It's the biggest threat to our survival, not to mention our quality of life.
by Robert Nanninga
f I seem a tad bit despondent, it is because I have
just returned from voting, and Interstate 5 is providing ambient noise for
the writing of this month's column. The constant drone of traffic has provided
me with a major revelation: elections and freeways both represent a multitude
of people going nowhere fast.
I write this hoping that my efforts to protect mountain
lions and their habitat has not been in vain. The fact that Senator Tim
Leslie even managed to get Proposition 197 on the ballot disturbs me in
a number of ways. Once upon a time, California mule deer ranged all over
north county, as did bobcats; they are gone now for the most part. Local
governments are being forced to mitigate for small birds (read: gnatcatcher
and least tern) because we are not leaving enough room for them, let alone
room for ourselves.
Ladies and gentlemen, felis concordis, otherwise known
as the mountain lion, cougar or puma, is now the officially designated "canary
in the coal mine," - and methane gas is not the culprit. Human overpopulation
has that dubious honor.
Now before anyone accuses me of being on an animal rights
tirade, I would like to acknowledge that the soapbox I am currently standing
on is rooted firmly in human survival.
On the March ballot, bond issues were proposed to produce
funding to alleviate the overcrowding of schools. Would someone please explain
to me how throwing money at elementary schools will reduce the number of
children seeking an education? Here in Encinitas, school board and city
council members were complaining about class size and inadequate facilities,
yet neither of these elected boards will speak out against over-development.
Try this equation on for size: More homes built means
more families moving into the area. More families means more children. That,
my friends, equals too many kids and not enough crayons. It's elementary.
If I had a time machine, the first thing I would do
is find the person who initially thought you could develop your way out
of a problem and slap him very hard. You know, like they did in the movies
when someone had fainted or was having a panic attack. Bette Davis could
slap anybody back to reality. I'm sorry people, but we cannot outgrow our
current problems. Like Eric and Lyle Menendez, the solution only increases
the predicament.
The Catholic church sees poverty increasing around the
world, mirroring populations, yet it still encourages people to make more
people. Hello, Pope John Paul, you deserve a big Bette Davis slap.
Pete Wilson and Pat Buchanan, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber, have decided
we need to build a wall to keep able-bodied workers out of America. But
if you listen closely to the rhetoric, boys and girls, you will discover
they have yet to come up with a way to put Americans back to work, other
than putting guns in their hands and pointing them at Mexico. Slap!
Right-to-lifers want to outlaw abortion and abolish
the welfare system with one stroke of self righteousness. Can you say "Third
World America?" I wonder if the Christian Coalition realizes how annoying
it is to have to step over starving children on your way to see Anita Bryant
in concert. Ralph Reed, slap, slap, slap!
I know somewhere in the Bible there is a request to
"be fruitful and multiply." Come on gang, enough is enough. Let
us not forget, that simple plea was written at a time when one did not have
to stand in line for three and a half hours just to go on the Indiana Jones
ride at Disneyland.
The perfect case in point is the Interstate 5 and 805
merge. Morning and evening traffic nearly stops due to industrial lemmings
heading to and from work. Caltrans, the patron saint of cluelessness, decided
it would be a great idea to alleviate freeway congestion by dropping State
Route 56 into the fray. This is what I would call a billion dollar band-aid.
The proper solution to freeway gridlock is mass transit; here in San Diego
it is called the Coaster. That's the thing that whizzes by you while you're
sitting on I-5 wondering how you're going to make your car payments.
Every time we expand the infrastructure we invite more
people into the area, at which point we discover the need to expand the
infrastructure even more, and so on, and so on. How many people do we need
to stack on top of each other until we change San Diego's name to Mexico
City North?
Developers, those greedy demons, dangle the short-term building dollars
in front of local officials, proclaiming it to be the cure for what ails
them. These developers are just modern day carpetbaggers: they move in to
an area, destroy habitat in the process of building homes no one can afford,
and then move on without providing enough of an economic base to afford
the infrastructure required to service the new growth. It is interesting
to note that many developers are from Orange County. Could this be a clue,
Dr. Watson?
Those of us who remain are forced to deal with overflowing
landfills, an unending torrent of sewage polluting the ocean and and a water
shortage no one wants to talk about. If development is so good, why doesn't
it pay for these things? We are left with over-crowded schools, growing
unemployment, and shrinking habitat. Here is another equation: too many
people without sufficient resources adds up to disaster. Is short-sightedness
a prerequisite for elected office?
As part of the twelve-step program for development junkies,
I have created the following mantras. These should be repeated anytime a
person feels the urge to build a Walmart.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Note: These mantras should be said while climbing a mountain, rock or
tree.
Now that I have vented, let me say that all our actions
on behalf of our beleaguered planet do make a difference. Once again we
have kept hunters at bay by voting down Prop.197. Open primaries will change
the face of California politics, and we are beginning to slow the pace of
development. Not bad for a bunch of tree-huggers.
If we are to save ourselves from the slippery slope
of extinction, we must control our numbers. If too many cooks spoil the
stew, we have outgrown the kitchen and those that do remain are stirring
an empty pot.
As environmentalists, we must be content with being
aunts and uncles. We must be the ones to educate future generations to the
peril they face. Kids are only cute when they are happy and healthy, not
starving by the side of some ill-conceived freeway project. It is time to
get political.
April is the biggest month for environmental action.
I encourage everyone to register and vote green. Write letters to all your
elected representatives and let them know that the rules are changing and
they will be held accountable. Circulate a Resource
Protection Ordinance Petition. Be responsible for gathering twenty signatures,
and the San Diego Earth Times will make sure the Board of Supervisors sees
them. And last but not least, you can volunteer with the environmental organization
of your choice, from the Green Party to America's Finest County. Direct
action is the way to turn the tide in favor of the ecosystems that support
our very exsistance.
Developers, corporations and other industrial fat cats
who feed off of overpopulation and run-away consumption will not set a place
at the table of power for us. It is time we invited ourselves to the party,
pulled up a chair and got to work.
Oh - and to the guy that responded to my complaint about
diminishing open space with comment, "the ocean is all the open space
you need." For you a resounding SLAP!
Robert Nanninga is an independent video producer, actor, vegan, San Diego
Earth Day board member and active member of the Green and environmental
community.
Robert Nanninga is an independent video producer, actor, vegan, San
Diego Earth Day board member and active member of the Green and environmental
community.
