while her words were flattering, i can’t help but wonder how critical i am to young lyvi’s life. as the executive director of the jackson hole kayak club, a small non-profit dedicated to the growth of whitewater kayaking, my primary job is to ensure her wellbeing and safety on the water. in a safe environment, i can coach and teach lyvi about the movements of the river, the varying features and hazards, and how much fun spending time outside on rivers can be. but, at the end of the day, i am a young man who shares little in common with a 12-year-old girl. i can’t help but wonder how a female coach could have provided a more rich experience for lyvi that day on the water.

the disconnect between lyvi and myself reflects a larger issue in outdoor recreation. across kayaking, skiing, climbing, mountain biking and other outdoor adventure sports, the majority of coaches, athletes and participants are white men. deeply embedded social structures and gender politics cause the gender gap in outdoor recreation, resulting in an outdoor culture where everyone looks, acts and thinks similarly. this “boys club” attitude of the outdoors can create invisible yet impassable boundaries that alienate women and people of color from interacting with the outdoors and participating in the activities that i enjoy the most. but, this is old news.

outdoor recreation has been immersed in white american culture since the 1800s. colonial influences shaped our perception of the outdoors and how we interact with nature, including driving through national parks and participating in extreme outdoor activities. these influences, paired with the traditional masculine influences of domination and conquest, frame the outdoors as a space for macho white males. though the recreation industry has a flawed history, playing outside is a critical step for young people to care about their environment.

according to the u.s. forest service, outdoor recreation introduces people to the outdoors and stimulates public interest in varying environmental issues, generating support for the preservation of air, water and wildlife. as climate change becomes an increasingly important issue, the importance of outdoor recreation thus also grows. and, while we seek various solutions to the complex problem of climate change, we must rely on fresh and different perspectives from various people to tackle such a problem. outdoor recreation opportunities must be open to everyone.

at a young age, outdoor recreation (kayaking and skiing specifically) inspired me to protect the spaces i love to play in, and find thoughtful solutions to various environmental issues. but, my passion for the environment did not drive my return to skiing and kayaking; my coaches did.

i fell in love with my ski and kayak coaches over the years. i looked up to their demeanor, their high level of skill in the sports i was beginning to enjoy, and at their own passion for the outdoors. i wanted to be like my coaches, and felt i strongly that i could grow up to be just like them. every single one of them was white and male. i only ever had one female ski coach, and she was a substitute.

in order to expand the range of people participating in outdoor recreation, we must create the space for a wider range of coaches and role models for the young people wanting to play outside.  a female coach for lyvi has the power to transform a scary situation into a light hearted one. her leadership and demeanor are both traits for lyvi to follow. and, finally, a female coach’s interaction with nature and the outdoors can pave the way for lyvi to develop her own passion and care for the environment, cultivating new ideas and passion necessary to combat global climate change.

in my role at the kayak club, i find myself in a unique situation where i can fix this systemic issue of exclusivity in outdoor recreation. i want to be more thoughtful in who i hire as coaches, who participates in our programs, and making my favorite sport accessible to anyone interested. these sports, along with the coaches and role models in my life, were critical in helping me find my voice and passions, and i hope to create the same opportunities for everyone and anyone interested in playing outside.

while i might have saved lyvi’s life that day on the water, with the right role models in her life she might be able to save our world.

the bold plan, announced in late january by college president laurie l. patton, was met with resounding student and faculty support. the plan, called energy2028, details the school’s sustainable energy vision that’s aimed at both reducing middlebury’s carbon footprint and its environmental impact.

energy2028 includes commitments for middlebury to use 100% renewable energy resources, reduce overall energy consumption by 25%, and cease 100% of all direct fossil fuel investments within the next 10 years.

“this plan is true to middlebury’s culture and values,” president patton said in a statement. “it is bold and aspirational while remaining realistic and highly practical. it acknowledges that we do not have all the solutions at our disposal at this moment to meet these goals, but it commits us to make every effort to do so.”

the backstory

the middlebury board of trustees unanimously voted to divest, and indicates the institution’s commitment to a better, more sustainable future. but energy2028 was not born overnight. this decision, a key component of the new four-part plan, was the result of a six-year effort led by student activists.

middlebury, which created the country’s first undergraduate environmental studies program in 1965, has long been heralded as a beacon for environmental studies and action. however, middlebury has not always shown its commitment to the environment.

in 2012, a small group of middlebury students developed a plan for the school to divest from all fossil fuel companies in its endowment portfolio. the students presented this plan to the middlebury administration where they were met with a resounding “no.” to divest from fossil fuel companies was a dangerous economic move, and simply too bold at the time.

students led the charge

while met with negativity, student involvement — and hope — in divestment never wavered. as the original students graduated, new ones had to take the helm and continue to promote divestment and pressure the administration to act against climate change.

student turnover created a slow moving campaign toward divestment from fossil fuels, but eager students accepted the challenge. after about three generations of students carried out the work of those before them, progress started to be made.

alice butler and leif taranta, two of the student organizers of the current divestment campaign, picked up where students left off a few years ago. “most of the members on the board did not see the vision we had,” butler said. “through most of the campaign process, we felt that a lot of the administration did not really take us seriously.”

a small group of students regularly held protests and sit-ins to demonstrate their displeasure with middlebury’s investment in fossil fuels, but never quite created enough noise to really push the administration. at times when momentum slowed, however, the campaign aimed to gain broader student support for divestment.

in a student government referendum last spring, more than 80% of the middlebury student body voted in support of divestment, transforming a casual student group into a movement with serious implications and support. an identical faculty referendum was held this fall, yielding similar results to the student positions.

the results were clear: the middlebury community was calling for divestment.

a smart change in tactics

over the course of about three semesters, the divestment campaign grew quickly. across campus, students pinned small orange patches to their coats and backpacks showing their support for the movement. group discussions, protests and sit-ins grew, increasing the pressure on the administration to divest. and student organizers began making ethics, justice, and economic arguments for divestment.

“so often we were told we didn’t know what we were talking about and to stay in our lane,” taranta said, as a smile grew on his face. “but then we started attending town hall discussions and asking questions that faculty and board members couldn’t answer.”

shifting from a protest-based approach to one focused on research and intellectual pressure was a critical turn in the divestment campaign.

“the administration felt the pressure,” butler said. “they saw how seriously students were taking the movement, and it would bad on their part to not listen to what the majority of students see as a brighter future.”

once the campaign combined evidence-based research with student support, change started to occur. as student arguments grew stronger, administrators began to change their minds.

caroline mcbride and ted truscott, two members of middlebury’s board of trustees, completely changed their position on the topic, while david provost, the executive vice president of finance, acted as a liaison between president patton and the students.

pressure builds

in an already vulnerable position, the administration then began to feel pressure from other student campaigns, including those calling for a carbon tax, dining hall meat reduction, and emissions reduction.

“the whole of our environmental arguments was better than the parts, and it became clear to the administration that students care for the environment,” butler said. the administration caught on, and before long, students and faculty began working together to find an appropriate climate action plan for the school. energy2028 was born.

the announcement of energy2028 is a win for the students, the school, and our planet. paired with middlebury’s carbon neutrality announcement in 2017, the school proves it is invested in the future of its students and the planet. middlebury is a beacon of hope today when scientific predictions are indicating a bleak future for the planet.

when asked what’s next for the divestment campaign, butler and taranta laughed.

“you should see how many schools have reached out to us about their own divestment strategies,” taranta said. “a lot of students are committed to holding their schools accountable for a better future.”

lovingly known to locals as jackson hole, the town is home to just over 10,000 hardy people who are willing to endure the area’s rough terrain, volatile mountain climate and other challenges—all of which create problems for feeding its residents and tourists year-round.

that’s where jackson hole vertical harvest comes in: it’s a small vertical farm that is the town’s only consistent source of food.

as an outdoor lover’s dream, tourists from around the world flock to jackson throughout the year to ski on world-class snow, climb the surrounding peaks, raft the snake river, and visit neighboring grand teton and yellowstone national parks. however, many of the area’s allures also act as a double-edged sword:

the scenic mountains? they drive up land prices, limiting the area in the valley usable for building a home. this has become such a problem that the median price for a single-family home in the area has reached a staggering $2.65 million, as estimated in a 2017 report by the casper star tribune.

its blankets of snow? they may be soft enough for a skier to fall in love with, but the unpredictable weather can make travel in and out of jackson difficult — and sometimes impossible.

beyond this, temperate summers have been a major draw for tourists in the area, but this also means that the area’s growing season is a mere four months long.

these factors make the feasibility of large, traditional farms in and around jackson nearly impossible, making locally sourced, organic produce completely absent from residents’ kitchens.

without healthy, fresh produce, jackson local nona yehia decided to make a change for her community by founding jackson hole vertical harvest in 2016. using a vertical form of architecture, jh vertical harvest has transformed a tenth of an acre on the southern side of jackson’s only parking garage into a 13,500 arable square foot garden.

the farm operates using hydroponic agriculture: a form of agriculture that does not use soil, but instead stimulates plant growth via nutrients in a water solution, yielding roughly 100,000 pounds of food over the course of an entire year.

the unique architecture paired with hydroponic agriculture makes fruits and vegetables readily available year-round, which are then distributed to local restaurants, markets, direct to consumers, and even the hospital in town. the university of wyoming is currently testing the farm’s lighting and water efficiency to analyze its carbon footprint, with preliminary tests indicating significantly lower emissions than industrial farming.

beyond the farming techniques and environmental data, jh vertical harvest partnered with cultivate, a nonprofit focused on job placement for people with different abilities, in order to serve the jackson community in a different way: among its staff are more than 20 individuals with varying mental and physical abilities and 18 more people in training.

“jh vertical harvest is not a company focused on food,” said joelle lazzareschi, cultivate’s employment and training director. “the company gives equal weight to the importance of local food production and social impact.”

when asked about the future of jh vertical harvest and their business model, lazzareschi laughed, saying,“we are one step closer to world domination in lancaster, pennsylvania.”

after residents of lancaster reached out to jh vertical harvest for help in building a vertical farm in their own community, they proved that they have “the land, capital, social capacity, and drive to make our model a reality,” lazzareschi said. “we are excited for the opportunity, no matter where it might be.”

according to the oklahoma office of the attorney general, pruitt “​was a leading advocate against the epa’s activist agenda​” and filed multiple lawsuits against the agency. once at the helm of the epa, pruitt’s reign was overshadowed by questionable spending practices, and accusations of federal ethics violations as well as inappropriate professional behavior, as reported by numerous media outlets. oh, and he rolled back several energy and environmental regulations, too.

pruitt’s actions culminated in a whopping ​13 federal investigations​ after only 17 months as administrator. he resigned in july 2018, citing the “​sizable toll​” of the “​unrelenting attacks​” on him and his family from the media and environmental advocates as reason for his departure, according to pbs news hour’s joey mendolia and daniel bush.

in pruitt’s absence, former epa deputy administrator andrew wheeler, has stepped in as acting administrator. while pruitt made headlines nearly every week, wheeler’s tenure has been noticeably quiet. however, wheeler is continuing to deregulate the epa and rolling back once strong environmental policies more quietly — and effectively — than his predecessor. his role as acting administrator begs a few questions:

1. who is andrew wheeler?

according to his epa biography, andrew wheeler was born in hamilton, ohio, in 1964. he became an eagle scout in high school, and ​received his undergraduate degree​ in english and biology from case western reserve university. wheeler continued his education at george mason university where he ​received his mba​, and then ​earned his law degree​ from washington university in st. louis.

2. how did wheeler end up in the epa?

this is actually ​not the first time​ wheeler has worked for the epa. wheeler worked as a special assistant in the epa’s pollution prevention and toxics office during the george w. bush administration. he joined pruitt’s team as deputy director in 2017 when pruitt was appointed administrator.

after pruitt’s resignation, however, wheeler expressed ​disinterest in the administrator position. in an interview with the washington examiner, wheeler indicated “he had no interest in taking over his boss’s job. ‘i could have put my hat in the ring for administrator. i was not interested in that. i am still not interested in that,’ he said.”

3. what was he up to before working for the epa?

wheeler has been working in washington for more than 20 years​, primarily advocating for the interests of the fossil fuel industry. wheeler was the former chief of staff to oklahoma sen. james inhofe. inhofe is considered washington’s ​most prominent climate change denier​ (remember the guy who threw the snowball on the senate floor? ​yeah, that’s inhofe), with wheeler’s opinions of the environment and climate change closely mirroring that of his former boss’.

wheeler has ​worked as a lobbyist​ for multiple natural resource corporations including some of the united states’ largest chemical, coal, and uranium companies. he lobbied for energy fuels inc., the primary uranium company that ​supported the shrinking of bears ears national monument in utah.​ according to the center for responsive politics, the coal-mining company, murray energy, ​paid wheeler’s consulting firm, faegre baker daniels consulting, ​over $300,000 per year from 2009 through 2017.

in 2010, wheeler denounced the science presented by the scientists of the united nations’ international panel on climate change, claiming the ipcc “has functioned more as a political body than a scientific body.”

4. why haven’t i heard too much about wheeler?

wheeler purposely avoids the spotlight, and prefers to do his work legally, yet behind closed doors. ​according to a report from the new york times​, “mr. wheeler … avoids the limelight and has spent years effectively navigating the rules … ​his career was built around quietly and incrementally advancing the interests of the fossil-fuel industry, chiefly by weakening or delaying federal regulations.”

5. what is he going to do to the epa, and to the environment?

“(wheeler) knows much more about managing the agency and the technical side of the environmental statutes that epa is charged with enforcing than pruitt,” said myron ebell, head of the epa transition team, in an interview with the guardian. “undoing (barack) obama’s regulatory onslaught at epa is a key part of the president’s economic revival agenda, and therefore wheeler will be a point man for trump just as pruitt was.”

wheeler is going to push president trump’s environmental agenda forward quickly and effectively. he will do so by staying within the boundaries of law and ethics, pursuing coal and chemical industry interests, and staying out of the limelight.​ ​wheeler knows washington, d.c., knows how environmental legislation and law work, and avoids the spotlight.

6. as a fan of a healthy environment, is there anything i can do?

wheeler is competent and efficient. from working for climate change deniers and lobbying for mining companies and fossil fuel industries, he is a quiet, experienced, and formidable foe of the environment’s wellbeing.

however, a keyword in wheeler’s job title is “​acting​.” president trump still needs to officially nominate a new agency chief — one who must then be approved and confirmed by a senate majority vote. this is a process that could take months, and well past november, after the midterm elections.