NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/misc/rural/2921

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-28 | 5.2 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!crdgw1!rpi!uwm.edu!linac!att!cbnewsm!cbnewsl!spf
From: [e-mail] (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm)
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: the threat from animal-rights and environmentalists
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 27 Jan 93 15:40:26 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 92

From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail] (Mark Crispin):
> Steve -
>
>      You say that you are ``responsible for the death and consumption'' of
> your animals, and that you hunt and eat your kills.  It seems that you have
> defined yourself as *not* being an animal-rights activist.  Animal-rights
> activists seek to ban all hunting, all animal husbandry, and all consumption
> of meat.

Is this a Webster's definition?  Oxford's? Perhaps a point of law?
Animal rights activists come in all shapes and sizes too.  While I don't
label myself one, and indeed come into conflict with many because of my
animal husbandry, hunting, and omnivorism, I also oppose unnecessary cruelty
to animals.  So what's your label for me?

>      As for your environmentalism, you haven't said enough to define yourself.
> A great many sins can be covered under ``discourage reckless development'' and
> ``encourage thoughtful land use practices.''  It's all a matter of degree.

Okay, here goes:
    1. I work as an environmental systems engineer, developing technology
       to help predict the movement of pollutants in groundwater, design
       remediation strategies, and estimate the risk to humans and the
       ecosystem.
    2. I am completing my PhD in Environmental Science, focusing on
       risk-based environmental decision making to yield the most
       protection for the available resources.
    3. I chaired an ad hoc Solid Waste Committee in my township.
       We designed a new system which combined pay-as-you-go fees
       with a greatly expanded recycling system and weekly pickup.
       Our recycling rate went from 11% to 42% in the first month, and
       is now around 50%, with over 90% participation.  And our average
       resident has seen a 50% reduction in solid waste costs.
    4. I chair my township's Environmental Commission, which advises
       the Planning Board on land use decisions, manages the solid
       waste program, develops and maintains our natural resources
       inventory, and conducts extensive environmental education
       programs with our youth.
    5. I'm a member of the Township Council, elected primarily as an
       advocate for the environment based on the solid waste program.
       In this role, I'm liason to the Board of Health,  and lead a
       task force overseeing the closure of a Superfund site in town.
    6. I spent three years as a member of the board of a statewide
       association of Environmental Commissions.
    7. I'm a Deputy Conservation Officer for the state, volunteering
       about 450 hours per year to patrol and enforce wildlife laws.
    8. I'm Environmental Chair of the Telephone Pioneers local council,
       organizing volunteers to work on wildlife and habitat projects.
    9. Oh, yeah, I drive a Geo Metro, getting up to 58mpg, have a
       compost heap, use compact flourescents, grind our poultry bones
       for the garden, and bring my own shopping bags!

Impressed? I'm not!  It doesn't take credentials to be an environmentalist.
It takes desire.  In a recent poll, I understand that 75% of the population
considered themselves "environmentalists".  I think that's great.  Some may
be conservationists, some preservationists, and some (like me) middle of the
road.  Some may even be extremists.  But it's counterproductive to paint
all environmentalists with the same brush, especially the extreme fringe
brush.  That's as unfair as saying that farmers just want to get what they
can out of the land in the short term and then make big bucks selling to
developers.  It's true for some, but not for all, or even most.  In spite
of the rise of factory farming, there're still a lot of caring people
engaged in agriculture.

> tribal hippie-dippies singing insipid songs about ``working with the soil''

Can you describe one of these please?  I wonder if I am one or not...

> ... whose idea of a
> ``rural area'' is one of ``piece and quiet'' with no farm machinery and
> critters making noise and certainly no farm smells.

Well my old machinery makes a lot of noise, and my barn smells, and my
kids like to rake up sheep pellets to put in the garden.  But can I still
be a hippie-dippie please?

>      So, where do you sit?  Is your idea of ``environmentalism'' one of using
> natural resources in a responsible manner?  Or, is it the ``environmentalism''
> of the extremists, who seek to create a plastic fantasy of a world untouched
> by man?
> -- Mark --

I think by now I've clearly staked my claim.  And I'll go a step further by
speculating that the vast majority of environmentalists join me in the
former of your two inadequate categories.

I respectfully submit that it is you who frequents the extreme.  And I
suggest that you won't carry your point in a society, three-quarters of
which regard themselves as environmentalists, by crucifying them for the
perceived sins of any extreme.

Steve