A hopeful sign, or two

The election results could have been worse. Mainstream media expected a “red wave.”  Democrats largely held their own and, in Minnesota, made some important gains. Unfortunately, those gains were made in areas other than my own state house district, senate district and congressional district. I’m “represented” by a Republican in each case. The Star Tribune has an interesting, if depressing, election outcome map. (Blue=Democrats; Red=Republican, click link below map to bigify and for full article.)

how Minnesota voted for Governor

The vote for governor shows a strong urban-rural split. That makes it hard to serve “One Minnesota,” but at least the legislature and the executive branches are now controlled by one party. Let’s hope the are no Minnesota DINOs-in-wating like Sinema and Manchin. The Iron Range candidates are no longer serving in the legislature.

Yesterday I came across another small sign of hope. I’m sharing it here because it may be of interest and I think it deserves lots of support. At COP27, the Biden Administration unveiled A Roadmap for Climate Progress, Thriving Nature, Equity, and Prosperity.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to maximizing nature-based solutions as critical tools in its toolbox to confront climate change and other major challenges. This report provides a roadmap with five strategic areas of change needed to unleash nature’s full potential: Update Polices; Unlock Funding; Lead with Federal Facilities and Assets; Train the Workforce; and Prioritize Research, Innovation, Knowledge, and Adaptive Learning. This is a starting point, an initial framework for action. The steps we collectively take now to drive the integration of nature-based solutions and make them a priority for investments and infrastructure will, in part, determine the success of our fights against climate change, nature loss, and inequity. We call on you to lead with us in advancing these policies and practices to meaningfully improve the lives of Americans and people around the world.

There are local efforts that can benefit from increased emphasis on nature-based solutions, particularly if Traditional Ecological Knowledge is included. In fact, we can benefit from greater use of traditional knowledge in more than ecological efforts. As N. Scott Momaday reminds us in When The Light of The World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through, words have meaning:

Prayer for Words

N. Scott Momaday - 1934-

         My voice restore for me.
                           Navajo
 

Here is the wind bending the reeds westward,
The patchwork of morning on gray moraine:

 

Had I words I could tell of origin,
Of God’s hands bloody with birth at first light,
Of my thin squeals in the heat of his breath,
Of the taste of being, the bitterness,
And scents of camas root and chokecherries.

And, God, if my mute heart expresses me,
I am the rolling thunder and the bursts
Of torrents upon rock, the whispering
Of old leaves, the silence of deep canyons.
I am the rattle of mortality.

I could tell of the splintered sun. I could
Articulate the night sky, had I words.

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