In a real David and Goliath confrontation in the early 1970s, a small group of activists managed to turn back a concerted and well-funded effort by developers to populate the scenic Pacific coast of Marin County in California. Where a major highway serving 150,000 new residents was planned, this determined group bought some key parcels of land and stood their ground until the developers abandoned their plans.
It was obvious to the environmentalists that the battle may have been won, but that the war would be ongoing. So they designed an educational program called the Environmental Forum of Marin (EFM) that is celebrating its 35th birthday this month.
As it states its mission:
The Environmental Forum of Marin is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the environment by educating its Members and the Marin citizenry about environmental issues. In furtherance of this purpose, the goal of EFM is to conduct training programs on environmental issues, provide continuing education for its Members and the public, and influence decision-making.
Every year EFM conducts an 18-week, one-day-per-week educational program called the Sustainable Earth Forum where, for only $380, trainees are taught by a diverse staff of professionals in the many aspects of environmental activism and practice. Each trainee is responsible for completing an original project and graduates become permanent members of EFM.
This strikes me as the kind of program that every locality – county and region – should have to ensure that sustainability issues are well represented by trained professionals. Having a constantly renewed core of such experts in the community can provide the balance required where politics, business and development interests gobble up most of the communications bandwidth.
