Why the picture of Edward Abbey, the father of the No Compromise branch of American ecology. Yep, the leader of the Monkey Wrench Gang, spiking redwoods so chain saws couldnt cut them down. I was reminded of Edward while attending a meeting at MAREC this last week, a big meeting with the Michigan DEQ presenting, Occupy Muskegon filming and Dave Alexander reporting and Lea Markowski asking probing, thoughtful questions. All the people questioning the DEQ and their reliance on the cooperative Brownfield process were channeling Edward Abbey, who questioned everything and fought like a guerrilla. There are many old school environmentalists who might just give the Sappi Brownfield process and the Lake Muskegon clean up a thumbs up, and Kenneth Rexroth and Gary Snyder might be among them. Rexroth, I visited his grave site on a cliff high above the Pacific in Santa Barbara. Snyder, who once said Dont own anything you cant leave out in the rain, I met in Ann Arbor at Shaman Drum Bookstore, and he signed a book for me. I wont put words in their mouth. The water scientists at GVSU Annis have their beakers and test tubes in the Muskegon River watershed daily, measuring the water column and making sure that nasty layer of industrial layer muck stays buried under sand, just one more chapter in the benthic. What would Abbey say? Thats easy. He published his official last words before his friends buried him in a secret location. No Comment.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:35:20 +0000
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