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Congress makes job creation top 2010 priority–but where are the green jobs?

January 17, 2010 in Energy, Environment, economy | No comments

We are not going to succeed if we do not break free the binds of the past. Yes, infrastructure investment for job creation is reliable (and frankly needed at this time) as history proves. However, to move forward it is time to begin cultivating the green economy. Infrastructure should focus on green/renewable energy and infrastructure to combat the effects of climate change and rehab old and failing school buildings (and other similar structures) into model green buildings, we should invest heavily in R&D for renewable energy. If we want to be world leaders, then we should stop the apathy and start leading.

If congress can’t understand this is the way forward than we are truly doomed to be stuck in a past that simply does not work in the present–as is proven by a failed economy, detoriariting cities and infrastructure, failing schools, record trade deficits and national debt.

Please, have the courage to change. If the leaders lead, the people will follow. Do the job you were hired to do and need to do, not what you perceive is comfortable or easy.

Last month, the House passed a $155 billion bill that aims to stimulate the job market through infrastructure projects and helping states pay the salaries of public employees.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, along with Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, is expected to offer a jobs package in coming weeks. It is likely to include efforts to boost small business and renewable energy, aides said.

via Congress makes job creation top 2010 priority | Reuters.

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Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years – Yahoo! News

December 14, 2009 in Causes, Environment | No comments

Snap! Al Gore is back and with some grim news from Copenhagen…

COPENHAGEN – New computer modeling suggests the Arctic Ocean may be nearly ice-free in the summertime as early as 2014, Al Gore said Monday at the U.N. climate conference. This new projection, following several years of dramatic retreat by polar sea ice, suggests that the ice cap may nearly vanish in the summer much sooner than the year 2030, as was forecast by a U.S. government agency eight months ago….

Last April, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that Arctic summers could be almost ice-free within 30 years, not at the 21st century’s end as earlier predicted.

Gore cited new scientific work at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, whose Arctic ice research is important for planning polar voyages by Navy submarines. The computer modeling there stresses the “volumetric,” looking not just at the surface extent of ice but its thickness as well.

“Some of the models suggest that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap during some of the summer months will be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years,” Gore said. His office later said he meant nearly ice-free, because ice would be expected to survive in island channels and other locations.

Now, check out the strong counter argument

Asked for comment, one U.S. government scientist questioned what he called this “aggressive” projection.

“It’s possible but not likely,” said Mark Serreze of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. “We’re sticking with 2030.”

Zing!

OK, but I am left wondering…As it seems there is no argument that the polar ice caps ARE indeed melting, what are we really arguing about?

I hear Michael Jackson singing in my head, “It’s time to make a change, for once in my life. I am going to make a difference, gonna make it right…” Come on, you know the song. Seriously, the argument has ended and appears that facts are facts but yet the arguments continues. World government’s and our leadership has a drinking problem and they need to admit that they have a problem so we can all begin to work towards a solution. Or, we could just ignore it, or keep debating and let our collective planetary liver shrivel til we no longer have a habitat we can survive in.

via Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years – Yahoo! News.

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EPA: Greenhouse gases endanger human health – Yahoo! News

December 7, 2009 in Environment | No comments

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded greenhouse gases are endangering people’s health and must be regulated, signaling that the Obama administration is prepared to contain global warming without congressional action if necessary.

via EPA: Greenhouse gases endanger human health – Yahoo! News.

When I first saw this headline my reactive thoughts were, “really? we’re just getting around to understanding greenhouse gases that are negatively effecting our ecosystem and planet have an impact on our lives as well??”

We have constructed a reality that has obviously taken us so far from our natural roots that we truly don’t perceive ourselves as being a part of this planet–another element of Earth, rather than an alien form that can pick up move somewhere else and survive just as easily (wherever that is)…

But then, introspection led to a little more clarity on what it takes to initiate change behavior and noting ill effects on health, which can shorten human life spans, tends to resonate.  The acknowledgment is a positive step for the U.S. government because it clearly recognizes there are greenhouses gases and that they do effect human life. Perhaps this is the spin we need to finally do something about the deteriorating conditions of planet and start changing our behavior and actions in way that can begin to make positive impacts for all life.

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