Progress Now Action

Comments by Nelson Bock, of Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, on the need to support green jobs in a renewable energy economy.

I am pleased to represent Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, and the IPL movement which now has affiliates in 28 states, and whose mission is to mobilize the religious community to respond to the threat of climate change. I am here to support green jobs in a new energy economy, because it is our conviction that green jobs is not just an economic issue, and not just an environmental issue, but that it is also a profoundly spiritual issue. The earth, our home, is a sacred gift, the care of which we have been entrusted, and on which we live in a web of interdependent relationships. Living with reverence for that gift and those relationships is at the core of spirituality, and also the key to our survival and health as a human family. This is an issue that connects the health of our planet, the health of our people, and the health of our economy, because those things are all intrinsically connected in the larger scheme of things

The earth, our home, is in peril because of our excessive dependence on the fossil fuel economy we have built over the last two hundred years. Climate change, accelerated and exacerbated by greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere as a result of human activity, threatens to severely disrupt the ecological balance which has supported human life, and the life of millions of other species with whom we share the earth. At the same time, human health is threatened by the emission of many other pollutants which foul not just the air, but the water and the land on which we likewise depend. And the health of our communities is threatened by economic dislocation and by the environmental destruction of public lands caused by ever more rapacious activities necessitated by the drive to seek and extract the last drops of fossil fuels wherever they may be found. These activities do not just damage landscape and wildlife habitat; they damage our spirits, as they increasingly estrange us from the earth, which we treat not as a living system of which we are a part, but as an inert depository of raw materials and a convenient repository for our waste. Further, these activities estrange us from one another, as exploitation of the earth's resources is based on exploitation of people and communities whose environment is despoiled and whose labor is treated as just another commodity, and who are then left to deal with the economic and environmental fallout when the resources are depleted.

What we are learning is that a healthy society--one in which people and communities are healthy and happy and secure-- is dependent on a healthy relationship to our environment. Yes, people need jobs, and that is why we are here today. But a job is not just a job. Work is an expression of the human spirit. The work we do also shapes our spirit, making us more or less healthy as we embody our relationship to the earth through our work. So what kind of jobs are going to give us healthy people, a healthy economy, and healthy communities? The kinds of jobs which preserve a healthy planet. Jobs which discover, create, and utilize renewable sources of energy, jobs which help us to conserve the earth's finite and precious resources. Jobs which are based on sustainable sources of energy and other natural resources. Jobs which create and promote alternative forms of transportation. Jobs which allow communities to be more self-sustaining and less dependent on global supply lines and the exploitation of the labor and resources of people from other parts of the world. Jobs which allow people to express and take pride in the dignity of their labor through a reverent and respectful use of the earth's resources, and which provide families with a living wage.

So we want to urge the people of Colorado and the United States to support candidates, initiatives, and policies which move us away from our unhealthy reliance on fossil fuels and towards green jobs in a green economy, for the health of our people, our communities, and our planet.

Senator Salazar's persistent doublespeak on the war in Iraq is an insult to the intelligence of his constituents. In his response to my latest letter urging Congress to refuse approving any more funds for the war except for the safe and orderly withdrawal of US forces, he repeats his tired refrain:
" I have strongly disagreed with the way this war has been managed strategically, and I am likewise disappointed in the manner the President has requested funding from Congress... however, as long as our troops are in harm's way, I will do everything I can to provide the funding for their equipment and other needs. They are taking great personal risks on behalf of our nation, and they deserve our support."

The Catch-22: how to end funding for this disastrous war without putting the troops at risk. The solution: THE TROOPS ARE ALREADY AT RISK! Get them OUT of harm's way. Fund withdrawal, not war.

This is only a dilemma for Democrats who are too scared to exercise the leadership for which they were elected. My response: yesterday I changed my voter registration from Democrat to Green. We have to have an alternative to failed two-party politics.

Appropos my previous post, below are excerpts from a column in today's (Sept 14 New York Times) by Paul Kruger. Can you connect the dots to determine Bush's real "strategy"? I've included the entire text of the column in the "Extended Post".


Back in January, announcing his plan to send more troops to Iraq,
President Bush declared that "America will hold the Iraqi government
to the benchmarks it has announced."

Near the top of his list was the promise that "to give every Iraqi
citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation
to share oil revenues among all Iraqis."

Last month the provincial government in Kurdistan, defying the central
government, passed its own oil law; last week a Kurdish Web site
announced that the provincial government had signed a
production-sharing deal with the Hunt Oil Company of Dallas, and that
seems to have been the last straw.

Now here's the thing: Ray L. Hunt, the chief executive and president
of Hunt Oil, is a close political ally of Mr. Bush. More than that,
Mr. Hunt is a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory
Board, a key oversight body.   Read More »

Whether the President's strategy in Iraq is a failure is all a matter of perspective. From his point of view, it is accomplishing exactly what he intends-- an indefinite occupation of Iraq for the purposes of securing the country's oil and creating a permanent, strategic military presence in the Middle East, regardless of the cost in American and Iraqi lives.

From another perspective, which I share, the President's "strategy" is not just a failure, not just irresponsible, not just foolish, but is immoral and bordering on criminal.

The cynical machinations of the Democratic leadership have hardly been any better. They have no strategy either, except to avoid taking the responsibility that the voters gave them in the last election.

Is it going to take mass protest in the streets before our elected leaders get the point and end this war? Bush & Co. are betting that won't happen.

Can we really afford to wait until 2009 in hopes that a new administration will take a different course? Don't hold your breath!

I'm heartened by some of Sen Salazar's recent actions, such as introducing the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, his work on immigration reform, and his efforts to get the Iraq Study Group Recommendations through Congress. He even called for the resignation of AG Gonzales. Maybe he is educable, after all, even if his political instincts tend toward gutless. We need to make sure to keep monitoring his work closely, and make sure he gets sufficient feedback-- both positive and negative-- when needed.

As the late, great Kurt Vonnegut would say.

April 16, 2007 Washington - In the great showdown between the White House and congressional Democrats over war funding, it may be all over but the shouting.
Key Democrats - such as Senate Armed Services chair Carl Levin (D) of Michigan - have already made clear that President Bush will get his $100 billion-plus to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

Well, Senator Salazar, here is the result of your gutless approach to ending the carnage in Iraq attributable to this administration's heartless and idiotic policies, which you have consistently supported when push comes to shove. Congratulations, we have lost the opportunity to begin to reign in our rogue president. It will now be a year, and how much more slaughter, before we have another opportunity. I am sick and tired of hearing about needing to "support the troups", as if that is accomplished by leaving them hanging out to dry in a hopeless situation.   Read More »

Thanks to Ralph T. for pointing out to me something important: I/we need to change our language about what is happening in Iraq. To call it a "war" is to imply that there is a possibility it can be won. But this is not a war, it is an occupation, and history shows that an occupation cannot be won. From now on, that is the way I will refer to the situation. We need to end the US occupation of Iraq. Even if you believe in the "war on terrorism", Iraq is a distraction and a quagmire. The longer we stay in Iraq, the worse it is for us and the better it is for our adversaries. I bet they can't believe their good fortune that we have someone like Dubya to play right into their hands, which has don since the day after 9/11, if not before.

WASHINGTON, April 11 -- The military announced Wednesday that most active duty Army units now in Iraq and Afghanistan and those sent in the future would serve 15-month tours, three months longer than the standard one-year tour.

OK, so NOW can we talk about what it REALLY means to "support the troops"? I can't imagine how the poor slobs must feel. How about we ask Senator Salazar about this. Meanwhile, today a bomb goes off in the Iraqi Parliament building inside the Green Zone. Anyone see a "light at the end of the tunnel"? Deja vu all over again.