I hate to continue to belabor the debate regarding
what is or is not an appropriate topic for HCN,
but when I saw the recent letter from Carol Chipman entitled “Stick
to Environmental Topics,” I felt I had to respond (HCN, 10/3/05:
Stick to environmental topics).
As a planner in the West,
I know that you cannot separate social and environmental topics.
The sprawl in our region, loss of agricultural lands, impacts to
species, etc., can all be traced to social issues and events.
The line between “social” and “environmental” issues is
very gray and quite permeable. Those of us who care need to keep
this in mind so we don’t blind ourselves to the true actions
that impact our environment, and relegate ourselves to jumping on
the bandwagon once it’s too late.
Brian
Holt
Big Pine, California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Social issues are environmental issues.
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