Episode 10: Going Green, the Conservative Way

Published Jun 28, 2021, 9:00 AM

In today’s political arena, environmentalism is often seen as an exclusively left-wing cause. In fact, many people seem to think conservatives don’t even care about the environment. For this podcast, Anna debunks these total misconceptions and explains how to go green, the conservative way. Plus, she shows how conservative policies are actually better for the environment. The truth is, conservatives do care about the environment — after all, conserving our national home and way of life is at the heart of conservatism. Check out organizations like Force Blue (www.ForceBlueTeam.org) in order to get involved.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Up next, Luna Talks with Anna Paulina. Luna part of the gang, which in today's political arena, environmentalism is often seen as an exclusively left wing cause. In fact, many people seem to think that conservatives don't even really care about the environment. Today, I debunk these misconceptions and explain how going green is the conservative way. This is Luna Talks with Anna Paulina. Hey, everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode of Luna Talks with me, your host on a Paulina, You know, when I was writing this episode and really discussing I think with my husband about misconceptions that exist about conservatives. The number one thing that I constantly see in the media and that I think most people automatically assume, is that if you are conservative, that you automatically don't care about the environment, and that is a total, total lie. In fact, we'll get to my husband here in a minute, because he's actually going to be a part of this episode, as he is a scientific diver with an organization called Force Blue. But the point is is that where did this big switch occur? I think a lot of people don't realize the history of Republicans and conservation but one of the most famous conservationists that was a Republican president was actually Teddy Roosevelt. And so after becoming president in nineteen o one, and actually got this from the Department of Interior's website, Roosevelt used his authority to establish over a hundred and fifty national forests, fifty one federal bird reserves, four National game preserves, five national parks, and eighteen monuments on over two hundred and thirty million acres of public land. This is something that I think it's like twisting arms off when you actually talked to some far left I call them eco fascists, because I feel like right now with what we're seeing with the whole environmental movement, that many people don't realize that there has to be a balance in this. Right, Like, you can't say that people can't eat me and that we're all going to die in twelve years because of cow farts. That's completely absurd and in my opinion, doesn't actually even begin to tackle the issue of conserving our environment. And then also to you have this aspect of policy right with some of our trade agreements with countries that are actively working to destroy the environment. We'll get into that in a minute. But going back to Teddy Roosevelt, this guy was a Republican president and he was one of the most prominent members in our American history that has actually been able to tackle this issue. One of my favorite quotes by Theodore Roosevelt was actually done on May sixe, which happens to me my birthday. Obviously I'm not that old, but he had actually traveled to the Grand Canyon, and for those who haven't been there yet, it is an absolutely stunning site. But what he says is something that we should all remember, right Like the whole idea about conservation is being able to preserve it for future jo generations. And he said this, I want to ask you to keep this great wonder of nature as it is now. I hope you will not have any buildings of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel, or anything else to mar this wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon. Leave it as is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and men can only mare it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you as one of the greatest sites, which every American if he can travel at all, should see. That in itself is something that I think many people are missing today, the idea that we do need to preserve for future generations. But this idea, this modern day environy fascists that we're seeing, these people are using the environment as a means of controlling and pushing policy that actually hinders the American way and doesn't necessarily help the environment. And it's ironic, right, government regulation is not going to help the environment in the way most people think it will. In fact, I think it's dangerous to lead with that blanket idea to let government handle all of the problems that we've essentially created. You know, when you talk about these different nonprofits that exist and how I think really capitalism, when done correctly, can actually give back and create these solutions to many of these problems. I think that that should be the approach, right, not to mention. If you really want to talk about failed policy on the global scale, you have your Pairs Climate Accord, right, that was set up as a global thing that we were supposed to enter into that was apparently going to help our environment, but all it really did was hinder the United States ability to produce. Meanwhile, here in the United States we actually have some of the strictest environmental policies. Meanwhile, China and these other countries are actively able to produce and they're also destroying the oceans. They're destroying the environment. Not to mention all the and rights abuses taking place, but that in itself should be I think one of the goals and objectives for anyone who's actually legislating with policy is what impact does this have? If is this going to actually help us or hinder us? And if the end objective is that to actually help the environment, why is it that our production is being sent overseas to these countries that are destroying it. Meanwhile the American taxpayers picking up the bill, and we're not actually able to even solve the problem because at the end of the day, we're still buying goods that are contributing to the global issue of our environments essentially being destroyed. So an organization that I was fortunate to come across a couple of years back with my husband was actually an organization called Force Blue. And this organization did a few things. One it was able to help veterans. So what they do is they actually hire combat veteran divers and they bring them out, they get them their scientific diver certification. They don't just do ocean cleanups, but they actually coral reef frustration. A lot of people don't realize that the coral reefs in itself are very very important for the ocean ecosystem and also too for us. Right you have coral reef that produces a large percentage of our global oxygen. But also to these reefs are actually fish nurseries, so baby fish, all of these this very intricate and delicate ecosystem that is impacted if we don't have the reefs, if they're dying off, what ultimately ends up happening is we're going to impact our chain of food and ultimately our environment struggles because of it. So getting into what they've done, I can tell you that I have actually personally gone out with them several times, not with them, to the keys and actually talk to some of the scientists down there about what they're doing for the coral bleaching which is huge off the coast of Florida. And I was very fortunate um also to go to several beach cleanups across the Panhandle and then also two down in the Sara Sota region here in Florida. But what I wanted to do is I wanted to bring on one of their divers, and I wanted to bring on one of our divers so you guys can hear exactly what this nonprofit is doing and really the impact that it's having here in the United States. So I figured what better way than to bring on Andy, who's my husband, to actually talk to all of you about what Forced Blue does. We'll be back with his story about the organization, how he got involved, and really how you can help impact and help the environment. Right after the short break. All right, everyone here with us today we have my husband Andy, who has done some incredible work with Force Blue. But before I steal his thunder um, I wanted to actually give him the opportunity to introduce himself. So Andy, welcome to the Luna Talk podcast. If you can tell me real quick, how did you come across Force Blue. I know that they've been getting a lot of buzz in the media lately. I know that you had recently done a segment with a local news station on beach cleanups and I know that you actually did some work with the NFL for their Go Green initiatives. So can you kind of tell some of the listeners about how you came across Force Blue and the wile segway from there. Sure, so, Force Blue, I came across them a couple of years back. UM, I was getting ready to leave active duty, and it was just it was honestly a just a small world story. UM. You know, the Special Operations community is a very small group. And I met a friend and he told me about Force Blue and what their mission is, which is a mission to basically take current and in most cases ex military combat divers like myself, and we get our Scientific Diver certification and it gives us reciprocity to work with all different types of scientific organizations, Ocean Conservancy, Noah REEF, and there's a bunch more. But it's a pretty cool organization. It's very unique in what we do. UM. Rarely do you see military personnel get repurposed UM in a way to work with the scientists and kind of fight the issues that we see with with the ocean. So if someone, you know, if you were to explain to some of the listeners in regards to a lot of what you come across. Because I know that you work a lot a lot with scientists, and the scientists tend to be pretty liberal. So what is unique about Forced Blue in regards to how you guys work together and actually some of the discussions that you guys have in regards to I think extending all of branch and really sharing those ideas because it can be I think, especially now in today's political climate, it can be a little bit awkward at times when you're just talking at politics with someone. You know, it's I think in most things in life nowadays, everything politics comes up everywhere, right, and of course it you know, will happen on the boat sometimes, and historically most military members. To clue myself, we I lean a little on the conservative side. Um. I mean, I agree with my wife, I'm a conservative, and you know a lot of the scientists that we work with there a little bit more left leaning. Um. But you know, when we get on the boats and we go out and we work together for a common cause, like preserving our oceans and working to clean up the environment, encountering all the things that China has been doing as well, we have some incredible conversations and at the end of the day, it's amazing because you know, mainstream media just I think portrays there's just so many misconceptions, and really, at the end of the day, I believe that most people really do agree on most things in life. So if you can real quick, what are you seeing and what are you hearing in regards to how China is negatively impacting our environment? And I asked that because a lot of the policy and legislation that we see out of Washington, d C. Especially when it comes to trade agreements. What we're seeing now with people pushing this whole idea of the New Green Deal and wanting to really hinder Americans ability to live how we currently live. I'm seeing that there are other solutions, but not these extreme ones. And if you really want to target I think the main issue of pollution, you have a target at the root source, which would be not to send our industry to places like China. Can you elaborate on what you're seeing from a environment perspective as to the damage that those countries are causing? For sure? So some interesting facts. You know, China is by far the number one source of plastic pollution in the ocean that by a lot. It's an interesting thing in this modern world that we live in. It's just we all trade, we all work with each other and whatnot. And you know, China's just not held to certain standards that the United States is. I think, you know, I think a lot of people in the United States, I don't think they realize how well we we do with recycling, with actually cleaning up after ourselves. I mean, obviously we can always do better. But you know, at the end of the day, we're not the only country on this planet. There's many other countries that are sincerely creating a lot of problems for the ocean, and it does affect us. It does affect our shores as well. Another interesting fact to of the United States imports, it's fish, and one of the main import countries is China, which blows a lot of people's minds. When I first heard that statistic, that blew my mind as well. Over fishing is a huge problem. The plastics is a very interesting concept as well. That it hasn't been one of our full main focuses of Force Blue right now, but it's always something that we do when we go work on the core refrustration. But but microplastics and plastics is a it's a massive problem that we have in our oceans. And plastic doesn't go away once once it's made. It just it's it's here forever. So I know. Actually I had spoken to some of our local fishermen here and they said that part of you know, their frustration, especially when they go to Washington, d c. Is that there are a lot of people that just don't want to hear I think what the fishermen have to say, they don't understand what the scientific community is saying, and then they don't hear about the people like you who actually go out and do the repairs for you know, for example, coral bleaching. Can you elaborate at little bit on what coral bleaching is and what you're seeing currently with our coral reef and a huge problem that's going to be I think, what we're facing for future generations. Sure, so I'll say one thing first about about core reef. So a couple of facts about coral reef. Coral is, it's a plant and it's an animal at the same time. But but specifically, so the Florida reef track is about it's about three hundred sixty linear miles. It covers the entire east side and down into the Keys of Florida, and tons of benefits to the to the coral reef track. For one, it provides a quarter of all marine life, and Florida has a massive economy that relies on on the fish and the and the fishing community. But at the same time, it also coral reduces storm forces that come up through the oceans. Believe it or not, the coral reef actually drastically reduced the impacts of hurricanes and storms um from destroying Florida as well. So that's another interesting fact about coral and the frustrating thing that's kind of happened over the last couple of years. We've almost seen somewhat of a perfect storm. There was an issue that we had was called the stony coral tissue lost disease and um and we had a historically warmer summer that lasted a little bit longer, and so a lot of the coral they were already bleaching a little bit, which basically means they're just they're a little bit overheated, and but it doesn't mean that they're going to die. It just means that they're a little bit sick and and normally they can they can recover from that. Normally they do. Unfortunately, what we saw is this this disease that spread through Florida um. It just it wiped out a massive percentage of the coral reef and some one of the main project that Force Blue has been working with Florida on is is actually restoring the coral reef, saving what we can and out and out cropping um more coral reefs. So that's kind of been our main focus over the last last two years. What is that process for when you guys actually out crop because you're using a lot of the lego here, But for some people who might not know, I know that when I was down there with you guys, I know that there's an epoxy pace that you mix up. And then I also know that there's a way that you can actually physically treat the sick coral. So what does that all entail. It's just like farming. It's actually a pretty simple process. Um or, at least the outcropping is these labs that we work with down in the Keys that are just full of incredible people, incredible scientists, and they create more coral reef and we know kidding, We take chunks of these coral that they start to grow. They grow out real quick, right, So like in coral nurseries. Yeah, yeah, literally these nurseries they have these tubs of of water that they control the temperature and the climbing in and whatnot. And they grow to a certain point and then we just bring them out, We outcrop them. Then there's a rhymemut of reason to how you do it. Um. Coral reef actually can attack each other and fun facts about that. Um. So you have to be careful where and how you plant them. But um, it's insanely important. And it's cool how how quickly they grow. It's it's a slow process, but you put them in the right place, um, and then they start to thrive and then they can grow on top of other dead coral and spread and it's cool to watch. And it's incredible too. When you start out cropping these coral, you see the marine life start to come back again. Florida. It's a multibillion dollar industry for Florida. You know, it's and it's not just Florida. All the people that travel to Florida to fish and enjoy the marine life it's a huge problem that we're working on, and every day there was organizations that get more involved with it and realize that it is an issue. So it's kind of cool to see that amazing. So actually, one of the things that I was that I found interesting when I was down with you talking to some of the scientists is I found out that they actually will sometimes when they're studying this now, but what they've done because they'll take the sounds and the recordings of a healthy coral and then they play it to the sit coral and it actually I think, can it correct me if I'm wrong, But they found that it's having a positive impact and actually bringing that coral back to life. Right, Yeah. I mean, like most things with nature, scientists discover things. Every day. There's discoveries made, and there's just so much we don't know about the environment. And it's really sad too. There's different species of coral that that are that have pretty much near extinction, and these scientists work are really hard to to preserve these things because there's a lot of medications that come from coral reef as well, and then marine life that's associated with it. So trying to conserve and preserve whatever word you want to use, the environment. We're doing what we can to do that. So Force Blue also has this other aspect that they do hire a lot of veterans. I know some of the divers that you've worked with have been combat injured, but all of them are somewhat affiliated or connected to the Special Operations community, if you can real quickly talk about with Force Blue, there is this aspect of therapy for the veterans as well. Right, So like you're able to help the environment, you're able to work together, you have the cambaraderie again, a teamlike situation with the guys or the women, and then also to the scientists. But tell me about that therapy aspect that you're seeing that Forced Blues really bridge gap on. Yeah, And I think what probably made me originally so interested in Force Blue was, um, it was you know, it's a nonprofit, but it's it's uh, it's therapy, It's it's team it's teamwork, it's camaraderie, it's it's an it's an organization of veterans that can get together and go and have a purpose. It's a it's a purpose and mission focused organization. You know, we're not just going and diving or doing something recreationally, but we're doing something that matters for the environment. And you know someone that has I've spent my entire adult life in the special operations community. And and then all the other guys that are divers with with the organization, you know, we are we are mission focused, we are mission driven. We need a task, we need a purpose and and we need something to accomplish. Um. Personally, for me, I I don't really even in enjoy I love diving, but just diving and recreations just to look around isn't isn't as near really fun for me as as diving with a purpose, going down with you know, with a crate full of coral reef to outcrop or a bag to you know, pick up trash or to move coral or reattach them to the ground after a storm. Um, we find it's the mission first that really is what brings all of us together. So you actually have a funny story about that brain coral and the keys tell them about that, because that's that's one of those things that obviously the scientists are trying to figure out, how are we going to move this you know, six pound brain coral that fell over. Well. So one of the cool things about the organization is you get us these military divers. We have we have extensive training in different things that we can do under water that a lot of scientists haven't even thought of in a lot of cases, whether it's like lift bags, I mean, we can move massive you know, chunks of coral can be massive too. I mean they can weigh hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, and storms that come through and debris that hits these things. A lot of times the scientists don't have ways to deal with the larger issues. But we have, you know, some repurpose military equip mint that we use as well to reattach some incredibly old some coral. I mean, you can be thousands of years old, and and it's a shame that I can take thousands of years for some of these coral to grow and and just days for them to die. Um, So it's pretty cool that we're able to do that, repurpose a lot of our training and our and our equipment to kind of help out the scientific community. How did you do that with that coral in that one instance? How are you able to relift that would just use lift bags. Um, you know, it's it's kind of dangerous when you're lifting heavyweight underwater and you can't you know, you can't talk to each other, so you rely on just hand hand and arm signal coordination. But um, you know, just reattaching coral in the ground using cement and apoxy and and putting them back in their place, and and it's kind of cool. So I know that there's this aspect of especially dealing with PTSD, where float therapy has been studied, and I do find it unique and interesting that forced Blue. Obviously, you're floating in a very calm environment for the most part, most of the time you're out there. So have you found that it actually does is give you the feeling of being calm and actually relaxes you after you do these dives with the organization, And I advise anyone to if you think you want to try diving, you need to go do it. It's it's not anywhere near the same as just going in a pool or float, you know, going to the beach. You really got to try it. It's incredible. For me specifically, I've had a lot of injuries throughout my time in service, whether from free fall from Scott having injuries my my back, I gotta messed up leg from getting shot in Afghanistan. Going and floating, it's actually incredible. I I truly believe the diving that I've done with Force Blue has pushed off me having to get surgery on my back, which is pretty cool. And it's and that's all float therapy because you know, it's it's your witless under there. You just float. And it's been helping a lot of the other guys as well too. I mean, we're all we're all banged up, um, whether it's physically or mentally. It's just going underwater and just observing, you know, just seeing the incredible colors in the in the life and and everything and uh and then being able to help that. It really is uh therapeutic. All right. So I have a few more questions for you, but we have to cut real quick for a commercial, Blakes, So we will be back everyone, stay tuned, We'll be right back after the short break. Now, Andy, if people want to get involved with Forced Blue, if there's a way for them to help out one, what do you guys need and also to how can they get involved, whether it's through beach cleanups or volunteering with Force Blue. How do they start that process. There's so many programs out there. There's so many different organizations and we're all linked together. Whether it's re for Florida, d e P or Ocean Conservancy or even just going to Force blue website. There's so many ways to get involved. We do a lot of beach cleanups um, So if you're not a diver, if you're not even comfortable with going on a boat, we do things that are land based all the time. We just did one not that long ago in in Destin, Florida, and it was awesome. We had a great turnout. We picked up a ton of garbage um right off the jetty there in Destines. That was pretty cool. We did one in Tampa not that long ago. But if you go down to the Keys, we're always doing dive projects down there, whether it's turtle rescue or core refout cropping. Just just check out the websites and you can see what we're doing. And last and final question, what is one of your favorite experiences that you've had so far with Force Blue. I know you've didn't been down to the Turtle Hospital, but what was one experience that you had, and you're just like, I know that it's because this organization existed. You know that you left that feeling great, and ultimately we're able to help the environment at the same time. The one thing I will say that was kind of eye opening to me, at least with Force Blue, is when we were down in the Keys, my first time down in the Keys, my first time working with all these different scientific organizations, I realized that there wasn't that much communication between a lot of these organizations, and when we showed up down there, but we're just very eager to work with everybody to figure out what we can do to help, and we actually brought a lot of organizations together there. But my favorite experience really is just getting on the boat with these scientists and it's just incredible for me to see such passionate people that really do care about the environment and care about the things that they're doing, and they want to just make an impact on the world in a good way. And I just no matter what discipline is, whatever it is, I just I really respect people that work hard to to just do something good as just bigger than themselves. And I really appreciate that, and I love, I love meeting those types of people. Well, thank you Andy for joining us to stay here on Luna Talks. And for those who did tune into this week's episode, I will say this, you know, for someone like myself, especially when I was growing up and and it wasn't really till later on in life, I actually did start implementing, you know, this reduced recycle, reused concept where you know, I don't want big government in my personal life, but that means I have to be personally responsible, especially on the concept of recycling and ensuring that I'm leaving a better environment for future generations. That means that where I and I use you know, those Nalgene bottles, I use that instead of water bottles, I obviously recycle whenever I get a chance. I am the first person to say, hey, look, if you see a piece of trash at the beach, pick it up. But you know, we also have to get active at this legislative level as well, because what we're seeing right now, as we are seeing people who are taking this to the extremes, right you have some people that don't want to help the environment at all, and then you have people that are claiming to want to help the environment. So much that they actually want to change a lot of our way of life. And that's not fair or good either, and so there has to be a balance in all of this, and that starts by having the conversation, don't forget you want to reduce recycle reuse. I'm actually probably gonna be putting out here some designs on my store front in the next couple of days, just to kind of help promote that messaging on being a green conservative not to be confused with a green party, but a green conservative is someone who cares about the environment and does not agree that big government is the solution for this problem. Before we go, I want to thank you guys so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a review and rate us with five stars on Apple Podcasts. You can also find me on Twitter, Parlor, Facebook, and Instagram at real Anna Paulina. And a special thank you to our producers Drew Steele, writer Aaron Kligman At executive producers Debbie Meyers, and Speaker new Ingridge, part of the Gingridge through sixty network.

Luna Talks with Anna Paulina

Let’s face it: You’re tired of the same old political podcasts. Liberal, conservative, Democrat, Rep 
Social links
Follow podcast
Recent clips
Browse 48 clip(s)