By Paul Cienfuegos, CRUS Founding Director
May 2021
The timing for my first visit to the site of the proposed lithium open-pit mine in a wild land in Nevada called Thacker Pass shared an incredible synchronicity with the publication of a new book – Bright Green Lies – by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, and Thacker Pass camp co-founder Max Wilbert. Its subtitle is “How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It.” Derrick sent me a copy just a day before I hit the road, and it’s already having a brutal but entirely unsurprising impact on me.
We humans simply cannot move forward with any honest form of sustainable culture if we are to continue to base our entire lives on the idea of “industrial civilization” to meet our needs. This model is already causing 200 species a day to go extinct. Our oceans are rapidly emptying of fish. The planet’s original forests are almost entirely gone. Our topsoil is almost gone. Much of the US’ and the world’s remaining fresh water supply is contaminated. The Democrats’ version of sustainability would be the final blow to all life on the planet.
This has to be everyone’s rallying cry, as we have simply run out of time to do anything else:
No more clearcuts. No more mines. No more oil drilling. No more massive monocrop-agriculture. No more big box stores. No more car driving. No more single-use plastic. We literally have no other options left. And yes, this does seem truly impossible. But if you read their book, you’ll believe me that there are NO OTHER OPTIONS. And btw, there is also a documentary movie of the same title. I urge y’all to read the book and watch the movie. You can even order a copy of the book from me at 100fires.com. Just ask.