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Last week Darden Rice and I traveled the highways and byways of Florida carrying a very simple message: We don't need to drill in America's wild places if we can just make cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas. We expected the Sierra Club folks we met along the way to be supportive, and they were! We couldn’t have had the success we did without all the Florida Sierra Club leaders (and our allies in Florida PIRG and the National Environmental Trust) who pitched in to make our stops successful events in their communities. Heartfelt thanks also go to the people who put us up on the road. The fight for all the special places on this planet will be won in no small part because of folks like Mike Miller, Lynn and Dave McGarvey, Kathy Cantwell, Keith Schue, Gary Lloyd, and Natalie and Gordon Williamson. It was an honor and a privilege to spend time in their company.
More than anything, though, the most gratifying part of the trip was meeting people in hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and all points between who were excited and supportive about what we were doing. Americans aren’t stupid; they know we can't drill our way to energy independence. Moreover, they want places like Florida's Gulf Beaches and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to stay wild, to be there for future generations to visit and enjoy. The night after we made it back to Tampa, my wife Becky and I went camping in the Green Swamp, one of Florida's most amazing and fragile wild places. I needed a night out under the stars to put the previous week into perspective. Not far from where we camped is a soft release pen that holds four red wolves -- part of a captive breeding program to re-introduce canis rufus to the southeastern U.S. Throughout the night they would join together and howl and yelp into the night. It was a joyous, primal cacophony, a sound not heard in Florida for nearly a hundred years. If there’s anything to learn from the wolves, I think it must be that it’s easier to do things right the first time. We exterminated them; they are extinct in the wild. Gone. Now, at great cost and with greater uncertainty, we’re trying to bring them back.
If we do it right the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will never need to be cleaned or restored. Florida's coast will never have to suffer the insult of a catastrophic oil spill. If we do it right, future generations won't have to wonder what I wondered as I listened to those wolves and pondered their history of persecution in Florida. How could we have done something so breathtakingly wrong? Don't Touch That Dial
In the meantime, take action: Tell your legislators you want an energy bill that makes sense for the country and the planet. Want a recap of where these two went, and why? See the main page for Darden and Joe's excellent adventure, or read:
Tales from the road:
Wetland photo: US Fish & Wildlife Service, Steve Farrell
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I’d also like to tip my hat to my able companion, Darden Rice, one of the most talented and passionate environmental advocates I know. She did a tremendous job and I'd gladly climb into the Prius with her anytime.
We might consider that lesson today, while poised at a crossroads in our national energy policy. We can do the right thing and focus on conservation and alternative energy sources, or we can dig and drill and go on consuming like there’s no tomorrow. The choice is ours.
The trip isn't over yet. The Prius will make it's way to Washington, D.C., carrying the message of cleaner cars and higher gas mileage across the Southeast to the nation's capital. The Sierra Club's Colleen Kiernan is driving the Georgia leg and will hand over the keys to staff in North Carolina. We'll post periodic updates as they go, including more pictures and tales from the road.