Economics
Times Record "Sustain Maine" op-ed series
Of Deception, War and Sustainable Energy Futures
December 2003
David Vail
Ben Vail
For The Bush administration's rhetoric, appointments, legislative priorities and budget deficits make it clear that a farsighted commitment to sustainable development is gone from the national agenda. Up to now, none of the leading Democratic presidential candidates has done much to bring it back.
The protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which monopolize Americans' attention and drain the federal budget, cannot be separated from our energy gluttony and oil dependency. As one columnist put it, "we are not preoccupied with the Middle East because it's the world's dominant cabbage supplier."
It was not always so. Following the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, sustainable development was a hot button issue. Acting on Rio's Agenda 21 Resolution, President Clinton created the President's Council on Sustainable Development, chaired by Al Gore. It brought business, government and environmental leaders together to explore how the United States could best "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
The President's Council set out convincing priorities for an American transition to sustainability. They emphasized educating all citizens about the critical role of healthy ecosystems in sustaining future economic prosperity and community vitality. The President's Council pointed in the right direction, but 1990s politics prevented its proposals from being put into action. First, Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994. Only later did voters learn about the aggressively anti-environmental agenda buried in their "Contract with America." Later still, impeachment politics drained momentum from sustainable development initiatives.
The "crony capitalism" that swept into Washington with George W. Bush has led to backsliding in nearly every area of environmental protection and resource conservation. The Bush tactics can best be described as public deception - the opposite of citizen education. Two early actions set the pattern. First, Bush rejected as too tough the Clinton standards on arsenic in drinking water-a serious Maine problem. Then he rejected the Kyoto Protocol's commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions, claiming a lack of proof that humans contribute to global warming. Under pressure, Bush asked the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate these assertions - NAS scientists refuted Bush's claims. Later, our know-nothing president falsely stated he had read the NAS climate study, but passed it off as "the report of those bureaucrats."
Energy is at the heart of America's environmental problems and sustainability challenges. Fossil fuels cause much local pollution, accelerate global warming, and intensify our national in-security. In his energy-related policies, Bush's "greenwash" deceptions are most transparent.
The label "Clear Skies Initiative" is attached to a set of executive rulings that, in reality, relax emission standards for old power plants upwind from Maine and stretch out the timetable for cutting mercury emissions. Cloaked in misleading rhetoric, the Bush climate change strategy actually allows continued increases in US greenhouse gas emissions. A New York Times editorial describes the Bush-Cheney energy strategy, concocted behind closed doors, as "a miserable grab bag of special benefits for the oil, gas and coal companies." And analysts predict that even newly-announced mileage standards for super-heavy SUVs will do nothing to improve overall fuel efficiency of the SUV fleet.
Here in Maine, the news is more encouraging. Although a single small state cannot do much to affect global sustainability, Maine is bucking national trends and showing innovative leadership on many fronts. Focusing again on energy, the efforts of Interfaith Power and Light have enabled thousands of ratepayers to purchase electricity from 100% renewable sources. Two multi-megawatt wind farms are being planned for economically distressed Aroostook and Franklin Counties. The Penobscot River Restoration Project will remove dams obstructing fish passage while upgrading hydropower generation. Revival of Millinocket's Great Northern paper mills is slated to include a ten megawatt sludge-to-energy plant - Maine's first hydrogen production facility. And the Chewonki Foundation's biodiesel fuel experiment, recycling restaurants' waste cooking oil, is about to go commercial.
2003 was a banner year for state energy initiatives, with passage of the Climate Change Action bill and creation of an Office of Energy Independence and Security. Under Governor Baldacci's leadership, Maine has moved from laggard to leader in sustainable energy strategy. Plans are in the works to support renewable energy investments and strengthen incentives for energy efficiency, including retrofitting state buildings and upgrading fuel efficiency of the state's vehicle fleet.
Mainers have a well-earned reputation for their independent streak and commitment to a special way of life. Despite misleading rhetoric and short-sighted policies from the White House, Maine's energy initiatives - public and private, large and small - point the way to a more independent and sustainable future.
David Vail teaches ecological economics at Bowdoin College and coordinates the "Sustain Maine" op-ed series. Ben Vail is a researcher at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.