It would have been painful to watch President Obama’s press conference on the oil disaster, if I didn’t make a practice of controlling my feelings. I am resolved to send out nothing but positive energy at all times.
How far have we fallen, and how fast, I thought!
And yet, like everything, we can use this moment to make a sea-change, if we will only open our eyes.
I attended the President’s inauguration, the White House Conference on Clean Energy in November, and America’s Great Outdoors Conference April 16. At the Energy Conference, Secretary Ken Salazar proudly paraded his troops in front of our rapt eyes – including my personal friend, Sam Hamilton, Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who has since died, and Elizabeth Birnbaum, Director of US Minerals Management Service, who resigned or was fired over the Gulf situation. The team unveiled plans already in implementation to innovate a clean energy economy, using wind, solar, and the energy of the ocean.
I had the chance to ask the Secretary, in front of the full audience, how it was that I was just now learning these things, even though I have made it my business to learn and inform others about the public lands and environment. I told him that I could ask anyone on the streets of DC or Atlanta about these initiatives, and they wouldn’t have a clue. How then were we going to create the transformation in thinking and practice that is necessary to become a clean energy society?
At a reception at the Department of Interior later that day, one of the Secretary’s top lieutenants told the group that as a result of my question, he’d suggested to the President’s chief of staff that they might need to start holding Town Hall meetings around the country to inform the American people. The luster of possibility danced in my mind.
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Priorities shifted
Since the oil well accident, priorities at the Department of Interior have shifted dramatically. All attention has been focused on the oil. A series of meetings planned around the country including Miami and Orlando have been cancelled and others severely scaled back. My contacts in the agencies, including the USDA Forest Service, tell me they are either already involved or on call, ready to be activated to the Gulf at any moment.
As much as I believe in the sincerity of the President and his team, it is clear that this situation has been allowed to accelerate out of control. I am very sensitive to the plethora of challenges that the President and his administration are tackling so masterfully, domestically and internationally. But an uncontrolled oil well spewing viscous pollution a mile undersea indefinitely is inexcusable. No doubt this situation pains the President, and God knows it pains me. The big question for me is how we could be allowed to perform an operation in the first place without adequate controls in place? It’s a clear case of how the hubris and greed of corporations must be kept in check by government regulations and a vigilant citizenry. And now we’re talking August!! With NO assurance of success!!
The media reports that the Bureau of Minerals folks were “too cozy with the oil companies.” The President explained that the 30-day period in which Congress mandates a review to be completed is so inadequate that permits are virtually rubber stamped. As an “informed” member of the American public, even I did not know there was a Bureau of Minerals Management until the WH Conference. How many other Americans are only learning about the Department of Interior as a result of this catastrophe?
American Idol, Survivor
My point is, we, the American people have become so separated from our responsibilities as citizens, that we are not exercising our obligation to be involved in our government. How many more of us watch “American Idol” than vote, or watch “Survivor” rather than actually go outdoors and visit our “property” in the national park and forest systems? How many of us are contacting our elected officials about requiring cleaner energy, better conservation, and more public involvement?
Can we make this a turning point? Let’s call or write our elected officials in Congress, and the President, and let them know we support a clean energy agenda. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, for example, routinely vote for the environment but don’t necessarily bring that message back home, as they appear to think we are not interested in those issues.
Check out my Top Four national environmental organizations where you can get information about the issues, and be part of a network that regularly communicates with your elected officials.
* The National Parks Conservation Association, www.npca.org (I served on the board nine years)
* The Wilderness Society, www.wilderness.org (Frank is their top man on the East Coast
* The Environmental Defense Fund, www.edf.org (They’re working to help black fishermen)
* Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Atlanta, www.ucriverkeeper.org (I’m on the board)
