The facts supporting climate change have been widely reported across numerous media outlets; I wanted to post this to add one more blog to the list in support of making drastic changes to our lifestyles.
Climate change is just one of the many ills our society suffers because of our addiction with fossil fuels. Looking for purportedly cheap coal, we send fellow citizens to work in coal mines; once the vein dies or becomes too expensive, we raze the mountains and dump the top into the surrounding valleys creating wastelands in lieu of forested habitats. Those stream beds supply someone’s water somewhere in the chain are then filled with poisons and waste from the mining, and during rainy years like this one the fills can create huge landslides (which if it doesn’t kill you isn’t covered under a homeowner’s policy).
Our love of the automobile has lead us to build massive expanses of blacktop. The power of the car has allowed us to move further and further from work and commercial centers which leads to more traffic congestion then demand for less congested roadways. The fuel for these vehicles will not last forever, and even if it did, its exhaust is killing us. Furthermore is the fuel worth the national security risk; what would the economy do if for whatever crazy reason OPEC decided to stick it to us tomorrow? Public transportation was squashed by domestic automakers, and many people still argue public transportation will never be self-sustaining (thanks for a good jab, Doug Gibson!). Funny how the sweetheart lease deals we make with big oil doesn’t impugn them. However, as our population grows the stress on the current roadways will increase while the demand for housing increases, and no one wants to live near the noise and smell of major roadway.
Our food is tied closely to energy prices because almost everything Americans eat is soaked in oil starting from the time the seeds are delivered from Monsanto to their drive to your home in plastic bags in the back of your car. If you are eating processed foods then you have even more oil on your hands not to mention the spare tire around your middle.
Even if our elected officials refuse to act, we can each do something small like grow some food, bring your own boxes and bags to the store, do without the car, or insulate your home. These little things when compounded will help, but a phone call or email to elected officials can’t hurt.
Although I am far from a fan of Ashton Kutcher, he proposed a very appropriate solution to the Big Three’s economic woes last week on his appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. His comment is about 2:55 in.
After watching their House hearing, I find it hard to want to help. As a few representatives hinted at, Detroit has been declining for years, but the Big Three executives placed the blame solely on the recent credit crisis.
While I cannot imagine anyone who would argue that failure from the Big Three US auto makers would be devastating to our slumping economy, I am enraged that anyone is even suggesting that Detroit deserves a bailout. The financial industry has been overly greedy, and no, I don’t believe they deserved a bail out; however, Detroit has been in jeopardy since the eighties. I watched Roger and Me over ten years ago. Since the Big Three seem to blame all of their financial woes on their pensions and the credit crunch, it seems to me that they should’ve gotten behind universal healthcare years ago. However, I think we should be realistic and place the blame where it truly belongs: greedy short sightedness. Detroit should not have stood in the way of producing higher fuel efficiency vehicles for the past twenty years; they should have gotten behind universal healthcare. Research and development money should have been spent on more fuel options not more cup holders and DVD players.
It is outrageous that this bailout was passed in the first place, and who is going to be brave enough to stand up and say enough is enough?
I am not an economist, but I want the bailout to stop going to corporations that have been exacerbating the gap between the classes in this country; I am angry that although the banks have been given the cash injection, they still don’t want to lend. It disgusts me that Congress has no problem writing checks to major corporations with huge accounting departments that should know better, but there is never enough money for healthcare. There is never enough money for a public transportation initiative, and even after the August 2007 bridge collapse which followed the 2005 levy failure, there isn’t enough money to maintain the existing infrastructure of this country.
Enough with excessive and reckless corporate welfare; help the unemployment and underemployment problem by putting people to work on both our aging infrastructure and the infrastructure of new energy. Follow Senator Clinton’s plan to give funds to cities and local governments so they can purchase foreclosed homes, and help homeowner’s get their stupid and reckless loans refinanced; if taxpayers have to help out people that made bad decisions and should have known better, I would rather help out those that don’t have finance degrees over those that do. Assistance should go to actual citizens not corporations.
Not that I do not enjoy a lump sum payment from out of nowhere, but I think it would be pandering and ill advised to dole out another economic stimulus payment to the general public. I don’t recall exactly where I heard this, but someone said that a repeat of the recent payments would be a nice boon to China and Mall Wart as everyone would rush to buy another big ticket television or maybe just more cheap, plastic crap. Besides, spending too much is part of what created this nasty mess.
Sacrifice and conservation are on the menu for the foreseeable future, and I hope we can take this opportunity to improve our country and economy.
Whoo-hoo! After waking up at 5:20am on Election Day to spend most of fifteen hours handing out ballots, my trepidation and hope carried me through until I heard that Senator Obama had won the election by a good healthy margin that cannot be stolen. After I tried to watch my local races, I passed out and had to helped into bed sometime after eleven.
When I arrived at work the reality of the world hit me and deflated my elation. I work with two ultra conservatives (in a three person office), and they seem to be looking forward to a failed Obama presidency. However, I will not be cowed, and I am still joyous and proud of this country. I am thankful that I was able to finally vote for a candidate who was not the lesser of two evils. I truly believe that President-elect Obama will be a fearless leader who will give this country his all to raise us out of the mess we are in. He will remind our elected officials that they work for the people not the lobbyists, and he will remind us, the people, that prosperity and happiness have to be earned with hard work not purchased on credit.
I hope to see a major transition from old school energy to new renewable and safe energy. I can’t wait to see increased public transportation options; I want everything from bike lanes, sidewalks, bus stops, more buses, and light rail for longer travels.
I look forward to living in a country where health care is a right not a privilege. I am excited to think that prevention will take precedence over reactive surgery and drug abuse. I cannot wait for the boom in the health care industry due to the new insureds as they will be even more stable, well paying jobs.
The thought of the wealth being spread not to major, multinational, multi-billion dollar corporations, but to hard-working families and small businesses is so energizing, and I cannot wait to do my part in stopping corporate welfare.
I love my country, and its ideals. I am genuinely proud to be an American today, and I think is the first time I have been so proud. I say this because I love this country, but it is the love of a parent for a child. I am not blind to the blunders, and I think I help the future more by being critical rather than fawning.
Although the road is long and seemingly never-ending, YES WE CAN!
Recently I happened upon the Senate Environment and Public Works committee’s hearing on the science of global warming, and unfortunately I only caught the opening remarks. I was struck by Senator Kitt Bond’s comments; they so irked me that I felt compelled to rebut (albeit my rebuttal will not mirror Senator Bond’s remarks).
No doubt that Senator Bond is hearing from his constituents that their budgets are being gravely affected by the precipitous rise in gas prices over the last several months. Of course the price of fuels is adversely affecting everything else that we purchase so the damage is compounded. However, there are several dangerous attitudes and policies that have brought America to this crisis level. First, the denial that oil is a non-renewable resource coupled with the fact that we have so much space in this country. Secondly, the free market so proudly expounded by Republicans is addicted to graft which has encouraged stagnation and greed rather than innovation and true resourcefulness. Finally, this republic needs to live up to its ideals and think forward rather than cling to the same old decaying matter.
As President Bush so simply stated, we are addicted to oil. Therefore, anyone suggesting that more oil is the answer is concerned at best with winning political points for a seemingly quick, short term solution or at worst appeasing their lobbyists. More drilling is not the answer for the current sharp increase in oil; as we have not been able to grasp with the failed war on drugs, the problem isn’t supply. It is our unceasing, constantly increasing demand (coupled with growing worldwide demand). Not being intimately knowledgeable about the worldwide oil supply, I want to push the debate to the future. The supply may or may not have reached or surpassed its peak; it does not matter because the oil will not flow forever regardless of its current status. The other growing economies in this world will be vying for oil just as we are. Another regime change could cut off supply drastically tomorrow. Therefore, it would behoove us to find cheaper and less detrimental forms of energy. America should lead by example in this front, but we first have to recall that neither drilling for oil now nor creating new energy and transportation infrastructure will produce instant relief.
Producing this new infrastructure would create new industry and jobs, however. What a wonderful solution to the jobs Senator Bond spoke of being shipped off shore. My region, too, has seen the loss of good paying manufacturing jobs; these jobs have been replaced by low paying service sector jobs that rarely offer benefits or rarely have a full time work force. Although we have a few bright spots were a plant has actually hired new employees, the bulk of those employees are temporary, and any recent expansion or move to the area is incentivized by tax money. Our region is also incentivizing current employers who are threatening to relocate without the incentives. As tax dollars are already subsidizing the industry, the money would be better spent on creating renewable energy infrastructure and public transportation options like light rail or increased bus service in more suburban areas. Green collar jobs are the future of American industry as well as of our economic health and literal health.
Of course the most obvious way to prevent the hemorrhaging of good paying full time employment is to stop free trade deals that do not require reciprocal labor and environmental standards. Although this option would not likely effect fuel prices in the direct sense, families would probably be more able to cope with the increase if more Americans were fully employed rather than being either underemployed or unemployed. Furthermore, holding businesses to the high American standards for cleanliness would encourage them to innovate in order to maintain their bottom line which would reduce pollution and insufferable labor conditions worldwide (again not an instant fix).
Failing to let go of fossil fuels will leave this country crumbling; we cannot stand idly by, clutching our dirty energy security blanket. The American Dream is about living better than your parents, but we cannot, while holding on to any scrap of our ideals, pass the buck and let our future generations take the fall. Upholding our own labor and environmental standards will stanch the flow of outsourced jobs while helping to peacefully export our ideals. Ending corporate welfare will encourage American firms to undertake the task of weaning us off of non-renewable energy by fostering innovation and resourcefulness rather than encouraging stagnation and sloth. Times are not easy nor will they likely become any better until we free ourselves from oil domination.
