Yesterday I mentioned that the environment (love this planet, hate that word) is far more popular than so-called conservatives would have you believe. Only belatedly did I realize I hadn’t given any evidence for that claim. But there’s no doubt about it; in fact, it’s even more popular than I knew.
On the local front, ten years ago last week, Ventura County approved a supposedly controversial initiative called S.O.A.R. (for Save Our Agricultural Resources) designed to preserve open space and farmland, and, not coincidentally, prevent our county from turning into another L.A. or (more likely) Orange County. A high school teacher put together an ad hoc group to lead the effort, described in this LATimes article; the initiative passed despite being outspent ten-to-one by opponents, and despite alarmist claims it would lead to a crime wave.
On the national front, last week The Harris Poll released a national telephone survey of well over a thousand Americans on the health of our land, air, and water and wilds. Three-quarters of them agreed with this statement: "Environmental standards cannot be too high and improvements must be made regardless of cost." That vast majority includes sixty-nine percent of self-identified conservatives, and sixty percent of self-identified Republicans.
Further, nearly half (47%) agreed that "not enough" is being done to regulate those who would abuse the health of our world, and only four percent declared themselves unsympathetic to the environmental movement. Four percent!
How much clearer does the message have to be?
Maybe it’s not clarity that’s the problem. Somehow those of us who care about this planet have to find a way to turn up the volume…
Kit Stolz 