On March 12, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a series of actions designed to roll back much of the work the agency did under previous presidential administrations.
Many of the efforts were intended to counteract the dangerous impacts of climate change. Those impacts the agency has long held is the result of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s an assertion based on something called the "Endangerment Finding," which is one of those government phrases that sounds kind of dry and procedural. But, the Endangerment Finding is actually pretty dramatic and direct.
It was announced back in 2009, during the first Obama administration, stating “...greenhouse gases taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations.” On March 12, Zeldin said the EPA would now begin a formal process of reconsidering the Endangerment Finding.
In a YouTube video accompanying his announcement, Zeldin dismissed climate concerns as part of what he and President Donald Trump have called a scam. The Endangerment Finding, he declared, was just ideology.
"I’ve been told the Endangerment Finding is considered the holy grail of the climate change religion," Zeldin said during an announcement.
Now, you might expect people who believe climate change is a clear and present danger to bristle at Zeldin’s framing of their concerns as religion, rather than science. But Ann Morton, a textile artist, sort of embraces it.
"You know, these are 2,500 prayers that are going up to just remind people that we have one planet," Morton said.
Ann Morton's new public art installation is currently on view at the Desert Botanical Garden. It’s called "Toward 2050," and it’s a circular labyrinth, with a quarter-mile path that winds towards the center. The walkway is lined with pieces of fabric, each 10 inches square.
"They’re painted, they’re sewn, they’re embroidered, they’re woven, there’s some eco-printing in here, where people have used leaves to actually print on the fabric. So there’s all kinds of different techniques," Morton said.
Back in 2023, Morton put out a call for artists to make textile work inspired by the climate crisis. About 2,500 people from all over the country responded. Morton mailed them blank squares of fabric, with a very simple prompt.
"Just to make something that represented something they cared about in their world, in their environment," Morton said.
When the artists finished their projects, they sent them back to Morton. The pieces range from abstract paintings of sunsets, rainbows, and mountains to text-based designs. Several are variations on the phrase, “There is no Planet B.”
"They’re just really meant to ignite that contemplation about climate change and how we’re treating our world and taking care of the place that we live," Morton said.
Morton refers to the decorated fabrics as “prayer flags,” though she’s careful to note that she doesn’t want people to think she’s co-opting the Tibetan tradition of prayer flags. In fact, she says, the intended audience isn’t any particular deity — it’s a group of mere mortals.
"When the makers signed up to make the flags, they got a postcard to send to their lawmakers. So, we have a few thousand of those postcards in circulation going to lawmakers, just talking about climate change, and to remember that in every sector, for every policy, consider climate change as part of the consideration when you’re making policy," Morton said. "'Cause it really affects everything — it affects agriculture, it affects water use, it affects transportation. It affects everything."
Morton has another goal in mind for visitors to the labyrinth. As they make their way through the rows of flags, they walk across metal plates with years printed on them — 2025, 2035, all the way up to 2050. Barring significant action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 2050 is the year that many scientists agree is the point of no return. The year human life will be irreparably endangered.
"And so, one thing that happens as you cross every year, you start to see: that’s only 25 years from now that we have to really make a huge reversal in the greenhouse gases that we are emitting in our world," Morton said.
At the center of the labyrinth, there’s a Wendell Barry quote: “The Earth is what we all have in common.”
"It’s very simple, but very true, right? We have a lot of angst and opposition in this world, but we’re all on the same planet. So we better stop and start working together. We’re not going to survive, and none of the politics will matter," Morton said.
Morton’s message is unity — but she knows there’s something slightly subversive about her project. It was important to her that the flags were communally sourced. She wanted to evoke the idea of a sewing circle, where people gather to gossip and talk about how to deal with collective problems.
"This is just another iteration of that," Morton said.
"And people often talk politics, at those, right?" The Show host Sam Dingman asked.
"They do. They’ll talk politics, or what they like or don’t like in their communities, what’s going on with their families. You know, textiles just has just a rich history in American protest, and worldwide protest, where women have used their skills in textiles to make banners or flags, or raise funds for a cause," Morton said.
"And so I just love kind of using those, what are considered women’s work, or home crafts, and actually make a very hard-hitting statement with that. That’s what I like — I’m kind of soft-spoken, but I love that maybe my art can be a little more brash."
Ann Morton’s flag installation, Toward 2050, is on view at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix until June 1.
