It’s advice that — if you were  listening — makes you stop and think before you open your mouth.

My brother Ron was complaining — strike that, whining — because our older brother Richard had hit him.

Earlier in the day, Ron thought it was funny that Richard was hitting me and that I was crying.

So, Ron ran to find our grandmother to seek justice, I suppose.

Clearly he wanted something done to punish Richard.

My grandmother Edna Towle was never at a loss for subtle advice.

Her trademark way of delivering advice was through a mixture of metaphors, colloquialisms, and aphorisms.

Terms, by the way, she was more than familiar with as a granddaughter of a pioneer Nevada County settler who by the time she was in her late 30s was left with a working ranch to run and eight children to raise when her husband went AWOL at the start of the Depression.

Grandmother’s goal was to provide an Aesop’s Fables style morality lesson.

I honestly don’t know her level of education but it apparently was good enough for her to do a stint for two years in her 20s as a teacher in a one-room school house near what was Spenceville north of the Bear River.

Her words for my brothers who were in their pre-teen days on that particular occasion was this: “It shouldn’t matter whose ox is being gored.”

The meaning was clear although admittedly lost on Rich and Ronnie.

We are often complacent about events and stand idly by when someone is being wronged as our own self-interests don’t appear to be involved.

But, as often happens in life, you find yourself the target of an injustice — perceived or otherwise — that you ignored happening to someone else.

A morality play that the ox being gored metaphor can be applied to is being played out in the Black Rock Desert some 100 miles to the north of Reno.

It is where the basic needs of green energy is clashing with Burning Man.

Burning Man is the annual gathering involving self-expression and self-reliance that create a community of as many as 80,000 people for eight days at $575 per ticket and $150 per vehicle pass..

In 2019, National Public Radio had this to say about Burning Man: "Once considered an underground gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, Burning Man has since evolved into a destination for social media influencers, celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite.”

Burning Man essentially brings 80,000 people for eight days into the middle of nowhere on what was once the floor of an ancient lake.

Rest assured there are no Tesla supercharging stations and that 80,000 people create a lot of impacts on air quality not to mention pollution issues.

They are for those who follow the edict “leave no trace” only until they are out of Black Rock Desert area and then dump their trash into dumpsters around Lake Tahoe, Truckee and whenever else they can on their way back primarily to the Bay Area.

It is against that backdrop the San Francisco-based Burning Man has joined a lawsuit in federal court against a green energy project in the Black Rock Desert.

They accuse the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of breaking environmental laws in approving exploratory drilling in the Black Rock Desert.

The lawsuit contends Ormat has attempted to evade analysis of the geothermal power plants’ potential negative effects on the environment by segmenting the project, which limits BLM’s review to only the first stage of its plans: exploration.

“However, this first stage merely confirms where the resources are located to inform future industrial scale geothermal energy development,” the suit said. “Once the exploration project begins, it will be impossible to stop the effects of the entire geothermal production project.”

It’s an interesting argument from Burning Man that started as a low-key bonfire ritual on San Francisco’s Baker Beach for several years on the summer solstice before the decision was made to burn the first wooden man in  effigy in 1986.

It first took place in the Black Rock Desert in 1990. It wasn’t until 1991 that the event had a legal permit through the BLM.

Back then in that “search for a new home, only 250 people were in attendance at the 1991 Burning Man.

Any bets that if that original 1991 permit were viewed in the context of what was possible in 2023 that the BLM would not have approved it?

Do not misunderstand.

This is not to say the green energy project should be allowed or makes sense.

The lawsuit uses the wording, “Ormat’s exploration project will lay the foundation for turning a unique, virtually pristine ecosystem of environmental, historical and cultural significance into an industrial zone, and permanently alter the landscape” to oppose the project.

In what way does that sentiment square with what Burning Man does to the same “unique, virtually pristine ecosystem of environmental, historical and cultural significance”?

Having upwards of 80,000 people for a week trample on the floor of an ancient lake bed isn’t exactly being as a guardian of the unique ecological system.

Granted, it doesn’t “permanently alter the landscape” by the definition of erecting geothermal production facilities . At the same time, however having upwards of 80,000 people “commune” in a fragile desert environment for eight days to gather around drum circulars and performing pagan fire rituals before torching a 300-foot wooden man structure as a grand finale isn’t exactly being good stewards of the land.

The truth is that all human activity — whether it is to enable civilization to exist or to pursue a leisurely activity with 80,000 like-minded souls — impacts the environment.

Rest assured Burning Man in its current form is not — and was not — embraced by all environmentalists and locals.

Guess whose ox is being gored now?

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com