Your tungsten pix are indeed beautiful, Chris, and your essay on our future prospects is razor sharp as always. The blue effect in your photos makes me think of the pthalo blue paint I'm addicted to using. There's a property there that plays with light in ways that I don't understand but cannot get enough of. I have to force myself to use other blues.
I grew up in Fort Worth, but have lived on the west coast since my twenties. I have often thought what a fate it would have been to practice environmental law in my home state. I burned out doing so here in Oregon, which at least is blue-green on its face ... I imagine I would have imploded a decade ago dealing with my type of work, if done in Texas. Out west here, at least the public officials, and usually the governors, are somewhat responsive to green pressure. And the judges of the Ninth Circuit tend to enforce process against the agencies. All that to say, I know what you're up against, and thank you for sticking with it. This freeway and tunnel project looks like a complete boondoggle, with the added challenge that it's likely bringing in ... zillions? ... via highway funds.
Loved the horsemint and the cool film. I'm not familiar with it, but it looks a bit like bee balm -- related, I wonder?
Oh! And I finished Rule of Capture last weekend. What a rip-roaring tale! I stayed up late a few too many nights in a row reading it. Feels prescient. Hopefully it's totally off-base in the way I hope Mad Max is totally off-base. Did you see that meme last week: "Mad Max, but as the film progresses, you find out the world outside Australia has stayed pretty normal." Imagine the same for the Republic of Texas.
It's definitely a challenging political landscape here, deeply rooted in the culture of colonial Texas, but my friends who practice doing public interest environmental law still have their successes, and they never give up. The pro bono work I do is more focused on municipal fights, which tends to politically line up as a balance between development and nature—very long odds right now, but with lots of political opportunity for change as people get sick of all the boosters growth that replaces culture with shiny transactional simulations.
Rule of Capture is definitely riffing on all those experiences, as well as those of other countries that went to darker places than we have yet. I researched all the invented law at the UT law library, and was slightly horrified to find all the dusty pre-WWII treatises on the shelves about the domestic administration of martial law. Thanks so much for checking the book out.
And horsemint is indeed also known as beebalm, the latter being a lovelier name for a wonderful and remarkably resilient plant.
I did not see that Mad Max meme, but it's brilliant I fear you are onto something 🤠
The two background color photos - skipper on horsemint and the last one -are exquisite. They feel like color that used to be, that then got taken away, and has now returned.
That Joe or Dementus turn out to be our only options are a very dark road. I'm counting on Furiosa. A much simpler but great story is The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk (1993).
Thank you for the New York Times article on insurance. Insurance is really just another predator, gambling on vulnerability. When will we start helping each other?
I thought we had problems with our water companies over here (all privatised and quite happy to allow leaks, pump sewage into the sea, etc) but this project in Texas is horrifying. I’m not sure how you deal with such immense environmentally issues - it’s a clue perhaps for me as to why environmental justice is such a thing in the US and far less so over here in the U.K. I’d love to hear more about your volunteering work in a later issue.
Yes, I'm afraid Texas is rather dystopian in that regard. And yet somehow, the wild nature here manages to persist, if mostly in the margins. Thanks as always for reading, and yes, I will be writing more about the advocacy work in the future.
Your tungsten pix are indeed beautiful, Chris, and your essay on our future prospects is razor sharp as always. The blue effect in your photos makes me think of the pthalo blue paint I'm addicted to using. There's a property there that plays with light in ways that I don't understand but cannot get enough of. I have to force myself to use other blues.
Thanks, Jesse! I'm definitely hooked on that blue, too. It's like the Miles Davis of blues or something.
I grew up in Fort Worth, but have lived on the west coast since my twenties. I have often thought what a fate it would have been to practice environmental law in my home state. I burned out doing so here in Oregon, which at least is blue-green on its face ... I imagine I would have imploded a decade ago dealing with my type of work, if done in Texas. Out west here, at least the public officials, and usually the governors, are somewhat responsive to green pressure. And the judges of the Ninth Circuit tend to enforce process against the agencies. All that to say, I know what you're up against, and thank you for sticking with it. This freeway and tunnel project looks like a complete boondoggle, with the added challenge that it's likely bringing in ... zillions? ... via highway funds.
Loved the horsemint and the cool film. I'm not familiar with it, but it looks a bit like bee balm -- related, I wonder?
Oh! And I finished Rule of Capture last weekend. What a rip-roaring tale! I stayed up late a few too many nights in a row reading it. Feels prescient. Hopefully it's totally off-base in the way I hope Mad Max is totally off-base. Did you see that meme last week: "Mad Max, but as the film progresses, you find out the world outside Australia has stayed pretty normal." Imagine the same for the Republic of Texas.
It's definitely a challenging political landscape here, deeply rooted in the culture of colonial Texas, but my friends who practice doing public interest environmental law still have their successes, and they never give up. The pro bono work I do is more focused on municipal fights, which tends to politically line up as a balance between development and nature—very long odds right now, but with lots of political opportunity for change as people get sick of all the boosters growth that replaces culture with shiny transactional simulations.
Rule of Capture is definitely riffing on all those experiences, as well as those of other countries that went to darker places than we have yet. I researched all the invented law at the UT law library, and was slightly horrified to find all the dusty pre-WWII treatises on the shelves about the domestic administration of martial law. Thanks so much for checking the book out.
And horsemint is indeed also known as beebalm, the latter being a lovelier name for a wonderful and remarkably resilient plant.
I did not see that Mad Max meme, but it's brilliant I fear you are onto something 🤠
Great photos! I liked Furiosa as well, and agree about the ending.
Thank you!
The two background color photos - skipper on horsemint and the last one -are exquisite. They feel like color that used to be, that then got taken away, and has now returned.
That Joe or Dementus turn out to be our only options are a very dark road. I'm counting on Furiosa. A much simpler but great story is The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk (1993).
Thank you for the New York Times article on insurance. Insurance is really just another predator, gambling on vulnerability. When will we start helping each other?
Please keep writing!
Thank you! I absolutely will track down that Starhawk story—I have long been interested in her work.
I thought we had problems with our water companies over here (all privatised and quite happy to allow leaks, pump sewage into the sea, etc) but this project in Texas is horrifying. I’m not sure how you deal with such immense environmentally issues - it’s a clue perhaps for me as to why environmental justice is such a thing in the US and far less so over here in the U.K. I’d love to hear more about your volunteering work in a later issue.
Yes, I'm afraid Texas is rather dystopian in that regard. And yet somehow, the wild nature here manages to persist, if mostly in the margins. Thanks as always for reading, and yes, I will be writing more about the advocacy work in the future.
The find the peach tree covered in butterflies! A beautiful image and I can almost taste the fruit.
It was a very special thing to find! Thanks so much for reading.