The new central organizing principle of the world is the task of ``protecting the earth's environment while fostering economic progress.''
``I remember my mother's troubled response to Rachel Carson's classic book about DDT and pesticide abuse.... This invisible poison became for me a symbol of how carelessly our civilization could do harm to the world'' [p. 3].
``I didn't plan this book to be an opportunity to offer a series of undoubtedly controversial proposals for saving the global environment, but ... you will find in Part III the tough new proposals from which I have shied away-until now'' [p. 16].
About the young girl who fell into a well: ``During the three days of her ordeal, more than 100,000 boys and girls her age or younger died of preventable causes-mostly starvation and diarrhea-due to failures of both crops and politics'' [no mention of those who died of malaria because of the ban on DDT]. ``Our eyes glaze over and our hearts close. We look but we don't see'' [p. 28].
``A small number of scientists [more than 17,000] argue that we don't have to worry about global warming.... We must investigate any scientific uncertainty that impedes our ability to come together and face this crisis. The knowledge thus gained will not only deprive the skeptics of some of their excuses for procrastination, it will also solidify public support for the increasingly comprehensive changes that will be necessary. But research in lieu of action is unconscionable'' [pp. 36-37].
``Chlorine was first used in world commerce less than 60 years ago. It has a debilitating effect on the atmosphere. Like an acid, it burns a hole in the earth's protective ozone shield above Antarctica and depletes the ozone layer worldwide.... In Queensland, more than 75 percent of its citizens who have reached the age of 65 now have skin cancer, and children are required by law to wear large hats and neck scarves to and from school to protect against radiation [NOT true]'' [pp. 84-85].
``When we transform natural resources into something useful, we create waste twice-once when we generate waste as part of the production process, and a second time when we tire of the thing itself and throw it away'' [p. 146].
The essentially religious nature of the book is most apparent in Chapter 13, ``The Environmentalism of the Spirit.'' Gore asks: ``When giving us dominion over the earth, did God choose an appropriate technology?'' [p. 238]. A ``change in our essential character'' is called for, Gore believes. The premises on which we base our decisions on how to relate to the environment, which are leading to an ``ecological holocaust,'' are ``fundamentally unethical'' [p. 242]. Stating that he is a Baptist, he criticizes many religious leaders, and refers favorably to non-Judeo-Christian faiths that teach the sacredness of the earth, the sacredness of water, the single earth goddess, and the concept that man belongs to the earth. He blames environmental depredations on the ``separation of science and religion'' [p. 257].
Gore advocates total war: ``Adopting the central organizing principle means embarking on an all-out effort to use every policy and program, every law and institution, every treaty and alliance, every plan and course of action-in short, every means to halt the destruction of the environment and to preserve and nurture our ecological system. Minor shifts in policy,... moderate improvements in laws and regulations,... - these are all forms of appeasement, designed to satisfy the public's desire to believe that sacrifice, struggle, and a wrenching transformation of society will not be necessary. The Chamberlains of this crisis carry not umbrellas but `floppy hats and sunglasses'....
``This struggle is more difficult than vanquishing Hitler, for this war is against ourselves. We are the enemy'' [emphasis added, p. 274-275].
The ``Strategic Environment Initiative'' includes: zero population growth; ``environmentally appropriate technologies''; a ``comprehensive and ubiquitous change in the economic rules of the road''; a ``new generation of international agreements'' that will embody enforcement mechanisms; and ``a cooperative plan for educating the world's citizens about our global environment'' [p. 305].
Among the specific proposals are a redefinition of GDP and productivity to ``include environmental costs and benefits'' [p. 346].
Because a CO2 tax would not be enough, Gore also advocates a virgin materials fee, as on paper mills, and an accelerated phase-out of ``all ozone- destroying chemicals'' with subsidized development of ``truly benign'' substitutes.
As to the human impact of the proposals, Gore states that ``realism is recognizing that the proposals which are today considered too bold to be politically feasible will soon be derided as woefully inadequate to the task at hand'' [p. 305].
While many assert that the book is well-referenced (see reviews on amazon.com), there are no conventional footnotes. The end notes contain much name-dropping and an impressive travelogue. The bibliography features Rachel Carson, Carl Sagan, Stephen Schneider, Paul Ehrlich, The Gaia Atlas of Future Worlds by Norman Myers, and The Language of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas-but none of the major critics of radical environmentalism.
To gather the intellectual ammunition needed to refute the bold assertions in this book, attend the upcoming DDP meeting, buy audiotapes and the new CD-ROM, and disseminate the information to writers, talk-show hosts, teachers, students, clergy, editors, and political candidates.
The format of the meeting provides an opportunity for lively discussion and for personal conversations with many of America's most accomplished scientists. Don't miss it!?
Which country has: 709,000 active duty service personnel; 293,000 reserve troops; 8 standing Army divisions; 20 Air Force and Navy air wings with 2,000 combat aircraft; 232 strategic bombers; 13 strategic ballistic missile submarines with 3,114 nuclear warheads on 232 missiles; 500 ICBMs with 1,950 warheads; 4 aircraft carriers; 121 surface combat ships and submarines, plus all the support bases, shipyards, and logistical assets needed to sustain them?
The country is not Russia; not China; and not Great Britain.
This global superpower no longer exists. These are the American forces that have disappeared since the Clinton-Gore Administration came to power in 1993.
According to a May 12 article in WorldNetDaily, Clinton still intends to order a 50% reduction in U.S. nuclear forces, to roughly 1,000 warheads, without congressional approval, before he leaves office. Reportedly, Clinton has informed the Joint Chiefs of Staffs that he intends to make the move in order to persuade Russia to accept a limited U.S. anti-missile defense. Admiral Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the joint chiefs, states that Clinton has not supported missile defense for America. Meanwhile, two squadrons of the latest Russian missile, the SS-27, have recently been deployed.
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