Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Environmentalists Noble, Local Publication Inattentive
RECEIVED Sun., April 27, 2008
Dear Editor,
Re: Save Our Springs' Bill Bunch and Austin Chronicle News Editor Michael King: Oh, will you two please stop it! You are worse than Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It's obvious you both want Austin to be a better place, so can we put "the things you do wrong" away and talk about the things we can do right? Sure, Bunch's letter was passive-aggressive, but King's response was downright mean [“Postmarks,” April 18]. As for the merits, I for one have many times wondered why council consistently votes against the wishes of their constituents. I mean, were they really considering allowing billboards to be built on 360 and other scenic highways? Who the hell would be for that except deep-pocketed business interests? I'm sure people would be interested in a local publication's explication of such seemingly dubious intentions. And if Bunch is the only one asking for a return to this, maybe he's just the only one who's been around long enough to remember how it used to be (and care). And I am so frustrated with the tired old "pull it out of a bag and slap it on" environmentalists' insult that we are arrogant and self-righteous (others include hippie and tree hugger). How dare we tell you what you could be doing to maintain the earth's beauty and habitability? Leaving aside the argument that many environmentalists are experts in the field and may only be applying scientific findings to common sense, could your real beef be that environmentalists ask you to do something that no major political figure has asked of the American people since Jimmy Carter (and we can see where that got him); and that is to sacrifice, to do something that involves looking beyond yourself for a minute to other beings on this planet, present and future? That would include speaking the truth, however bitter it may be.
Re: Save Our Springs' Bill Bunch and Austin Chronicle News Editor Michael King: Oh, will you two please stop it! You are worse than Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It's obvious you both want Austin to be a better place, so can we put "the things you do wrong" away and talk about the things we can do right? Sure, Bunch's letter was passive-aggressive, but King's response was downright mean [“Postmarks,” April 18]. As for the merits, I for one have many times wondered why council consistently votes against the wishes of their constituents. I mean, were they really considering allowing billboards to be built on 360 and other scenic highways? Who the hell would be for that except deep-pocketed business interests? I'm sure people would be interested in a local publication's explication of such seemingly dubious intentions. And if Bunch is the only one asking for a return to this, maybe he's just the only one who's been around long enough to remember how it used to be (and care). And I am so frustrated with the tired old "pull it out of a bag and slap it on" environmentalists' insult that we are arrogant and self-righteous (others include hippie and tree hugger). How dare we tell you what you could be doing to maintain the earth's beauty and habitability? Leaving aside the argument that many environmentalists are experts in the field and may only be applying scientific findings to common sense, could your real beef be that environmentalists ask you to do something that no major political figure has asked of the American people since Jimmy Carter (and we can see where that got him); and that is to sacrifice, to do something that involves looking beyond yourself for a minute to other beings on this planet, present and future? That would include speaking the truth, however bitter it may be.
Kelly Davis
