Letter to Editor | Reject charter amendment proposition 1

||| FROM ELISABETH ROBSON |||

I am writing today to urge voters to vote “no” on the proposed language change in the preamble of the San Juan County charter in the Amendment to the Charter Introduction. I am urging a “no” vote specifically because of five words in the Economy value in the amendment: “encourages sustainable growth and development.” In the proposed change, to be added under a new charter section “Declaration of Community Values”, the charter will now state that the people of this county value “an economy that encourages sustainable growth and development.” This is destructive to our community, and I explain why below.

For an action to be sustainable you must be able to perform it indefinitely. This means that the action must either help, or at the very least not materially harm, the land base. If an action materially harms the land base, then it cannot be performed indefinitely, because eventually the land base is so irreparably harmed that no one can live on it.

So, what is “sustainable growth,” then? It’s growth that continues indefinitely. If the proposed statement reflected the county citizens’ wish for sustainable growth of forests, or salmon, or island marbled butterfly populations, then I would be all for it. But this value is about sustainable economic growth and development. And we all know what that means. It means sustainable (indefinite) population growth. It means sustainable (indefinite) tourism growth. It means sustainable (indefinite) housing growth.

Can we have sustainable (indefinite) growth of human economic development in San Juan County? The answer to this is obviously “No.” Human economic development requires destroying the health of the land base, by cutting down trees, digging up soil and plants, pouring concrete, building roads and houses, polluting more, using more energy, and bringing more people from far away on planes, ferries, and automobiles, all of which require destruction of the land base. As we “grow”, then, we destroy the land base which provides for us.

To value sustainable growth and development of the economy in San Juan County is to value our own destruction. Are we suicidal?

In addition, I’d like to note that the “Economy” value directly contradicts the “Climate and Ecosystem” value, which also appears in the Declaration of Community Values. It seems odd to propose that we have two conflicting values added to the Charter.

The upcoming UN 2022 report on the state of the climate and ecosystems states that species extinction, more widespread disease, unlivable heat, ecosystem collapse, and other impacts of human development are accelerating and will become “painfully obvious before a child today turns 30.” The report also states that “We need transformational change operating on processes and behaviours at all levels: individual, communities, business, institutions and governments” and that “We must redefine our way of life and consumption.”

The “Community Values” included in this proposed amendment do not reflect the transformational change required of this community in any way. I urge voters to vote NO on this amendment and demand better of our County leaders.