Panelist calls for eco‑socialist policies, land back and investment in public transit
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Summary
Justice York urged a post‑capitalist ecological agenda in Missoula that includes land back for indigenous stewardship, degrowth strategies, regenerative agriculture and investment in high‑speed rail and walkable cities.
Justice York, a soil conservationist who works with farmers and forest landowners in Missoula and Mineral counties, urged the audience to strengthen their "imagination muscles" and outlined an eco‑socialist agenda.
She recommended land back mechanisms (direct title transfers, conservation easements or sales) to return decision‑making authority to Indigenous communities; emphasized traditional ecological knowledge and prescribed burns to restore western fire regimes; and advocated degrowth measures that would reduce material and energy production in high‑consumption sectors (fossil fuels, fast fashion, mass‑produced meat and aviation). York cited a study she summarized as showing basic human needs could be met with about 15–30 gigajoules of energy per person per year versus a current average she cited of 53 GJ.
On transportation, York argued high‑speed rail can cut energy and emissions per passenger mile compared with cars and planes and pointed to local opportunities to replace short flights such as Missoula–Seattle travel. She also raised desalination as a partial freshwater strategy with environmental tradeoffs and promoted regenerative agriculture and local food systems as climate‑resilient measures.
York framed these policies as part of building sustainable, equitable communities and encouraged audience members to discuss and act on these ideas locally.
