On Our Arthritic Snail’s Pace

epa emergency response

 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States government commission to increase United States Defense Department efficiency by planning the end of the Cold War realignment and closure of military installations. More than 350 installations have been closed in five BRAC rounds: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 2005, but we have to question what’s been involved in those closures environmentally… because, as we know, the U.S. military is, arguably, the greatest single polluter on earth, the multiple other horror it’s responsible for aside.

Let’s take just one of MANY examples to drive home the URGENCY of what I’m addressing here. In Hunter’s Point — which is, you might say, in my backyard (though, admittedly, a safe distance from where I dwell in comfort… writing to you at the moment in California) — there’s been a huge protest going on forever generated by whistle blowers and community activists.

A news report I just digested from ABC spotlighted the surface of what’s going down in Hunter’s Point, but it closed its carefully condensed story with,

“The Navy said it’s going to look into all of the allegations, and make sure that re-testing is done if necessary… and then do the right thing.”

Be sure to delve into that link directly above to bring yourself up to speed on what’s coming down. Not just in Hunter’s Point or throughout the whole of California, but all across the nation… that’s prepping itself to become “great again.” Again, I ask, again and again… when exactly was it that we were deserving of that description?

The Navy can’t be trusted. Whatever company does the testing can’t be trusted. And we certainly can’t count on the mainstream media reports to be anything but supportive of things like the BRAC dynamic. Which is tantamount to being complicit in the crimes of the armed services. Which include irreparable damage being done to the environment.

The question of whether or not folks can rely on the EPA’s green designations and green lights for developers to build on property that used to be hazardous is extremely important. I’m addressing a HUGE PROBLEM here which is a “challenge” all across the country. All across the world now, truth be told. Which is NOT being “told” in any of our schools nationwide.

In San Francisco County, looking at the non-green designations, which openly declare that certain spots are presently hazardous, acknowledging that the property spotlighted is too dangerous for development, horrific chills go up my spine. For I know for a fact that on Treasure Island development has been proceeding at a rapid pace, all sorts of government programs involving innocent youth being based there.

Everything’s spun out of control on this score I’m addressing. One can’t trust any of the EPA designations, and one can’t trust our educational institutions to inform youngsters and their loved ones of this FACT.  I can only hope that the reader will ACT anew with me.

See, this morning — before I even witnessed the ABC news report — I came across people crying their brains out in Ohio, far from Hunter’s Point and Treasure Island, but relatively close to Flint, Michigan, where — two years after the scandal first broke there — they’re moving at the pace of an arthritic snail to “do the right thing.” [Pause.] Which they will never do.

Long before EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was appointed (with the hidden agenda of doing away with the powers of the EPA), the agency that’s supposed to be looking out for our collective environmental welfare was… worthless. Worse than worthless, behaving like the Mafia, according to a top scientist acquaintance of mine (who wrote a book on the subject).

No one’s doing anything (with the potential for impact), as far as I’m concerned, and those who are doing a minimal something here and there don’t seem to have a clue as to how much more has to be done how much sooner.

I’ve addressed this all in one form or another in many articles, like the one I did focusing on Stockton, California and the one I had posted centered on my address to educators in San Jose, California… at the so-called Social Forum there… where I spoke years earlier… to no avail.

This is exactly what I’m referring to when I say we’re documenting ourselves to death in lieu of DOING something about what plagues us. So.. that begs the question of why I’m — once again — writing to you.

Well, at this juncture, I still hold out hope that I’ll be able to recruit a half a dozen concerned citizens to get on board with me to move in solidarity following a fresh paradigm… embracing — perhaps — a game plan like the one that’s touched upon in a 2016 interview which my biographer conducted. That’s all we’d need to get a good ball rolling, six activists.

Thing is, no matter how many I recruit, no matter what strategy is adopted… we’re going to have to move at something other than an arthritic snail’s pace.

Richard Martin Oxman can be reached at [email protected]. He asks you to hurry up.

 

 

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