A 1000 or 1300 page Climate Bill not even off the copier is bad government, but at least we have a first step Climate Bill in progress. In the last month I had begun to sour on the Climate bill due to its length and not being able to get adequate assessment of the details and deals included in the bill. I certainly didn’t have the time and wouldn’t read the over 1000 pages of the usual legal language our government speaks. My husband, a not so active climate change action supporter, took me to task saying that all of us have fooled around with climate change action for years and have not done anything. Whatever this bill does, it is better than doing nothing and doesn’t preclude us from doing more as soon as we muster the political will to do more. He got me. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘United States’
Bad Government, but first climate change step - (Long bill gets long feedback from an informed layperson)
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
There are 6 Americas when it comes to climate change!
Friday, June 5th, 2009I often wonder why more Americans aren’t clambering for radical climate change action. The research study, Global Warming’s 6 Americas 2009: An Audience Segmentation Analysis, gave me a lot of insight. I am not in favor of many of the studies that the government spends our money on, but this one provides a foundation for reaching more Americans on the climate change crisis. From their Executive Summary: (more…)
Systems thinking blog — our energy system traps (part 2)
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009Our energy system actually exhibits three kinds of system traps or archetypes. The first is Tragedy of the Commons in two ways:
- No one is managing the atmosphere, so everyone is free to pollute. Everyone keeps polluting until some kind of management of the commons, our atmosphere, is put in place. (more…)
Why we need a ‘Renewable Energy Action Plan’ now
Monday, May 18th, 2009Many compelling arguments have been made for renewable energy, although as of
August 2008 renewable energy sources have still only comprised 7% of all energy
sources used in the United States. Out of the total energy consumption, 40% is still
petroleum, 23% natural gas, 22% coal, and 8% of all energy is from nuclear electric
power (EIA, US Energy Consumption by Energy Sources, 2003-2007, May 2008). In
1991 – 18 years ago -, Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl, two writers more known for their
science fiction work, collaborated on a scientific survey piece entitled: Our Angry Earth.
The book starts by giving the political history of the U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf
War, which led to one of the biggest “environmental wars” and disasters related to
politics since Hiroshima was dropped in Japan during WW II. What did it take to finally
get people’s attention? Al Gore losing the 2000 Presidential election so he could create
the Inconvenient Truth movement around the globe, which 8 years of real progress was
lost on the federal level in the United States. (more…)
