The F Word: No Solar and No Clean-up

So much for the Government's much touted commitment to alternative energy. The New York Times reports that the Bush administration has placed a nearly two-year moratorium on the construction of new solar energy projects on public land. While the amount of oil drilling and gas drilling on public land has reached a new high -- the president approved a record 7,100 new licenses in 2007 alone -- the Bureau of Land Management is saying it needs until the spring of 2010 to study the environmental impact solar projects might have on land in Arizona, Nevada, California and other western states.

Meanwhile in other news, the Washington Post reports that the Defense Department is resisting orders to clean up Fort Meade, and two other military bases where "dumped chemicals pose an imminent threat to the public health and the environment." The Pentagon is also in violation of EPA orders to clean up twelve other military sites on the SuperFund list of most polluted spots. The Pentagon doesn't want to follow the law, and guess what, the EPA isn't going to push it. "Under executive branch policy, the EPA will not sue the Pentagon as it would a private polluter." According to the Post, military officials wrote to the DOJ last month to challenge the EPA's authority. And challenged it was.

Do you feel defended? Protected, managed? I say it's time for some departmental renaming. What do you call a Defense Department that makes you sicker, an environmental protection agency that can't, and a bureau of Land Management that seems to care most about managing threats to the oil and gas industry. You can post your suggestions here.

The F Word is a daily commentary by Laura Flanders on GRITtv. Watch GRITtv on Free Speech TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415) or at GRITtv.org. And become a subscriber.

Comments

[jagoneely]

It's all about the money, lobbyists, and how if Republicans tout GREEN they get eaten by their own kind. The sad things is, GREEN can be lucrative, create jobs, and help the environment all at once. It's truly the only future. But these are old dogs that reject the "new tricks". Their power is in oil, and they like their power more than they care about us or the Earth.

[tompoe]

If the oil companies can get control of the alternative energy industries, we won't have to wait. Bush will rescind the moratorium. As for the cleanup of bases, there's no reason local governments can't do the right thing and clean it up, send the bill to the government, and in generations to come, discuss payment. So, you see, Laura Flanders, it's quite simple. Bush is doing a heck-of-a-job, eh?

[clevelandchick]

When I read about that moratorium I just about screamed. Republicans won't support putting money towards solar or wind but they'll give away billions of our tax dollars for oil, coal, gas and nuclear. The tax break for buying a hybrid is no more but I can still get one if I buy a Hummer and say it's my work vehicle. We have the EPA telling California it can't have better standards for clean air than the federal government which has relaxed their own standards to allow more mercury. This is just madness.

Why do Republicans insist on only promoting dirty and deadly energy sources? Even if they don't believe in climate change, why continue to push resources that pollute and cause disease? Do they not realize they breathe the same air, drink the same water, get food from the same dirt or fish from the same dirty sea as everyone else? Do they not realize it's killing them as much as it's killing everyone else?