My letter to US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke re: The Destruction of Public Land.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/5481196-155/interior-secretary-ryan-zinke-orders-faster
http://www.patagonia.com/home/ --> You can write a letter too.
Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, plans on expediting drilling on federally protected land. I wrote him a letter in conjunction with the Patagonia campaign to save public lands.
This is what I wrote:
Dear Secretary Zinke,
It is important to consider the importance of our once-federally protected lands. I cannot help but find the contradiction dancing between your words and actions. You were quoted as saying, regarding the removal of a Confederate monument in Maryland, "I’m an advocate for recognizing history as it is. Don’t rewrite history. Understand it for what it is and teach our kids the importance of looking at our magnificent history as a country and why we are who we are.” Meanwhile, you are removing the backlogs on drilling on federal land, which will certainly result in the initial destruction of some protected resources and flora/fauna -- but also further setting the precedent that this course of action is justifiable and acceptable.
If we are to teach our children the history of our country, we cannot ignore the dedication of individuals, starting with Theodore Roosevelt, to preserving the important natural infrastructure of our country. You cannot appeal to the education of our youth with challenging the removal of a Confederate monument and battlefield site while supporting the destruction of natural resources protected by government services for over a century. Nature has a significant footing in the development of our great nation. Our history has been characterized by the juxtaposition of technological advancement of man and our great natural reserves. And while the relationship has not always seen elongated periods of harmony, mostly because we lacked the technology to derive energy from clean sources, the two have been able to coexist for some time. There is no excuse to drill, and ultimately, contaminate protected lands to support an antiquated method of procuring unclean energy. I urge you, sir, to think about "practicing what you preach."
If we are to teach our children about the history of our country, we must fight daily to protect nature as it exists now and to carry on the responsibility the federal government bears -- to protect our citizens. This duty is not solely militaristic -- it is one that has to encompass protecting the country as a whole. To allow the further destruction of protected land is to endanger the American experience, denying the resources the government once ensured our youth would be able to interact with. These actions by the government will set us on a dangerous course of accepted policy. You are correct in saying we cannot forget where we came from; contaminating federal lands does not even allow for the forgetting of history, because history will be destroyed. You will be rewriting history, and I join the others in hoping you put down the pen.
Regards,
Evan Hackler
Too late. The country is too far indebted and America 100 years from now will be nothing like the present. Lands likely sold off to foreign ownership, resources will have to be pilfered to pay the bills. At the rate its going, that bill will be around 40 trillion if it doesn't collapse first. No one can save it now. Its all been a sham from the get go.
I admire your realism, but if we do not try -- then nothing will change, guaranteed.