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 environment, migration, art, and literature in the US Southwest, Mexico, and the borderlands between the two. She speaks and works in English, Spanish, and Russian.
Caroline’s reporting appears in the New Yorker, n+1, the Atlantic, and elsewhere, as well as in Spanish in Mexico’s Nexos. In 2022-2023 she was the climate justice fellow at High Country News. 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. She is also an editor-at-large at Zócalo Public Square.
Her essays appear in the Kenyon Review Online, Shenandoah, New South, and elsewhere. “A River Passes By Here” was runner-up in the 2020 Financial Times/Bodley Head essay contest and “The Ephemeral Forever” won Ruminate Magazine’s 2021 VanderMey Nonfiction Contest. Her art writing has appeared in Nexos, SFMOMA’s Open Space, and Burlington Contemporary, and her book reviews appear in the European Review of Books and the Nation.
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 currently seeking representation for her manuscript SALT LAKES, which combines personal narrative and science journalism to provide a new, queer perspective on climate change in arid environments, and a book proposal about the US-Mexico borderlands.
Ask her about sugar beets.
Caroline’s reporting appears in the New Yorker, n+1, the Atlantic, and elsewhere, as well as in Spanish in Mexico’s Nexos. In 2022-2023 she was the climate justice fellow at High Country News. 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. She is also an editor-at-large at Zócalo Public Square.
Her essays appear in the Kenyon Review Online, Shenandoah, New South, and elsewhere. “A River Passes By Here” was runner-up in the 2020 Financial Times/Bodley Head essay contest and “The Ephemeral Forever” won Ruminate Magazine’s 2021 VanderMey Nonfiction Contest. Her art writing has appeared in Nexos, SFMOMA’s Open Space, and Burlington Contemporary, and her book reviews appear in the European Review of Books and the Nation.
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 currently seeking representation for her manuscript SALT LAKES, which combines personal narrative and science journalism to provide a new, queer perspective on climate change in arid environments, and a book proposal about the US-Mexico borderlands.
Ask her about sugar beets.
Caroline Eaton Tracey escribe sobre el medioambiente, la migración, el arte y la literatura en México, el Suroeste de Estados Unidos y la frontera entre ellos. Habla ingles, español y ruso.
Sus artículos aparecen en The New Yorker, n+1 y The Atlantic, entre otros lugares. En español escribe frecuentemente para la revista Nexos. En 2022-2023, cubría la justicia climática para la revista High Country News. 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. También colabora como editora en Zócalo Public Square.
Sus ensayos aparecen en Kenyon Review Online, Shenandoah y New South, entre otros lugares. “Aquí Pasa Un Río” ganó segundo lugar en el premio de ensayo Financial Times/Bodley Head de 2020; en 2021 “Lo Efímero, Para Siempre” ganó el concurso de no-ficción VanderMey de Ruminate Magazine. Sus reseñas y ensayos sobre el arte han aparecido en Nexos, Open Space (plataforma del Museo de Arte Moderno de San Francisco) y Burlington Contemporary, y sus reseñas literarias en European Review of Books y The Nation.
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.
Actualmente busca publicar su manuscrito de no-ficción sobre los lagos salados y está preparando una propuesta para un libro sobre la zona fronteriza México-Estados Unidos.
Pregúntale sobre betabeles.
Sus artículos aparecen en The New Yorker, n+1 y The Atlantic, entre otros lugares. En español escribe frecuentemente para la revista Nexos. En 2022-2023, cubría la justicia climática para la revista High Country News. 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. También colabora como editora en Zócalo Public Square.
Sus ensayos aparecen en Kenyon Review Online, Shenandoah y New South, entre otros lugares. “Aquí Pasa Un Río” ganó segundo lugar en el premio de ensayo Financial Times/Bodley Head de 2020; en 2021 “Lo Efímero, Para Siempre” ganó el concurso de no-ficción VanderMey de Ruminate Magazine. Sus reseñas y ensayos sobre el arte han aparecido en Nexos, Open Space (plataforma del Museo de Arte Moderno de San Francisco) y Burlington Contemporary, y sus reseñas literarias en European Review of Books y The Nation.
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.
Actualmente busca publicar su manuscrito de no-ficción sobre los lagos salados y está preparando una propuesta para un libro sobre la zona fronteriza México-Estados Unidos.
Pregúntale sobre betabeles.