The Inaugural Environmental Nightmare
I’m one of those people where the more something gets hyped up, the more turned off I am by it, and Barack Obama is one of those fads that I’m already damn sick and tired of. I am continually amazed at how supposedly smart progressives can’t see through this guy. Hello – he got more Wall Street money than anybody in the primaries, he lied about FISA and public campaign financing, he kept Bush’s defense secretary, and is opposed to gay marriage. He got into the White House thanks to caucus fraud, a fixed DNC nomination, rampant sexism, campaign contribution fraud, and a suspiciously complicit, fawning media (a media that is owned and run by big corporations, may I remind you).
So it’s no surprise to me, that in a time of deep recession, Obama is blowing over $150 million for an over-the-top inaugural party to coddle his big ego has he steps in to become the first biracial president. (Paid for, in part, by more Wall Street money.) What the left has been strangely quiet on is the cost of this inaugural shindig, both in dollar signs and in its environmental impact. It has sadly taken right wing, anti-environmental groups to crunch the numbers on this in an effort to showcase the hypocrisy of it all. The Institute for Liberty has put out a report on the projected CO2 emissions from the inauguration, and they may exceed 500 million pounds! Here are the obscene numbers:
* Celebrities, politicians, and bigwigs using 600 private jets will produce 25,320,000 POUNDS of CO2
* Personal vehicles could account for 262,483,200 POUNDS of CO2
* In the parade, horses alone will produce more than 400 POUNDS of CO2
* The total carbon footprint for the Inauguration will likely exceed 575 million POUNDS of CO2
* It would take the average U.S. household 57,598 years to produce a carbon footprint equal to that of the new president’s housewarming party
This report does not include the costs to DC in terms of trash, damage to city parks, and toxic human waste from legions of porta-potties. (And it takes a right wing blog, Flopping Aces, to point out the potty-hypocrisy.)
Never mind the potential for chaos in such an environment. A million people, stuck in the frigid cold, with porta-potties as their bathrooms, and no place to take shelter? I wouldn’t be surprised if some people end up dying at the event from exposure.
In the midst of this orgasmic excess, if you are in the DC area for the inauguration, you could choose to attend the Green Inaugural Ball, and assuage your guilt with a little bit of carbon-offsetting. But really, is this going to make up for turning the entire District of Columbia into some sort of muddy, filthy Obamastock celebration?
How many huge events for Obama will be enough? We had his DNC coronation at a huge stadium instead of a regular convention hall (and it took Republicans to point out the hypocrisy of the environmental litter of the thrown out American flags after the convention). We had his presidential acceptance speech in a huge outdoor event in Chicago, which was probably also another environmental clusterfuck. And am I the only progressive who looks at these huge, massive rallies and sees shades of Hitler in them? We should never worship our leaders in this manner – it’s not healthy for democracy.
Meanwhile, as the snarky right is all too eager to remind us, Obama is constantly admonishing us to tighten our belts environmentally, while he engages in the most excessive, orgiastic rituals as a means of marketing himself.
This is change we can believe in?
So my question is this: When will my friends on the left hold Obama as accountable as they have done everyone else? Hillary Clinton got blasted for her Iraq War vote. John McCain was excoriated as “McBush,” even though he was the first Republican presidential nominee who actually had environmental issues as part of his platform. And of course, Sarah Palin gets crap for simply breathing. But Obama, who as of yet has only shown he’s good at pageantry and excess, is the second coming of Christ, even though he has yet to show any true environmental commitment with his actions.
When I see a president practicing real environmental living – for example, eschewing the large mansion for a modest home heated by solar power – then I’ll believe real change is coming. Until then, to me it’s all walk and no talk.
Update: January 21, 2009. The New York Times has a story covering some of the chaos and confusion at the inauguration. Almost 1,000 people ended up getting treated in the medical tents (957 in a few tallies I found), and at least 63 people were taken to the hospital, mostly for hypothermia. This first-hand report showcases how chaotic the event was. At least, with around 2 million people there, nothing worse happened.
Tags: Obama
