The U.S. should initiate the creation of a Global Conservation Corps to address the twin problems of economic stagnation and ecological collapse around the world. Employing & training young volunteers from every country to fight soil erosion, plant trees, build clean energy infrastructure, and cope with natural disasters around the world, this organization would thoroughly update and expand the Civilian Conservation Corps created by FDR and apply its proven model for success across the world.
Earlier this year, British PM Gordon Brown remarked that we need a 'Global New Deal' to meet the world's gravest economic crisis since the 1930s. Although he was correct about this, the details remain murky about what such a Global New Deal would mean to ordinary people throughout the world. As a tangible part of our common drive to face this crisis, a Global Conservation Corps would provide a real opportunity for paid work and practical training to young people in places as diverse as United States and Yemen, but, beyond this, it would help to outline common goals which unite people across religious and political boundaries. People will probably always argue about the nature of the divine or the proper role of the state, but they will certainly always agree about the value of clean water, productive soil, and verdant forests. By putting people to work to protect these vital and universal resources, a Global Conservation Corps could greatly expand the sense of common purpose among young people around the world and do something the reduce the allure of political/religious extremism, narcotics, and organized crime among the world's burgeoning youth population.
Major questions remain concerning how big such a program would be, who would administer it, and how it would be paid for. As I see it, such a program should start small, involving a few hundred thoroughly vetted volunteers from any countries willing to participate. It should be administered by an international body (the UN's success with UNICEF is a good model here) so as not to be tied to the political or strategic goals of any single government. A program such as this could be paid for, like UNICEF, through contributions by private donors and governments.
Comments (1)
38. Green Initiative: Federal Government funded tree planting initiative to increase nature’s ability to capture carbon gas. Setting tree planting quotas. Allow trees to be planted along interstates. Crop conservation projects that fund additional unused land along fence rows with planted trees. The type of trees should be considered very carefully. Trees planted in crop conservation programs, must be counted or assessed from time to time. Agricultures overuse of Round-Up herbicide is destructive to this green initiative.
• A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.