LDS environmentalists want their institution to address the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
High Country News, January 24, 2023
“Current and former church members say that the environmental teachings of Mormon scripture are overlooked in favor of teachings that treat life on Earth as merely a preparation for heaven. ‘All the years I was in the church, environmentalism was scoffed at — it was considered a fool’s game,’ said John Larsen, former host of the Mormon Expression podcast, who was raised in the church. ‘Being an apocalyptic church, they believe that Jesus will come soon and renew the Earth, so trying to fix the environment is unnecessary.’ Under this interpretation, Larsen said, the desiccation of the Great Salt Lake could be seen as simply another sign of the decadence of non-believers’ earthly existence.
Still, Mormon environmentalists, who see reverence for the Earth as essential to spirituality, say they are seeing increasing willingness to embrace environmentalism. Organizations such as LDS Earth Stewardship, founded in 2012, and MESA, which branched off to focus on political advocacy, are part of this change. ‘Our doctrine is very supportive of conservation, but we felt like the membership and the culture of the church have not been,’ said Marc Coles-Ritchie, an ecologist and MESA board chair. But now, he said, ‘there is a shift and a greater awareness and willingness to try to address environmental problems.’”
High Country News, January 24, 2023
“Current and former church members say that the environmental teachings of Mormon scripture are overlooked in favor of teachings that treat life on Earth as merely a preparation for heaven. ‘All the years I was in the church, environmentalism was scoffed at — it was considered a fool’s game,’ said John Larsen, former host of the Mormon Expression podcast, who was raised in the church. ‘Being an apocalyptic church, they believe that Jesus will come soon and renew the Earth, so trying to fix the environment is unnecessary.’ Under this interpretation, Larsen said, the desiccation of the Great Salt Lake could be seen as simply another sign of the decadence of non-believers’ earthly existence.
Still, Mormon environmentalists, who see reverence for the Earth as essential to spirituality, say they are seeing increasing willingness to embrace environmentalism. Organizations such as LDS Earth Stewardship, founded in 2012, and MESA, which branched off to focus on political advocacy, are part of this change. ‘Our doctrine is very supportive of conservation, but we felt like the membership and the culture of the church have not been,’ said Marc Coles-Ritchie, an ecologist and MESA board chair. But now, he said, ‘there is a shift and a greater awareness and willingness to try to address environmental problems.’”
Caroline Eaton Tracey writes about the environment, migration, and the arts in the US Southwest, Mexico, and their borderlands. She speaks and works in English, Spanish, and Russian. Her first book, SALT LAKES, will be published by W.W. Norton.
Caroline’s reporting appears in the New Yorker, n+1, New York Review of Books, High Country News, and elsewhere, as well as in Spanish in Mexico’s Nexos.
In 2022 she was awarded the Waterston Prize for Desert Writing and in 2023 she received Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Fellowship in Journalism and Human and Civil Rights and a Silvers Foundation Work-in-Progress grant. In 2024, she received an Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant.
Caroline holds a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives with her wife, Mexican architect and sculptor Mariana GJP, between Tucson, Arizona and Mexico City.
She is represented by Bridget Matzie of Aevitas Creative Management.
Caroline’s reporting appears in the New Yorker, n+1, New York Review of Books, High Country News, and elsewhere, as well as in Spanish in Mexico’s Nexos.
In 2022 she was awarded the Waterston Prize for Desert Writing and in 2023 she received Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Fellowship in Journalism and Human and Civil Rights and a Silvers Foundation Work-in-Progress grant. In 2024, she received an Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant.
Caroline holds a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives with her wife, Mexican architect and sculptor Mariana GJP, between Tucson, Arizona and Mexico City.
She is represented by Bridget Matzie of Aevitas Creative Management.
Caroline Eaton Tracey escribe sobre el medioambiente, la migración, el arte y la literatura en México, el Suroeste de Estados Unidos y su frontera. Habla ingles, español y ruso. Su primer libro, SALT LAKES, será publicado bajo el sello de la editorial W.W. Norton.
Sus artículos aparecen en The New Yorker, n+1, New York Review of Books y High Country News entre otros lugares. En español escribe frecuentemente para la revista Nexos.
En 2022 ganó el Premio Waterston por Escritura del Desierto y en 2023 recibió la beca Ira A. Lipman de periodismo de derechos humanos y civiles de Columbia University y una beca de la Fundación Silvers. En 2024, recibió una beca para escritura sobre el arte de la fundación Andy Warhol.
Caroline es Doctora en Geografía de la Universidad de California–Berkeley. Vive con su esposa, la arquitecta y escultora mexicana Mariana GJP, entre Tucson, Arizona y la Ciudad de México.
La representa Bridget Matzie de la agencia literaria Aevitas Creative Management.
Sus artículos aparecen en The New Yorker, n+1, New York Review of Books y High Country News entre otros lugares. En español escribe frecuentemente para la revista Nexos.
En 2022 ganó el Premio Waterston por Escritura del Desierto y en 2023 recibió la beca Ira A. Lipman de periodismo de derechos humanos y civiles de Columbia University y una beca de la Fundación Silvers. En 2024, recibió una beca para escritura sobre el arte de la fundación Andy Warhol.
Caroline es Doctora en Geografía de la Universidad de California–Berkeley. Vive con su esposa, la arquitecta y escultora mexicana Mariana GJP, entre Tucson, Arizona y la Ciudad de México.
La representa Bridget Matzie de la agencia literaria Aevitas Creative Management.