By Frank Young

Ups and Downs

In October a federal judge issued a ruling upholding nearly all our claims that mountaintop removal mining and related valley fills seriously violate federal environmental laws. Nine days later that same judge granted a stay of his earlier ruling. Three weeks later we were scrambling to the nation's capital to prevent a legislative end run around current mining and Clean Water Act laws that would be effective if only they were followed. "Victory" turned to disappointment, then to anxiety, all in a matter of weeks.

Last year we sued a private corporation to prevent destruction of endangered species and their habitats in the Blackwater Canyon region. We were granted the right to enter private property in the Canyon for investigation. But when we asked the court to stop another suddenly announced logging operation in the Canyon until those studies could be completed, we were rebuffed by the court. Apparently the court thought the studies were important, but just not as important as the logging, which could kill the endangered species and destroy their habitat. Again, "victory" turned to disappointment.

During the summer and early fall several environmental, industry and regulatory groups held "stakeholders" meetings to try to negotiate implementation policy for regulatory compliance with anti-degradation provisions of the federal Clean Water Act. By fall it appeared that agreement might be imminent. But by late December that hope had all but disappeared when industry apparently decided to "pull up stakes" and put it’s chips in the political basket at the statehouse, rather than on the negotiations table. Optimism turned to disappointment.

So we have ups and downs -- lots of them. Who gets the credit? Who gets the blame? Sorry – no answer. Why? Simple. Those are the wrong questions.

We should expect lots of ups and downs. We should avoid arrogance and excessive credit taking when things go well; and we should avoid excessive finger pointing when we have setbacks.

Medicine is not an exact science. Conservation and environmental protection are not exact sciences.

In medical settings folks get sick and folks get well. They may get well because of good doctors. And sometimes they may not get well in spite of good doctors. And they may get well in spite of bad doctors. Many dynamics affect the outcome of medical procedures. Having a poor medical result does not necessarily mean that malpractice has occurred.

Likewise, in environmental protection endeavors many dynamics are at work. Things like: effective laws, or the lack thereof; political clout held by corporate environmental anarchists; financial resources of our adversaries, and the determination of the respective parties in disputes to "win at all costs" all affect the outcomes of our battles.

So when we "win" a battle it does not mean that we and our advocates are geniuses. It may mean simply that the law is on our side and therefore the other side lost.

Conversely, when we suffer setbacks, it does not necessarily mean that we suffer from poor strategy and poor leadership. It may simply mean that Goliath won today and that tomorrow is another day.

So in the day to day ups and downs we can keep our aim on the long term goals. We can let the disappointments of today become tomorrow’s past. Tomorrow is always a new day.

In religion, non-believers help keep believers honest by constantly goading them to re-examine their beliefs, and vice versa.

Likewise, in our work our setbacks goad us to find the error of our arguments and our philosophy. And that’s healthy, for both our mental health and for our strategic activities.

Bask in success, but only for a day!

Suffer in setback, but only for a day!