The earth’s climate has risen two degrees Fahrenheit in the past 100 years. While the effects are varied and dramatic, as one might imagine, it’s not the best thing for long, snow-filled winters. Not the best news for early season runs and those bonus days of spring riding? 97 percent of scientists are in agreement on the phenomenon.
Yet, the President of the United States doesn’t believe industry is changing the climate of the earth. “We’ll be fine with the environment,” he famously said during his campaign, “We can leave a little bit – but you can’t destroy business.” Your favorite Rocky Mountain backcountry, the hill you grew up riding, large expanses of Alaskan wilderness. Don’t worry. He says we can leave a little bit of it.
Even with a lack of leadership, some companies have taken it upon themselves to make business more responsible. On Thursday, Burton Snowboards announced a set of goals focused on sustainable products and practices that it will achieve by 2020.
This is the story I did on Burton Snowboards’ Sustainability Goals by 2020 for TetonGravity.com. Great speaking with Ali Kenney, Burton’s Sustainability specialist.
I tried to frame the story in the current political divisiveness and the fact that 31 percent of Americans, including Orange45 in the Oval Office, who don’t believe climate change is human related and mentioned the situation with Patagonia suing the President over rescinding 200 million acres of national monument in Utah. The natural world is very important to me and it’s important that we continue to work toward sustainability, even with the absolute lack of respect for ecology that our current administration has.
Some days, I see red. This is my part in the war on his ignorance.
“Progressive customers are looking to business to speak out. If you just sit back at this point, you’re kind of going to the other side,” Kenney told me.
Maybe we can leave more than a little bit?
