Oregon Nutbags Slam Sustainability In Full-Page Newspaper Ad

[hatrack]

"Judy Walton, who heads a Portland nonprofit involved in environmental education, said she was shocked to open the newspaper Sunday and find her group accused of brainwashing the children of Oregon. We just consider ourselves a nonthreatening, mainstream organization," said Walton, who heads the Education for Sustainability Western Network. "The ad is so offensive and misleading."

But Holly Swanson, a Southern Oregon writer and founder of a group called Operation Green Out, said she's convinced that environmentalists involved in the sustainability movement have a "covert plan" to push the values of international Green parties. Swanson's group bought a full-page ad in The Oregonian's Metro section that attacked the sustainability movement and one of its more high-profile supporters: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.

In Oregon, where almost anything having to do with the environment quickly gets polarized, there has long been debate on what is said in the schools about such subjects as timber harvesting, endangered species and animal rights. But until now, there has been little public debate about the sustainability movement, which encourages people, government and businesses to figure out ways to reduce their daily impact on the environment. Gov. Ted Kulongoski and his predecessor, John Kitzhaber, ordered state officials to work to conserve resources and encourage environmentally sensitive development.

EDIT

Swanson, who once owned an advertising agency with her husband and headed a group supportive of the timber industry, said she became concerned about the sustainability movement after attending an environmental conference. The White City resident wrote a book, "Set Up & Sold Out," that came out in 1995 and argued that the movement was a "radical departure from what standard education is in the United States." Instead of teaching basic skills, Swanson said environmental educators were promoting values that she said were more aligned with the socialism of the international Green movement. This included such things as downgrading the value of individual initiative, she said."

EDIT



Yes, God forbid that anyone encourage long-term thinking, because that would . . . it would . . . they HATE FREEDOM! Yes, that's it!!

[Red_Viking]

1. Scary

I'm moving from Texas to Salem, Oregon to attend law school. My daughter, who is 13, is looking forward to a more progressive school curriculum. Is that a fantasy?? Good grief.

When I visited Oregon, I was struck by the stands of magnificent trees, juxtaposed with swathes of clear cutting. Beauty and atrocity, right next to each other.

I still think Oregon will be more progressing than Texas! But this is disturbing.

RV

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. Salem's kind of a drag.

It's the state capitol. Too many stuffy lawmakers, Lots of mall rats, not much to do. Salem does have a few good restaurants. Fortunately, Portland is just 45 minutes up the road and lots more fun!

Eugene (The Peoples Socialist Republic of Eugene) is nice, quiet and fairly progressive due to the college influence.

If you're a progressive you'll like Oregon.

[utopian]

4. Willamette University?

Good school. Salem, however, is a pretty conservative place (not Texas, but, pretty conservative). The schools seem better funded than Portland's. My kids live in Salem, and they still have band, drama, and other good stuff that has disappeared in a lot of Portland schools.

Don't worry, you'll only be fifty miles from progressive Portland.

[CCC]

7. Holly Swanson

I've heard Holly speak several times and also read her book. I think she makes many good points. I believe that the public school systems certainly have a "green " agenda. As far as your comments, and I quote:

"When I visited Oregon, I was struck by the stands of magnificent trees, juxtaposed with swathes of clear cutting. Beauty and atrocity, right next to each other."

I was born and raised in Oregon and much of the so called clear cut areas are under private ownership and "farmed" as renewable resources. Private timber companies cut, plant, raise, and harvest trees as a long term investment. If they didn't place a high priority on proper stewardship of their property, they would be out of business in one generation.

I personally thank them for the foresight they have used so that I could have a nice home. If it wasn't for their "clear cuts", I might be living in a cave.

[Pale Blue Dot]

13. Hi CCC!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[ldoolin]

14. Oregon's much more liberal than Texas, but

...but Oregon is also a hotbed of the Wise Users, or the so called Sagebrush Rebellion. Has been for some time. Basically their strategy is to find small towns based on a depressed industry and then move in, convincing people in those towns that it is environmental regulations that caused the economic depression. Oregon has the timber industry, and...voila.

Check local bulletin boards for flyers about speakers coming through town giving seminars on "The United Nations Agenda 21 Exposed", or "Environmentalism: The new anti-Christian conspiracy to abolish Christianity?", or "The Wildlands Project Threat to Your Community: What You Need to Know". Also watch for petitions and rallies in support of the "Healthy Forests Initiative" (the rallies usually feature Wise Use speakers), and watch for it spelled like this: "environMENTALism". That last one is a real big red flag. Flyers like that which are aimed at attracting local citizens into the movement through seminars or rallies, especially if they're considered easy marks because they work in a depressed industry, seem to be one of the most common Wise Use organizing goals. Liberate public bulletin boards of those flyers and recycle them out of existence anytime you see them...another place is to check free publications boxes at the library and keep them free of newsletters from groups like "People for the West", "Fur Commission USA", "Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise", and so on.

There are always a few people who the Wise Users convert into True Believers, who go quite a bit off the deep end, and start whacked splinter groups and spreading conspiracy theories about environmentalism being a cover for United Nations troops in black helicopters, or global Green "socialism" or somesuch.

Also, they are a much bigger problem in smaller towns than they are in bigger towns like Salem.

I'm not aware of the Wise User problem being anywhere near as bad in Texas as it is in Oregon. But I wouldn't worry, Oregon is a more liberal state on the whole.

[orwell]

2. Conservative

Gov. Ted Kulongoski and his predecessor, John Kitzhaber, ordered state officials to work to conserve resources and encourage environmentally sensitive development."

Interesting word "conserve". Isn't this the root of conservative. Woudn't that make conservation a conservative value?

I must be missing something. :eyes:

O

[lutherj]

5. "Covert plan"? Of course, the conservatives never operate with

a covert plan. Only those pinko environmentalists.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

6. Just this morning I was reading some whacko web page

with the same message. All about 'the evils of sustainability'. And the underlying reason given by the webpage author that sustainability is evil? Socialism is evil. lol

[OregonHippie]

8. Heh

In my Environmental Science class today we called her, and apparently she is willing to come to our class and have a discussion. Little does she know we are planning on getting the head of ESWN there. >:D

Someone suggested Tre Arrow, instead of the person from ESWN, but I figured I'd rather not be witness to a murder. :)

[CCC]

10. Holly Swanson at your class

I wish I could be there. I believe Holly can hold her own no matter who you bring in. It should be a very interesting discussion.
CCC

[brokensymmetry]

9. Everyone knows that natural resources are infinite, right?

I mean, it's not like they can ever run out or anything... :eyes:

[CCC]

11. Resources

That all depends. If we make all sources of oil, minerals, and wood products a National Park, we just might run out of them sooner rather than later.
CCC

[OregonHippie]

12. Or...

Or we could stop subsidizing the oil and coal industries and start pumping more money into the development of cheap, re-newable energy (solar/wind/low-impact hydro, etc.)

And in the meantime we should use Natural gas, which, though not perfect, is MUCH better than oil and especially coal.


And I honestly am interested in seeing why this woman thinks promoting 'sustainability' is a green party/left wing conspiracy. I mean...isn't keeping the world healthy beneficial to Republicans too?

Wait...it isn't good for the Oil/Coal/Timber corporations that heavily fund the Conservatives. I get it. It always comes down to Money, and sadly, some people are willing to ruin this great Earth for it. :(

[Kool Kitty]

15. Hear, hear!

And welcome.

[ldoolin]

16. Sagebrush Rebellion black helicopter nuts

And I honestly am interested in seeing why this woman thinks promoting 'sustainability' is a green party/left wing conspiracy. I mean...isn't keeping the world healthy beneficial to Republicans too?

Probably, because I doubt she's even a Republican. She sounds like the conspiracy whacko wing of the Sagebrush Rebellion, which is over there politically with the Montana Freemen on the dark side of the political moon. The "global Green socialism" reference is the giveaway.