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Vote Against (Climate) Change
We tend to romanticize the mobilization that occurred after December 7, 1941.
Congress unanimously approved F.D.R.'s next day Declaration of War, governors around the country cabled in offers of help, and volunteers of every gender, color and class flooded the offices of recruiters.
War is easy. It's dramatic. It's clear. Everyone feels good getting behind it, unions and bosses (at least in public) toe the line, and every little individual action becomes imbued with interconnected responsibility. Save that scrap of metal! It could make a bullet. To drive alone is to drive with Hitler! Don't waste fuel. Grow food in your backyard and save resources for Victory! Basic materials--rubber, hosiery, tin--were rationed. Driving for pleasure was banned (something unimaginable at present). Auto makers in Detroit were called to the White House, where they were informed that they would stop making autos, and citizens would be banned from buying them. Overnight, the machine of war had coalesced.
But in actuality, America, that "arsenal of Democracy"--whose tanks, planes, boats, guns, soldiers and raw materials buoyed our broke if not broken, beat if not beaten British Allies--had been gaining steam since 1939 (when F.D.R., conniving against domestic complacency, finally offered the Lend/Lease "hose" to Churchill and the bombed-upon heroes of the recently-mighty British Empire).
F.D.R. was a once-in-a-century persuasive leader--but even he had to resort to a technically-illegal machination just to get our Allies some guns and boats. Not until Pearl Harbor did he gain the backing of Washington and ordinary citizens on both sides of the aisle. And an amazing thing happened: the United States, fighting The Great Depression for over a decade, suddenly reduced unemployment to nothing. G.D.P. increased manifold; wages and profits soared. It turned out that the war effort--with loss of blood, iron, steel, oil--was great for business, an economic godsend.
Just a few years before Pearl Harbor, the few soldiers in isolationist America trained with broom handles. Our airforce could've fit in a single hangar, our tanks hailed from WWI and our boats were floating jokes. It's an instructive period of history, now, as an unconvinced nation ("Drill, Baby, Drill!"), and world, burns itself up. We read about green-this and green-that everyday--or used to, before we got sick of all the greenwashing (Ford, which likes to talk about its factory's green roof, has a lower overall m.p.g. than it did in 1913). Fact is our nation's carbon footprint increased this year, despite all the green talk; the homes on either side of mine leave their lights, fans, and A.C. or heating on when they drive off in their super-size-me trucks and S.U.V.s; and India, Russia, China are only beginning to buy into the modern capitalist consumer frenzy that we've been selling 'em for decades.
Collapsed ice shelves and suddenly rising seas. Withered crops, vanished rivers, rampant tree-killing bugs. It's a matter of time. If we want to act before another Pearl Harbor, 9/11 or Katrina strikes, we need coordinated governmental action.
Recently, I interviewed Lester Brown. It was probably the most important interview I've had the honor to conduct in 6.25 years of building my little magazine to a level where it might, someday soon, reach a platform from which we might inspire some real change. Lester Brown calls for a national mobilization, the likes of which we haven't seen for 67 years. And while he's appreciative of our generation's Churchill, Al Gore--a voice in the wilderness whose calls for governmental action have fallen on deaf ears--Lester Brown doesn't see a great green grassroots movement effecting change quickly enough.
It's a time for leadership. "Bipartisan" is a nice word, but those who practice it are derided by their friends, and not supported by their enemies (just ask John McCain circa 2000). Leadership can do what you cannot--it can mandate a minimum m.p.g. of 50, something easily accomplished in this greatest of technological cultures. It can mandate C.F.L.s, energy star appliances, lawn-watering only before dawn and after dusk. It can give real incentives for fuel-efficient cars, trucks and S.U.V.s, and for solar, wind and other truly clean, renewable technologies (I do not include 'clean' coal or nuclear power on that list). Building the new, sustainable economy we'll need to ameliorate Climate Change will create "green collar jobs" by the tens of thousands--solar, wind, auto, farming--the kind of work that can't be outsourced to China, Vietnam or India--but it'll take the kind of support we gave to the 1956 Interstate Highway System, the Manhattan Project or J.F.K.'s 10-year moon mission.
But as good democrats say, we get the leadership we deserve. Recently, my friend Jared Polis won the Democratic primary (and, in my bleeding-heart liberal district, he will effectively run unopposed in the general election) with only a small percentage of registered voters--because only half of my district bothered to vote.
And so it's the good old chicken and the free range egg. Rise up, people power, this November the 4th--and we just might get the leadership we need. Then, for the sake of the next seven generations, let's keep the pressure on.
Yours in the Vision of Enlightened Society,
Waylon Lewis
founder, editor-in-chief, host, delivery boy: elephantjournal.com
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Nice job Waylon, a solid call for action. My greatest doubt is whether Americans will pull together the willpower to make the necessary changes without being shaken out of our comfort zone, which right now is very comfortable despite the economic down turn. And if Katrina couldn't pass as the Pearl Harbor of the twenty-first century, I'm not sure what will.
Henry
"War is easy?" What can you possibly mean by that?
Mass mobilization economics such as those you describe are what's easy--to describe. Absent a threat to the American people perceived to be comparable to Pearl Harbor, however, it's hard to see your prescription working. That's why grass roots development of green-consciousness will still work best.
Events have proved Lester Brown wrong too many times to count.
How easy will it be for an auto industry in a state of near-collapse to respond to a mandated 50 mpg? Beats me.
Read in the context of fighting global warming as a nation, not just a grassroots conscious consumerist movement, I'm trying to say that 'in times of war, it's easy to mobilize vast numbers of politically- and otherwise-diverse folks to do something.'
1.5 million acres' worth of pine trees are dead in my Rocky Mountain backyard. Ice shelves the size of God's thumb are breaking off every year. The Snows of Kilmajaro are no more. We're at the point when Glacier National Park is gonna need to be renamed, for want of...well, glaciers. Polar bears are drowning (a helicopters have seen nine in the past x months, compared with six over the past 20 years...google it, my numbers/memory be wayyy off). I personally believe that it's only a matter of time before one single one among the all-too familiar laundry list of eco hazards explodes in the public consciousness—and President Obama will have to inspire America to fight Global Warming as if it were the Nazis + Japanese circa 1939.
Great post, David.
I used to live in Boston. One day I saw an impossibly little man walking along...still something jumped out about him...it was Dukakis. I don't think he cared about staying in the spotlight—he just wanted to serve, and when The People said they didn't want him to do so, so much, he became something of a private citizen. Same, seemingly, with Kerry—he hasn't receded into the shadows, of course—but for a man who came awfully close (read: Ohio) to the Presidency, he's a helluva lot less high-profile than Gore, Carter, the elder Bush.
I look forward to McCain becoming a real Maverick again—somehow I bet he looks forward to just being himself again.
nice piece. it ain't easy being green. maybe we should get kermit to be the green spokesfrog - what better icon to help unite the peeps?! looking forward to your next post......
Four comments went astray when good folks at Huffington Post resubmitted my blog or something. This one from
marisa_w
I think that looking back to that particular point in history is valuable and that our country's past travails and triumphs have much to teach us. It's helpful to be reminded that our country has mobilized for causes before, and I hope that, as you suggest, we can do so again in this critical time. Thanks for the interesting comparison and call to action.
Four comments went astray when good folks at Huffington Post resubmitted my blog or something. This one from
elcarg:
The photo caught my eye, but the story made me comment. Thanks, Waylon. The concepts of developing a new economy can be in the hands of the people and the right leaders. I for one hope that President Barack Obama continues to communicate with the people to let this movement that got him elected continue to change the world. I'm on board.
Four comments went astray when the good folks at Huffington Post resubmitted my blog separately. Here they are, this one from
historyfan108:
Thoughtful post, Waylon. The references to World War II speak to a fundamental problem with our society: namely, that our whole existence has come down to consumption. We are consumers, and little else (cf Bush's call to shop in order to win the so-called war on terror). Consumerism as it stands now has drastic consequences for the environment. This needn't be the case. More cradle to cradle design, for example, would help, as would renewable energy, as both would allow for considerable consumption without negatively impacting the environment. Learning to consume less would also be a big help. While top-down legislation has to happen, of course, I still believe that saving the environment starts with the power of the people: we need to change our behavior and purchasing habits, and we need to pressure our elected representatives to legislate and invest in green jobs and green technologies.
Well written. Very true. I believe that it is very difficult to convert a nation into a place of sustainability through grassroots movements. In the last six years, as grass roots movements have grown in the U.S. I have witnessed what has been labeled as the "Green Movement" as something that has manifested itself into a privatized, self-defeating, disorganized, greedy, incommunicable frenzy where only the financially secure and eco-conscience are involved. We should study our friends in Europe, especially Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. There you can find nationalized wind turbines, fields of solar panels, extensive networks of electric trains, subsidized organic industries and on and on. In order for a country to convert into sustainable means, there must be the infrastructure set up to do so. The U.S. is severely lacking in these efforts, partly, in my opinion, due to the government interests in the military, oil and gas, construction contract, and automobile industries. There are hardly any incentives in the U.S. to take a train or a bus unless you live in a place like New York. Obama has won, thank sanity, but that is the first step. This country MUST redistribute its spending. No more Wars, now we must invest in a SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE. Only then, can we be sure that the masses will drive electric/hydro-fuel cell cars, or take electric trains, or use organic, fair trade products. We can't wait for peak oil. Now is the time.
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PROFOUND! well said and intelligent. I am excited and look forward to your blogs!
Good article Waylon, perspective well needed!
Well, we did indeed elect the leadership we need but obviously this is going to take a lot of work and dedication from all of us. And in this case, the right leader is someone who can help inspire us to that work and dedication and I think Obama can do that in spades.
I agree that sometimes we need someone to tell us that we have to do what is best for us (and we know we SHOULd do anyway)... or else we get immediate ramifications... it's like mom telling her kids to eat their green beans... sometimes we need that voice of reason to save us from our baser instincts and general complacency. So, lower those speed limits, give disincentives for driving/buying gas-guzzlers and incentives for using alternate means of transportation... there is a lot of benefit that could be accomplished in a short period of time. Go GREEN Obama!
via gabbinjane, this comment might've got lost so I'm reposting it. ~ Waylon
Still drinking the "global warming" KoolAid, eh? And now, a VOTE will make a difference? A couple of simple, direct questions: 1.) What is the planets average temperature? 2.) Where and when was that average established? 3.) What happens when we achieve the desired average (whatever that is)? Start pumping CO2 into the atmosphere? There are others, but answers to these three would be appreciated.
If I'm drinking Kool-aid, denierjane, it's organic—and I'd love to open your desk drawer and have a sip of whatever you're drinking.
I'll return the favor, and ask you a direct question. When a would-be suicide turns the car on in a closed garage, what happens? Something similar as to when we pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To deny that millions of cars and trucks and cow farts (yes, cow farts thanks to our need for factory farms slash meat) have no effect on our atmosphere ain't too rational. And whatever you opinions, I'll give you this: you seem to be searching after rationality. So, as Conan Doyle urged, don't put out opinions and search for facts to back 'em up. Start with straight-forward facts, evidence—pollution exists and we're responsible for a great deal of it—and form your conclusions around that—it has some effect on our atmosphere, and even a minor effect can be responsible for great shifts (in the Rockies, we've lost 10s of thousands of forest acres to beetles that live longer into the cold season and live higher in altitude).
Good luck in your ongoing inquiry, and thanks for you cynicism—may we be of benefit to this world and all the people in it, whatever our povs.
Thanks Waylon! I hope with Obama as the President Elect he can begin to implement some legislation to help guide our nation, as well as unite us as a whole, to help us see clearly our own impact on the world and the steps we can take to lessen our carbon footprint. Yes we can!
Way, I really enjoyed this article, and I appreciate your historical notes. Thankfully, last night we made more history. We are on our way to greener pastures (pun intended!)
And, in this time of celebration, relief, and change, I was sincerely taken with Obama's almost somber tone during his acceptance speech. He has huge tasks ahead of him (as many of these posts point out) and as he is obviously acutely aware. I too hope that he will bring the leadership necessary to inspire even more cultural and personal awareness and action.
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