It is two Spokane forces colliding at Down To Earth. Can the river survive?

In one corner, we have Paul "floats like a cannonball, stings like a B-movie" Haeder versus Bart "The Riverkeeper" Mihailovich. But in case you missed it, check this great interview between two of our best environmental advocates. This is ran earlier in the week as a lead-in to Bart's City Forum speech. Here's an excerpt:
 

What can the media do better to share river issues?
Understand them better. The river isn’t just water and boats. But it’s not so complex that citizens can’t figure it out. The media needs to trust that people have enough interaction with the river, or enough sense to absorb river information. This river affects our economy, our culture, our health and more.

What are the most important river issues facing Spokane, the county, and state?

In Spokane it’s pretty simple. It’s stormwater, wastewater and dealing with mine waste from North Idaho. It’s not that complex, not as much as people make it sound. In the county it’s preventing sprawl so we aren’t putting too much pressure on our resources; and at the state, it’s the budget. We’re hamstrung because there are ways to reverse damage and prevent future threats, but those take agency programs or guidance and we don’t have that in full right now.
 

Political discourse is so ugly these days. Has it infected your duties here?

It’s made me less excited about having to interface with the political structure. The issue over clean water isn’t about politics, it’s health and safety, and legality. At the end of the day, it’s pretty black and white.

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