What is a Green Patriot?

In my career I’ve been known as a lot of things, some not so flattering!  But I’ve always welcomed the idea that I am America’s consumer cop since I’ve busted more big name companies than anybody left standing today.  However, more lately, I’ve become known as that ‘crazy Green Patriot guy.’  Well, what is green patriotism?  How did I come up with this notion?  I’d love to explore that in this blog here at www.ecology.com because I think   green patriots are vital to this nation.

I came up with the term after the devastating attack on America on 9.11.01.  None of us will ever forget that day.  For the next several years, however, all the way through 2004, environmentalists were shunted aside as somehow being unpatriotic and completely hindering our war on terror.  If I am anything, I am an environmentalist and a patriot.  I didn’t like the kind of coverage, or lack thereof, that the environment or issues related to it were getting from many voices in the media.  Environmentalism was a largely partisan issue with the Democrats claiming the high ground and the Republicans on the defensive.  In the world of talk radio, of course, environmentalists are the favorite whipping boys of Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and the rest of the crew who broadcast from the right side of the radio dial.  (Bill O’Reilly, who is a conservative traditionalist, is remarkably progressive on the environment.)

I told this story in my book Safe Trip to Eden (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2007) in which I recounted how the anti-Iraq demonstrators, which included environmental groups, were largely called unpatriotic by the controlling Republicans and other conservative voices in the media.  Environmentalists-and as I said I count myself at the front of the line-were being crucified.  The drum beat of war went on.

When I began my book Safe Trip to Eden, it was during a particularly dark period of my life when someone close to me experienced significant mental illness, and I was seeking something larger in which to believe.  I’ve heard it said by many, though I’m not sure by whom in particular, that patriotism is the last refuge.  Well, so it was for me too.  Probably the most influential work that I had read at this time was Collapse by Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond, Ph.D., and The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken.  I began to see that how nations respond to their environmental challenges was the most critical element of their survival.  Even more than wars, it is how nations live up to the ecological challenges being posed today that will determine our nation’s fate.  From this basic underlying foundation I could begin to see how environmental policies would play a dramatic role in whether this nation can win the war on terror, achieve energy independence, create new high-paying jobs here, create a more perfect society with less crime, reduce cancer incidence, and-perhaps most critically-respond to the global warming challenge.

By linking the environment with national security, energy independence and jobs, we have made environmentalism relevant to Americans again.  But now my job is to articulate and educate about this link so that people of all political persuasions begin to understand this basic unassailable truth:  our future depends on whether we can meet our environmental challenges.  Once we see that our future is ecological and environmental, we have no choice but to think like green patriots, and when we do, our thinking becomes clear.  We know the answers.  In the next few upcoming blogs, I’ll share with you how a sound environmental policy will help us to become energy independent and win the war on terror; improve our job outlook; and even offer sustainable long-term investment opportunities.  Won’t you stay tuned?  Be sure to listen to my radio show too, both here at www.ecology.com and at www.webtalkradio.net.