28 June 2018 Crafting A Message

Take Two

This is my second attempt at this blog. I'm nearing the end of my expedition and I'm beginning to think about my message I want to share when I return home to Oklahoma. I thought about the pipeline and how it symbolizes the struggle that is happening not only here in Alaska, but also in all oil and gas rich states. I armed myself with statistics and numbers and started to write. Then I realized that numbers and data don't tell the whole story. The majority of humans on this earth couldn't care less about my numbers and data. I do have a story, though. And we all love a good story.

It's Complicated

There is a striking dichotomy that most Okies feel about their home. I grew up in western Oklahoma on 80 acres of creek-filled short grass prairie. Often I have looked out across the tundra and felt at home because the view reminds me so much of my childhood home.

We love our blue skies, stunning sunsets, and limitless views. We find beauty in the subtlety in our changing seasons and are humbled by the strength of the storms that arrive in the spring. We would do anything to preserve this home for future Oklahomans.

But it's complicated. As much as I love my home, I have family and friends who depend on the oil and gas industry to support their households. I love and teach their children. I do not want to see them struggle to make a living. As goes the oil and gas market, so goes my immediate circle of loved ones' lives. There is a direct and significant correlation. With oil and gas currently contributing 10% of the state's gross state product, it wields a strong hand in our state. Often I feel that my choices are my family and friends suffer or we can do what's right for the environment.

So What Do You Do?

I've decided that love for environment and love for my community do not have to be exclusive. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision. I can do small things that make my own, personal carbon footprint tread more lightly on this Earth. I can nurture the affinity for our local ecosystems in my community. I can encourage those with the power to make the decisions in our state to start thinking big picture while making small steps. What I cannot do is feel overwhelmed and hopeless. Because it isn't. As American author and visionary Alvin Toffler said, "You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction."