Chris Liu’s Story
His generation didn’t break the climate. But here’s why he hopes they can fix it.
Conservationist Chris Liu looks to the future – his own and for national parks in the Pacific Northwest.
An oil refinery’s complex maze of pipes and flare stacks roar on the shores of the vast Puget Sound. BP Cherry Point is Washington state’s largest refinery, emitting fumes as it processes some of the dirtiest crude oil from around the world. To the east, threatened bald eagles soar above North Cascades National Park. Down the coast, Chris Liu hikes with a friend through Olympic National Park.
Solutions: National Parks as a Catalyst for Pollution Reduction
Chris is on his way up from Texas for a new job, and his friend is along for the ride. Olympic is the first place they’ve stopped since crossing the state line. Camping in the backcountry, Chris is astounded by the park’s diversity — old growth rainforests, snow-capped peaks, tide pools on the beach. Olympic seems pristine. But taking in the view from an alpine hillside, he notices haze obscuring the distance. At nearby Mount Rainier National Park, he sees signs with information on air pollution.
Chris didn’t discover his love of natural places until college. His immigrant parents had focused on working to give their children opportunities in education and jobs, not outdoor recreation. But then a college buddy invited him to a family cabin near a national park, and he realized, “You feel at peace with yourself away from the distractions of our modern lifestyles. It’s a chance to connect with friends and myself and unplug from the day to day.” He went on to complete his college degree in finance. But his passion became conservation.
Chris followed his passion across the country, serving as an ambassador for Texas State Parks, building bridges and trails at Crater Lake National Park, and now working for the National Park Service’s Cultural Landscapes program in Seattle.
On a hike with his new work team, one of his co-workers brings along her baby girl in a backpack carrier. The baby looks around at the trees, cooing and babbling. To Chris, she sounds awe-struck — a response that he can relate to. His thoughts turn to the future: “That’s definitely something I would want to foster in my family one day.”
But the shadow of climate change hangs over that hope. As the planet warms and ecosystems change, some species are already facing extinction. Scientists project that by 2030 or 2040, the glaciers in North Cascades and other parks will be gone.
Chris wishes things could stay as they are now for his own future family. “But I know the reality is, it’s not going to stay the same,” he says. “I feel bad for other species who call this place home. I feel bad for the parks. But national parks are supposed to be protected at the highest level. They’re the canary in the coal mine. Makes you wonder how bad things are outside the parks where things aren’t so well-protected.”
Less than 100 miles from Olympic and North Cascades, the BP Cherry Point refinery has received a permit to expand. Chris soon learns that the permit fails to require the best pollution control measures, which would have reduced harmful air pollution at the parks, not to mention nearby communities.
“When you have a refinery so close that it harms the air quality of the area by emitting dangerous fumes, it doesn’t seem right that we would allow that to continue, let alone get worse,” Chris says. “I don’t like that the state issued a permit to build more — and affecting my ability to enjoy the parks in the future.”
Sometimes, an older person will apologize to Chris for leaving his generation a world that’s facing such daunting climate challenges.
But Chris doesn’t like to point fingers. “We just have to move forward and try our best to find solutions,” he says, and describes the path forward: “We have to acknowledge that what the scientists are saying is real. Being engaged with our political representatives is important. Our generation has new innovative ideas. We have the drive — our kids and grandkids can’t enjoy the same kind of world if we don’t do what we have to do to fix it.”
