If you build it, they will protest

On Wednesday, June 19, a county judge in California placed a moratorium on the construction of a new university gymnasium, the Student Athlete High Performance Center at Berkley University in Cal, for its incompatibility with state seismic law. \nYet perhaps the real controversy of building a new facility lies in the activities of the Berkeley “tree-sitters,” unruly environmentalists who have taken refuge in the native oaks and redwoods of the proposed site for more than a year, confronting workers and university police on occasion. Although they’ve claimed a victory in the recent ruling, their behavior is characteristic of an extremist minority. But it’s not too far from home. On June 20, two tree-sitters were forced from their trees and arrested when protesting I-69 in Evansville.\nIt’s certainly a way to get your message out; however, the IDS Editorial Board frowns on this type of activism. There are many outlets for people to protest I-69 – tree sitting shouldn’t be one of them. Indeed, protesting should be about influencing public opinion, not trying to throw a monkey wrench in the execution of that opinion. \nBut that doesn’t mean I-69 is without its shortcomings. \nIf proponents of the highway have their way, the next 8 to 14 years will involve Highway 37’s transformation into a major interstate highway and the creation of an entirely new one south of Bloomington. It’s not hard to notice that more than a few trees and habitats will suffer when construction teams pave hundreds of miles of four-lane highway. Then again, reality forces us to realize that Southern Indiana is hardly a tropical rainforest. Beautiful as they may be, Indiana’s meadows and hills won’t face wholesale destruction as a result of this one road.\nThat’s not to say students shouldn’t bother being concerned about the issue. I-69 constitutes a more reckless disregard for our environment than the uprooting and felling of a few trees. Building another large-scale highway implies that our state is encouraging its citizens to consume more and conserve less, a huge diversion from alternative-energy progress. Rather than pushing the development of sustainable transportation, this road says that another highway is the best way we can possibly spend hundreds of millions of state dollars on infrastructure. By providing people with another conduit to burning fossil fuels, our government does its citizens and the environment a disservice by flat-out ignoring our potential to research and invest in renewable resources.\nWhile we know pointing fingers hardly improves the situation, it would be stupid of us not to notice how much of the project’s downsides can be owed to Gov. Daniels’ plain ignorance of them. His 20th-century approach to the conditions and challenges of the 21st century is a trap we should view with a guarded eye.\nAnd yet, modern democracy provides countless opportunities for people to voice their opinions, and do so in responsible, mature ways. It’s easy for some to get caught up in the frenzy of opposing a government plan; so easy, in fact, that people often lose sight of what’s ethical and descend into a giddy self-righteousness that makes them feel as though they are entitled to do anything. Say your piece, I-69 opponents. But do it from the ground.