Conservative media rant daily against environmental activists, marginalizing and dehumanizing them. A key Obama constituency, environmentalists turned out in force to elect a president who promised change. What they got, instead, was an administration that, at best, supports them around the edges.
When Obama promised “green jobs” during the campaign, environmentalists were not thinking the jobs would be in new nuclear power plants and offshore drilling platforms. It might be true that new technology makes oil spills less likely. But even when Exxon Mobil was making record profits and Americans were paying $4.00 a gallon for gasoline, the company still fought spending money to truly clean up the Prince William Sound from the Exxon Valdez shipwreck.
If there is another accident, it is hard to believe that the oil and gas company involved would take the lead in cleaning up the mess. It is cheaper to hire lawyers, lobbyists and PR companies.
When we were paying through the nose for gasoline, we were told it was because of – take your pick – instability in the Middle East or lack of refining capacity. So what has changed?
Lowering the cost of gasoline by increasing production of oil does not make alternative energy more attractive. Oil is fungible. What difference does it make if the tanker docks in Texas or Japan?
When the Carter administration and the Democrats in Congress created the Department of Energy in 1977, they promised us energy independence. Today, President Obama tells us we need to embrace all forms of energy to become independent. His support for offshore drilling is like Martin Luther King announcing support for segregation because we need to embrace all forms of education for students to learn.
To make matters worse, the President made the offshore drilling announcement in front of a largely military audience. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh demonize liberals and progressives, leading their viewers and listeners to believe that they are socialists with anti-American, unpatriotic values. In fact, most anti-war activists and others interested in peace and security issues support American troops, but worry about out of control military expenditures – expenditures that the Obama administration has increased.
Back to the environment. The military is the worst polluter in the United States. The Pentagon has 129 Superfund sites, more than any chemical company, and about 25,000 contaminated properties. No state is immune.
So this is my solution. The Obama administration should create the Green Corps just like President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corp. He should give the jobs first to returning veterans of the Iraq War. As the wars wind down, he should transfer military expenditures to the Green Corps and have the contractors and civilian employees who lose their jobs work instead cleaning up the toxic mess left by the Pentagon, NASA and the Energy Department.
Everyone in the country would benefit from a cleaner environment, and we could use a few new jobs.
