Final-Final

The Keystone XL pipeline. Tim DeChristopher’s sentencing date, July 26th. A salute to the California Conservation Corps. That horrendous new Russian heroin analog, “Krokodil”. The judge’s decision in the Crystal Geyser EIR case. This is just the tip of the (melting) iceberg in terms of the next column, and the next one, and the next. So many stories I had to tell you! But Green Light is over, kids, this is it. Final-final.

However, if you fancy this sort of thing and feel like you want to keep seeking out breaking news and views that depress and terrify you (more on this later), there are many other people and places that I look to for information and, yes, inspiration. Writers who shine through the shitscape: Chris Hedges, Robert Jensen, Derrick Jensen, Matt Taibbi, Joe Bageant (RIP you ornery cuss), and Naomi Klein stand out, and except for Joe, who’s dead, they write regularly and all have online get-aholds. My two big hits of bitter habit in the morning are Alternet and CommonDreams, news sites that cater to those who shun cream and sugar. Don’t forget Grist—“A Beacon In the Smog”—taking the inside temperature of dirty happenings from an environmental porthole.

And there’s people in realtime that can feed your need. I work as a consultant at the Butte Environmental Council—I just got my own card, which delights me I can’t even tell you how much—it says Education and Outreach Project Assistant. So I’m always reaching out, sometimes in highly inappropriate ways; but BEC is the go-to for environmental questions or issues in Butte County. Consider becoming a member; BEC has dollar memberships for students and a sliding scale for working stiffs. You like this place—why not root down? And we’ve got the Creek Cleanup coming up in September. Come volunteer, pull some couches out of the creek, it’s a good way to meet ‘nice people’ (read: hotties). “Oh, he’s such a nice guy, he volunteers and cares about the enviiiiiironment!” Riiiight?

AquAlliance is also an excellent place to engage and learn. Water’s their game, and they’re in it to win it. Many times Barbara Vlamis or her co-worker Jim Brobeck have been the only voice in the room saying, This is unworkable, this will kill fish, this will destroy ecosystems. How important are these people? You have no idea, kids. This county would look entirely different if not for their hard work. Their involvement is so critical, and just like BEC, they need all the help they can get, both body-wise and financially. Go to there.

Returning to that whole ‘depress and terrify’ bit: I didn’t write this column to do that. I personally find the current state of affairs depressing and terrifying, but any rational person would come to that conclusion. You can’t read a story about a train wreck that orphans and maims children and get a giggle out of it. So perhaps what writers like Bageant and Hedges and both Jensens, and maybe I, do is to process our own depression and terror through writing about the world. Because, really, people, let’s look at the facts: It’s been on since Carter put solar panels on the White House. And have we addressed the problem in any meaningful, substantial way? Well, we’ve sped up on our greased pole to hell. That’s action, right? We’re doing something. It’s the totally wrong thing. A tar sand pipeline from Canada to Texas? That’s Keystone XL. Really? Really!?

So my final-final is this: It will not be pretty. Nobody will save the day. Floods, fires, droughts, famines, martial law is what’s for dinner. Get skills, root down, do what you love. Because the world you know is on the outs . And so am I. Namaste, motherfuckers.