By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist
This week, I’m continuing to advocate for protection of the Greater Chaco Landscape. We’re pleased to announce the completion of a short film by EcoFlight, in cooperation with the Partnership for Responsible Business and Archaeology Southwest. The film chronicles several recent flights over the Greater Chaco Landscape and Chaco Canyon, juxtaposing the splendor of the ancient Chacoan great houses and the encroachment of oil-gas development.
3 thoughts on “What I’m Doing This Week: Paul Reed”
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I think you’re part of the problem, if you’re using a hydrocarbon-powered aircraft to do your work. Electric aircraft, powered by solar cells and wind power, do exist and have for decades. You should be using them and not hydrocarbon-fueled airplanes.
Thanks for your comment. I think we all need to be aware of our carbon footprints. Bruce Gordon, President of Ecoflight, was the pilot for our film and he is well aware of the issues. Believe me, if an electric plane allowed Bruce to do his environmental advocacy as effectively as the current approach, he would make the transition. Ideally, we would be riding bicycles or using other no-impact vehicles to get the word out. But, some tradeoffs are necessary to reach the largest possible audience and do the most good.
Thanks, Paul for what you all are doing. You show the – literally and figuratively – big picture. For one thing, we have to get away from regarding nature as a “resource”. Just hearing it in this context makes me flinch. We should even forget that word. Nature does not sit there waiting for us to figure out a way to use it up and discard the rest. It’s already doing the most valuable job it can for us. Plus, the mention of flares reminds me that Chaco is an official International Dark Sky site. I don’t recall gas flares being part of this deal. Same goes for its World Heritage designation. Without memory we can’t function. Do energy corps really want us to be amnesiacs?