THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 98, May 15, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT:
WASTING BILLIONS ON THE GREEN AGENDA
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY:
While Americans remain focused on the war in Iraq, it is mind-boggling to be aware of the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars that are
squandered annually in the name of “protecting the environment.” Nor are these millions and billions devoted to just the U.S.
environment. They are just as often given way to foreign nations, many of which have a track record of corruption.
I was thinking about this as I read a speech given in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 2, 2004, by John F. Turner, Assistant Secretary
of State for Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs, the official who heads U.S. Department of State programs
concerning the environment, climate change, oceanic affairs, HIV/AIDS and other inecttious diseases, and science and technology.
If Turner were any more Green he’d glow in the dark. He represents a vast Fifth Column of Greens that are everywhere in the U.S.
government, having been attracted by fellow travelers like Al Gore and Bill Clinton. They are in many agencies such as the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and, like Turner, even in the State Department.
The title of his speech was “Uncle Sam: An Environmentalist.” Who can argue with that? Easily a third or more of all federal laws
and regulations are devoted to the environment. This was accomplished in a relatively short time since the first Earth Day in 1970.
And it began when a Republican President, Richard M. Nixon, signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air
Act, the Clean Water Act, and arguably one of the worst pieces of environmental legislation, the Endangered Species Act.
Turner proudly told his colleagues in Stockholm that the U. S. federal government owns lots and lots of the American landmass,
citing the 84.5 million acres of our national park system and the 460 million acres that the government manages as wildlife reserves,
refuges, wilderness areas, and marine sanctuaries. Americans who live in the West know well how much land the U.S. government
owns, but most Americans remain unaware of the relentless efforts of the federal government, using taxpayer dollars, to provide
funds to the states to purchase more and more private property
The U.S. government is engaged in one of the biggest land grabs in history and they are doing it in collusion with a matrix of
socalled "environmental and conservation non-governmental organizations." They are doing it using your money! If successful,
there will be fewer and fewer places for people to live, create new businesses, ranch, farm, or use our natural resources in any
fashion, i.e. mine it, drill for it, or log it.
This is what the Greens call “sustainable development.” If they were honest about it --- which they never are --- they should call it
“no development.”
What makes the Bush administration’s environmental programs so bizarre are the millions being spent on projects such as the
Congo Basin Forest Partnership. “The United States will contribute $53 million over four years to create the training programs,
infrastructure, and management and enforcement regimes necessary to make the vision of a system of protected areas a success,”
said Turner. He bragged: “In total, we have the potential of developing as many as 27 national parks and protecting more than 10
million hectares.” Where? In the African Congo!
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The U.S.A., noted Turner, will let some countries reduce their debt by agreeing to “protect
valuable tropical forests.” Peru, for example, won’t have to pay what it owes us in return for preserving 12.5 million hectares of
rain forest. What Turner doesn’t mention is that logging is one of the ways Peruvians have of making a living and depriving them
of that, much as was done to many American logging communities in our Northwestern States, will destroy an important element
of that nation’s economy.
It was a long speech filled with similar examples where American tax dollars either are paid out or foreign debt to us is just written
off in the name of saving the environment. And you wonder why this nation has a huge deficit? Money that should be used to
support our military or returned to the states to build highways, renovate old schools, fix up local parks and recreation areas, fix
sewage systems, and so much more is going to the Congo and who knows where else!
I can’t, however, leave go of Turner’s speech without noting his view of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Control, otherwise
known as the global warming treaty. Mind you, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution rejecting it. Clinton never even
submitted it for consideration, and Bush let it be known it was “seriously flawed” in terms of its bogus science.
But John F. Turner, of the U.S. Department of State, told his audience that “We remain active in the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change and support its ultimate goal: the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that will prevent
dangerous human interference with the climate.” NO, WE DO NOT! That is not the policy of the United States, unless Turner
knows something that the Congress and White House does not.
And, apparently he does. Turner noted: “the United States has cemented 13 formal bilateral relationships with both developed and
developing nation to address climate change.”
And here’s the kicker! “What’s more, the U.S.A. spends $1.7 billion annually on climate science and related science, more than the
rest of the world combined.”
It gets worse! Turner said: “Over the next five years, the United States has pledged $1.7 billion to develop clean, hydrogen-powered
automobiles.” That’s billion with a “B” for an automobile that nobody wants, nor needs.
The waste of tax dollars in the name of the environment is beyond comprehension, but it illustrates just how totally infiltrated the
federal government is with both legislators and civil servants who feel free to ignore the best interests of Americans. In the process,
they are destroying the key element of our economy, private property, and, in the name of “sustainable development”, seeking to
thwart every manner of development.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past col- umns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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