Freedom and the environment
There's been no shortage of discussion recently on the "death" of environmentalism, and on the ways progressives in general can sharpen their political message. I thought I would offer a brief speech, which some fantasy politician might give to an audience, in order to show how some of these discussions might be put to good rhetorical use. In what follows, I am conceptually indebted in particular to The State of The World 2005, which focuses on environmental issues from a security perspective.
My fellow Americans, I wanted to say a few words today about America's stewardship of natural resources and the environment. For too long, we have let special interests convince politicians to make decisions on environmental policy that have reduced our nation to dependency, fear, and despair: Dependency on foreign nations for the supply of crude oil that moves our economy; Fear of the mercury and other toxins slowly poisoning our nation's waters and ourselves; Despair at the realization that a way of life in our communities is vanishing.
Our dependency on foreign oil has grown gradually over time, but over the next several decades this dependency will cost this country greatly. As worldwide oil supply ebbs and oil demand continues to increase, oil prices will continue to increase. Worse, we will become more beholden to unstable and undemocratic regimes to provide the oil. The United States must embark on a mission to steer the American economy toward energy independence. This mission, while difficult, can be completed if we harness the full ingenuity of the American people. Every year we delay beginning this mission, the consequences for our future mount.
At the same time, our fear of the effects on our health of the many toxins being released into the environment has grown. As I have traveled around the country, I have realized there are few topics in which American trust of the federal government is less. Too often, the special interests have convinced the federal government to sit on its hand, even though people were clearly being harmed. On mercury pollution, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency has willfully ignored the mounting evidence of environmental hard in the Northeastern U.S., in an effort to shield coal-burning power plants from full responsibility for their emissions. We must restore the scientific integrity of the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies. We need a system of wise regulation that works for the greater good, and gives us all security in our health.
Finally, there is a sense of despair plaguing America, that the changes in our communities are destroying a way of life. While federal government cannot be backward-looking, seeking to preserve some idyllic past, it can empower local communities to protect the cultural heritage that is important to them. Nowhere is this goal more necessary than with current agricultural policy in Washington, which pushes forth a one-size-fits-all solution. As much as possible, decisions on farm policy should be transferred to the state or local level, where effective plans can be made to preserve family farms. Only with this strategy of a wise and prudent return of power to a more local level can a sense of hope be restored to America's communities, a sense that they control their destiny.
