In Defense of the Earth


Marina Spitkovskaya

Environmental Studies Senior Essay
Spring 2004



Introduction

    President Eisenhower once said, “The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.” Although he was referring to the growing military-industrial complex, his words ring true today in regard to the harmful impact of national defense activities on public health and the environment.  In this essay, I hope to examine the precarious balance between the interests of national defense and environmental protection.  I will begin with a description of the ways in which defense activities impact public health and the environment.  I will then explore the applicability of the environmental laws to the defense agencies and the institutional methods they use to avoid compliance.  The experience of the U.S. Navy’s training and bombing activities on Vieques, Puerto Rico will serve as an illustration of the difficulty communities, local governments, and environmental agencies experience when attempting to enforce the environmental laws on defense agencies.  

    I hope to explore the way the balance between environmental and national security interests has shifted over time, beginning during the Cold War years, when many of the environmental laws were enacted, to the present day.  I will describe the events that brought about a growing awareness of the environmental harms created by defense activities during the Cold War, and the trend towards greater enforcement of environmental laws on defense agencies.  The tragic events of September 11, 2001 will serve as a landmark, as they appear to have brought on a reversal in these trends towards greater enforcement.  I will explore the ways in which the changed political terrain has altered the balance between defense and environmental interests, renewing the potency of the national security argument against environmental enforcement.

    Vieques, Puerto Rico again serves as a backdrop to the debate over national security and the environment, illustrating the changed political circumstances.  I will explore the role of national defense as a guiding force in the U.S. presence in Puerto Rico and on Vieques in particular.  The events of September 11 and their impacts on the movement to enforce the environmental laws on the Navy’s activities in Vieques serve as an interesting parallel to the ways these events affected the environmental movement in the U.S. as a whole, and efforts to enforce environmental laws on the defense establishment in particular.