Eugene Weekly : Views : 03.09.06

Sustainable Greenwash
Good intentions, but absurdities abound.
BY MARK ROBINOWITZ

The right analogy for U.S. survival is no longer Apollo 11; it's Apollo 13. They had their emergency dropped in their laps with no foreknowledge; we wasted ours when we politically killed President Carter. Now we're all in that busted spaceship, improvising. — Jamey Hecht, From the Wilderness

I bought my first solar panel in 1992, use biofuels, and run websites on energy politics and energy solutions (oilempire.us and permatopia.com). Sadly, I cannot support Mayor Piercy's Sustainable Business Initiative or the Apollo Alliance, which are good intentions undermined by poor implementation that distracts from underlying destructive policies.

The city's most important recent decision about energy was the withdrawal of support for the West Eugene Parkway in October. But the construction or cancellation of WEP would be a federal decision, there is no money for it, and WEP would violate numerous federal laws. Despite the change of policy, the city is still holding on to parcels bought for the road, is about to permit another big box store near the WEP route, and has declined to highlight the "no build" recommendations that the city, county, state and feds agreed to on June 19, 2001 (details are at www.permatopia.com/wetlands.html).

There are many practical things the city could do toward bioregional sustainability. One short-term idea would be to help neighborhoods sponsor classes in gardening, energy efficiency, water storage and other skills.

At a recent "sustainability" meeting with the city's neighborhood associations, it was suggested that we must go slow to enact any changes. Unfortunately, that is a recipe for failure. Last year, the Department of Energy's "Hirsch Report" concluded it would take two decades of sustained effort to switch our energy infrastructure to prepare for peak oil, but we are near peak oil now, and climate change is accelerating faster than predicted. Schizophrenic sustainability leads to absurdities such as planning new parking garages next to the EmX Bus Rapid Transit route.

Sustainability does not mean turning over the economy to out-of-state and transnational corporations who take more out of the community than they put in. It refers to practices that your great- great- great- grandchildren could still do after the oil is gone. The city's promotion of a Texas hospital next to the Delta Highway gravel pits, in an inaccessible location, is the result of a desperation that is exploited by land speculators. This desperation is why the Piercy administration is giving consideration to a proposal to demolish the city-owned Atrium building for national franchises, and is going to subsidize the Whole Foods corporation (the Wal-Mart of health food). If Connor-Wooley-Opus creates more downtown pits and then goes bankrupt, the city should reroute the Mill Race through these holes to create a new tourist attraction (gondola rides?).

The Apollo Alliance is a Democratic Party-linked group advocating alliances between environmentalists, labor unions and pro-war neo- conservatives. Both Apollo Alliance and George W. Bush claim that the solutions to oil addiction are primarily technological. While larger investments in renewable energy would be good, focusing on techno-fixes is dangerously inadequate.

Sincere energy independence goals prioritize reducing overconsumption. We are not going to be flying in biodiesel-powered jet planes. Solar panels cannot power the shipment of food from Mexico and Chile to the new Whole Foods store.. Apollo Alliance is part of "Set America Free," a group that includes warmongers partly responsible for the political collapse that has kept renewable energy initiatives from being enacted. While it is nice to see militarists embrace the need for energy efficiency and solar power, militarism is the main obstacle toward these goals.

One participant is former CIA Director James Woolsey, a co-signer of the September 2000 Project for a New American Century report "Rebuilding America's Defenses," which predicted that a "new Pearl Harbor" would be needed to enact the neo-con plans for global empire. PNAC includes Cheney, Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush and the rest of the gang that brought us World War IV (WW III was the Cold War). On Sept. 10, 2001, PNAC member Donald Rumsfeld admitted $2.3 trillion was "missing" from the Pentagon budget — that money would be enough to fund needed energy shifts. See www.oilempire.us/apollo.html for details.

Shifting the military budget toward peaceful purposes, ending what is euphemistically called growth, and relocalizing production are needed to mitigate peak oil. Will we use the remaining oil for solar panels or fighter planes?

Mark Robinowitz of Eugene is publisher of oilempire.us — a political map to understand peak oil, and permatopia.com — a graceful end to cheap oil. James Woolsey spoke Saturday at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.

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		Sustainable Greenwash Good intentions, but absurdities abound. BY MARK ROBINOWITZ The right analogy for U.S. survival is no longer Apollo 11; it's Apollo 13. They had their emergency dropped in their laps with no foreknowledge; we wasted ours when we politically killed President Carter. Now we're all in that busted spaceship, improvising. — Jamey Hecht, From the Wilderness I bought my first solar panel in 1992, use biofuels, and run websites on energy politics and energy solutions (oilempire.us and permatopia.com). Sadly, I cannot support Mayor Piercy's Sustainable Business Initiative or the Apollo Alliance, which are good intentions undermined by poor implementation that distracts from underlying destructive policies. The city's most important recent decision about energy was the withdrawal of support for the West Eugene Parkway in October. But the construction or cancellation of WEP would be a federal decision, there is no money for it, and WEP would violate numerous federal laws. Despite the change of policy, the city is still holding on to parcels bought for the road, is about to permit another big box store near the WEP route, and has declined to highlight the "no build" recommendations that the city, county, state and feds agreed to on June 19, 2001 (details are at www.permatopia.com/wetlands.html). There are many practical things the city could do toward bioregional sustainability. One short-term idea would be to help neighborhoods sponsor classes in gardening, energy efficiency, water storage and other skills. At a recent "sustainability" meeting with the city's neighborhood associations, it was suggested that we must go slow to enact any changes. Unfortunately, that is a recipe for failure. Last year, the Department of Energy's "Hirsch Report" concluded it would take two decades of sustained effort to switch our energy infrastructure to prepare for peak oil, but we are near peak oil now, and climate change is accelerating faster than predicted. Schizophrenic sustainability leads to absurdities such as planning new parking garages next to the EmX Bus Rapid Transit route. Sustainability does not mean turning over the economy to out-of-state and transnational corporations who take more out of the community than they put in. It refers to practices that your great- great- great- grandchildren could still do after the oil is gone. The city's promotion of a Texas hospital next to the Delta Highway gravel pits, in an inaccessible location, is the result of a desperation that is exploited by land speculators. This desperation is why the Piercy administration is giving consideration to a proposal to demolish the city-owned Atrium building for national franchises, and is going to subsidize the Whole Foods corporation (the Wal-Mart of health food). If Connor-Wooley-Opus creates more downtown pits and then goes bankrupt, the city should reroute the Mill Race through these holes to create a new tourist attraction (gondola rides?). The Apollo Alliance is a Democratic Party-linked group advocating alliances between environmentalists, labor unions and pro-war neo- conservatives. Both Apollo Alliance and George W. Bush claim that the solutions to oil addiction are primarily technological. While larger investments in renewable energy would be good, focusing on techno-fixes is dangerously inadequate. Sincere energy independence goals prioritize reducing overconsumption. We are not going to be flying in biodiesel-powered jet planes. Solar panels cannot power the shipment of food from Mexico and Chile to the new Whole Foods store.. Apollo Alliance is part of "Set America Free," a group that includes warmongers partly responsible for the political collapse that has kept renewable energy initiatives from being enacted. While it is nice to see militarists embrace the need for energy efficiency and solar power, militarism is the main obstacle toward these goals. One participant is former CIA Director James Woolsey, a co-signer of the September 2000 Project for a New American Century report "Rebuilding America's Defenses," which predicted that a "new Pearl Harbor" would be needed to enact the neo-con plans for global empire. PNAC includes Cheney, Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush and the rest of the gang that brought us World War IV (WW III was the Cold War). On Sept. 10, 2001, PNAC member Donald Rumsfeld admitted $2.3 trillion was "missing" from the Pentagon budget — that money would be enough to fund needed energy shifts. See www.oilempire.us/apollo.html for details. Shifting the military budget toward peaceful purposes, ending what is euphemistically called growth, and relocalizing production are needed to mitigate peak oil. Will we use the remaining oil for solar panels or fighter planes? Mark Robinowitz of Eugene is publisher of oilempire.us — a political map to understand peak oil, and permatopia.com — a graceful end to cheap oil. James Woolsey spoke Saturday at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.






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