FROM THE EDITOR: Politics Are Increasingly Polarized; a Parking Lot Can Help Us Understand the Problem

As frustration with the political process grows, and more extreme voices demand ever-more-radical change, one UMW professor's approach to problem solving is showing a more effective path forward.

By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Run-off is a major concern. The solutions are well-known; people with the patience to achieve long-lasting change through the democratic process are harder to find. Photo by John Tippett.

The environment is one of those hot-button topics that tends to pit opposing parties against one another — tree lovers against developers, scientists again politicians.

The problem is that when opposing parties can’t interact constructively with one another, they stay in conflict. Hence, rather than finding solutions, the problems become wedge issues that are decided not by dialogue and compromise but by who’s in power.

In plain-speak, this is political “polarization.” A problem most are aware of, but few have a grasp of how to address.

John Tippett does.

As an adjunct professor of environmental science at the University of Mary Washington, he instructs his students in the science behind environmental dangers. And then he goes a step further.

I was lucky enough to observe his class on Thursday, when Tippett combined the science of managing stormwater run-off with teaching his students how to move beyond polarizing behavior toward effective, long-term change that benefits all parties.

It was a master class in wedding science and civics.

It Started with a Parking Lot

Parking lots and the Chesapeake Bay airshed combine to bring particles to the Rappahannock River that create dead zones, where there is little oxygen in the water. Slides courtesy John Tippett.

When it comes to protecting the Rappahannock River, one of the greatest challenges is managing rainwater run-off. Managing that requires being aware of two major contributors to the problem: 1) Air pollution, and 2) “hydrologically nonfunctional” surfaces that funnel pollution into the storm drains that then make their way to the river.

The air pollution problem stems from the Chesapeake Bay airshed, which brings particles from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Upstate New York — all major coal burning locations — to our region.

As for hydrologically nonfunctional surfaces, there are few better examples than parking lots.

Fortunately, the science for solving the problem is fairly simple. Rain gardens are highly effective in filtering particles carried by rain, significantly reducing their impact on the river.

Rain gardens filter dangerous particles so they don't reach the river. Photos courtesy John Tippett.

Before he was an adjunct professor at UMW, Tippett was the executive director at Friends for the Rappahannock. In that role he wanted to bring that easy-to-understand solution to the region. But how?

As he explained, it started with finding people to agree to be part of a model program. He found willing folks in a subdivision, where hydrologically nonfunctional ditches were carrying rainwater and its particles to the river.

The model was a huge hit with the residents who took part, and the visual impact was stunning.

A before-and-after photo converting a hydrologically nonfunctional ditch into a hydrologically functional rain garden. Photos courtesy of John Tippett.

The problem? It never grew beyond the demonstration project.

While Tippett traveled around the Chesapeake area training people in creating hydrologically functional spaces, went to lots of conferences, and oversaw a number of model projects, the problem itself remained.

Localities and builders working with tight budgets were reluctant to try something new without greater clarity about costs, time, and how it fits into local codes.

It was clear that bringing in a scientist to tell localities what to do didn’t work. Neither did writing books that sat on bookshelves or attending conferences where people get excited but give up at the first sign of resistance back home.

It Ended in Code Changes

As Tippett explained to his class, bringing about effective change requires something that is too often ignored — relationships.

These take time, of course. But Tippett learned that taking the time to invest in relationships is what finally moved the needle.

Simply said — whereas most of us want change now—understanding that significant change comes only through relationship-building and time is key to having a significant impact.

Over a period of four and a half years, Tippett took what he had started and then figured out what it would take to make meaningful change in how hydrology systems are developed.

He realized that to have effective change, he would need to work to reform the state codes that dictate how hydrology systems are built.

He pulled together a roundtable of stakeholders to discuss the idea and what would be amenable to all parties. He found a town to model the project, launched a meeting campaign, and then worked with engineers and elected officials on creating policies everyone could work with.

Once that was worked through, it became of question of deciding what local codes to targets and then working directly with political officials to bring about that change.

He knew he had something when, speaking before a board of supervisor’s member with a developer along side him, he heard the member say: I’m skeptical, but if the environmentalist and the developer are in together, I’ll go along.

Slide courtesy of John Tippett.

A Civics Lesson for All

Beyond lessons in environmental science, Tippett was delivering a more profound lesson to his students — a lesson in civics.

Groups from across the political spectrum have rightly been decrying the decline of civics education in America for more than a decade. Often, they talk about correcting this decline in terms of altering or strengthening course offerings. (See these reports from the American Bar Association, the American Enterprise Institute, and Brookings.)

While classroom lessons are valuable, they are not as powerful as having people like Tippett who can draw upon their own experiences in effecting change through the democratic process.

Whether because of our impatience, our poor understanding of democratic principles, or our growing disconnection from one another, what has become obvious is that too many of us aren’t working through the democratic process as it was designed to work.

What Tippett is offering his students, and anyone who will listen, is proof that the democratic process can work. Changes take time, but when worked through, they are long-lasting and effective.

The key to all of it? Relationships, a sharply defined understanding of a given problem, and a willingness to take the time to see the work through.

Democracy, it seems, does still work — when we embrace the civics lesson Tippet is offering, and trust the process.

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