National Defense And the Environment
Publisher: Diane Pub Co
Author(s): Stephen Dycus
Date: 1996
Topics: Renewable Resources, Weapons, Waste, and Pollution
Throughout almost half a century of Cold War, we polluted the water and air, made noise, defaced the landscape, and generated millions of tons of hazardous and radioactive wastes, all in the name of national security." Stephen Dycus writes in this timely, thought-provoking study of the issues raised when US military might collides with environmental laws. At, First, these injuries were the product of ignorance, and then disregard. Now a threat comes from the President and the new Republican Congress, whose proposed budget cuts could undermine ongoing protection and clean-up efforts. Dycus discusses the distinctive way environmental regulations apply to the military establishment, measures national defense policymakers have taken to clean up nuclear and toxic wastes, impacts of closing military bases, and legal constraints on wartime destruction. As previously classified information emerges about the environmental effects of military preparedness, Dycus writes, it becomes ever more clear that "in preparing for a fight, we must not destroy the very thing we would fight to protect.