Fifty three years ago, on this day, June 29th, 1971, the “national security” argument gets an early run,
The president of the American Coal Association warned that the environmental movement could be radicalised to the point that it could weaken the United States by denying it necessary minerals and other resources.
Carl E. Bagge “Radicalism Perils Supply of Minerals.” Speech quoted in Salt Lake City Tribune, 29 June 1971, p6.
(McCormick, 1991:86)
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 326ppm. As of 2024 it is 426ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the American Coal Association was beset by on one hand a nuclear lobby trying to eat into electricity generation and on the other side, the environmentalists. And obviously, if you want to win the argument, you slipped back into a resonant frame, and in this case, the idea of national security. They started to paint environmentalists as unwitting or witting dupes of the Kremlin.
What we learn is that frame wars, frame walls, frame wars. Add that as a page actually.
As per that wonderful scene in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove the concern around “draining our vital fluids”
What happened next? On the American Coal Association the next I know of them in relation to climate change is the rather excellent August 1 1980 article in the Wall Street Journal where they dismiss it.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
June 29, 1956 – Just DRIVE, she said…
June 29, 1979 – G7 says climate change matters. Yes, 1979.
June 29, 1979 – Thatcher uses carbon dioxide build-up to shill for nuclear power