No matter what we’re led to believe, the world’s worst polluter is not your cousin who refuses to recycle or that co-worker who drives a gas guzzler or the guy down the block who simply will not try CFL bulbs. “The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined,” explains Lucinda Marshall, founder of the Feminist Peace Network. Pesticides, defoliants like Agent Orange, solvents, petroleum, lead, mercury, and depleted uranium are among the many deadly substances used by the military.
What does this mean for us? To start with, it can help illustrate how to best foment a green revolution. As Derrick Jensen reminds us: “Even if every single person in the United States were to change all their light-bulbs to fluorescent, cut the amount they drive in half, recycle half of their household waste, inflate their tire pressure to increase gas mileage, use low flow shower heads and wash clothes in lower temperature water, adjusts their thermostats two degrees up or down depending on the season, and plant a tree, it would result in a one time, 21% reduction in carbon emissions.”
For those of you scoring at home, that’s a one time, 21% reduction in carbon emissions. We compost, we drive hybrids, we bring our own bag to the market but meanwhile, the U.S. military and its fellow polluters—trans-national corporations—treat the planet like it’s a porta-potty…with little or no opposition from the general population. In fact, the military typically enjoys unconditional support even from those who identify as “anti-war.”
Keep this in mind the next time you hear the phrase “war on terror”: Our tax dollars are subsidizing a global eco-terror campaign and all the recycled toilet paper in the world ain’t gonna change that.
In other words, if we don’t want our legacy to be one of inaction and shame, we must create drastic, permanent change very, very soon…because here’s the most inconvenient truth of all: it’s time to embrace a much darker shade of green.
Feminist Peace Network? Gimme a break. The purpose of the military is to kill the enemy and blow things up. Otherwise, they will kill us and blow up our things (does September 11, 2001 ring a bell?). Sorry, I don’t recycle, I drive a Toyota Landcrusher (off road too, no less), don’t use the awful fluorescent mercury-filled light bulbs, and even use the plastic bags at the grocery store. And I throw them away when I get home. This is America; I can do all of the above because I WANT TO. Until you socialists outlaw these activities, I will continue to do these things. Get a life, tree-huggers.
It is truly sad that Joe American is proud of his ecological ignorance.
And you are acting like a socialist, because it was under communist regimes that the environment was destroyed without accountability.
Hence, the most polluted air and rivers are in Russia and China, not in the capitalist Western Europe and US. If you’re going to slander, you should at least look into history, Joe.
Last, Joe is not representative of Americans. There are plenty of smart and caring people in the US, who not only do the little things that Joe can’t handle, such as bring cloth grocery bags to the store, but go out of their way to make their country a better place.
Doing something just because you want to doesn’t make you free Joe and it doesn’t make you American. Destroying (pollution is destructive) your country does not make you a patriot either.
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