Coal, Oil & Gas: Digging into the Olympic Moment

I just watched the final televised coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Great games. Engaging TV. And ugly advertising.

The coal, oil and gas industries ran numerous advertisements during the games in an attempt to persuade us that we need these "American" industries ... just the way they are.

One ad by the coal industry uses patriotism to promote "clean coal," an oxymoron if there ever was one. A young coal worker talks about why he feels so proud to be doing his part to "make America secure" in the same way that his brother -- a solider -- is doing overseas. Geez!

Or take this ad by API, the American Petroleum Institute, self-dubbed "The people of America's oil and natural gas industry."

An attractive blond woman rides a pristine, computer-generated elevator supposedly down below the earth's surface. She tells us about the 9.2 million American jobs the oil and natural gas industry has created. As she rides back up, she says: "So the next time we discover more natural gas together underground, think of all the good that means above ground. Log on for more information" [emphasis mine].

After the 10th viewing of the ad, I finally logged on to energytomorrow.org, where you will be urged to write to Congress to protest "massive new taxes and fees on America's oil and natural gas industry" that will "kill jobs" and "hurt consumers and businesses."

Sounds bad. No one wants to "kill" jobs and "hurt" anyone.

BTW, this is an example of Astroturfing, or a fake grassroots campaign. API is trying to persuade us Americans to tell our legislators that we (not API) are "sick and tired and won't take it anymore."

Let me reframe the discussion this way.

How many people and other living things have been killed or hurt as a result of the polluting effects of oil and coal? We have chosen to subsidize these industries, thus making it seem as if they provide "cheap" energy. We conveniently forget the economic, political, environmental, health and social justice costs that come along with chopping off the tops of mountains, spewing particulate matter into the air, and dumping toxic wastes near low-income or minority communities that usually don't have the political power to fight back.

Last November, I participated in an online workshop titled “Covering the Green Jobs Debate: What You Need to Know.” This session was offered by Poynter NewsU to help reporters understand how to interpret information about green jobs. I learned that the common element of green jobs is energy, whether it be renewable energy or energy efficiency.

Why do green jobs matter? While President Obama has planned for $100 billion in additional stimulus bill funds to support alternative energy sources, China plans to spend $200 billion on green jobs, and the G-20 industrialized countries plan to spend $400 billion. We've got to get on board if we want to remain leaders in the world economy.

I learned that according to the Pew Charitable Trust, only about half of 1% of all U.S. jobs (770,000) are clean, renewable-energy jobs. However, green jobs are growing faster – 9.1% to 3.7% – than are those in the traditional energy sector, such as oil, gas and coal ... the dirty, nonrenewable energy sources.

According to the New York Times, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) decided in 2007 to commit between $35 million to $40 million a year through 2010 or 2011 to "protect coal" -- not to explore alternative energy sources or to clean up the way they do business. No, the goal is simply to protect the way they are. And they're being quite effective. Obama has spoken of "clean coal," and the Times reports that lawmakers are hesitating to support energy and climate bills considered "too draconian" because they "would kill jobs and raise energy prices." Really?

So I ask, what is the truly patriotic and American thing to do? Spend money to promote yourself in the short-run, with long-term negative consequences to your industry and to the people you purport to serve? Or spend money now to find ways to maintain your industry's health in the long-run while promoting the well-being of your employees, investors and the consuming public? Seems an easy call to me.

Coal and oil are dirty -- Have been. Always will be. Renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind, hydroelectric) is clean. A green economy creates jobs and promotes sustainability. Go green.

Why We Need a Green Tea Party

You’ve heard of the Boston Tea Party, right? As the story goes, Boston colonists in 1773, upset with a British tax on tea, decided to protest the “taxation without representation” by throwing the tea into the harbor. There’s much more to the story than this, but the event has served as a model for anti-tax, anti-government protests ever since.

Today we have the Tea Party movement, which took force in early 2009. People are expressing their anger with President Obama and Congress for spending “the people’s” money on things “the people” don’t like – taxes in general, health care, the stimulus bill, banking and auto bailouts, etc. Things they value include fiscal responsibility, free markets, limited government, upholding the Constitution and, as former Rep. Tom Tancredo said in his opening remarks at this month’s Tea Party Convention in Nashville – “... a commitment to passing on our [emphasis mine] culture – and we do have one you know! It is based on Judeo Christian principles whether people like it or they don't! That's who we are! And if you don't like it, don't come here! And if you're here and don't like it go home! Go someplace else!” Which "home" is he suggesting Americans who disagree with him should go to?

This populist movement is infused with “astroturfing,” – that is, well-financed entities, such as the Freedom Forum, are helping to frame the debate by creating fake grassroots movements (see Paul Krugman, NYT, April 12, 2009). And, sadly, there’s a strain of racism among some in the movement – people who picture Obama as a witch doctor, who label him as a modern-day Hitler, who still do not believe he was born in the U.S., who believe that those who voted for him are illiterate, and so on. But that's another story.

The Tea Party movement has been very effective in rallying a group of people with strong beliefs and in getting their message before the media and elected officials. But they are pushing more than just information and persuasion; they are making things happen, too. For example, members of the Tea Party have claimed credit for Republican Scott Brown winning former Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts. We can learn a lesson or two from this group.

It’s time we established a Green Tea Party, a grassroots group dedicated to making elected officials act responsibly by supporting clean energy, creating green jobs, promoting energy conservation, and addressing climate change as the real, human-caused phenomenon it is.

We need to repeat our messages through a variety of media and repeat them often.: We must care for our world, care for our environment, invest in our children’s future, be wise stewards, create green jobs, grow the economy responsibly, and so on. We need to let our elected officials know “We’re angry as heck, and we’re not going to take it anymore.”

A Green Tea Party has already started to take form. On Feb. 13 at more than a dozen locations across Florida, people gathered for “Hands Across the Sand” events to protest planned drilling off Florida’s coasts. “Think, baby, think” was the chant – a counterpoint to Sarah Palin’s rallying cry of “Drill, baby, drill.” On Oct. 24, 2009, as part of “International Day of Climate Action," I organized “Tallahassee 350,” which was one of more than 5,200 similar events in 181 countries. This worldwide effort drew attention to the fact that scientists say the earth can sustain 350 ppm of carbon dioxide and maintain human life as we know it. Sadly, we’re at 390 ppm and rising. People around the world are getting the message and spreading the word.

I’m on the mailing list for at least a dozen organizations – such as the Southern Energy Network, the Natural Resources Defense Council, 1Sky, Repower America, Citizens Climate Lobby – that are seeking to educate the public and our elected officials on the urgency of addressing climate change. Communities across the country – indeed, across the world – are taking action.
Malcolm Gladwell in his seminal book “The Tipping Point” argues that small changes can bring about a social epidemic. We’re already facing an environmental tipping point (think about the unusual weather patterns this past year and the rapidly melting Arctic ice shield). We need to create a social epidemic – a Green Tea Party – to mobilize the political will of the masses to address this most-important issue facing humankind: climate change.

Won’t you join me?