Posted by Annie Millican on June 9 at 12:00 PM
“You don’t need to wear a green beret to be green,” joked Vice President Joe Biden to a room of distinguished military officials at the 2009 Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards. Insignia, however, certainly helps to advance the new administration’s thoughtful environmental agenda. The ceremony, hosted in a brightly-lit and cloistered auditorium at the Pentagon, is an annual reminder of the mutually beneficial relationship between national security and environmental health. The mechanisms that provide a safe and clean world evidently operate and evolve along the same trajectory. Yes, the military’s methodology has been reconciled with a conventionally “crunchy” modus operandi – perhaps surprisingly, the Pentagon’s conscience has been green for nearly half a century!
Each year since 1962, the Secretary of Defense has honored individuals, teams, and installations for their outstanding achievments in the conservation of the natural and cultural resources entrusted to the Department of Defense. This year marks the first time in fifteen years that the White House has made an appearance to directly venerate the pioneering efforts made by service men and women. It signifies a renewed interest by the administration to explore the economic benefits of alternative energy. Vice President Biden credited the 350 Military generals and environmental academics gathered for the celebration with “leading the way in an area that no one in the public at large has the purview of intelligence to restore and protect: the environment.” That is to say, when the nation’s most sophisticated technology and equipment is harnessed to fortify both physical and natural security, it has profound and reverberating effects.
Opening speaker Ashton B. Carter, Under Secretary of Defense, exalted those military bases whose “bold accomplishments have contributed to the Department’s reputation as a worthy steward.” Remarking on the fact that the Department of Defense is the single largest consumer of energy in the United States, Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III implored the military to lead and catalyze environmental efforts to stimulate energy efficiency and security.
Recipients of this year’s Environmental Award were selected based on their extraordinary achievements in the areas of compliance, restoration, conservation, pollution prevention, acquisition, and cultural resources. A body of experts from academia, private green industries, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations, lent objectivity to the juried competition, vetting winners in a democratic and non-partisan selection process that solidified the credibility, and the prestige, of the award. As Dr. Carter noted, the outside consensus encourages “further innovation and creative solutions to increasingly complex challenges on the 30 million acres of land the Department manages.”
The 2009 Secretary of Defense Environmental Award Winners
Camp Ripley Maneuver and Training Center
Minnesota Army National Guard
Natural Resources Conservation – Large Installation
Fort Drum Cultural Resources Team
Fort Drum, New York
Cultural Resources Management –Team/Individual
United States Army Garrison Bamberg, Germany
Environmental Quality – Overseas Installation
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington
Pollution Prevention – Non-Industrial Installation
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Cultural Resources Management – Installation
Environmental Management Division, Hill Air Force Base, Utah
Environmental Quality – Industrial Installation
14th Civil Engineer Squadron Pollution Prevention Team
Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi
Pollution Prevention – Team/Individual
Defense Depot Memphis, Tennessee
Environmental Restoration – Installation
Commenting on the inspiring work of the winners, Biden concluded, “it is our responsibility to bequeath to our children a world that is clean and safe. Together, imagine what we can do!”
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1 Comment so far...
its good to see these issues being discussed under the same roof, it must have been an interesting event...nice summary
Posted by Foster Poole on June 9 at 1:57 PM