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As an avid member of the counterculture since the mid-1960s, I’ve gained an accumulated perspective on the not so rapid evolution of environmental consciousness within our culture. When the Arab oil embargo of the early ‘70s caused us to lower the national speed limit and incentivize solar technologies, I was waiting in a gas line in my handcrafted gypsy wagon. It was a lovely icon of its day, replete with reclaimed lumber, recycled windows and a potbelly stove. The vinyl clad Winnebagos were certainly no match when it came to ingenuity, resourcefulness and Old World craftsmanship. My home base was a small Northern California town of some 1,200 residents, many of whom had discovered the Marin County coastal community when volunteering to clean up an oil spill that occurred a few miles south along a national bird sanctuary.
So there we were, young pioneers of sustainable virtues, idealistic dreams and a feel for tribal spirit. We raised our young families, volunteered in the community garden, spearheaded the first county recycling program, installed early solar technologies and dealt with serious fresh water shortages. There was art, craft, poetry, dance, music and theater. Our annual Mayday Festival was a memorable event that epitomized the connectedness we all shared with Mother Earth.
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That encapsulated island of experience has now dissolved with the generational shifts, escalating California coastal real estate prices and the shifting sands of time. In 1980, Ronnie Reagan blasted us into a new era of blatant consumerism by removing Jimmy’s solar collectors from the White House as his first act as President. While Europe moved forward with earnest intent to reduce energy consumption and sustain their urban centers with care of the supporting agriculture that surrounded them, we generated urban sprawl that consumed the farmlands in favor of ticky-tack suburbia. And, our national commuter society expanded big time and has continued evolving up to the present with larger gas-guzzlers as the trophy for our endurance. China has passionately followed our lead, industrializing at an unparalleled pace, while needing to shut down half their industries, cease all new construction projects, and remove 1.5 million automobiles from the streets of Beijing in order to keep down the potential fatal health risks to athletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
So while $4 a gallon gasoline realigns the nation’s attention in a way not seen since the ‘70s, the global climate crisis attunes us to down-home virtues of conservation and innovation, and us normal citizens are finding cause to unite in a spirit of cooperation, love of the planet and a desire to carry forth a legacy suitable for future generations. Here in Santa Fe, NM, leaders are emerging from various sectors of our community to weigh in on what that future holds.
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