MY Big backyard...
As a kid, i got the Ranger Rick Magazine and my little sister got a similar nature magazine for kids called My Big Backyard. It was a great magazine for teaching kids about the wonders of the natural world. However, for adults, this phrase often means something very different. "Right in my own backyard," or, "not in my backyard." Even amongst enironmentalists, it is not always the world that is their backyard, but their little section of it.
In an uncharacteristic move, the Sierra Club has started backing Natural Gas. The President of the Sierra Club said recently on NPR that members have gorwn accustom to the club merely standing against all things that impact the environment. They aren't used to the club making any suggestions for alternatives or supporting efforts that have a low environmental impact. In otherwords, the members are comfortable with the Sierra Club taking a stance against anything that hurts the outdoors, but have not traditionally been involved in helping provide positive practical solutions in order to ensure the protection of the environment. This is a new strategy.
Who is upset? Well, coal is a much more harmful energy source than natural gas, but if you live in an area where no coal is mined, what do you care? Natural gas can be found in many parts of the country, while the vast majority of coal comes from the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. Natural gas is a mush cleaner alternative and has a much lower physical impact on the land, but it moves the extraction from West Virginians' backyards to everyone else's. A woman interviewed in the Finger Lakes region is upset that natural gas extraction will ruin the vista in the areas she likes to hike and ski. She says she "weeps for the mountains of West Virginia, but she doesn't want it in her backyard." Interesting. She's not willing to stop using energy, and as a member of the Sierra Club, she wants to reduce environmental impact, but she's unwilling to spoil her view to achieve her lofty goals.
How many of us make similar choices? How many of us would rather a powerplant go up elsewhere? How many of us want solar energy, but don't want our roof or yard cluttered with pannels? How many of us want housing for the homeless, as long as it's not in our guest bedroom or camping in our backyard? i know i make those decisions every day. Let us pray this week for God to show us all how to live with open hearts and open minds so that we might make the right choices, even when they are hard.
