Lauren Casterline
February 22nd, 2011
Who Will Speak For Natural Resources?
Everyone by now has heard of the bill Scott Walker has passed. Some of us may have even partook in the protest on campus or possibly in Madison. It has been inspiring to see such large groups of people come together for a cause and get their voices heard.
Clearly Wisconsin’s people have shown that if there is an issue on which they care about they will speak. But I am a bit saddened. There is an uproar right now concerning pensions, healthcare, and other benefits: essentially $$$. Don't get me wrong, I feel for the public employees that may be impacted. Those are very important issues for the welfare of the public and I have no intention of belittling the people affected. But on issues that affect the natural resources, I feel we generally stay quite quiet. Where are the protests for protection of our wetlands? Where was the voice against lax pollution protocol for businesses? Where are our political investments into sustainability?
I feel many people don't get passionate about these issues because they are not educated, not directly affected, and are not informed. First, many people don't know what is going on in the world of natural resources.We have been privileged to go to a green college that has been highly involved in natural resources and therefore have had access to insightful information on issues people don't even know about. For example, many people don't care about wetlands. They don't understand the importance of what wetlands provide: water filtration and purification and unique plants and wildlife (of just some to mention). Another reason people don't get involved is because they often are not directly involved with these issues. If the source is not in someones back yard, it is not their problem. People do not understand the importance of conservation and preservation. Also, it may not be an imminent problem. For example, it is cheaper at first to create a coal plant instead of a renewable energy plant. Sometimes, it is easier for people to lean towards the easy fix, then putting the time and money in for the later, more sustainable rewards. Lastly, people are not informed of the issues at hand. How many other controversial proposed bills can you recall besides the current collective bargaining bill? If the media doesn't report on the bill, most people are never informed on them, thus some bills get passed with little knowledge to the public.
Natural resources doesn't have a union to support them. They don't have a representative. They only rely on the voice of the people, of us! Where is our voice? Where is our initiative to find out what bills are being passed that will pollute our air, destroy habitats, and poison our waters? It's time for us natural resource majors to become political, because the air, the water, the fauna and flora, they cannot fight for their rights. We are the ones educated on the importance of these things. Now it is our turn to spread the word and pay attention to the bills being proposed and be vocal.
Great organizations that provide professional information on natural resources:
1. The Wildlife Society
2. American Water Resource Association
3. American Fisheries Society
4. Society of American Forestry
Useful sights to look up and read bills:
1. http://legis.wisconsin.gov/ : Bills in Wisconsin
2. http://thomas.loc.gov/ : Federal bills
2 comments:
I like your call to action mentality in your post. I would agree that many issues brought to the public's attention these days are money based. Natural Resources as a whole is something that everyone cares about but not many are willing to take action for the cause they believe in. Even more so, I feel the "not in my backyard" mentality is the main reason for the lack of action among the natural resource community. It is true that in the city of Stevens Point, these issues are more visible to the community as a whole, probably due to the fact of a large student population in the College of Natural Resources. In many other cities across the country, immediate money is more important than preserving the functional areas of the natural world. You are right, in the future these areas and topics will be in the capital like the unions are today, and that’s inevitable in the direction that society is presently treating natural lands. One can’t deny that preserving natural lands is an important topic to act upon as well as inform the public about. I fear this topic will only be addressed with up-most attention when it is too late and we are forced to try and fix our mistakes instead of thinking of the future in today’s decisions.
Lauren-
I have to agree with you, many students in general including natural resource majors are not as vocal about their political opinions as they should be. I know I'm guilty!
You make a valid point, for natural resource issues especially,does this silence need to stop. It often baffles me that natural resources aren't in more of the political lime light (oops cliche) considering...EARTH IS OUR HOME, and we ought to protect it if we want it to last. I think what it comes down to is ignorance, which you touched on in your blog. Many people are ignorant to the fact that certain aspects of their lifestyles are detrimental to natural resources.
Krishun
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