The Phoenix Sun

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, South Africa, 2011

I arrived back in the States yesterday after a 17-hour flight from Johannesburg to learn that the Kirstenbosch Project didn’t raise enough money to qualify for funding. Disappointing? Of course, but not really surprising given the amount still needed when I was last able to get Internet access with just 30 hours left.

First, a large collective shout-out to all 24 donors whose pledges ranged from $5 to $1,250. (Big round of applause). You guys rock.

You should know that the project isn’t over. Later, when my body has had a chance to regroup after the flight and time-zone changes, I’ll begin thinking about alternate ways to reach the goal – producing a catalog of prints from Kirstenbosch. The Gardens remain vitally important centers of plant biodiversity. Outside of South Africans, most of us don’t realize their ecological significance and their beauty. The need to spread the word about Kirstenbosch remains, and I intend to do what I can to achieve that end.

Once again, thank you, all, for pledging your support. And thanks to Kickstarter for the opportunity to get arts projects funded. It didn’t happen this time, but so many wonderful projects have become realities because of Kickstarter. I plan on continuing to support Kickstarter ventures and I urge you to do the same.

The LA Times weighed in today on the controversy over California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s bill to make large areas of the Mojave Desert “no build zones” for solar power plants. (I’ve covered the story here and in OnEarth magazine.)

The Times editorial began:

“From an aesthetic perspective, vast solar arrays stretching for thousands of acres across the desert aren’t pretty. But what they do for the environment and for U.S. energy independence can be downright beautiful. Which is why, though we’d be happy to see about 1.5 million acres of the Mojave Desert preserved under a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, it’s disappointing that the California Democrat didn’t include more meaningful support for renewable energy.”

I have a question for the Times editorial writer:

Why begin the editorial with aesthetics?

That’s not Feinstein’s emphasis, at least not in the bill summary, the official statement released by her office, or in the bill itself.

Energy, Conservation & the Media

Could it have something to do with the incestuous amplification of the news media? After all, in the New York Times, the article about Feinstein’s bill was given the headline, Desert Vistas vs. Solar Power.

Feinstein stresses conservation as her primary motivation in drafting the bill, and while the “viewscape” is a component of conservation, it’s hardly the most important one. Most conservationists probably consider habit or ecology as the primary value they want to conserve.

Who doesn’t enjoy a beautiful view? But to frame the debate in those terms is to trivialize both the Feinstein bill, and, more important, a topic that is complex — and crucial to our time.