But our conflicts present one great advantage: neither major political party offers much in the way of solutions. Consult the platform and mainstream positions of either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party and, on the issues that matter most to the West, you will find yourself contemplating the yawning interior of Mother Hubbard's cupboard.
This vacancy presents a fine opportunity to notice the mounting irrelevance of partisan squabbling. When it comes to the all-important environmental issues, most Westerners are actually political hybrids, mixtures and muddles no matter what their party registration. They want to be supplied with the necessary natural resources to support their current level of comfort and convenience, yet they want the production sites of those natural resources to be out of sight and out of mind. They want water coming out of the faucet without disruption of the river system; they want to build Western-style log houses without disturbing a single tree within their viewshed.