Ecotopia

Date: 29 November 2011

This Week: Our topic  is “Military Ecology.”  In the first part of the program, we’ll talk with Retired Air Force Colonel Richard Klass, who has been following the funding of the military. We’ll ask him about the implications of the recent Super Committee failure to reach consensus on budget reductions, and what that does and does not mean about altering military spending by a country that already spends ten times more on the military than any other nation on the planet.

Then we will talk with Rick Arndt of the U.S. Chemical Materials Agency. This agency is responsible for getting rid of nerve and mustard gas left over from World War II and reducing the U.S. stockpile of poison weapons of mass destruction. We’ll ask a recent story that the Umatilla army base in Oregon has completed destruction of huge quantities of gas.

Listen to the Program

Our Conversation with Colonel Richard [Dick] Klass

As most listeners know, the Congressional Supercommittee charged with coming up with $1.2 trillion dollars of budget cuts has failed and dissolved. Some automatic cuts–called “sequestration”–now kick in, including some $500 billion in cuts to the Pentagon over the next decade. On the phone with us to talk about defense spending is Colonel Richard Klass, who is retired from the Air Force and Vice-President of the Veteran’s Alliance for Security and Democracy Political Action Committee. Colonel Klass is also a member of the Board of the Council for a Livable world. He has a blog on Huffington Post that comments on a wide range of social, political, and military issues.

1. Please tell us about the organizations for which you work:
–What is the Veteran’s Alliance for Security?
–What is the Council for a Livable World?
How do those fit together in your personal activism?

2A. With the Super Committee having failed, some automatic defense spending cuts kick in. What do you see as the short- and long-range effects of these cuts? Is our security in danger? Or, as some activists have argued, are such cuts long overdue?

2B. What kinds of programs and projects will be cut? Are there programs that you see as wasteful or inefficient or unneeded? If you were wielding the budget axe, where would you swing?

2C. If military spending is drastically cut, will there be fallout for the economy, including government contractors? Will people be put out of work in, say, the aerospace industry? Can alternative jobs in green industries replace lost employment for military hardware?

3. For some of us, the failure of the Super Committee seems–at first glance–like a positive step, since it cuts military without attacking Medicare and Social Security benefits. Are we falsely optimistic here? Do you have thoughts on the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy that are at the core of the Super Committee failure? [Are those cuts really automatic? Some have argued that they are merely a paper sword and that the next Congress will repeal them.]

4. What’s your prediction about next steps, both for Congress and the Pentagon? Will there be attempts to restore the budget cuts? What’s your best case scenario of what might happen next, both within the military and within a livable world?

5. How can interested listeners participate in the process most successfully? Are there groups other than Vet Pac and Livable World that you can recommend? Please tell us where people can find your blog.

Thank you Colonel Richard Klass for being with us tonight.  Here are the websites:

Veteran’s Alliance for Security www/vetpac/org

Council for a Livable World http://livableworld.org/

Huffington Post Blog  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-klass

Read more about the Congressional SuperCommittee Below

Our Conversation with Richard [Rick] Arndt

Rick Arndt is  Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. We recently received a press release from him telling about the destruction of World War II chemical weapons being stored in Umatilla, Oregon.  The full press release is included below.

1. Please tell us about the U.S. Chemical Materials Agency and its broad responsibilities.

2. CMA recently released a press release concerning disposal of a chemical weapons stockpile at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Please tell us what happened.

3. How much material was destroyed? What kinds of chemical weapons were at Umatilla? [“The original inventory of chemical weapons stored at UMCD included 220,604 nerve agent and mustard agent munitions and containers holding 3,717 tons of chemical agent.”]

4. How do you safely dispose of this stuff? How is it destroyed? [“using incineration technology while ensuring maximum protection of the installation and community population.”] Since incineration is involved, how do you know what is and is not being put into the atmosphere? What residual, if any, exists and what happens to it?

5. Your press release notes that “90 percent of the Nation’s chemical weapons stockpile” has been or will be destroyed. What happens to the other 10%?

6. Does the destruction of these materials put an end to an era of chemical weapons of mass destruction? [“The United States established the Chemical Demilitarization Program in 1986 to remove the threat posed by continued storage of outdated chemical weapons and inspire a worldwide commitment to the elimination of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. In April 1997 the United States came under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, thereby requiring the safe destruction of 100 percent of the nation’s chemical weapons by April 2007. The United States petitioned to have the original deadline extended to April 2012 (an extension allowed by the convention) and was granted this five-year extension.”]

7. Are there other things you’d like our audience to know about the destruction of chemical weapons generally or the Umatilla project in particular?  Here are some links supplied by Rick Arndt:

Links:
CMA website homepage
http://www.cma.army.mil/

UMCD/UMCDF website homepage
http://www.cma.army.mil/umatilla.aspx

UMCD/UMCDF Weekly Update
http://www.cma.army.mil/fndocumentviewer.aspx?DocID=003683849

Background on the Super Committee from Wikipedia

The Budget Control Act of 2011 (Pub.L. 112-25, S. 365, 125 Stat. 239, enacted August 2, 2011) was passed by the 112th United States Congress signed into law by President Barack Obama. It brought conclusion to the 2011 United States debt ceiling crisis, which had threatened to lead the United States into sovereign default on or about August 3, 2011.

The law involves the introduction of several complex mechanisms, such as creation of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes called the “super committee”)[1] and options for a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Debt limit:

The debt limit was increased by $400 billion immediately.[2]

The President may request a further increase of $500 billion, which is subject to a congressional motion of disapproval which the President may veto, in which case a two-thirds majority in Congress would be needed to override the veto.[3] This has been called the ‘McConnell mechanism’ after the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who first suggested it as part of another scheme.[4]

The President may request a final increase of $1.2–1.5 trillion, subject to the same disapproval procedure. The exact amount depends on the amount of cuts in the “super committee” plan if it passes Congress, and whether a Balanced Budget Amendment has been passed.[3]

Deficit reduction:

Spending is reduced more than the increase in the debt limit. No tax increases or other forms of increases in revenue above current law are included in the bill.[5]

The bill directly specifies $917 billion of cuts over 10 years in exchange the initial debt limit increase of $900 billion.[5] This is the first installment (“tranche”) of cuts. $21 billion of this will be applied in the FY2012 budget.[4]

Additionally, the agreement establishes the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, sometimes called the “super committee”,[1] that would produce debt reduction legislation by November 23, 2011, that would be immune from amendments or filibuster (similar to the Base Realignment and Closure).[4][6] The goal of the legislation is to cut at least $1.5 trillion over the coming 10 years and be passed by December 23, 2011.[6] Projected revenue from the committee’s legislation must not exceed the revenue budgeting baseline produced by current law. (Current law has the Bush tax cuts expiring at the end of 2012.) The committee would have 12 members, 6 from each party.[5]

Triggers:

The agreement specifies an incentive for Congress to act. If Congress fails to produce a deficit reduction bill with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts, then Congress can grant a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling but this would trigger across-the-board cuts (“sequestration”) of spending equally split between security and non-security programs.[4][3] The across-the-board cuts would apply to mandatory and discretionary spending in the years 2013 to 2021 and be in an amount equal to the difference between $1.2 trillion and the amount of deficit reduction enacted from the joint committee. The sequestration mechanism is the same as the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. There are exemptions—across the board cuts would apply to Medicare providers, but not to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare beneficiaries, civil and military employee pay, or veterans.[4][5] Security programs include the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Nuclear Security Administration, some management functions of the intelligence community, and international affairs from the U.S. State Department.[7]

Balanced Budget Amendment:

Congress must vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment between October 1, 2011, and the end of 2011,[3] but is not required to pass it and send it to the states in order for the debt limit increases to occur (as was the case in the previous Cut, Cap and Balance Act, which was not enacted).[4]

Background on Umatilla Chemical Destruction Project

Army Completes Chemical Stockpile Destruction at Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility

Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (Oct. 25, 2011) – The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF), located at Umatilla Chemical Depot (UMCD), Oregon, today completed the disposal of the chemical weapons stockpile stored at UMCD.

The UMCDF is a subordinate element of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA). Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, CMA has the mission to provide safe, secure storage of the Nation’s chemical weapons and to safely destroy 90 percent of the Nation’s chemical weapons stockpile.

“This is a great day for the U.S. Army, the people of Oregon and our Nation,” said CMA Director Conrad Whyne. “Thanks to the steadfast dedication of the Umatilla team — the United States Army, its civilian workers and contractors — the Umatilla community, the state of Oregon, and our Nation are all safer today. I could not be more proud of our workforce.”

The UMCDF had the mission to provide safe and environmentally compliant chemical agent destruction operations using incineration technology while ensuring maximum protection of the installation and community population. Umatilla Chemical Depot, also a subordinate element of CMA, had the mission to provide the safe and secure maintenance, storage and transport of 12 percent of the original U.S. stockpile of chemical munitions and containers. The original inventory of chemical weapons stored at UMCD included 220,604 nerve agent and mustard agent munitions and containers holding 3,717 tons of chemical agent. Destruction operations began Sept. 8, 2004.

“The vast experience of CMA employees and contractors — both at the site and at headquarters — was used to build, operate, and oversee the work to safely accomplish today’s destruction milestone. This same cooperation has been demonstrated for the successful operation of CMA storage and disposal facilities across the Nation,” said Col. John Lemondes, CMA Project Manager for Chemical Stockpile Elimination.

The UMCD and UMCDF will now begin closure operations, which will continue for up to 48 months. Closure operations will be conducted in accordance with facility and storage area end-states as agreed upon with all appropriate stakeholders.

The United States established the Chemical Demilitarization Program in 1986 to remove the threat posed by continued storage of outdated chemical weapons and inspire a worldwide commitment to the elimination of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. In April 1997 the United States came under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, thereby requiring the safe destruction of 100 percent of the nation’s chemical weapons by April 2007. The United States petitioned to have the original deadline extended to April 2012 (an extension allowed by the convention) and was granted this five-year extension.

The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency has safely completed disposal operations and closed facilities in Edgewood, Md.; Newport, Ind.; and Johnston Atoll, located 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. The Agency has also completed disposal operations in Anniston, Ala. and Pine Bluff, Ark. and is in the process of closing those chemical agent disposal facilities. CMA continues to safely store and destroy the chemical weapons stockpile in Tooele, Utah. CMA also safely stores the chemical weapons stockpiles in Richmond, Ky. and Pueblo, Colo. The disposal of these munitions falls under the purview of the Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, a separate Department of Defense program.

Playlist:

1. Money Money  2:20    Horace Andy     Wicked Dem A Burn       Reggae
2. Money Honey  3:36    Delbert McClinton       Room To Breathe Blues
3. Slower Than Guns (LP Version)        3:50    Iron Butterfly  Metamorphosis   Rock
4. Weave Me the Sunshine        4:28    Peter, Paul And Mary    The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary   Folk
5. It’s Money That I Love       3:43    Randy Newman    It’s Lonely At The Top  Blues
6. Poison Trees 4:00    The Devil Makes Three   Do Wrong Right  Alternative & Punk

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