One Man's Trash...

By The U.S. National Archives

During the Great Depression and the war that followed, people learned to save and re-use everything.   By today's standards they might have been considered hoarders or pack rats.  But back then, it was necessary for survival, and rationing was encouraged by the government.

I think, and I could be wrong, that today's society sees rationing as a sign of poverty or weakness--a holdout of that dark time in America.  Counter to reason, when today's unemployment rates are so high and prices are soaring, all the new stuff is disposable, and it gets disposed of, or thrown on the ground.  Even the earth's good, fresh water gets a disposable feeling to it once we put it in a plastic bottle. This is taken as sign of affluence and success.

But true success doesn't come from making sure you clean up your extravagant messes.  It comes from not making the mess in the first place.  Many Americans take great, albeit strange, pride in their trash, and feel they are entitled to do with it as they please.  If anyone tells them otherwise, they become defensive, just like the possessive toddler who refuses to flush her bowel movement down the toilet. So, out the window the plastic bottle of fresh water goes, to flow into the storm sewer, to the river, to the sea, joining the flotilla of plastic bottles, because that's the owner's self-given right.

I am not implicating you, the reader, in actual littering.  But, how much of what we buy and therefore promote is made to be thrown away and encourages littering in others?  Do we take so much pride in the disposability of everything that we have lost touch with the reality that it's dangerous to the planet? By buying disposables, are we supporting a garbage-based society? It sure looks like it when I walk my dog and come home with hands full of litter.

By The U.S. National Archives

My grandparents had a giant pile of tin and aluminum cans in their back yard.  It was amazing how much metal trash two people (and their guests) could produce. I think it was embarrassing for my parents, especially my mom, to see that kind of clutter and obsessive collection.   Nobody "in their right mind" wants their yard to look like a junk yard.  Today, the goal in society is that our waste must not be seen or smelled, and recycling must be nearly effortless.  I wonder, is that a reasonable goal?  Should we be so unaware of what our garbage is doing after it leaves our hands?  If garbage was collected once a month rather than once a week, would we buy so much stuff?  Would we make phone calls to the companies who sell that stuff, and tell them they're cramping our style when we can't buy bulk re-fills?  Or would we just complain about the smell and demand weekly pickup?

Isn't one man's trash actually everyone's treasure?  The wealth of our nation, I daresay "world," is going in the dump, on the ground, or worse.  According to Anu Agarwal, CEO of TheGreenEcostore.com,

"A common estimate is that the global consumption of plastic bags is more than 500 billion annually — that's almost a million plastic bags used per minute. But only 1 per cent is recycled. Plastic can take up to 1,000 years to break down, so even when an animal dies and decays after ingesting some, the plastic re-enters the environment, posing a continuing threat to wildlife,"

By San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

 Why are people afraid to tell companies that we don't want everything to be over-packaged and plasticized?  I called Gatorade a month or two ago to tell them the reason I bought the powdered drink mix was to avoid buying plastic bottles, but now they sell the drink mix in weird plastic cylinders.  I told the woman on the phone I thought it was a mistake to change from cardboard to plastic, and I wanted them to change it back.  Years ago, when Oil of Olay stopped making glass bottles for their lotions, I called them to complain.  I don't get anything out of the complaints.  I'm probably in the minority and really can't make a difference, but I still let people know how I feel. I believe that taking care of my home means taking into consideration what I bring into it and how it impacts the entire world.  Unfortunately there are so many hidden costs to everything these days.  Does that bother you?  It bothers me.

"prepare for less federal funding" -- Brownback

Photo by Alec Sprague on Flickr

A lot of people are upset about how Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has been treating Kansans.  Many are saying "who voted for this guy?"  My response to that question is that a lot of people voted for him.  The real question is, who didn't vote at all, but might have if they felt empowered? And what can we do about it now besides get angry and go sulk on facebook?

I don't actually know who doesn't vote.  All of my friends say they vote.  Honestly, I'm so tied up with volunteer work and parenting that I don't have time to go on a political binge to "get out the vote."  But I feel like the system is broken.  Politicians are pandering to the minority who fund their campaigns, their ideologies don't match the realities, and the people will suffer for it.  When we vote in what is often thought of as the most important election--the presidential election--the electoral college system douses our chances of ever having a real voice.  Very little about this system really gives any individual the feeling of empowerment.

I'm already feeling the impact of executive decisions made by Brownback.  I was looking forward to the day when I didn't have to pay $20,000 per year for family health insurance, but Brownback sent federal funding back that might help me select health insurance providers.  I was hoping to get a loan through the Department of Energy grant that was funding the Efficiency Kansas program (see my previous blog). I must admit, I haven't faced any life-threatening situations because of budget cuts.  But some people might actually become injured, ill or even die if they have to "prepare for less federal funding."  Consider them, always, I'd say to the governor.

• Women and men who are battered by their partners and need help getting out
• Children who are abused
• People who were hoping to finally be able to find affordable insurance coverage and get medical treatment
• People in need of contraceptives or condoms
• People who need testing or treatment for STDs
• Women who need affordable gynecological exam and cancer screenings 
• People with heart disease or diabetes
• Mentally ill and homeless

I wonder why there is such a disconnect between the people in charge of making these decisions and those who are impacted.  Is it because they don't know any poor people?  Do they not read the news?  Are they simply lacking compassion for those who are less fortunate?  Do they honestly believe that some other program will emerge in time to save the health and lives of those in danger?

The ironies of Governor Brownback's ideas on how federal money should be spent never cease.  He is diverting federal money from programs that work (or haven't been given fighting chance) in order to promote programs that might look good to his followers, but in the end are disastrous.  For example, the money "saved" when SRS offices close, along with federal grants (if he gets them) will help fund his faith-based marriage initiatives.  SRS saves lives. Government-funded marriage meddling does not save lives.  I don't want to fail to mention the new policies and cuts that might put Planned Parenthood offices out of business.  Planned Parenthood is not just an abortion clinic, as Brownback seems to believe, and the services they provide can't be sought at Walgreens. 

I have written before about Brownback's abolishment of the Kansas Arts Commission.  But that's just the tip of the iceberg.  I can't even begin to list everything he's fiddling with.  But the tenor of his decisions are always the same:  rely less on federal money, unless the money can be used to further his ideologies, and do what's best for big business, disregarding the little people.  Now he's telling Kansas universities that they should consolidate programs that aren't attracting enough students and focus more on research. 

“I think you need to look at consolidating some programs if they don’t have very many graduates in those areas,” Brownback said. “I’ve seen other states do that. It’s a way of concentrating resources in key areas. Again, I think you’ve got to be willing to make hard choices.”

Hard choices...like where will my children go to school now if  they don't want to become pharmacists? 

My children can't vote now, and they can't call Brownback to voice their opinion of their future college choices.  But you can vote and voice your opinion in creative and powerful ways, as has been recently witnessed here in Kansas and in other states.  And if you know someone who is impacted directly by misguided decisions in government, encourage them to do the same.  Here are some resources for voicing your opinion at the federal and state levels:

Contact your U.S. House Representative
Contact your U.S. Senator
Find you Kansas Legislator

Kansas Governor’s office

785-292-3232

governor@ks.gov

 

Lawrence area Senators and House representatives

Senator Marci Francisco

Marci.francisco@senate.ks.gov

785-296-7364

Senator Tom Holland

Tom.holland@senate.gov

785-296-7372

Senator Anthony Hensley

Anthony.hensley@senate.gov

785-296-3245

Representative Terri Lois Gregory

Terrilois.gregory@house.ks.gov

785-296-7646

Representative Anthony Brown

Anthony.brown@house.ks.gov

785-296-7679

Representative Barbara Ballard

Barbara.ballard@house.ks.gov

785-296-7697

Representative Tom Sloan

Tom.sloan@house.ks.gov

785-296-7654

Representative Paul Davis

Paul.davis@house.ks.gov

785-296-7630

Representative Ann Mah

Ann.mah@house.ks.gov

785-296-7668

Representative William R. Prescott

Willie.prescott@house.ks.gov

785-296-7644

My Written Complaint to the Department of Energy

I am a resident of Kansas and a owner of a 1968-model home in Lawrence, Kansas. A few months ago, I learned about a great program in the newspaper and by word of mouth, and began participating in it. The Efficiency Kansas program was initiated in 2009 and was funded by $38 mill of DOE money. The money is supposed to be spent by April 1, 2012, and the purpose of the funding was to allow homeowners in Kansas to weatherize their homes, improve the energy efficiency and reduce the overall cost of heating and cooling. As a homeowner, I took advantage of the program by following the first step; to hire an energy auditor to do an inspection of my home. One incentive for participation was that the audit, worth $600-700 was only $100, because a grant has been provided to cover the difference.

We paid Licenced auditor, Robert Coffman of Airtight Home Energy Audits, who has told me that the program took a while to gain momentum, partly because it sounds "too good to be true." This is a link to a PDF file of all of the auditors in Kansas who are participating in the program: www.efficiencykansas.com/document.fetcher.php?document_id=60

Mr. Coffman has verbally expressed that our energy savings would pay for the cost of the loan we would receive through the Effeciency Kansas Program. These loans were to be low to zero interest loans and would be integrated with our energy bills so that there would be little impact on our finances. Mr. Coffman's small business has been overwhelmed recently by requests by homeowners to participate, and he has also been too busy meeting with government entities to write up our report, so we have not been able to collect all of the information we need in order to move on to the next step.

Mr. Coffman also told me that because the program was until recently largely unknown, private contractors were working slowly to complete the improvements, and were often over-bidding because the work does not consist of large remodeling jobs, but involves less glamorous jobs like caulking and insulation. Therefore, he started to hire his own contractors and was in the throes of training new employees, buying new computers to manage his business, and greatly expanding his small business. Then the the Kansas Energy Office informed energy auditors and utility companies on July 20 that $22 million in the loan program was being diverted to fund three renewable energy projects overseen by the Kansas Department of Commerce. Their reasoning was that not all of the money is slated to be spent by the 2012 deadline. I have never heard of any grant deadline being rescinded in such a way. Money promised to programs should be used for the programs until the deadline is reached. And if the program is successful and not all of the money is spent, perhaps the deadline should be extended. Thousands of residents of Kansas could benefit from this program, along with all of the contractors and auditors who are doing the work, and most of all, energy conservation would be tangible to the individual and not allocated to corporations. Governor Sam Brownback has made a point during his administration to put more emphasis on corporations, and this is one example.

According the the Lawrence Journal World on Aug 9, "The funds will be diverted to other projects which still need to receive final approval from the DOE, include a biomethane production facility at an ethanol plant in Oakley, money to upgrade equipment used to harvest and transport plants used to make bioenergy, and converting 38 retail gas stations in the Wichita area so they can carry fuels with a higher percentage of ethanol." The primary source of the ethanol will be corn, and I am opposed to the use of corn to produce ethanol because it costs more energy to produce corn ethanol than is available in the ethanol product. Corn production is also subsidized by the government, monopolized by Monsanto Corporation, and generally inconsistent with any logical energy-saving plan.

This summer, our family has spent around $175 per month to keep our home cooled to 82 degrees F, and our air conditioner rarely paused. In the winter, we supplement with a wood-burning stove, but still pay high costs for heating. It is a fact that if we were able to better weatherize our home, we would have more affordable heating and cooling bills.

One more point that you should consider is that these audits and home improvements are included in the "Take Charge Challenge." This is a friendly competition between cities in Kansas, which encourages residents and businesses to improve the efficiency of their buildings. According to the website: "The Climate and Energy Project (CEP), in partnership with the Kansas Energy Office (KEO), is hosting the Take Charge! Challenge from January through September 2011. The KEO, a division of the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC), provided $1 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to implement this year’s Take Charge! Challenge." Removal of the funding for the Efficiency Kansas program really puts into question how that money can be appropriated as well. Please take a look at this program on their website, http://www.takechargekansas.org/Site_Data/Sub_Pages/Home.php. If you click on "How are standings calculated?" you will see that the Efficiency Kansas program is listed as the most important category for consideration in allocation of the awards.

Please thoughtfully consider my complaint about the misuse of the DOE funds by the State of Kansas.

Most sincerely
Angela M. Babbit

The Climate Change Double Standard

Without a doubt, I believe that our climate is changing due to our increased use of fossil fuels, deforestation and other social/environmental injustices in the world.  But climate change proponents, please follow your own rules.  If anti-climate-change theologians tell you that they know that the climate is NOT warmer because of their local weather patterns, you will likely tell them it's not about local weather.  It's about global averages and major shifts in climate patterns, oceanic currents, polar ice caps, and cumulative impacts of multiple worldwide changes. But what about hot, dry local weather? That helps your case, doesn't it?

I was spurred on to write this blog entry based on another, more well-read blog than my own about global warming in Texas.  Treehugger.com states that

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Thursday [Aug 4, 2011] marked the 34th consecutive day that the mercury level went over the 100 mark. Dating back to 1895, July was the hottest month ever recorded in Texas, a state that knows a few things about serious heat. 

It's good we have some historical data for comparison, but the devil's advocate in me asks, don't records happen all the time, everywhere and at hot and cold extremes?  Is this kind of information helpful to anyone who is on the fence about climate change?  Isn't this feeding into the arguments against climate change, if you seemingly have a double standard of your definition of climate change?  On one hand you say "colder, snowier weather in your burg doesn't mean the ice age is coming," and on the other hand you say, "drought in Texas means climate catastrophe."  Please, offer a more tangible explanation of what's going on.

Another example:  The New York Times reported in April on the dryness of the soil in Midland, Texas, but did not offer broader information that indicates a larger trend, except to say that la Niña was involved.  And by broader information, I don't mean just a map of the United States that shows how dry it is this summer.

Not only is this a snapshot rather than an illustration of a trend, but the population density in the areas of high rainfall generally exceeds the drought-stricken areas.

Population data from the 2000 U.S. Census and 2007 population estimates.

The likelihood of convincing the scattered masses in the bible belt that praying for rain isn't the best option has proven to be low.  No, instead they pass laws like this one in the legislature:

H.R.910: To amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to address climate change, and for other purposes.

It's really no wonder that people are confused when they are only given snapshots of a larger issue, and they can't see the forest for the trees.  And speaking of confused people who live around trees, you'll only need to watch a minute or two of this video to see how and why this Oregon man is genuinely baffled by reports that "global warming causes cooling."

I must admit I did not watch the entire video, above, but I did hear him say (I paraphrasae) that Greenland was once agricultural, and that the thick layer of ice on it now was not anthropogenic.   Ironically, glacial evidence suggests that the initial non-reversed changes in our atmosphere commenced when agriculture came on the scene, around 7000 to 6000 BC, far before the industrial revolution.  These findings by the Center for the Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets are not yet published as far as I can tell.

 If you really want to get an idea of what's going on with the world's climate, or if you're wanting to write an article about local weather and want to tie it into global trends, visit the NASA Surface Temperature Data website.  If you already spent too much time watching that video, above, please at least watch this one-minute animation of 10-Year Mean Anomalies from 1881-2007.  Or, if you have even less time, watch this 20-second version.  They will leave you seeing red.

My Earth Day Sermon -- if I was ever asked to give one

I'm about to tell you something that will make a lot of you stop listening, because I will lose all credibility in your mind.  I say this now because I would like to challenge you to hear me out, even if you don't agree with everything I believe in.  Here it is:  I don't believe in Hell.  I don't believe in Heaven for that matter.  As for an after-life, I think that's all about the everlasting human spirit.  We teach those around us to carry forward compassion and love.  We learn from others and stories of those gone before us how we should behave in a society of humans.  And, some of us take words from scripture and use them to learn more about how to be our best, and carry our human spirit forward and beyond our physical being.  And if I'm wrong about Heaven, that's fine.  I do know that we're supposed to love everyone, even our enemy, and if there's a God that loves us that much, too, he wouldn't exclude anyone from Heaven.  But for the sake of this sermon, let's see Heaven as the goodness of the human spirit, and Hell, a place we created on Earth.

Again, I'm not a big fan of Hell.  I do love a good metaphor, though.  After all, what is all language, but metaphor?  Even the simplest words, with little room for interpretation are merely symbols that represent something.  There is no "literal translation" of anything, let alone the Bible, because even the most exact interpretations still have to pass through the filter of the human mind--not only the mind of the translator, but that of every individual in his or her audience.  This is where the variety of human experience blurs all "literal" interpretation .  I find the metaphor of Hell to be so intriguing, with each person interpreting it in a way that tells a story of who they are.  From my perspective, I'd like to suggest that it applies directly to the environment.  I am, after all, an environmentalist at heart.

Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321 ad

Now before I go on, I want to make it very clear that when I'm talking about Hell, that you put aside Dante Alighieri's version, and consider the Bible's.  This Italian, Dante, wrote an epic poem called "Divine Comedy" a long time ago, and the section called "Inferno" has really impacted how people think about Hell.  If YOU think about Hell as a blazing inferno where people are eternally damned, you got your version of Hell from Dante.  However, a quick search the word "Hell" in the New Testament comes up with 15 references, seven of which are in Matthew, three in Mark, one in Luke, two in Acts, and one each in James and 2nd Peter.  All of the New Testament references are a translation of the word Gehenna, which was an actual place that you could visit, if you were alive at the time.  If you want to look it up, find yourself a Bible that provides exact translations (not interpretations of translations) of the Hebrew and Greek.  Go ahead and look in your Bible.  If it's a good Bible, it will have a footnote at Matthew 5: 21-23 that says the word was taken from the Greek for Gehenna.  Other translations of "Hell" in the Bible were originally the words Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and aion, but my favorite is this place, Gehenna. 

The Tombs in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna)

In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and followers of various Ba'als and Caananite gods, including Moloch, sacrificed their children by fire. They sacrificed their children by fire! Now I told you that this would be a metaphorical interpretation for an Earth Day sermon. Think about it. How are we sacrificing our children by fire in the name of false idols, today?  Not even so metaphorically, but literally, burning away our progeny's future!  In Gehenna, the fires burned night and day, fueled by future generations, just as our coal fired plants, our pistons fire, our guns blaze, and our incandescent bulbs light the way to a very dark future. 

I am also not any kind of  a fan of the God of the Old Testament who sends His wrath down to the earth when He is displeased.  But in my search for material for this sermon, I came across this text in Deuteronomy, which speaks volumes to me about our destruction of our beautiful coal-bearing mountains in Appalachia and elsewhere: 

"For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,

one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.

It will devour the earth and its harvests

and set afire the foundations of the mountains. "

Photos used in animation via NASA Earth Observatory, remixed by @jaiden0

I'm omitting much of the passage in Deuteronomy because it is from the perspective of an angry, vengeful God who I cannot fathom. But it speaks of how we were given all the good things of the earth, and we squandered it. I don't believe God is punishing us for this. I believe in the power of cause and effect, but there it is,  in Deuteronomy. The foundations of the mountains have been set afire, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

From the  Plastic Pollution Coalition on Facebook

So I implore you to root out those false idols that you can do without, to spare the mountains and to douse the flames of Gehenna.   I don't normally give unsolicited advice, but if you've come this far and you're still listening, I might as well push the envelope!  Here are a few suggestions of ways to extinguish those flames that are consuming our children. Don't buy what's cheapest because it's cheapest. Understand why it's cheap first. You can live without single-use plastics such as water and soda bottles. They aren't being recycled and they're killing our oceans and other waterways. Plastics are bad for you, too. Encourage your workplace, city, or state to go single-use plastic-free.  Recycle everything you can.  If you are able, dust off your bicycle, and take it for a ride. Eat low on the food chain. Every step up the food chain loses up to 90% of the energy it consumes, especially if it consumes corn. Boycott companies that are polluting, wasting resources, or using socially unjust practices. Embrace companies that are honestly trying to operate in a way that is fair to the people and the planet, like Fair Trade coffee companies. Bring your own bags to the grocery store or put your purchases directly in your car if you forgot a bag.  Conserve fresh water. The majority of the world's population lives without it every day. Green up your living spaces by planting a garden, or native plants, and by evaluating your home for energy inefficiencies. Learn to live a little less comfortably, and find a new comfortable.

And most of all, love your neighbor, your enemy, the downtrodden and the earth.  We can choose to live in Gehenna, and to destroy the mountains, or we can find a new way that isn't so far from what the Bible has been telling us for thousands of years.

Five Endangered Butterflies: Shaus Swallowtail

Schaus Swallowtail

This is the last of five blog posts about my 

Endangered Butterfly linoleum print series.

 

The Shaus swallowtail is the only butterfly in the family which contains the swallowtails (Papilionidae) that is endangered in the US.  Once populating the southern tip of Florida and the Florida Keys, the Schaus swallowtail now survives in small tropical hardwood hammocks in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, northern Key Largo, and several small islands within Biscayne National Park (Photo by ZanyShani on Flickr.)



Another important refuge for the Shaus is at

Biscayne National Park 

"Deering Estate at Cutler," a 400-acre green space on the coast, and the butterfly is also being reintroduced to a golf course in Miami-Dade. Females lay their eggs on wild lime and sea torchwood.  The topography of Florida is very flat, so most of the background map in the image consists of man made canals and streets with isolated green spaces.  This speaks volumes to the impact of humans on the native habitat of the butterfly.  This image is three color blocks:  Blue, yellow and black.  The red areas are hand painted watercolor.



Special thanks to Dr. Tom Emmel for the use of his photograph to create this print, and for his and his colleagues' dedication to conserving this beautiful species.

Five Endangered Butterflies: Mitchell's Satyr

Mitchell's Satyr

The Mitchell's Satyr belongs to the family Satyridae. The Satyrs are some of the most endearing butterflies. Their name is suits them: The mythological Satyr is an intoxicated forest-dweller. The goat-like man is a randy creature, and I have seen local Satyr butterflies mating in mid air, with the female struggling to fly against the male's weight.Even when flying solo, their flight pattern is dopey, slow, heavy and labored, and they have very round wings. Unlike many butterflies, the Satyrs don't often bask in the sun with their wings spread out flat, so observers will often see them in profile. with the underwings showing.

Photo: Tondo of an Attic red-figure plate, 520–500 BC. From Vulci

The Mitchell’s satyr lives in Michigan and Indiana in prairie fens, which are a combination of a prairie and a bog. The background map in this print is of the Paw Paw River watershed in Michigan. The USGS topographic maps have symbols representing wetlands that I incorporated in the background as well. The caterpillars eat foxtail sedge and tussock sedge, but their habits aren't fully understood. The cause of their endangered status isn’t clear. The print is made from two color blocks.

Photo credit: Andrew Hoffman's "Marshy Fen" (in Indiana) on Flickr.

Five Endangered Butterflies: Lange's Metalmark

Lange's Metalmark
This is the third of five posts about my endangered butterfly linoleum prints

The Lange's metalmark is the only member of the family Riodinidae on the endangered species list. It lives on about 50 acres of heavily mined sand dunes south of the San Joaquin River. Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge was the first national wildlife refuge in the country established to protect endangered plants and insects. The Lange’s habitat has been industrialized since the 1930s, but the butterfly was only recently recognized as endangered.

The population had been declining since 1999 to a low of just 158 in 2006. It has been slowly climbing back to 209 in 2007 and 367 in 2008 due to conservation efforts. It lays its eggs on naked buckwheat. The plant's seedlings require open sand to become established. Of all the states, California has the most endangered butterflies.

This print was made from two color blocks and is printed on Rives Lightweight Paper, 115gsm.




Photo credit: "Antioch Dunes" by jwdmeow on Flickr


Special thanks to Louis Terrazas, for use of his images, all of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Refuge Specialists at Antioch Dunes, and Urban Wildlands for conserving this endangered butterfly and its fragile habitat.

Five Endangered Butterflies: Uncompahgre Fritillary

Uncompahgre Fritillary
This is the second of five posts about my endangered butterfly linoleum prints

The Uncompahgre Fritillary is in the family Nymphalidae – The name of this butterfly comes from one of the nomadic groups of the Ute Indians that once traveled in what is now eastern Utah, western Colorado and parts of New Mexico and Wyoming. Uncompahgre fritillary lives on two 14,000ft peaks in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Uncomphagre and Red Cloud peaks. Its caterpillars eat snow willow, which is a miniature, alpine version of our tall willow trees. This print is made from two color blocks.





Alpine ecosystems are fragile – the species are isolated much like island species, and they are adapted to the temperature, moisture and altitude. Increases in average temperature are major concern for alpine and montane species; as temperatures warm, the subalpine zone marches up the mountain, decreasing the surface area available until it is gone.

Photo credit: Trail up Uncompahgre Peak by Jessi Varner on Flickr


Special thanks to the amazing photographer Bill Bouton for the use of his butterfly photo, and to Dr. Paul Opler for his gracious advice.

Five Endangered Butterflies: Mission Blue

The Five Endangered Butterfly prints tell the stories of the butterflies, and represent similar stories of imperiled butterflies across the globe. Each image contains three aspects of the butterfly’s life history: The butterfly in adult form, the geography of the region in which it currently lives, and the particular host plant(s) that the females lay their eggs on for the caterpillars to consume. Most butterfly species depend on a very narrow diet for the caterpillars, and the landscape provides the habitat for the ecosystem. In the case of endangered butterflies, the ecology and life history are so interdependent that human impacts are often the cause of their peril.

There are 17 federally listed endangered butterflies from five taxonomic families in the US. The “family” is the level of classification above the genus and species of an organism. These five endangered butterfly prints are representatives of the five families of butterflies. They are all linoleum relief prints on Rives Lightweight Paper, 115gsm.


The Endangered Butterfly print project began with the Mission Blue. Daniel Dancer, a conceptual artist asked me to create a t-shirt design for an “Art for the Sky” collaboration at Presidio Middle School in San Francisco, CA. (Aerial photo credit: Michael Maloney, SF Chronicle.) After completing the commission for Daniel, I felt like the Mission Blue's story was only part of the message I wanted to send out. So, I created a series of prints that represent butterflies of the five families.

THE MISSION BLUE STORY:

Mission Blue belongs to the family Lycaenidae— Eight of the seventeen federally listed butterflies belong to Lycaenidae, or the “gossamer wings.” The subfamily of “blues” are generally small, delicate butterflies that use legumes as host plants. The largest population of mission blues live in the San Bruno Mountains near San Francisco. Other small populations exist in other locations in Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco counties. The topographic lines in the background of the print represent the coastal San Bruno Mountains. The females lay their eggs on silverleaf lupine, which is on either side of the butterfly. This image was made from three color blocks.

This is the first of five blogs describing the Five Endangered Butterflies series. These prints are available for sale as a set of five, only, and are not sold separately.

Fear is static

"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself." ~Samuel Butler

I spent part of my weekend at a symposium, designed to give my hope about the track we are on with our planet. It was advertised as being uplifting and inspiring, and even in the introduction, the presenters said they wouldn't spend a lot of time talking about the declining state of the global environment. But in fact, that is exactly what they did -- focus on the negative. The program seemed to be designed to put us through an emotional roller coaster so that we would leave not so much feeling empowered, but frantic about the short amount of time we have to become empowered.

In a conversation with another participant, she mentioned that she feels like the technology she has surrounded herself with makes her feel safe. Isn't that true? Cell phones help us keep track of each other. Our temperature control systems in our houses help us feel like we won't die of temperature extremes. Our cars get our kids safely to and from school, so some stranger won't swipe them while they are walking. We constantly are confronted by the fact that our children no longer are allowed to explore their neighborhoods and we no longer know our neighbors. We connect with people now through technology, not with pen and paper, not face to face.

I ask myself, do these modern conveniences really offer us safety, or are they just another way for corporations to play into our fears so that we will have an illusion of safety and therefore consume more of the products? When my kids walk around the neighborhood, what is the actual chance that someone will snatch them or otherwise harm them? Do my kids need, at the ages of 7 and 10, to have cell phones to keep them safe? Does my house need to be this cozy? Do I really need to heat up that leftover rice and beans in the microwave to be safe?

Let's assume for a moment that these objects are a false safety net. Once we have them, how do we rid ourselves of them? There is an assumption that when I have guests enter my house, that they will not shiver or sweat because I have controlled the temperature to keep them comfortable. And we all know that we can't live without that cellular phone, or our microwave, television, radio, refrigerator, lights, cars, or computers. If someone took all of those things away, most Americans would probably feel very vulnerable and lost. We are stuck in a system of consumption, and we're being told that our system needs to change. We are paralyzed.

"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself."

Static is something you hear on the radio between stations, but it's also another word for unchanging. Static is the opposite of dynamic. Fear causes US to become static, unable to do what we know we must in order to fix things. Some of can't even get into the habit of turning off the lights at night, and some of us leave one on, just in case a burglar should come by.

My new fear is that if we keep this level of consumption up, we're going to scare ourselves out of any chance of making things right. My goal is to turn my fear into action. Does that mean I live with less stuff? Gosh, I hope so. I want to explore the possibilities that this world isn't such a scary place when you experience it head on.

Dear Governor Brownback,

I know it's normal for citizens of Kansas to write letters to their representatives in congress focusing on one issue, and occasionally some of those letters might get sent directly to your office. I've got a few issues on my mind, though. I bring them all to your attention because they all concern me for the same reason: You are jeopardizing the welfare of the citizens of Kansas, and the repercussions will be devastating for a long time. The cuts you propose will act in concert, impacting many populations, and the cumulative impacts will push jobs and people out of Kansas.

A couple weeks ago, I noticed in the paper that you want to drastically reduce funding for mental health facilities. Around the same time, you proposed drastic cuts to education. Yesterday I attended a rally to protest your dissolution of the Kansas Arts Commission. Now I've read that you also want to get rid of the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees state funded colleges and universities, as well as the Board of Education, which oversees public schools, so that you, or any other governor, can have more power over education in Kansas.

You are also trying to take away the Kansas Supreme Court's power to overturn budget cuts because the State's Constitution requires all Kansas school children to obtain a "suitable education." Your argument for doing this is that nobody knows what a "suitable education" is. That's the beauty of a Constitution, Mr. Brownback. It is always open to interpretation. That's why we have a judicial system made up of more than one person: to debate and decide upon the most just interpretation.

Many of your proposed cuts will remove our eligibility to receive matching funds from the Federal Government. I have yet to hear you address this issue.

I never really knew before what Republicans meant by "reduce big government." It seems what you really mean is "give one person more power." I want to tell you that I am afraid. I'm afraid for the underprivileged, like adults with mental illness, the children including one of my own who benefit from special services, and the already marginalized children who will slip through the cracks. I am afraid for the teachers, the art educators, the museums, the artists, and their ability to provide services and cultural heritage to the people of Kansas. I am afraid for our education system, which is already greatly weakened by backdoor federal mandates of No Child Left Behind. And for the cities that have to carry the burden of a growing population of mentally ill homeless, children growing up with an impoverished education, and a loss of cultural vivacity. I am afraid that the power given to the governor to make these decisions will have no check or balance system, and that the governor isn't qualified to make decisions about education or mental health.

In a recent comment about our state's sesquicentennial celebration, you said, "Courage, character and commitment, these bedrock virtues have stood the test of time," I wonder, if you knew when you said that, the author of the Kansas Reporter would precede your quote with the words, "Bright January sunshine warmed the capitol grounds as state leaders drew upon Kansas history ...[such as] the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case desegregating schools, Brown V. Board of Education." Well, now isn't that interesting. A Supreme Court fighting for the rights of children, and a Board of Education that had to be corrected. This is how our State works. Our "bedrock virtues" don't come from a gubernatorial mandate. They ARE the arts, humanities, education, caring for the disadvantaged, and keeping our government's check and balance system strong.

People who argue that these cuts need to be made often say, "if we don't cut here, then what do we cut?" I'm not in a position to answer that question, but if government is as big as you say it is, I'm sure you will figure it out. I plead with you to please consider these virtues as treasures to be protected, and as investments for the future, not as unnecessary expenditures.

Thank you for your time,
Angela Babbit