City, county missed telecommute memo

SOME OF the most dramatic images of the impact of the pandemic came in the spring of 2020, showing previously polluted, hazy streets in major cities around the world suddenly clean and clear. The unprecedented shutdown gave the planet a break from our increasing detrimental impact on the biosphere. As months went on, millions of people around the world fortunate enough to have the option adjusted to working from home. Slowly, as videoconferencing became the norm and our cars sat idle in the driveway, it dawned on many of us that the old way of working, in many cases, was wasteful, destructive, unproductive, and demoralizing. Maybe we would really see a new day where our personal health and that of the planet would improve without a loss of productivity in the workplace. Many of us worked incredibly hard to prove that this was possible.

Thankfully, a combination of sacrifice and science is bringing an end to the pandemic. We are returning to restaurants, getting much-needed haircuts, shaking hands and hugging loved ones. But we clearly have learned little. The city of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and countless other municipalities and businesses have gone back to the old ways so fast many of us have whiplash. Dreams of a remote or hybrid workplace have quickly come crashing down. In some cases, there was only a week or two notice that employees were expected to be back in their dreary office with forced air and fluorescent lighting. And although we were all just expected to work this way only a year and a half ago, it seems ridiculous to go into an office, every day, to do exactly what we are doing at home.

Ironically, many of the decision-makers who are calling back their employees are the same ones paying lip service to addressing climate change. They routinely make prepared soundbites about how critical it is that we do everything in our power to conserve energy and water, promote renewables and decrease emissions, but when it came to choosing to cut the commutes of thousands of workers, they chose to insist on a return to traffic. Even more surprisingly, the city will now require in-person meetings for boards, commissions and committees, with a virtual option available for members when it is “difficult or impossible” to make it in-person. The city is even requiring that a quorum must be physically present at meetings.

When they had the chance to practice what they preach, the city and county failed. So much for a new day.

BETH BARZZIAK

Albuquerque