cross-posted at annoyedomnivore.wordpress.com
“Action has been taken to keep our air pure and our water safe and our food free from pesticides; to protect our wild life; to conserve our precious water resources. No single Congress…has done so much to keep America as a good and wholesome and beautiful place to live. We know America cannot be made strong by leadership which reacts only to the needs…of the moment. True leadership must provide for the next decade and not merely the next day.” So said President Lyndon Johnson on September 3, 1964, as he commented on the passage of the Wilderness Act. The battle to establish permanent wilderness areas was of course not easy; it took eight years; but there were several elected officials who worked for its passage, among them Senator Hubert Humphrey and Senator Clinton Anderson. It was Humphrey who introduced the bill to Congress in 1956, which had been drafted by Howard Zahnister, executive director of the Wilderness Society. It was opposed by the usual commercial suspects (loggers, miners and ranchers), but also attracted major opposition within the government, including the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service. That this bill passed in the face of such powerful opposition is a testament to the integrity and determination shown by the politicians of the day. In the end, the bill passed 373 to 1 in the House and 73 to 12 in the Senate.
It’s impossible to imagine a similar outcome today, and indeed, environmental protections have largely been ignored since the G.W. Bush administration. And it should come as no surprise that the 112th Congress, with its original batch of tea party crazies, was the worst Congress for wilderness since 1966, and in fact waged war against the environment. The 113th Congress did little better, and I don’t imagine we’ll see much effective action from the current Congress. None of which should be surprising, as calls for increased environmental protections have been drowned out by the 2010 Citizens United decision. Corporations now more than ever control national and state elections, tying the hands of any environmentalist or politician who wishes to protect our land, health and water. President Obama said at the time that it was “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.” And despite whatever good Obama has accomplished, his hands appear to be tied as well as far as fighting against environmental destruction.
Indeed, the Wilderness Society reports that “the Obama administration has leased 2.5 times more land to oil and gas drilling than it has set aside for preservation and conservation,” and that “the amount of public land protected by President Obama is far less than his predecessors – even George W. Bush and Reagan.” But Citizens United has perhaps precluded any effort by any group or individual to accomplish deeds outside the interests of corporations. Unlimited outside spenders are able to purchase politicians to look after their interests, and with corporate money flooding the legislative system, even such minor reforms as GMO labeling laws, a cause supported by over 90% of the voting public, are blocked. Even when initiatives manage to pass, such as the ban on GMO practices in Maui, big money can negate the law by resorting to “Right to Farm” bills instilled by ALEC, their legislative arm.
It took a small contingent of dedicated environmentalists and politicians years before they could enact the Wilderness Act. It set aside 9.1 million acres of land that could not be developed in any way and defined wilderness as “in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape [and] is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” President Johnson remarked further that “if future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.”
Big money will not disappear out of politics if Citizens United is overturned, but it would at least allow for a more even playing field. If we are ever to hope to see the likes of Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey again, we must continue to fight corporate control.
Recipe of the Week
I’ve been making the same pizza for years, which is simply tomato sauce, onion, olives and smoked mozzarella. It’s good, but I wanted something different, and only two changes made it exceptional. As always, it depends on the quality of the ingredients to make this pizza stand out. A homemade crust is the best, and any recipe will do.
Goat Cheese Pizza
3 ounces of creamy, locally produced goat cheese
14 ounces of fire-roasted, organic canned whole tomatoes, pureed
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup good quality Greek olives
3 Tbls. extra virgin olive oil
Heat the oil in a large, cast iron frying pan. Add the garlic, and let it sizzle for under a minute before adding the tomatoes and olives. Turn the heat to low and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes have a mellow taste. If you use good olives, added salt is unnecessary. When your crust is ready, spread it out on a lightly oiled pizza pan or cookie sheet. Spread the tomato sauce over the top and then place small dabs of goat cheese over all. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.