Are Environmentalists Missing An Opportunity?

As an environmentalist, I feel that some of my peers in their zeal about issues like the Meadowcreek Parkway can lose their perspective on the larger issues. After all, what is the main goal? Is it preserving green space and habitat? Or, maybe it is about stopping sprawl and promoting walkable communities? Could it be protection of historical resources? Whatever the issues that motivate, it is vitally important not to forsake those larger issues for the sake fighting a single project. By doing that, you lose sight of any potential compromises that could be made which would move the community forward on important issues.

For example, the Meadowcreek Parkway has been identified as priority number one for the Chamber of Commerce. That's a pretty huge bargaining chip. Why not use it to your advantage? For example, what if environmentalists could get the chamber of commerce to commit to more sustainable design and walkable communities in exchange for removing objections to the parkway? Or, if the concern is the damage to wetlands and habitat, then why not use federal law to our advantage and create twice as much quality wetland habitat to replace the impaired habitat choked with invasive species that will be lost to the parkway?

Compromising doesn't need to mean that you surrender an ounce of your idealism and values. On the contrary, failure to compromise can mean surrendering your ideals and community objectives for the sake of fighting a single project. A good example was the recent meeting with the Army Corp of Engineers. This was an important opportunity for the environmental community to propose solid suggestions for reducing the impacts of this road on environmental resources. Instead, it was used as an opportunity to slow the process and fight the road. What's the end result of that? If the road is built then we can expect the substandard wetland mitigation that we've all come to expect from developers and VDOT elsewhere.

In short, yes, fight the parkway, but keep in mind that this road very well could still be built, and we do ourselves a disservice by not having a plan "b" and neglecting to be open to negotiation with those on the other side of the table.