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Defenders Magazine
Defenders View: New Year, Old Challenges
January is a time of change. A new year arrives and, this year in the nation’s capital, a new Congress convenes and a new presidential term begins.
But for all that changes this particular January, much remains the same. Although there are a few new faces in the executive branch of the government, it is still headed by the same man whose cabinet spent much of his first term riding roughshod over the environment.
And the 109th Congress will still be run by those who consistently and disproportionately favor industry and big corporations over our natural environment. Emboldened by their victories last November, the “new” Congress and the “new” administration are taking aim at some of our most cherished conservation laws, including those that protect caribou and polar bears from the devastating impact of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; those that safeguard bald eagles, wolves and hundreds of other endangered and threatened species across the country; those that shelter rare lynx, fishers and other wild creatures in our national forests; and those that protect wildlife and us from toxic mercury pollution.
The plain truth is that we have a rough road ahead of us in this new year and in the years that will immediately follow. The anti-conservation forces in Washington are stronger and more vocal than at any other time in recent memory. And the stakes couldn’t be higher: the fate of our nation’s wildlife, the quality of our air and water, the future of our forests and wetlands—in short, the conservation legacy we leave to our children and future generations—are all at risk.
Hopefully we’re ready for the challenge. We faced tough tests during the past four years and, through hard work and determination, we managed to win more battles than we lost. The Arctic refuge is still the pristine marvel it is today because of our determination. And that determination has not diminished in this new year—nor will it in the future.
Anti-conservationists in the administration and Congress may claim they have a mandate for their “development at any cost” agenda. But we know different. The simple fact is that—in 2005 as in past years—the vast majority of the American public believes in the practical and moral value of protecting the web of life that provides for us all, and in bequeathing a healthy environment to future generations. We conservationists have the moral high ground on these issues, and because we do, we will eventually prevail.
It will be difficult. We will have to use every advocacy technique we’ve developed over the years—employing research and scientific evidence, public education, lobbying in Washington, grassroots activism in key spots across the country, and legal action when all else fails. But we know that it’s not enough to just do more of what we’ve done in previous years. We need to be wise enough to alter past strategies where circumstances require it.
And we know we can’t do it alone. More than ever, we are going to need your help and the help of your friends, neighbors, co-workers and other concerned citizens. To fight the coming battles, we need your moral support and financial support. And we need your political support in the sense that we need you to let elected officials know that you care deeply about wildlife and wild places, and that you want to pass along a healthy planet to future generations.
If we work together, I’m confident that we can defeat those who seek to make 2005 the year of dismantling our conservation laws. Leaving a healthy conservation legacy is one thing we can’t afford to change in this new year.
