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Lately, it has become fashionable in a few circles to bemoan the supposedly sorry state of the environmental movement in this country.
Yet just a few months ago, despite wellfinanced opposition, Colorado voters approved two strongly pro-environment ballot initiatives: Amendment 37, also known as the Renewable Energy Initiative, and the FasTracks Initiative. Reports of our demise, to paraphrase Mark Twain, appear to be greatly exaggerated, especially here in Colorado.
Of course, only time will tell whether these victories are early signs of a new strength in the environmental movement. But if our experience is any guide, they suggest a few milestones on the path to success.
For us, the first step on that path involved standing up for our beliefs. We put our time and energy into these initiatives because they embodied core environmental values. I suspect you share these values. When you cast your votes last November 2 for Amendment 37 and FasTracks, you might have imagined, as I did, the Colorado that we want our children and grandchildren to inherit. But the next step on our path to success required that we reach beyond the hardcore environmental crowd to the other folks who stood to gain from these initiatives.
That’s why, on Amendment 37, we talked to ranchers and farmers about the extra income they’d earn by allowing wind turbines on their property. On FasTracks, we talked to local business owners about how clean, fast public transit could serve as an effective antidote to the traffic snarls that dampen sales.
In short, we preached well beyond the choir. And, in turn, we listened.
Last November, environmentalists, ranchers, business owners and others found that, while we may think and talk about it in different ways, we are driven by a common purpose that no amount of special interest money or misinformation can undermine.
Something tells me that we’ll find that common purpose again and again in the months and years to come. And that’s very good news indeed for the environmental movement and Colorado.
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