150 teachers, environmental activists, business and political leaders, water experts - and even a few folks from the arts community – came together for three memorable days in Burlington . Each day included sessions for intense dialogue, new learning, and creative brainstorming aimed at plotting ways to improve the health of our lakes and rivers, including the resplendent Lake Champlain.
When I left the Echo Center, I had a new understanding of how the health of our lakes depends on our personal practices, the decisions we make when we plan our cities and towns, and the stability of our climate. Of course, the looming issues of climate change seem so large that it’s hard to know how we as individuals or even a small state can affect them. But we can take a number of steps to change personal practices – and we have no choice but to protect against the immediate destructive impacts of a warming climate. I believe that if we do truly alter personal and community behaviors - and develop more imaginative public policy, we will build an unstoppable momentum that can reverse the larger forces of climate change.
At the Leahy Center Summit, we saw aerial photos of Lake Champlain after recent heavy rains - and also after Tropical Storm Irene. In both instances, huge plumes of visible run-off demonstrated how much the ecology of the lake is damaged when rain waters carry into the lake oil, soot, sewage, pharmaceuticals, farm fertilizers and much of what we throw away.
One of the most galvanizing moments occurred on the final morning, when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke. Kennedy has fought for decades to enforce environmental laws governing New York’s Hudson River. He told stories of how working families, many descended from original Dutch settlers, mobilized to claim their rights to what Kennedy described as “the commons” – those natural assets and resources that by centuries of social and legal practice belong to the public.
Kennedy trains young lawyers and sends them into court to lead the charge for clean water throughout the Hudson River and it’s tributaries. The result: the cleanest major waterway in America - with all of its historic fish populations now intact.
The challenges we face result from decades of ingrained behaviors. Despite this, I think that Kentucky farmer and writer Wendell Berry was right when he signaled how America ’s rural areas can play a role - and even lead the way.
“The health of the oceans depends on the health of the rivers,” Berry wrote in his book, The Way of Ignorance. “The health of the rivers depends on the health of the small streams. The health of the streams depends on the health of their watersheds. Natural law is in force everywhere.”
In every backyard, we can make a difference - as we think about ways to find balance to ensure that our watersheds, communities, and common assets flourish for our children and grandchildren in the 21st century and beyond.
