Originally from Indianola, Washington - a very small town on Puget Sound built around a store, a post office and a long dock - Paul has been concerned about environmental issues since his love of the outdoors was juxtaposed with watching woods stripped from timber interests around the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and the rapid growth of the area forming Pugetoplis - it's the classic story of developments named after the things they replace.
After earning a journalism degree at Eastern Washington University, Paul wanted to stay in Spokane. He was fascinated (and concerned) by the city's social and political framework, local media coverage, and environmental policies. In 2004, he was disturbed to learn the American Rivers Association placed the Spokane River as the 6th most endangered river in the country - and that it hasn't really improved since - so he immersed himself in cleanup efforts and conservation, eventually co-operating an environmental issues blog called Down To Earth. Through Down To Earth, he became involved in numerous sustainable causes including working with local groups on preservation, water quality, transportation - those with a commitment to our quality of life. He believes the new and intimidating century hosts many problems but grasping with climate change is number one. He sees what is happening in our city, across America and the planet- for better and for worse - and hopes to speak to these things for a vested interest in our improvement and survival.
Paul is inspired by Robert Kennedy, H.L. Mencken, Isaac Brock, Mark Dowie, Amy Goodman, Barack Obama - to name a few - and thinks Gary Snyder said it best: "More and more of us in the industrialized world are feeling a spiritual void, and coming to believe that moving away from consumerism and towards community may be an important step in recovering that nameless thing we've lost."
