Hammering out collective agreements is the only option, Eberle said. “It’s hard, but it’s what we have to do. There are no more silver bullets left…”
— from the High Country News article, “At the Colorado River conference, ‘It’s really no longer a drill’” by Theo Whitcomb, December 22, 2021.
We’ve heard a few creative metaphors tossed around, as the two largest water reservoirs in the American West — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — slowly drop below their functional levels.
“Canary in the coal mine…” “The new abnormal…” “Hanging out to dry…”
Metaphors can help us wrap our heads around complex and sometimes disturbing issues. I personally like, “the new abnormal”, as I’ve often been attracted to abnormal people and situations. (And they, to me, I suppose.) And “hanging out to dry” definitely paints a vivid picture of our current circumstances, regarding the ongoing drought, the disappearing reservoirs, and the threat of a warmer, drier future.
But, “canary in the coal mine?” To compare the 1,450-mile-long Colorado River to a small yellow songbird from the Canary Islands… well, that’s a bit too creative for my metaphor preferences. Why can’t we at least use a bird common to the American Southwest? “A Black-capped Chickadee in the coal mine”, for example?
I’m also struggling with “There are no more silver bullets left”, as a metaphor for our current water issues. Sinjin Eberle, a communications director with the environmental nonprofit American Rivers, was quoted as using that creative metaphor, in an article posted a few days ago in the High Country News.
As we all know, bullets are widely available in nearly every city and small town in America, thanks to the efforts of the National Rifle Association and similar organizations. Silver bullets, however, remain relatively uncommon, due to their generally higher price. Even at Walmart, a single silver bullet will set you back $25 or more.
Most average folks would hesitate to purchase a silver bullet unless they were having a problem with werewolves.
I sincerely doubt that Mr. Eberle was talking about actual ‘silver bullets’ when he told High Country News reporter Theo Whitcomb, earlier this month, that “there are no silver bullets left.” The High Country News is an award-winning journal recognized for its focus on the environment, but I cannot recall any articles about werewolves.
More likely, Mr. Eberle’s reference was to the malted beverage known as Coors Light, a 4.2% ABV beer brewed in Golden, Colorado (and elsewhere) which first appeared in stores in 1978, during a time when no one showed the slightest concern about Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
Thanks to its shiny silver-colored can, the beer has been marketed as “The Silver Bullet”. The can is actually aluminum, however. Technically, it should be marketed as “The Aluminum Bullet.”
In 2013, Coors Light began to appear in a 16 oz. Alumi-Tek bottle with a screw lid, which made the product look even more like a ‘silver bullet’, in my opinion.
As our Daily Post readers probably know, beer is mostly water, which explains a lot of things we won’t go into, at the moment. But it doesn’t explain why anyone would claim that “there are no silver bullets left.” Yes, Colorado has experienced drought-like conditions on and off for the past two decades; Lake Powell is currently 28% full, and the water managers from Denver to Los Angeles have worked themselves up into a tizzy.
But I’ve seen no shortage of Coors Light at my local liquor store.
Contrary to what you might read in the news, we still have plenty of “Silver Bullets”.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.