Politics, Imagination, Ideology, and the Realms of Our Possible Futures

Authors: Christopher Norment

Year: 2018

Abstract

The future of southwestern aquatic habitats and their native species is uncertain, due to possible impacts of climate-induced drought, population growth, and overutilization of scarce water resources, but also to politically and ideologically motivated attacks on the U. S. Endangered Species Act, and federal land management and regulatory authority. However, a potentially more profound danger is the development of a “post-truth” culture that accepts the notion of “alternative facts” and distrusts science. Such attitudes mean that the practice of science, as well as its findings, have political implications, a development that will make it difficult to develop effective approaches to counter likely, future droughts in the American Southwest, and consequent threats to regional aquatic biodiversity. Crafting a sustainable future for the Southwest and its native species and ecosystems will require a robust scientific understanding of the region’s natural variability and system complexity, and advances in public policy and management. However, it also will require effective political action, and that a critical mass of people transcend blinding ideology, convention, and human short-sightedness. Finally, we must imagine the realms of our possible futures, and consider the historical context of past, present, and future efforts to protect regional aquatic biodiversity in the American Southwest.