, environmental practices, and issues of transparency and reporting are met at the factories. We're also working with Green Building Services on LEED certification for our first store in Boulder, Colo.

How do you get to work?

Drive, bus, or bike. My goal is to bike to work more consistently, but sometimes it's difficult to get motivated to get on a bike when it's cold, rainy, and gloomy out.

What long and winding road led you to your current position?

I grew up in a logging town that exemplified the economic and environmental impacts of mismanaging the environment. That led me to an interest in the role businesses could play in addressing environmental issues. I received a degree in environmental science supplemented with economics courses at Willamette University. Following college, I worked for a consulting company and volunteered for several environmental nonprofits. After being denied for many sustainability jobs and networking with enough people to fill a banquet hall, I landed a job as sustainability manager at Nike -- a fantastic job for me! I learned a great deal in that challenging and rewarding job. Nau recruited me in 2005, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to work for such an amazing start-up company.

Where do you live now?

Portland, Ore.

What has been the worst moment in your professional life to date?

After college I worked at a big firm that consulted on environmental planning and engineering. The firm's management and their clients fulfilled only the minimum that regulations required. In order to initiate change, I arranged a meeting between management and several business leaders who integrated sustainability into their businesses. After the meeting, which I thought was a success, the president of the consulting company insisted that he still didn't see any reason to do more than the regulations required.

I lost that battle, but I continued my pursuit and was finally given approval to start a few green teams. Although top management didn't proactively spearhead changes from the top down, we made some meaningful progress from the bottom up.

What's been the best?

Being recruited to work with a team of industry leaders at Nau to build a brand from the bottom up. Rather than trying to fix existing systems, we have had the opportunity to integrate sustainability at the front end of everything we do. That leads to a different kind of thinking, which makes every day both exciting and challenging.

What environmental offense has infuriated you the most?

Photo: Nau, Inc.

The property-rights ballot initiatives that swept across states in the U.S. recently. The campaigns deceived many voters into thinking that they were voting for fairness for property owners, but in reality, the initiatives allow big timber companies to turn coastal forests into sprawling subdivisions and allow corporations to turn farmland into gravel pits and strip malls. The ballot measure that passed in Oregon, Measure 37, now threatens our treasured quality of life, as well as our farms and forestland. Many residents in rural communities face threats to drinking water and the availability of scarce water resources because of Measure 37. Visit 1,000 Friends of Oregon or the Sightline Institute to learn more.

The other issue that gets under my skin is the timber industry's claim that Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification ensures sustainable forestry. SFI does not protect forests. SFI condones environmentally harmful practices, including large-scale clear-cutting and chemical use, logging of old-growth and endangered forests, and replacement of forests by ecologically degraded tree plantations.

To purchase environmentally sound wood and paper products, I recommend sourcing from forests certified by the independent Forest Stewardship Council. The products come from forests that meet stricter environmental and social standards than other certification systems. Check out Don't Buy SFI for details regarding the problems with SFI and why FSC is a much better alternative.

Who is your environmental hero?

My heroes from the past include Henry David Thoreau, Teddy Roosevelt, and Tom McCall, the former Oregon governor who led the land-use planning initiatives to protect our watersheds, beaches, forests, and farms and create vibrant cities. Current heroes include David Suzuki and Malcolm Gladwell.

What's your environmental vice?

I enjoy snowboarding, even though I'm aware of all the environmental issues associated with that sport. Every time I fall, I figure that's the mountain's way of getting back at me. Or maybe I'm just a bad snowboarder.

How do you spend your free time (if you have any)? Read any good books lately?

For fun I do a little bit of a lot of things, which is typical of Portlanders. Snowboarding, snowshoeing, hiking, cooking, dinner out with friends, and fixing up my house are a few of the activities lately.

Recently my leisure reading has included books by Craig Lesley: River Song and The Sky Fisherman.

What's your favorite meal?

Sushi -- fish listed in the green section of the Seafood Watch guide.

Which stereotype about environmentalists most fits you?

I hug a tree twice a day -- just kidding.

My friends would probably say that I'm a little too eager to recommend ways that people can reduce their impact on the planet.

What's your favorite place or ecosystem?

The Columbia Gorge -- it's hard to beat the amazing views, waterfalls, and cliffs that you'll find on a hike through the gorge. If you ask me on another day, I might say the Oregon coast, Oregon's high desert, or the Cascade Mountains.

If you could institute by fiat one environmental reform, what would it be?

Urban growth boundaries that foster vibrant cities, neighborhoods, and rural towns and protect farms, forests, rivers, and other ecosystems.

Who was your favorite musical artist when you were 18? How about now?

At 18: Morphine. Now: Jack Johnson.

If you could have every InterActivist reader do one thing, what would it be?

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, donate or get involved with 1,000 Friends, Sightline, or OregonWild. If you live elsewhere in the U.S. or abroad, consider helping NRDC, Conservation International, or another organization in your region.

The Brody Hunch

To what extent are your products produced in the U.S.? How do you intend to inventory environmental cradle-to-grave impacts from manufacturing where no regulations exist?    -- Jeanne Cahill, Northburrow, Mass.

Eric Brody, Nau Inc.

Our sourcing team has worked diligently to develop business relationships with U.S. and overseas sources that meet our environmental, social, delivery, quality, and price requirements. We are currently sourcing fabrics from two mills in the U.S. We are developing domestic factory sources for some of our less technical products like denim and T-shirts. The factories with the expertise to do technical products have long been in Asia; the price point for technical products developed in the U.S. would be many times greater than customers are willing to pay.

To ensure that requirements are being met, our factory partners must maintain on file all documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with our code of conduct and required laws, agree to make documents available to Nau or its designated monitor, and agree to submit to inspections with or without prior notice.

In addition, Nau has partnered with Verité, an independent, nonprofit auditing and research organization, to help ensure the requirements are met. The mission of Verité is to ensure that people worldwide work under safe, fair, and legal working conditions. If Verité auditors identify human-rights, environmental, or health and safety violations in the workplace, we will together develop concrete steps to correct them through a combination of trainings for management and workers, education programs, and remediation programs.

What are Nau's rules regarding livable compensation?    -- Christopher Juniper, Indian Hills, Colo.

We have a code of conduct in place with which all of our factory partners must comply. This code of conduct focuses on three key areas: human rights, environmental practices, and issues of transparency and reporting. In developing our code of conduct, we did extensive benchmarking of industry best practices and worked to ensure that our code continued to push forward important issues such as compensation and overtime. Regarding employees based in the U.S., we established rules that they are to be compensated an amount that is not less than 1.5 times the U.S. federal minimum wage, and no officer of Nau shall receive a salary in excess of 12 times the compensation paid to the lowest paid full-time employee.

Using sustainable materials has priced the entire line of apparel companies like Nau, Patagonia, and Ibex in a luxury price tier. Can the U.S. really count on a meaningful shift in pollution or raw-material consumption if we are relying on consumer-driven environmental reform?    -- Eric Aldinger, Portland, Ore.

You are correct that Nau can't change the world on its own. We are doing everything we can do in our realm to challenge others to think differently, but it will take more than just a few companies to create marketplace shifts. It will take a much larger cultural-values shift in our society, characterized by an intensified search for balance, harmony, meaning, ethics, and authenticity -- as well as a belief that it is increasingly important for businesses and corporations to have additional responsibilities beyond increasing shareholder value.

A handful of great companies are trying to do the right thing, but the truth is the vast majority of companies are doing business as usual, creating advertising campaigns that "greenwash" consumers, and lobbying governments to reduce regulations. Without proper environmental and labor regulations, many countries and industries will continue to race to the bottom. Producing more for less money without concern or knowledge about the impacts to people or the planet continues to be the trend. Many people don't realize the scale of the impacts the decisions they make at work have on the planet or communities.

The brands you identified have begun to integrate the true costs of creating products that meet quality, performance, durability, and environmental factors. At Nau we are building durable products with classic styles intended to have a long life. The idea is that you won't have to replace them as often, which is better for the environment and saves you money over the long run. In order to promote sustainability, we have made the commitment to share the materials we develop with other apparel companies. Our hope is that as these materials become more widely used in the industry, the price will come down.

Use the power of the dollar by spending your money only on food, products, and services that reflect your values. In addition, you would be amazed at the power customer questions and feedback have at a company. Contact companies and tell them your concerns.

What's the biggest avoidable irksome thing you see people do that is harmful to the environment?    -- Josie Norris, Portland, Ore.

It's annoying when people don't participate in the political process. If that applies to someone you know, be sure to encourage them to sign up for the email action alerts from your state chapter and national chapter of the League of Conservation Voters. Their mission is to advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt and implement such policies.

I often get my outdoor gear secondhand. Even then I have a hard time with the chemicals they are made of. What is Nau doing to make their apparel more environmentally sound?    -- Joey Gates, Ithaca, N.Y.

We have taken a life-cycle approach to product development that considers environmental and social factors throughout the entire life of the product. We examine issues relating to product design, materials, production, logistics, customer use, and end-of-product life, taking concrete steps to minimize negative impacts at each point in the product life cycle.

Nau has a Restricted Substance List and protocol to ensure that our products are safe for our workers at the factories, safe for our customers to wear, and that Nau meets the strictest legislation globally. The substances included on the list are either restricted by legislation or voluntarily selected for elimination by Nau. Nau requires our suppliers to comply with our RSL and our products are tested to be sure they do not contain any of the compounds on the list.

There is a wonderful two-part article published on TreeHugger that goes into much more detail on all of our practices at Nau.

I advocate that companies put a legally enforceable commitment to sustainability and a triple bottom line in their articles of incorporation or bylaws. I have read that Nau has language to this effect in its bylaws. What is the language? Has this language helped or hindered Nau in raising capital?    -- Stephen Filler, Tarrytown, N.Y.

Even before Nau had raised any money to fund its efforts or had designed a single product, the team began to examine how to set the company on a deliberate social and environmental trajectory.

Corporate attorney Robert Hinkley influenced Nau's founders. Hinkley incorporated the work of management expert W. Edwards Deming and systems theorist Peter Senge to develop new ideas pertaining to the notion of a corporation as citizen. Deming had written that "most of the time it's the system that causes the problem, not the people in the system." He combined this idea with the insight of Senge, who said that to change any system you should "look to make the smallest change possible that will generate the biggest effect." From these theories, Hinkley created a code for corporate citizenship. In only 28 words, it stated that henceforth the "duty of directors shall be to make money for shareholders but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health and safety, dignity of employees, and the welfare of the community in which a company operates." Nau chose to follow Hinkley's guidance and include similar language in its corporate bylaws.

This issue has come up in the process of raising capital to fund the company. In fact, people have advanced the point of view that the language suggested a greater degree of responsibility and therefore could lead to the company being devalued. We have taken the opposite point of view and have been able to resolve any objections that we have received to date.

If you would like to see the exact language of Nau's Rules of Corporate Responsibility, please see the March/April '07 issue of GOOD magazine. Subscribe to GOOD magazine for a year and they will give 100 percent of your subscription fee to the nonprofit organization of your choice.

What future role does Nau see for the use of hemp fiber for product manufacturing?    -- John Barry, Tucson, Ariz.

There are many exciting developments in the fabric world, hemp being one of them. Hemp is not a material we are currently using in our product line, although we are actively following the developments to determine if there is something we can use in the future that meets our performance, quality, and sustainability requirements.

While hemp has some great environmental attributes compared to other crops, it is important to recognize that there are a range of environmental impacts associated with any large-scale agriculture. These impacts include land clearing, land degradation, and the use of biocides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Also, some hemp suppliers use environmentally clean processes, but many are using chemicals and processes that we want to avoid.

No material is perfect from an environmental perspective, but sustainability is about making strides in the right direction.

Looking back at your childhood, was there a memory or activity that made you want to go into the environmental field?    -- David Vanderbrook, Canadaigua, N.Y.

Growing up, my best friend's dad would take several of us on a weeklong fishing trip in the Northern California redwoods every year. The type of awe-inspiring nature you find in the redwood forest is enough to turn almost anyone into an advocate for the environment.

How do you define "environmentalist"?    -- Josie Norris, Portland, Ore.

If you are reading this, you are an environmentalist.

Are there any good resources for small companies that advise on how to be green?    -- Kirsten Oleson, Pacific Grove, Calif.

Here are books that address both how and why to be green:

On the web, I'd suggest: GreenBiz, Sustainable Industries Journal, Eartheasy Sustainable Living, Sustainable Style Foundation, TreeHugger, and WorldChanging.

For networking, connect with local chapters of Net Impact and Green Drinks.

Related Links:

A surprising sneak peek at the clothesline revolution

Gucci Group commits to saving Indonesia’s rainforests

A video interview with Bill Moyers

Unions, conservationists join forces to protect sporting rights

Need more proof that green is gaining steam? Voila: a brand-new partnership between a Republican-leaning conservation group and 20 labor unions that represent nearly 5 million people. Worried that hunters and anglers are being barred from prime playgrounds, the Union Sportsmen's Alliance will push for increased federal conservation funding and for access to public lands. "We can make the union movement and environmentalism compatible," says International Association of Machinists President Tom Buffenbarger. Beyond that, says Jim Range, board chair of the alliance-building Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, "It opens up a tremendous amount of territory for us to work on both sides of the aisle." In a divided country, says Phil Brick, environmental politics professor at Washington state's Whitman College, "these kind of alliances are the only way anything is going to get done over the next 10 to 20 years in American politics." Annual dues: $25. Actual progress: Priceless.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Utah basketball arena renamed for nuclear-waste corporation

Here in Seattle, home of Qwest and Safeco fields, we know well how corporations have rushed the pro-sports playing field. But our McMonikers are nothing next to Utah's latest rechristening: The Salt Lake City stadium that's home to the Utah Jazz, formerly the Delta Center, is now known as EnergySolutions Arena. Sounds all green and forward-looking, doesn't it? But locals aren't stoked about the company's best-known business operation, a nuclear-waste facility in the Utah desert. Indignant fans are hollering nicknames like HazzMat Center, Half-Life Arena, Radium Stadium, and the Tox Box (there go all our headlines) and asking for a do-over. "Utah's always been the 'stick-it' state: whatever you don't want in your state, stick it here," said Jazz fan Tom Kessler. "We're not tree-huggers, but these guys lend credence to bringing all this stuff to Utah. It's bogus." The company and its supporters counter that, far from bogus, nuclear reprocessing is the future. Refs are reviewing the play.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Global warming makes skiing World Cup circuit hit the skids

Global warming is wreaking mountains of havoc on skiing's World Cup circuit, with stops canceled due to weirdly warm temps at European resorts. Cross-country teams are all training in one place in Italy, unable to find snow elsewhere in central Europe; the only cross-country race held so far this year, in Finland, saw rain the entire time. In North America, meanwhile, trainings have been hobbled by too much snow. The International Ski Federation calls the situation "critical." U.S. Olympic downhiller Steve Nyman says pro skiers -- "living in hotel rooms, having our linens done, driving, flying around the world" -- are "probably the worst" spokespeople for the global-warming fight. But Canadian skiers Thomas Grandi and Sara Renner -- inspired by An Inconvenient Truth and perhaps some unexpected spare time -- are giving it a shot, by cutting their emissions, buying carbon offsets, and teaming up with Canadian eco-celeb David Suzuki to launch a public-awareness campaign. See, there's slope yet.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Vail, Colo., is a town that's defined by winter, when tourists from around the world descend on the area's snow-covered slopes to ski, ride, and soak up the laid-back yet glitzy mountain lifestyle. But as the threat of global warming has begun to creep closer to the Colorado high country, Vail has been forced to develop another reputation, one based less on celebrity sightings and more on sustainable policy choices. Sure, it's still a world-famous resort town with a past that's less than green-friendly, but these days the area's 4,500 year-round residents are on a mission to become one of the most environmentally progressive communities in the U.S.

Vail: cleaning its energy and its image.

Photo: iStockphoto

The latest step in this effort took place in August, when officials announced plans to offset all of the town's municipal operations by buying wind power credits from a Boulder-based broker.

It's a move that will, over the next three years, offset approximately 20 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and prevent 28 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. For those keeping score, excited town officials say that's the equivalent of removing 2,681 cars from the road or planting 3,700 acres of mature trees. This year, costs for the $12,000 program will be paid out of the town's supplemental budget, and, assuming it is approved by the town council in subsequent years, the expense will be rolled into the budget as part of normal energy expenditures.

The announcement -- which followed closely on the heels of a similar move by the Vail Resorts ski company -- was big news for Vail, which became the first municipality in the country to offset all of its energy use with wind power, but it was far from surprising. After all, daily life here is closely linked to the health and beauty of the natural world. No snow means no business -- for everyone from ski operators to restaurateurs to booksellers -- and as a result, local residents have a vested interest in promoting environmentally friendly policies.

"We believe that protecting Vail's natural environment is critical to the health and prosperity of our community," Town Manager Stan Zemler said in a statement announcing the plan. "Wind power is a simple step in continuously improving our environmental practices in the town." He added that he hoped the town's decision would stimulate interest in wind power from community members as well.

"We just got through with a community picketing process," says Vail Environmental Health Officer Bill Carlson, who helped craft the town's wind-power plan, "and the environment came up very strong among those who attended." What issues are residents most concerned about? Developing a green-building code, controlling noise from nearby Interstate 70, dealing with a beetle problem that's been killing thousands of trees in the area, and, in no uncertain terms, making sure their town becomes and remains "No. 1 in environmental leadership."

Promoting the town's commitment to renewable energy is a big part of that goal. More important, says Carlson, "it's just the right thing to do." In announcing the move, the town and its resort joined the Aspen Skiing Company and Whole Foods, both of which also began offsetting 100 percent of their power consumption with wind credits earlier this year. And since the announcement, a third Colorado ski operator, Triple Peaks LLC, which runs Crested Butte Mountain Resort, has also said it plans to purchase wind credits.

Carlson recently took some time out from his work to speak with Grist by phone about the future of wind power and Vail's new shift toward civic environmentalism.

So, how did this wind-power project get started?

Actually, I had wanted to promote renewable energy for a long time. Vail Resorts was negotiating with a wind marketer in Boulder and several others around the country, so they were thinking about converting all their lift operations and mountain operations to wind energy. So, I thought, "You know, I think I'm going to investigate this for the town, too."

What sorts of logistics were involved in making this happen?

I got four or five bids from various marketers. Two of them I thought were very good, and the ski company decided to pick one of them so we did as well. We ended up going with Renewable Choice Energy, out of Boulder, and that was just passed and approved by the council, so we have a three-year contract.

What about the economic cost?

You have to think of it in terms of the larger issues. I'm concerned, as the town's environmental officer, with global warming -- I think that's the biggest, No. 1 environmental issue right now, and it impacts everything else. And of course we make our living here with snow for five to six months of the year. So I think it behooves the town to take a leadership role and to have strategies and actions that address greenhouse gases and do our part as a world-renowned resort community to be an example for that. Because at the rate we're emitting carbon off into the atmosphere, we're going to be in trouble in another 50 to 100 years.

Did you run into any opposition from the board?

No, we didn't have any opposition. It was supported all along the way.

That's amazing. Why do you think it struck a chord?

Well, I think the town is moving more toward an environmental sustainability policy, and renewable energy is one of those things that we just want to do. We're already interested in increasing resource efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases, so I think you're going to see the town be more environmentally conscious and have more strategies for stewardship actions in the future.

Related Links:

The North Face, Aspen, and climate policy

Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)

Mark Udall (D-Colo.)

Judge sides with caribou, bans snowmobiles from some Idaho national forests

Mountain caribou celebrated last week as a judge banned snowmobiles from a nearly 470-square-mile caribou recovery zone in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. The ban will hold unless the U.S. Forest Service can develop a winter recreation strategy that would enable noisy, polluting vehicles and the last mountain caribou herd in the Lower 48 states to coexist harmoniously, ruled U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley. There are about three dozen of the caribou left in the area, with what Whaley called a "precarious finger-hold" on survival (although hoof-hold, we think, would have been more apt). Snowmobile interests blamed logging, backcountry skiing, and climate change for the shrinking herd; conservationists presented evidence that snowmobile noise frightens caribou from feeding and calving grounds, and argued that vehicle trails compact snow, leaving the caribou without deep-snow protection from predators. "The court chooses to be overprotective rather than under-protective," Whaley wrote in his ruling.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Alternative fabrics hit the action-sports market

Surf's up, dude -- and so is action-sports apparel makers' interest in alternative fabrics. (OK, that was a stretch.) Clothes made from organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and even recycled plastic bottles are hitting the action-sports apparel market. Sustainability will "definitely be the next big wave," says the oh-so-punny Don Brown of Sole Technology, parent company of Etnies. Not so active but still want to get gussied up in sustainable style? Scientists at the University of Nebraska plan to develop apparel from chicken feathers and rice straw. But you won't look like you just had a roll in the hay: the feather-based fabric will resemble wool, while the straw-based fabric will have the look and feel of linen or cotton. The researchers envision markets for feathers and straw in everything from carpets to automobiles to building materials. And you never know when tar-and-feathering might come back in vogue.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Mat Lindstedt was a typical 12-year-old growing up in San Jose during the 1970s. He spent his summers braving the runaway mine ride, paddling the Indian war canoes, and riding the lazy burros at Frontier Village amusement park.

Riding an endangered species.

Photo: iStockphoto

But Lindstedt's summers changed in 1980, when the owners of Frontier Village decided the park's 33 acres would fetch them far more dollars in the San Jose real-estate market than it ever would as a kiddie kingdom. The park never stood a chance, and closed its gates for good.

"It was heart-wrenching," Lindstedt says today. "The park sat there all closed up. They auctioned off some of the stuff, but ... the things that were left were just rotting away. It was kind of sad to see this place all decrepit and failing."

Today, a good portion of Frontier Village is a city park -- not a bad use of the land, in Lindstedt's opinion. But you can hear the cringe in Lindstedt's voice as he reports that the other half is home to a large condo complex. Worst of all? The developers had the nerve to call their development "Frontier Village."

It's not an uncommon story. Running a small, regional amusement park -- defined by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions as one that draws fewer than 500,000 visitors a year -- is no easy task. Insurance costs are high. Competition from larger parks is intense. Attendance traditionally dips significantly once the summer ends. So it's no surprise that owners often sell their parks to developers willing to pay big money. The problem comes when land that included some amount of open space is swallowed by shopping centers, strip malls, and high-density subdivisions.

Jim Futrell, historian with the National Amusement Park Historical Association, says he's seen more amusement park closings in the last two to three years than in the previous 25. The number of active amusement parks in the U.S. is about 600, according to the IAAPA, and half of these are small, regional parks. In 2005, the country's parks generated about $11.2 billion in revenues from 335 million visitors.

Those numbers actually increased from the previous years, but still the closings come. Futrell doesn't have any statistics on the fate of closed parks -- he doesn't know how many became strip malls or condominium developments -- but he's familiar enough with the industry to know that's the fate of many.

Those concerned about this growing trend, a mixed crew consisting of nostalgia-driven amusement park junkies, neighbors concerned with traffic resulting from new businesses and housing, and open-space advocates, say there must be a better use of old amusement parks. Many of them are willing to fight for it -- with mixed results.

Consider the fates of two other independent amusement parks. One appears destined, despite the efforts of a group of citizens, to become a gated housing community. The other has become a busy public recreation area, complete with reminders of the destination it once was. Why the difference? It may be as simple as the land upon which the parks sit.

Since 2001, Allyson Bowen has fought to save Whalom Park, a more than 100-year-old facility in Lunenburg, Mass. Bowen's family had run the park since 1935, but in the late 1990s, an uncle sold his shares in the Whalom Park Amusement Company. This left the Bowen family with control over just 41 percent of the enterprise.

Citing the costs of operating and dwindling profits, the company shut Whalom down at the end of the 2000 summer season. In 2005, a developer signed an option on the property, and is planning to build an upper-end gated community of 240 condominiums called Emerald Place on the site.

Historic postcard of Whalom Park, built in 1893.

Bowen, who no longer lives in the area, has spent long hours rallying support for the park, encouraging donors to raise money through her website. She originally planned to use the money to create an investment group to buy back the land, but that plan failed. Bowen next worked with Lunenburg residents to convince the town's planning board to raise more than $5 million to reclaim the park's land through eminent domain. That effort, too, failed, with the board voting in support of the condo plan.

Now, Bowen is ready to concede. She says she never expected to reopen Whalom Park in its old form, saying that was unfeasible. But she did hope to turn the site into a public park and recreation area, repairing and refurbishing some of the old buildings, including a vintage roller rink and the building that housed Whalom's antique carousel. That, Bowen says, would be a far better, and friendlier, use of the land than a gated community.

"People are telling me now that this is over, you can at least move on," Bowen said. "Yeah, that's great. But the issue really isn't my issue anymore. It's the town of Lunenburg's issue. I live in New York City now, so I have Central Park. It's the people in the town who have lost their amusement park and are going to have all this new housing come into their town. They're about to lose their drive-in theater, too. They are losing the things that make people want to live in the town in the first place."

The fight isn't completely over. Four residents abutting the proposed site of Emerald Place have filed a lawsuit challenging the development, saying that the planning board did not act in the best interests of nearby residents when approving the project. Bowen, though, has little hope that the lawsuit will save Whalom.

"I think it gets to the point where you're tilting at windmills, and that's sad," she said. "I knew eminent domain was a long shot. But turning Whalom into a public park could have worked, and it would have been such a better idea than bringing more housing to the area."

There is another option, though, for parks that face the wrecking ball, and it's the one that the citizens in Lunenburg tried unsuccessfully: turning old amusement parks into public recreation areas. This allows the parks to retain their history, and places less of a strain on the land than condominiums or shopping centers. In fact, open space puts less stress on the land than even small amusement parks; no one would say, after all, that having crowds lining up in front of roller coasters or funhouses is a low-stress use of land.

The concept has worked well in Glen Echo, Md., home of Glen Echo Park, which operated as an amusement park from the early 1900s through the 1968 season. That year, its owners announced that they were shutting the facility. Three years later, the National Park Service took over ownership, shipped out most of the rides, and turned the site into a public recreation center.

Glen Echo Park's Spanish Ballroom
comes alive every weekend.

Photo: NPS/Sally Ehrlich Hoffmann

Today, the nonprofit Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture runs the park. Remnants of its past include a restored carousel, an arcade building, and a large Spanish ballroom. Groups such as Glen Echo Dance and Movement, Discovery Creek Children's Museum, and The Puppet Co. hold classes and performances on the grounds.

Katey Boerner, executive director of the Glen Echo partnership, agrees that having a public park and tribute to Glen Echo Park's past is preferable to staring up at rows of townhouses or yet another Bed Bath & Beyond. A major reason the land didn't fall into the hands of residential or commercial developers, though, was probably its location, Boerner says. A bit of luck was involved: The amusement park sat on the Potomac palisades near Bethesda, Md. It'd take either amazing guile or truly terrible planning for anyone to suggest putting up condos on such a historic piece of land.

About 500,000 visitors stop by Glen Echo every year, a testament to the strong draw of open space, water views, and history. "There was definitely an environmental reason to keep this a public open space," Boerner said. "The goal was never to save the rides of the old park, but to save the land and some of the historic older buildings. I think this has been a wonderful public use of this land. I can't think of a better use for it."

In the end, the land may be what made the difference between the fates of Whalom Park and Glen Echo. Open-space proponents across the country might consider researching the sites on which closed amusement parks -- and even still functioning ones -- sit. These are prime parcels whose future is too often decided by economics alone.

Back in San Jose, Lindstedt is doing his part to keep at least the memories of Frontier Village alive with a website he created and runs. Every year, he attends a picnic at the former grounds of the park with other fans, who reminisce about the days when the likes of Tonto and Lorne Green dropped by. Unfortunately, memories are all this crowd of devotees has left. "I think I'll always miss this park," Lindstedt says. "And I really don't like those condos at all."

Related Links:

Is there a tradeoff between economics and the environment?

A Penny Saved Is…

Maryland county draws a “car-free blueprint for growth”

Xtremely green demo at a Whole Foods in San Mateo, Calif.

Photo: Courtesy ASEC

 
With the recent profusion of green takes on everything from diapers to caskets, Frank Scura's proposition might sound like more of the same: "We're about greening the planet, one skateboard at a time." But Scura, founder of the Bay Area-based Action Sports Environmental Coalition, isn't your average environmentalist. And action sports -- that heavily marketed package of adrenaline-infused competition undertaken on oceans of plywood -- is a little different too.

For one thing, it has a cool factor so appealing that mass-marketers can't keep their TV cameras off it. At the start of August, about 140,000 people saw X Games 12 in person in Los Angeles, and nearly a million households watched on prime-time TV. In fact, 100 million Americans consume some form of ESPN every week. Scura is sure he can use that type of exposure to transform action sports into the vanguard of green consciousness.

Frank Scura.

Photo: Courtesy ASEC

You play the cards the universe dealt you, and in Southern California in the 1980s, the universe dealt Scura BMX racing, skateboarding, surfing, and punk rock. It was a uniquely SoCal youth culture infused with a sunny but nihilistic rejection of suburban cultural norms. "I just basically used to do a lot of drugs and drink a lot and only date strippers," says Scura when asked how he got from there to here. "But things snapped in me when the Rodney King riots happened. I was just like, 'I'm over it. This is a joke.'" Scura went to Oregon "to be Grizzly Adams and reflect on what it's all about." He came back a changed man: "I left wearing leather pants and velvet shirts -- rock-star boy. And I came back wearing sarongs and Jesus sandals and a beard and smelling like patchouli."

Scura found that, while he was away, his beloved action sports had changed too. In 1995 ESPN discovered skating and BMX, and conjured up the X Games as a way to plug directly into the hearts and minds of the most coveted consumers on the planet: those impressionable and quick-to-jump-on-the-bandwagon 18- to 25-year-old males. "When I first saw the X Games," recalls Scura, "I was livid. It was the bastardization of everything I held true. It was the media making action sports wussified."

As action sports grew into a mass-market phenomenon, rejection of cultural conformity somehow turned into a way to sell Mountain Dew and Slim Jims. But something else happened too: the kids Scura knew from the '80s who had been making custom decks and shredding backyard pools had become the captains of a new industry. "All my friends had come up," he recalls with amazement. "Guys that were just groms before were owning $100 million shoe companies."

Scura hit the scene like a mad prophet back from the wilderness, talking to anyone he could corner about his new vision of sustainable action sports: "At first, I was just kind of a tripper to them -- it was a little too far-fetched," he says. But he kept at it, and as his friends got older and had kids of their own, he says they had to confront the fact that they had become the Man. "People started to get a glimpse of their waste stream and ask, 'Well, where does all this crap go when I'm done with it?'"

Scura began talking with athletes too, and in 2001, he formalized his effort to green the industry by creating ASEC. With a staff of three, the coalition has managed to bring together not just top athletes -- including demigods like Jamie Bestwick, Darcy Turenne, and skater Jen O'Brien -- but also a bevy of hip clothing and gear manufacturers, eco-products companies, and media companies. Advisers include members of the board of X Games and executives from HP and Whole Foods.

"ASEC is a common ground and neutral space," says Scura, "where the greatest minds in our industry -- the greatest guerrilla marketers in the world, in my opinion -- can come together and figure out how we're going to make this a global model."

Today, Scura's ethic is rubbing off on both athletes and fans. "You get so wrapped up in what you're doing that you tend to forget about what's going on in the world," says Bestwick, the world's top BMX vert rider and a silver medalist at this year's X Games. "Being around Frank, you stop being so selfish and self-centered all the time."

If the fact that Bestwick pulled off the first ever Tailwhip Flair in competition a few years ago doesn't impress you (and it should), consider that there are countless kids all over the world who have posters of Bestwick on their bedroom walls. It's this access -- not just to media, but to the kids the media targets -- that really gets Scura excited. "The reality is the action-sports world is small enough to have a dialogue with one another," he says, "but we're big enough to influence the entire world because we're involved with NBC and ESPN and FOX and everybody else."

Use Your Head

Scura, who can talk about tripping with wolves in one breath and, with equal passion and conviction, corporate marketing strategies in the next, has charted a three-prong attack on business as usual. The first, and so far most visible, brings to action sports the kinds of green businesses and practices with which Grist readers are intimately familiar. Sponsors like Whole Foods, Stonyfield Farms, New Leaf Paper, and Guayakí are now visible at action-sports events alongside what Scura calls the "sugar water and toxic snacks" that have long owned the sector.

Many ASEC athletes happily forgo more lucrative sponsorships that conflict with their values: Scura says superstar skaters and ASEC members Bob Burnquist and Danny Way have passed up millions of dollars. And when Way (the Air and Bomb Drop world-record holder and gold medalist at this year's X Games, and the only person ever to jump the Great Wall of China without a motor) is dropping in on a megaramp, or Burnquist (a fixture in the Tony Hawk video game series, and winner of three medals at this year's X Games) is pulling off his legendary switch-stance loop work, chances are good they're doing it on sustainably harvested, Forest Stewardship Council-certified plywood.

Olympic snowboarder and women's skateboarding pioneer Cara-Beth Burnside, who is an icon to two or three generations of skaters and continues to dominate the vert pipe (she won her second consecutive gold at this year's X Games with a run that included a Pop Tart Disaster and a Feeble to Fakie), says that Scura and ASEC are creating a critical mass that makes it easier for athletes to live by their convictions. "That's what's cool about Frank," she says. "We can be involved with conscious sponsors, but stay fully in the mainstream." And the industry, sensing a good thing, is embracing it too: this year's X Games were carbon-neutral and powered by wind energy. Past X Games have used FSC-certified wood, and reused ramps whenever possible.

But this is just the first step. Scura's master plan involves completely transforming the action-sports industry to make skate shops and surf shops into beacons of sustainable alternatives, the way natural-food stores are now. Scura is tight-lipped about the details -- he plans to unveil it all at a trade show in September -- but he hints that it will bring together existing green initiatives throughout the industry (including shoemaker Sole Technology's comprehensive solar-power and recycling programs and Indian manufacturer Wearology's organic and human-rights practices). Scura expects to announce that up to 20 of the top action-sports brands will be coming out with organic clothing lines, something he says will have immediate results: "By next year, we will have saved millions of pounds of greenhouse gases, pesticide runoff, water pollution from dyes, and air pollution."

It's the third prong of ASEC's attack that reaches right to the core of the culture. Action sports come from a hands-on tradition in which kids get together to teach each other new tricks, trying them over and over until they're bloody and exhausted -- and nailing them. So Scura and ASEC's marquee athletes are undertaking personal, face-to-face work at competitions and skate parks. "We understand kids need to be really cool, so we're going to make this cool," he says. "Want to be green? We're behind you. You've got a posse."

While most action-sports stars are suspicious of celebrity, many do acknowledge the power they wield. "The country is run by television," says Bestwick. "Using personalities and athletes is the only way that people will really, really stand up and listen."

"I don't preach to kids," Bestwick goes on, "but I find that kids nowadays are generally interested in what you've got to say -- they want to know about you and about your beliefs."

Burnside concurs: "You can't change the world overnight, but you can try to just send your messages. I don't like to be really forceful -- it kind of weirds people out. So I just try to set a good example."

16-year-old eco-sk8r Lyn-z Adams Hawkins.

Photo: Lyn-z Adams Hawkins

One of those kids Burnside set an example for, Lyn-z Adams Hawkins, stunned the world in 2004 when, at age 14, she won the women's vert at the X Games by landing a Kick Flip Indy Grab -- the first female skater to pull it off. Hawkins is also involved in ASEC, and dreams of the day when everyone will be skating on FSC decks in organic clothes -- although she hasn't yet started to flex her celebrity. "I'm just a kid at the moment," she points out.

But Scura -- who says these extreme athletes' mellow approach to advocacy is due to the yogic nature of their pursuit, in which "you have to be right there and you have to be aware of exactly where you are in that moment" -- isn't afraid to turn on the hard sell himself. "We basically get out there and bribe kids to learn," he says of the public events ASEC puts on everywhere from Whole Foods parking lots to inner-city skate parks. "The reality is, I ask the kids a question about biodiesel, I give away some swag, and those kids are going to have that seed in their minds for the rest of their lives. What do you think Coca-Cola is doing when they're passing out swag? They want you to learn about Coca-Cola."

Scura says that solutions in the marketplace are critical to follow up any sort of education about green issues. "One of the most important messages in this is to vote with your dollars -- it's a vote that can't be tampered with," he says. "Triple-bottom-line companies that are going the extra mile should get your dollars, and the ones who aren't should not get your dollars. Send them a message -- that's how they're going to change. And if they don't, they're going to lose out."

Ultimately, what Scura is doing plugs back into the roots of action sports, when rebellion meant more than buying a different brand of energy drink. "Kids want to be armed with knowledge that their parents don't have," he says, "and this is that vehicle for them. The beauty of it is it's exactly what action sports needs, because the ultimate punk rock rebellious act to fuck the Man and fuck the system is to be environmentally and socially conscious. That's exactly what they don't want you to do."

Related Links:

Pro skateboarder Bob Burnquist ramps up his green work

The Triple Threat

Plus, Only Teams With Animal Names Can Play

Vail Resorts to be second-biggest corporate wind-power buyer in U.S.

Colorado-based ski-resort company (and one-time eco-vandal target) Vail Resorts announced this week that it will buy enough wind power to offset all of the electricity it uses at its five ski areas, as well as in its corporate offices and stores. The company's promise to purchase about 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind-power credits a year makes it the second-largest corporate buyer of wind power in the U.S., behind 458,000-MWh-a-year natural grocer Whole Foods, which went wind-powered earlier this year, and just ahead of 150,000-MWh-a-year Starbucks, now pushed to No. 3. To encourage average citizens to make the conversion too, Vail is offering a free or discounted lift ticket to electricity consumers who offset their own power use for one year through Renewable Choice Energy, via the Vail website. Attention poor ski bums: Offsets start at $5 a month; lift tickets start much, much higher.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Jim Moriarty.

What work do you do?

I work at an environmental, action-sports-oriented nonprofit called Surfrider Foundation.

What does your organization do?

We exist for the protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves, and beaches. Two examples: we fight for clean water and beach access.

How do you get to work?

Mini Cooper S or telecommute. I'm a firm believer in the virtual organization, having lived it for the past couple decades.

What long and winding road led you to your current position?

I was a sponsored skateboarder and early-era snowboarder in my formative years. Then I was a tech entrepreneur working alongside insanely passionate and smart people who went to great lengths to change the world. The vision of this organization, the flatness of the world, and the action-sports orientation all intersect the vectors of my life.

Where were you born? Where do you live now?

Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Solana Beach, Calif.

What has been the worst moment in your professional life to date?

Understanding that even with the smartest minds and almost endless money, we were unable to craft the right business model at Pandesic. IQ and dollars aren't enough -- success comes to those who are relentlessly focused and add value or meaning daily.

What's the best?

Cold-calling Jake Winebaum when I was moving from Silicon Valley to San Diego and having it yield my first offer to become a CEO.

Who is your environmental hero?

My dad and Yvon Chouinard. Their vision goes well beyond the commonly expected.

What's your environmental vice?

My quiver of surfboards is too large -- it's around a dozen. I should be able to deal with having a few boards, but I just ... can't.

How do you spend your free time?

Family. Surf. Church. Any mix of those elements is optimal; double dipping is encouraged.

What's your favorite meal?

I'm blessed to have a wife who loves to cook, cooks extremely well, and has a preference for healthy foods.

Which stereotype about environmentalists most fits you?

I pick up trash any time I'm at a beach.

The perfect wave?

Photo: iStockphoto

What's your favorite place or ecosystem?

A six- to eight-foot-high, clean, perfect wave. Being more specific, Georges in Cardiff by the Sea on a dawn patrol, low-to-mid rising tide.

If you could institute by fiat one environmental reform, what would it be?

Oceans would be clean.

Read any good books lately?

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis and Dora Lives by Craig Stecyk and Drew Kampion; together they frame the American reality.

Who was your favorite musical artist when you were 18?

The Clash. The only band that mattered.

How about now?

Jack White and Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose.

What's your favorite TV show?

We don't get TV; we turned it off about a decade ago. One of the best decisions of my life.

Movie?

Favorite surf film: Sprout.

Favorite non-surf film: Brazil.

Which actor would play you in the story of your life?

My son Reid.

If you could have every InterActivist reader do one thing, what would it be?

Seriously consider the waste of time that television is -- then turn it off for good.

Jim Moriarty, Surfrider Foundation.

What has been the greatest obstacle in keeping the beaches clean and accessible?    -- Jerry Broadbent, Bucoda, Wash.

The greatest obstacle for clean beaches is awareness of how beaches get dirty to begin with. Smokers need to understand that their cigarette butts end up down storm drains and on beaches. Golf-course managers and farmers need to understand the impact their pesticides have on the coastal ecosystem. Much of what we do at Surfrider is raising awareness regarding this very subject. This shouldn't be abstract. We should tell our friends who smoke not to litter; we should refrain from dumping paint or oil down the drains. We should make living at the coast synonymous with protecting the coast.

Do you think people who use the outdoors to recreate (surfers, climbers, birdwatchers, hunters, hikers, etc.) are stepping up to the plate when it comes to conservation? What about the companies that are making profits by selling merchandise based on these activities?    -- Megan McGinty, Marblemount, Wash.

Regarding people: mostly no. Surfrider exists to point out that we all need to step up to not only enjoy oceans, waves, and beaches, but to protect them as well. We want individuals to adopt the "zero impact" mentality that climbers have embraced. Regarding companies: overall, the answer is no. There are some standouts like Patagonia and Billabong, and more and more are looking into organic materials, but we're talking about moving entire industries, changing proven manufacturing processes, and cutting into profits. Many times, what is right isn't easy and getting there doesn't come quickly. This said, I am heartened to see some shifts in the right direction.

Surfing's a great sport, and I salute the work Surfrider's doing. That said, what about the environmental impacts of surfboard and wetsuit manufacture -- both of which are made from polluting materials and tend to be rather short-lived -- not to mention the considerable driving most surfers do to find the best waves?    -- Pat Joseph, Oakland, Calif.

Excellent point and one that some water enthusiasts struggle with. Clark Foam, manufacturer of 90 percent of surfboard blanks, closed its doors last December; finally the industry is awake to higher-strength, longer-lasting boards. There is a rebirth within the industry around materials; many are looking at lower-impact processes. For me, one never "arrives" at an environmentally optimal destination ... it's an ongoing process.

Your web page on global warming is one of the best I've seen, but I didn't see anything about global warming in the long list of Surfrider campaigns. Do you think you might have a specific global-warming campaign at some point?    -- George Girton, Santa Monica, Calif.

Thank you very much. Rick Wilson, one of our amazing staffers, wrote it and I agree -- it's strong. As you know, global warming is a topic that is literally as large as the planet. Rather than get caught up in much of the hand-wringing and finger-pointing, we are heads down with programs focused on the coasts (arguably where global warming will be felt the most). The scope of our programs is also scaling up; you'll see us expand our international presence (we're operating on five continents now and growing more chapters on those continents). One more distinction: we're not the "Washington, D.C./policy" kind of environmental organization. We're hands-on and local, with 64 chapters in the U.S. We're all about your local, coastal neighborhood.

How will global warming affect coastal areas?    -- Name not provided

Climate change of a few degrees will wreak havoc on the coasts. Examples include massive coral reef die-off and higher-intensity storms. This is already starting to happen. A rise in sea level will have massive and unprecedented effects on the coast. "Planned retreat" -- moving homes and structures away from the ocean -- is not a popular concept today ... but it will become necessary in the future.

Let's say there is a beach somewhere in California with pristine conditions, including abundant tidepool life and a healthy population of shorebirds -- but the primary reason it is well-off ecologically is how little it is affected by humans because it is so difficult for the public to access. Would you support improved public access to that beach?    -- Steve Pulliam, Santa Barbara, Calif.

We believe beach access is a right, just as freedom of speech is a right. Just as many of us don't agree with some ways freedom of speech is exercised (especially around children), all of us believe that right should exist. Your example is similar to this. There are various situations and places that would be better off without humans, but we're not going to draw that line. We believe you should be able to walk down to the ocean, wiggle your toes in the sand, and experience what a wonder the beach and oceans are.

I realize that the coast of Mississippi doesn't have any great surf breaks, but do you have any thoughts or ideas on how to go about cleaning up the coast? I know that in the big picture, the trash that is left is harming the ocean environment.    -- Clark Phillips, Gulfport, Miss.

Surfrider isn't about just protecting surf breaks; in fact about half of our members don't surf. We are about the protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves, and beaches. We're beach people. We're people who simply love the coasts and are acting to protect them. We're working on multiple levels to keep trash off the coast and out of the ocean, and maintain natural and healthy beach zones. For me, the large lesson of Katrina is that of nature's muscle; fishers have good reasons for not having built houses on the East Coast beaches for centuries -- hurricanes hit them pretty much every year. For some reason, we now think that open land means we should build something -- even though thousands of locals protest it. Our hubris is stunning. There is no contest: nature is stronger than humans. We need to live along coastlines with that in mind.

I see your clever ads in several magazines. Who comes up with them?    -- Claudia Galea, San Pedro, Calif.

What we stand for resonates with people -- all kinds of people. We have the highest-caliber artists, musicians, lawyers, and many others who volunteer their time. Regarding advertising, we have been blessed with working with some of the most creative and amazing people on the planet -- and that's not an overstatement. Saatchi and Saatchi, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Young and Rubicam, Publicis, and 72 and Sunny are agencies that have represented Surfrider in the past 12 months.

What's the most disgusting or strangest thing you've found in the water or on the beach while surfing or cleaning up an area?    -- Grist editors

About a month ago, I was surfing off the coast of El Salvador at the beginning of rainy season, and massive tree trunks were floating around in the lineup. There was also a sickening amount of trash and (human) waste runoff. I've been feeling ill since that time and had a myriad of tests but nothing named. Four out of five of us on the trip had similar, long-term sicknesses. You don't have to go elsewhere, though; people at the San Diego beach cleanups find syringes all the time.

Why isn't Surfrider of the Outer Banks having the beach cleanup in September this year? We have always looked forward to seeing the whole community pull together for the cleanup and afternoon beach barbecue.    -- Noelle Everhart, Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

Thanks for the kudos on the value of beach cleanups. It's another simple yet valuable project our chapters do. I suggest contacting your local chapter.

Do you find that your work in Silicon Valley has been helpful in your role at Surfrider Foundation? What lessons have you carried with you?    -- Name not provided

Absolutely. My 20 years in tech taught me that the world can be changed, and in fact, it is changed day in and day out. The founders of Google aren't that different than the founders of Surfrider Foundation; they are people who think massive, new, and unbridled thoughts. They don't listen to people who tell them something can't be done. Tech ingrained in me to step up, go big, and then execute like your life depends on it. I have no interest in working at a place where that doesn't apply.

Related Links:

Biochemist Oliver Peoples explains how his polymer-producing microbes could transform the plastics i

Congressional watchdog issues update on coal ash regulation efforts

James Bond calls for more marine protected areas

Beach contamination is costly; chlorinated pools may elevate asthma risk

As many as 1.5 million swimmers and surfers get sick every year from bacterial pollution at Southern California beaches, according to a new study by researchers at UCLA and Stanford. The chief cause of dirty ocean water is storm runoff laden with oil, pesticides, and human and animal waste; it can trigger stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Local governments have resisted cleanup mandates due to cost; cleaning up runoff that flows into Santa Monica Bay during summer, for instance, would cost between $1.5 million and $3 million. But the new study indicates that beach cleanups could save $13 million to $28 million in annual health costs in Los Angeles County. "It's expensive to address urban runoff, but the costs of not addressing it are even higher," said Jonathan Bishop of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. Parents who elect to avoid beach contamination and take their kids to indoor pools won't find any better news there: a Belgian study suggests that children who swim in chlorinated indoor pools may have an increased risk of developing asthma. Excuse us, we have to go change out of our bikinis now.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Venerable golf group launches sustainability campaign

It's easy to vilify golfers -- really! try it! -- but we've gotta give them credit: some 2,000 golf courses in 100 countries have joined a campaign that urges them to use less water, plant drought-tolerant grasses, cut out pesticides, and replace sand with recycled glass. This campaign for sustainable golf is being driven by Britain's 250-year-old Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (the pretentiousness ... it burns!), which hopes to "improve golf's image as a polluter and abuser of vast tracts of countryside." There are 25,000 golf courses in the world; St. Andrews governs the ones outside of the U.S. and Mexico. Critics charge that golf courses use up to seven times as much pesticides per acre as farms, and can suck up as much water as a small town. No word yet on whether the St. Andrews campaign will sway the Global Anti-Golf Movement and Anarchist Golfing Association, which we swear we are not making up.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Snowmobilers and enviros craft compromise plan for wilderness in California

A deal to set aside thousands of acres of wilderness near Yosemite National Park has been crafted by an odd alliance of snowmobilers, greens, and local officials. By agreeing to stay off 40,000 acres of public land, snowmobilers would receive unfettered winter access to 11,000 acres nearby. "I told people, 'If you're not unhappy with something here, then you didn't give up enough. ... But you should also feel like you got something that you couldn't get through any other means,'" said Mono County Supervisor Duane "Hap" Hazard (clever!), who led the negotiations. A bill that would put the plan into law, sponsored by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), is backed by California's two Democratic senators and the Bush administration, and would provide a happy ending to a 20-year stalemate between conservationists and outdoor recreationists. The bill is expected to get a hearing in the House this month, but its progress will depend on Resources Committee Chair Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), who's being coy about his intentions -- his friendship with McKeon may yet cancel out his instinct for villainy.

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Glassing the evening sky for feather and foe.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Trouern-Trend.

Jonathan Trouern-Trend has been a dedicated bird-watcher since he was about 12. So in 2004, when the now 38-year-old Connecticut National Guard sergeant got sent to Iraq, he had birds on the brain. While stationed at Camp Anaconda -- a huge American installation located about 40 miles north of Baghdad in the Sunni Triangle near the Tigris River -- Trouern-Trend got to know the better birding spots on the base, including a small lagoon and the camp dump. Since he was working in intelligence, the base MPs didn't pay much attention as he peered through his binoculars. He recorded his observations anonymously on the blog Birding Babylon, and the matter-of-fact reports eventually attracted a wide readership.

Jonathan Trouern-Trend.

Readers took solace in Trouern-Trend's observations of nature in the midst of a situation that seemed to be spinning out of control. "When I go to vote on Tuesday," wrote one blog commenter in September 2004, "I will look at the birds and take courage in the fact that -- as serious and as real as they are -- war and politics are only a small part of life." That same month, another wrote that she pictured Iraq "as barren and rubble! Who would have thought birds and butterflies would find havens there! We appreciate your reports and look forward to more ... and your safe return."

Trouern-Trend spent a little more than a year on active duty in Iraq and Kuwait, and saw 122 different bird species. His observations have now been collected in a slim, illustrated book also titled Birding Babylon, published by the Sierra Club. While it might seem impossible for a book about the Iraq war to leave politics aside, this volume is purely an appreciation of nature -- wherever it may be found.

Today Trouern-Trend is back home in Connecticut, where he works in epidemiology for the American Red Cross and has recently created an interactive site devoted to the natural biodiversity of Iraq. Grist spoke with him by phone a day after he had taken his five children to the zoo in Providence, R.I.

Tell me how your posts ended up as a book.

Birding Babylon, by
Jonathan Trouern-Trend,
Sierra Club Books,
64 pgs, 2006.

The book came about because someone from the Sierra Club called and asked if I'd be interested. I agreed that it was a good idea. I'd started writing my magnum opus on the natural history of Iraq -- which would probably take 20 years -- but these are not mutually exclusive. This book will probably get a few more people interested.

Are you pleased with how the book came out?

It's a little sparse on details. I was the intelligence sergeant for the battalions. Sometimes I didn't want to describe areas in extreme detail, or talk about individuals who worked with us in enough detail that someone might have been able to identify them.

I've had mostly positive comments about the book, although one librarian said it was trite. I realized after reading some of his other work that he thought it would have been a great vehicle to make a political statement.

Which it very much does not.

Yes. I think he felt I had squandered this great opportunity. Hopefully it will be seen in a more positive light by others. You want to listen to your critics, but you don't have to buy it all.

What motivated you to blog about birds from Iraq?

I was trying to get a handle -- before I went -- on what was going on there, beyond CNN. I started reading some soldiers' blogs, and decided it was a good medium to work with. One purpose was an outlet to write down my observations. I also knew that no one had done any fieldwork in Iraq -- at least any published in English -- for 20 years. So from the standpoint of bird records, I thought it would be of value.

But I also intuitively knew that other people would be interested -- because this is not how most Americans think about Iraq.

I found blogging useful in many ways. My superiors knew what I was doing and had no problem with it. It's often the other layers of bureaucracy that feel like they need to put their two cents in. I kept the letter and the spirit of the law, I think.

By blogging anonymously and keeping details suppressed?

Yes. People were guessing I was in the south, the north. Even people on my base were leaving messages saying, "Hey, if you're ever up in Anaconda ..." I really didn't care about getting the personal attention. Sometimes I think a lot of people blog to make themselves look good. Mine had a different purpose.

Thinking about it since, this was also a way of making connections with people who might not otherwise have connections with anyone in the military. It's a different demographic.

And you did get a huge response from that demographic, didn't you?

Yes. A couple people started looking at it. And then people mentioned it on listservs. Then I got an email from a producer from NPR's Weekend Edition, and I did an interview. After that tons of people started visiting. Some were pretty touched that there was something good going on in Iraq: "OK, the birds are migrating through." How many people can identify with bombs going off, or getting rocketed? So seeing my observations juxtaposed with what they saw on the news made them feel that it was not total chaos in Iraq, a total loss of every semblance of human society, dignity, normality.

Truth be told, it was "normal" in some sense most of the time. We were one of the most frequently rocketed and mortared places in Iraq, because we were the logistics hub for the entire country. But it was not like total chaos all the time. They would never send a rocket or mortar our way before let's say 5 or 6:30 in the morning, or after midnight. So you could have a kind of day-to-day existence. People got killed on our base, and quite a few got injured, but ... you couldn't run around all day worrying you were going to get hit by something. My attitude is always, "If it's your time, there's nothing you can do about it."

So how was your wildlife-spotting received by your colleagues?

I'm always seen as somewhat of an oddity. "Ah, that's Sgt. Trouern-Trend. He's bird-watching, or out there catching a lizard." I enjoyed my time there as much as I could. I got to go to some fascinating places. I was in Babylon, and went down to the ruins of Ur, where Abraham was supposed to have come from. Those things, maybe I could appreciate them more than your average soldier who's younger than me, and might have different priorities.

I've talked to some military folks who say, "Well, obviously he had too much free time." But really, it was just little snapshots here and there. I'd say, "Yes, and how long did you spend playing Xbox every day? Or watching satellite TV?" It's just how people used their time.

Did you connect with Iraqis who shared your interests?

To the extent I could. There were a lot of Iraqis who worked on our base; some were farmers. I chatted with them about the animals they saw. Sometimes they would bring me bugs. And then the supervisors, we'd have more in-depth conversations about the date palms, and their importance, and what sort of critters were a problem with them -- I guess they had some sort of a weevil. I think they felt I was interested in both their observations and in their culture. I tried not to be the Ugly American.

Did you perceive any contradiction between being on a military mission and being a naturalist?

I never did, too much. I've observed [in the U.S.] that military reservations tend to be the best-preserved spots in some areas. On Cape Cod, the Camp Edwards military reservation is probably the biggest stretch of pinelands there. So I don't think they're necessarily mutually exclusive.

More Words of War

But I understand what you mean. You could make a case about the depleted uranium, the anti-armor rounds that have depleted uranium heads in them. One of our contractors had a master's degree, and did his thesis on contamination around these tanks. When it comes to environmental pollution, those are probably a minor issue. People get really bent out of shape because [they're threatened by] radioactivity. Even though eating mercury will kill you faster, and is more likely to, than walking by some old tank. But children playing on it, goats grazing at it -- probably not a good idea either.

I can say for sure that Saddam was no environmentalist. I was reading something from the Yale School of Forestry: Iraq is [near] the bottom of their list of countries in environmental quality. One of the reasons is that the Tigris and the Euphrates were seen as convenient dumping grounds for chemicals, and industrialization was the highest priority. Cleaning up a lot of the chemicals is the top priority of the Ministry of Environment right now.

I've read that Saddam drained the marshes of southern Iraq as a vindictive measure against the Marsh Arabs.

It started as irrigation, but became a security issue for him. The marshes have been a security issue since the beginnings of history. There are writings about the enemies of Babylon hiding out in the marshes. The [modern] draining of the marshes didn't start with Saddam -- it was actually proposed by British engineers in the '50s. I don't think they wanted to completely drain them, but in pretty quick time this giant marshland became desert. Under Saddam, there was a massive push, after the uprisings after the Gulf War in the early '90s. They went down to maybe 7 percent of their pre-drainage levels. And biodiversity took a hit.

In 2003, the Marsh Arabs started busting down the dikes and trying to re-flood areas, but kind of haphazardly. There's an organization called Eden Again that has been trying to engineer the re-flooding in a better way. Now the rebound has been pretty significant.

I felt such a surge of hope when I read about the re-flooding of the Iraqi marshes, and the return of birds and flora -- it's striking how much we need those stories.

It's one of the natural, common points among all people. I try to think about what could be in Iraq in the future. At this point there are a few Iraqi environmental groups. If people can think about the environment, it's an important step in civil society. They've gone beyond "What are my immediate needs?" to "What's going to happen in the future?"

And that is where your Iraqfauna wiki comes in.

Yes. There are people out there who are concerned about the environment in Iraq, and what's going on there. But there needs to be a certain kind of critical mass. Having a place to aggregate all the data about the animals and the environment will hopefully draw some people who can create action. The wiki is about trying to engage people, and making it collaborative.

You mean Americans and Iraqis collaborating?

Definitely. The Iraqi scientific community has been isolated. Iraq needs to be pulled into the world community, so they can feel like they have a part. Hopefully, people will have ideas and put them up on the wiki.

One project I proposed last year was a bioblitz -- I've participated in a couple here in Connecticut. Basically a bunch of scientists and interested amateurs, and often schoolkids, get together. Often they have a geographic focus. In a 24-hour period, they try to identify or take an inventory of every living thing they can. So it's just trying to take a snapshot, a biological inventory. Often people will find new state records of something -- like some dragonfly no one had ever thought was here.

On the last one I went on, as they were finding things, they'd photograph them and post them up to the web. Technology -- that's easy to do from anywhere in the world right now. An Iraq bioblitz would be just another way to show people that there are other things happening there that they can get on board with ... How many people know that there are striped hyenas running around Iraq? People don't realize that there is some wildness there.

Have you made any strides toward organizing any bioblitzes there?

I haven't, but I think it's going to start on the wiki site. There are some natural participants, like BirdLife International. I've actually corresponded with a guy from a new Iraqi NGO that they call Nature Iraq. I'm willing to go next week, personally, and I'm sure there are several dozen other people who would be willing, too. But you need the infrastructure, and a plan.

I'm also trying to create some sort of product that schools can use. The Palestinian Authority has a kids' program that's environmentally focused. And they've got a few other things, like instructions on making nest boxes for barn owls, which they give out to the farmers. That's all in Arabic, so I might contact them and ask if we can print this up, and make it more Iraq-focused than Palestinian-focused.

Iraq has really taken hold of your imagination. Your deployment is over, but you're still organizing new efforts. And I saw that you've been fielding emails on your blog from soldiers who are in Iraq and Afghanistan now.

I have something to contribute -- maybe it's a slightly different way of looking at things. But it's pretty easy if you take the history into consideration: basically Western civilization started in Mesopotamia. I think the environmental aspect is definitely a place where we can make connections. It's a natural unifier.

I would like to write something more in-depth and comprehensive. I think there's a good story to be told, about humans and animals through the history of Iraq -- how the dog was domesticated there, sheep, goats. The Babylonians had zoos; they saw something of value in all this exotic wildlife. There's a good story to tell that people can identify with. We'll see if I'm the one to tell it.

Related Links:

Top 25 reasons to give a damn about climate change

Tweet for the bees

James Bond calls for more marine protected areas

Hunters, anglers fight Bushies' efforts to sell or drill on public lands

Bush administration plans to sell off big chunks of public land and open other parcels to drilling are meeting stiff opposition from a traditionally Republican constituency: the hook-and-bullet crowd. Hunters and anglers anxious to protect fish and game are being wooed by environmental groups, which don't have much sway with the current administration. Sportsfolk have been effective in some efforts to stave off development in the West, from winning a deferment of oil and gas leasing in Wyoming to convincing House sponsors of a controversial mining law to withdraw it. While enviros and sportsfolk have a history of cultural antagonism, they have much in common when it comes to preserving natural habitats. "When you lose habitat, [the animals are] gone forever," says Gordon Johnston, an avid hunter and self-described "hard-core, hard-ass Republican." Despite lingering wariness, the head of the Sierra Club's outreach to sportshumans says, "I am seeing trust slowly being built."

Related Links:

Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success

Obama going to Copenhagen

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science