You know the joke: enviroweenies are green on the outside but red on the inside, like a watermelon. In other words, the people who want to stop poisoning and spending America into a hole are all socialists, see, so you can’t trust them. See how that works?

Hard to believe this is the same country that put a man on the moon and won two world wars, isn’t it? At one time, it was actually patriotic to sacrifice for the nation and help fund national efforts for change. By the end of WWII, 85,000,000 Americans had purchased more than $185 billion in war bonds.

Fast-forward through the “me generation” and a war on terror financed with a Bank of China card, wherein the most patriotic call was to go shopping. In 2010, a group called “Green America” wants Congress to allow Americans to buy “Clean Energy Victory Bonds” (CEVBs):

CEVBs would benefit the economy, the environment, and investors, by uniting individuals, communities, and companies to help finance the rapid deployment of renewable energy projects and energy efficiency upgrades; enabling anyone with savings to help put new renewable projects on the ground; offering flexible redemption options between 12 months and 30 years; creating a safe investment for Americans that pays a competitive rate of return, and helping to create 1.7 million new jobs deploying and maintaining renewable energy development projects.

You can help them petition Congress to authorize “green bonds.”

I have argued for a long time that environmentalists need to accomplish two things: (1) reframe their issues as human rights issues, and (2) invent a way for Americans to buy into clean and renewable energies. The former is how you dismantle the objections of industry; the latter ensures there is enough money to overcome the regulatory and engineering challenges of building a new American power grid that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels.

Imagine billions of dollars put to work right here in America building windmill factories and then windmills. Imagine Americans installing the windmills and power lines. Maybe we could focus the Congress on America’s future (instead of arguing about whether to stay still or go backwards) by turning out $185 billion in green bond sales? Investment in a permanent end to foreign fossil fuel dependence ought to be the new patriotism.

Let’s turn green into red, white, and blue.