Commentary: The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and Politics
While it is not sponsoring Tuesday's McCain event, the venue is worthy of the discussion of the environment.
On Tuesday, the Republican presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain will be at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History to hold a panel discussion on the environment. A number of members of our community are startled that the museum would provide its space for a political event, and some are dismayed at what they see as an abuse of the museum venue for partisan political purposes. Why would the museum allow that?
First, let me clarify: The museum is not hosting or sponsoring the event. Rather, we were approached by the McCain campaign with a request to rent our facility for a panel discussion focused on the environment. Since Fleischmann Auditorium was available for the specified time and date, we agreed. The McCain campaign is paying standard rental rates and is covering all incidental expenses.
However, while the museum did not organize or sponsor the event, we were nevertheless extremely pleased that Sen. McCain and his campaign leaders thought that the Museum of Natural History was the appropriate venue for a discussion of the environment. Here is why.
“Natural history” is an old-fashioned term for nature and the environment. For more than 90 years, the Museum of Natural History has been in the business of studying, interpreting and teaching about the environment. Today, the urgency of our work is greatly increased by the grave predicament we find ourselves in at the beginning of the 21st century.
With well more than 6.5 billion people inhabiting our globe, the human population has ballooned to a size where we have literally begun to “eat our planet.” Many of the most important natural resources that used to be for the taking (water, forests and fish) have declined to critical levels. We have begun to wonder whether we can develop alternative sources of energy quickly enough to substitute for the declining reserves of oil. Global agricultural production is struggling to keep up with the booming demand for food and industrial raw materials. We have polluted our planet’s air, water and soils to a shocking degree; the teeming diversity of life itself is declining; even the most hardened doubters have begun to accept that global climate change, caused by human action, is an imminent threat to our well-being.
It is not just our generation that faces a gargantuan challenge. If we don’t find solutions, the threat will be even graver for our children and grandchildren. There is no question that we need to pull together, use all of our energies and apply all of our ingenuity to find solutions to the huge issues that confront us. This is perhaps the greatest challenge of all – pulling together as a community – as this is possibly the one thing we are least prepared to do.
Our social fabric has become deeply rent by a pervasive culture of polarization and divisiveness. We seem to be unable or unwilling to listen to divergent views, and we are certainly unwilling to negotiate compromises in which everybody gives a little, nobody gets all they want, but the common good can thrive. Yet, it is this search for common ground that provides the only viable mechanism for developing solutions for the confounding problems we face. We need to accept the fact that nobody has exclusive ownership of the truth but that we can find it only, if we come together and earnestly and honestly search for it in an unconditional dialog.
This is our museum’s other great goal: “to connect our diverse communities” in order to help repair our tattered social fabric and to bring people together so that they can discover common ground and common interest in the midst of all divisions. There are so few institutions nowadays that do that. Even our churches and religions seem to divide us, let alone race, language, ethnicity, social status, income level and political persuasion. It is our ambition for the museum to be “a safe place to discuss dangerous ideas,” as one of our previous directors used to say. Nowhere is this search for common ground more important than in the search for solutions to our momentous environmental challenges.
For this purpose, the museum has recently begun to sponsor “town halls” on contentious environmental issues, most recently on the topic of “Oil in the Channel.” We’ll do many more of these in the future and, while the McCain event is not a town hall sponsored by the museum, it is nevertheless an event that is exceedingly important to our community.
People may or may not agree with Sen. McCain’s position on environmental issues, but I believe that it is worth, even important, to listen to him. We would be delighted if Sen. Barack Obama and his campaign held a similar meeting at the museum.
Karl Hutterer is executive director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
» wrote on 06/27/08 @ 04:37 PM
I applaud the Museum of Natural History for allowing this event to happen in their space. I disagree with McCain on almost all issues, including his plan to deplete our offshore oil supplies; and, in fact, I have enthusiastically endorsed his opponent Barack Obama, who will make a fantastic President. However, this type of event is great for our community, creates a dialogue around community issues and is perfectly appropriate at the Museum or at a location such as UCSB, SBCC or even a local high school. We are fortunate that the Museum sees the big picture and allows this type of event regardless of politically-based criticism on either side of the aisle.» wrote on 06/26/08 @ 06:46 AM
Frustrated by the division, shouts, and angry stares between the McCain supporters in line and the protesters across the street, I walked from the comfort of my fellow environmentalists into the crowd of ardent Republicans to try to engage in some calm dialogue. I introduced myself (I am a local science teacher) and found, to their credit, although some of the people were very emotionally charged, they were willing to talk and share. I am very grateful to them for being willing to explain their viewpoints. I tried to listen more than talk. The most sensible idea I heard was that you can't trust governments to always do the right thing. Of course. Their other ideas were quite remarkable. Various people informed me that: 1. Carbon is natural, the trees need it, so it is completely unreasonable to limit it; (I'm not sure if my later explanation of prehistoric atmospheric carbon sequestering fit into this lady's view of Earth's history) 2. The reason why we should not have electric cars and solar panels on every roof is because this is a loss of American freedom; if any government forces this upon the people, they won't want to do it and will rebel; 3. Most climate scientists are so uncertain of their data that they don't know what will happen and so we shouldn't base any public policy on uncertainty. (I tried to explain about scientific uncertainty, to no avail.) 4. And, in fact, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science are the political mouthpieces of the United Nations, which is engaged in a systematic program to undercut American Freedom in favor of a One-World Domination agenda. (As the "Left Behind" book series describes, many people believe the United Nations is the instrument of the devil and headed by the antichrist.) Wow. I think it's a shame that this becomes a science vs. religion debate, when really, I think individuals' spirituality could provide an excellent motivation for rational stewardship of a God's creation, and provide inspiration and solace as our community works together towards a green energy economy.» wrote on 06/25/08 @ 12:29 PM
Good for you! Your reasoning is good and sound. Many people like to react first and then see a larger picture.» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 04:18 PM
It would be nice if Obama hosted an event at the Museum...but you would need a MUCH bigger room!» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 01:13 PM
Maybe someone should take Trekking Left to the Chumash exhibit so he can learn how the resourceful ancients made use of the plentiful tar and oil before oil-drilling schemes were invented.» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 12:13 PM
I attended this mornings event and was surprised to see that most of the media were more interested in taking pictures and talking to the few protesters (with their mylar balloons that are not good for the environment) than the hundreds of people patiently waiting in line to attend the event. McCain made some excellent points in his presentation and I hope the media will accurately report what was said.» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 11:58 AM
After the event, maybe someone should take McCain to the beach and show him what it looks like before he ruins it with his off-shore drilling scheme.» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 08:42 AM
Karl: Kudos to you for standing up and allowing good reasonable dialogue to take place at our museum. We are proud of you and our museum. I attended the event today. Unlike the speculation of the nay-sayers, there were over-flow crowds of entirely "Locals" who are willing to listen to something other than the same tired vocal minority of anti-energy special interests. Tomorrows local and national reporting will now doubt show only the photos of the 30 GOO supporters left over from 1969, not the 600+ local residents lined up quietly to LISTEN to the dialogue. We too care about our environment and quality of life, while recognizing the challenges we face. We also vote too. It was a good discussion that showed McCain is positioning their campaign to lead with new ideas on energy and the environment while not following or repeating tired old politically correct rhetoric. GOO has done their job. They indeed "GOT OIL OUT". 70% of America is now turning the page and re-thinking..» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 06:19 AM
I think it is great that McCain is coming to our museum! I just hope that the protesters don't ruin the event as well as the peace that we enjoy in that area. I can't think of a better place to discus environmental issues!» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 06:19 AM
I only hope that he is somehow monitored to keep his "environment" discussion limited to the environment - not another campaign speech. We all - of every political affiliation - need to come up with solutions!» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 04:52 AM
Thanks for having such an open mind. I am more of an Independent but registered Republican. I was doing business with a Liberal Democrat last night and she started with her rhetoric. When I mentioned that maybe we all need to show a little tolerance and listen to each other, she blew a gasket. Thank you for standing by your decision to show tolerance in a town void of it. I noticed when Sen. Obama came to town, nobody had a problem about his speaking locations. Why is that? Best wishes, Jim» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 04:43 AM
The dismay has more to do with Sen. McCain's political party than anything else. Gawd, could liberals be any more predictable? Don't think for a second that they wouldn't be howling just as loudly if he'd have held a forum at either UCSB or SBCC.» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 04:26 AM
Although I do not subscribe to his view point, the fact that the environment is on the 'agenda' suggests that some progress is being made to bring the dark side to the table. What better place than the Natural History Museum?» wrote on 06/24/08 @ 03:08 AM
This is a highly contentious visit. There will be protesters --- I'd be there except for a prior commitment. It's also a neighborhood with limited parking. Undoubtedly, the museum parking will be filled with the 275 seat holders, including the press and all. Most, if not all other "town halls" the Museum holds are for and filled with locals. Not this one. It's an inappropriate location for this political event, no matter whether one agrees with McCain or not. Mr. Hutterer should re-think and if the Obama campaign asks - not likely and he knows it! - should politely direct the campaign to either City College or UCSB.Efforts Aim to Take Bite Out of Carpinteria Mosquito Outbreak
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