Thoughts Toward Realizing A Green Economy…

Even though I enthusiastically voted for Barack Obama on his platform for change – which included his promise to usher in a 21st-Century ‘Green Economy’ – frankly, I am wholly disappointed with the Democratic Party’s reluctance to wrestle, take down, and once-and-for-all, pin the Right Wing to the mat.

January 20, 2009 - Washington D.C. Early in the morning, while heading into D.C. on the Metro, I came across the grand daughters of Alex Haley, the beloved author of "Roots". Photo by Craig Morse.

Over the past year, hundreds of billions of tax payer’s dollars have been applied toward the “American Reinvestment and Recovery Act”, otherwise known as the “Stimulus Bill”, which directed tens of billions of these dollars toward road improvement and ‘supposed’ renewable energy projects. The most recent of the ‘renewable energy’ plans to be approved is a nuclear plant to be built near Atlanta, GA, being the first to be constructed in the US in over 30 years. I suspect these projects have moved/are moving forward only because Obama – who is desperate to find middle ground with a minority of self-serving Republican senators and representatives – feels the need to produce results in order to quell the unrealistic expectations of a recession weary American public. Though these projects may produce tens of thousands of jobs over the next couple years, make no mistake, these projects are short-sighted and frankly, dangerous (exchanging the damage being done to our global climate from CO and CO2 for the risks and dangers inherent in Uranium and Plutonium) as our representative, through slight-of-hand, attempt to cover-up the root issues, thereby keeping it from entering the mainstream public dialog.

Rather than look toward a hopeful future and seek to make amends that would benefit the greater whole, these ‘solutions’ maintain an unhealthy status-quo, catering to embedded special interests and lobbies under the auspice of laying the foundations for a 21st-century green economy.

It is my belief that one simple idea – a plan to implement a thoughtful and systemically comprehensive long-term Sustainable Strategy – has been completely overlooked during the many debates and dialogues from over the past few years.

Besides plotting a map to where we want to go, and what we want to accomplish, over the next 5, 10, 20, and 50 years, we should seek to get beyond the symptoms, to understand the root problems: their respective origins and histories; how each is internally wired; how each relates to (or perpetrates) other problems; and how each problem relates to and affects the economy, culture, public health, environment, employment, climate change, and our species’ legacy … instead of perpetrating the usual covering-up of symptoms with distraction, misdirection, and fiscal Band-Aids.

Let’s take a few steps back to consider the big picture, and seek to understand each problem systemically, then seek to understand how each problem connects to or affects other elements in this picture. We are teetering on the edge of a threshold and have a choice to make. Do we take that bold step into the uncertain, to probably lead and inspire the rest of the world through initiating an age of renewable energy and materials through a Green Revolution? Or do we simply continue to fall back on tired formulas, to keep making the same mistakes until it all comes crashing down?

Following are a few thoughts about how a Green Revolution might usher in a paradigm shift toward a Silver Age. Through applying sustainable technologies, practices, processes, and cradle to grave educational and informational resources (that would encourage each of us to think about and measure the cost/consequences versus the benefits of specific behaviors, products, resources, and energies) we could effectively participate in creating a more conscientious society while being the stewards of our planet, insuring a clean, healthy, and enjoyable quality-of-life for our children.

In my opinion, transitioning into a Sustainable Economy would mean to:

• Reestablish the United States as a first-class manufacturing economy… followed by a substantially increased GDP, reduction in our national deficit and debt, collective purchasing power, and an increase in gross sales- and income-tax which, if properly directed, would significantly improve public infrastructure, public utilities, public education, and access to health services.

• Spur on the development of technologies and products that are cutting edge, energy and resource efficient, useful, in-demand, and recyclable, reusable, and/or refurbishable.

• Similar to how we led the world in the desktop computing and the internet revolution – developed by the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc. – the United States could again be at the forefront of the research, development, and application of green technologies, which would translate into tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of jobs, and billions (if not trillions) of dollars each year. If we approached a Green Technology with a similar enthusiasm consider the technological advances that could be realized, and the invaluable knowledge that would be revealed, if we engaged in the full-on, dedicated research, development, and improvement of solar, wind, geothermal, rare earth magnetic, water and bio fuel, superconductor technologies and applications.

• Re-ignite the mid-western and rustbelt manufacturing economy, as well as enliven Silicon Valley research and development, through creating an immediate demand for a highly skilled and educated workforce, while retrofitting vacant and ‘dirty’ material and energy industrial complexes for ‘clean’ material and product manufacturing.

• Lessen our demand for and impact on public services, utilities, and infrastructure through (to the chagrin of energy monopolies) democratizing access to energy by enabling each home/business owner to supplement their energy needs through on-site systems (solar, wind, geothermal, insulation, etc).

• Balance the Trade Deficit by creating high-quality ‘Made in America’ products and services for export to other nations.

• Minimize the need for newly extracted natural resources through implementing reusable, repurposed, refurbished, and recyclable material and energy resources.

• Reduce our dependence on the private automobile, and thus promote the reclamation of our public streets and thoroughfares toward better uses. Consider the gross acreage of landscape that has been capped by asphalt, concrete, and rooftops. Such repurposing of these linear rights-of-way would greatly contribute to the permeability and greening of our landscape, thereby enabling the eventual recharge of our fresh water aquifers, along with a significant reduction of storm water runoff and flooding. Additionally, these existing rights-of-way would be very useful for bicycles, light rail, high-speed rail, linear parks, urban and suburban architectural infill (which would translate to higher density, mixed-use communities that in-turn would result in accessibility to services, walkable neighborhoods, as well as fewer and shorter trips).

• Encourage a transition toward sustainable applications for urban planning & design, building architecture, landscape architecture, business practices, public services, the long range city plan, and zoning and subdivisioning regulations. Additionally, municipal Planning Councils and Boards, and Chambers of Commerce, should be informed about the advantages to (and how to implement) sustainable practices and technologies so as to save municipal monies and lessen the impact upon the public infrastructure.

• Legalize Hemp, being one of the most useful and versatile plants on the planet. Some of the benefits to consider are as follow: 1. Hemp is a hardy perennial with a remarkable turnover time between planting and harvesting, as opposed to trees, which take many years to grow. 2. Its cellulose level is almost three times that of wood, and its processing utilizes less energy and fewer chemicals, so it yields more and better quality paper. 3. It is a nutritious source of food and well suited for hair and skin care. 4. The oil extracted from its seed provides a highly efficient source of fuel, and may be used as a raw material in paints and plastics. 5. It provides one of natures longest and strongest fibers, so is very useful for textiles. 6. It is very useful as a component for building materials, such as concrete, fiber board, and composite materials. And finally, 7. Hemp is ideal for crop rotation and it’s water requirements are negligible.

•Slowly enable a climate change course correction by significantly reducing carbon emissions.

• Enable the planet’s filtration and ‘immune’ systems (forests, rivers, oceans, biodiversity) to again get a foothold, to then cycle and cleanse the air, water, and land.

• Force us to rethink the way by which we educate our children; to incorporate knowledge and training that is applicable to building upon and maintaining a Green Economy. This would encourage future generations to consider our personal and collective impacts, natural cycles and feedback systems, as well as the relationships between of cause vs effect, impact vs consequence, initial cost vs the ultimate price paid.

• Improve the quality of our food, water, and air… and thus our overall health. Additionally, if devastated ecosystems were able to repair, while existent ecosystems were less likely to be impacted by development, pollution, and human interference, many very useful natural pharmaceutical substances may yet be discovered.

• Reduce the likelihood for warfare, colonialization, and the exploitation of other cultures. One reason that war happens is related directly to our desire to have access to and control of others’ natural resources for our own purpose. Meanwhile, though quantities and intensities may differ, every person on this planet has access to sun, wind, and water.

Think about it… We’ve done it before, we can do it again. Whether it be nuclear science, the human genome, super-computing, or flying to the moon, we’ve made what was once considered science fiction become real science. And when we consider contemporary great public works projects, such as the myriad of FDR’s WPA projects (including the The Hoover Dam and The Lincoln Tunnel), The Golden Gate Bridge, The Panama Canal, or The Interstate Highway system, it is indisputable that we’ve completed some seemingly unreal and truly momentous projects that have, unquestionably, changed the course of human history. So, if we have a dream, and we put our hearts and minds toward making into a reality, we are capable of accomplishing almost anything.

And though it will cost a lot of money up-front to initiate this change, make no mistake, such a transition will make a lot of people a lot of money, while giving even the least fortunate segment of our population access to a cleaner and more affordable water, food, transportation, and energy.

Lets talk about this further, then compel our leaders to recruit then employ the greatest visionaries, hearts, and minds on the planet from the sciences, the arts, and industry… especially those who are able to think beyond their own self-interests.

With this said, though these ideas make perfect sense to me, I am, by no means, an expert in any of these fields. So, to improve my own understanding, and that of other readers, I invite you to contribute your own comments and suggestions.

Finally, feel free to pass this link along if you have any friends who may be interested in reading and/or chiming in…

Thank you!

:) Craig Morse aka The Voice Of Eye

PS – Following are a few other advances in renewable energy and sustainable technologies that you may be interested in reviewing and passing along:

– HHO Fuel… http://b2bf.com/ and http://b2bf.com/hydrogen_generators.htm
– Zero Point Energy… http://www.prlog.org/10306202-how-to-build-zero-point-energy-generator.html and http://ezinearticles.com/?Zero-Point-Energy-Magnetic-Power-Generator—Fully-Power-Your-Home-For-Free&id=2486194
– Magnetic Refrigeration… http://www.scientificblogging.com/welcome_my_moon_base/new_magnetocaloric_material_will_allow_magnetic_refrigeration… See More
– Waterless Washing Machine… http://www.physorg.com/news136555635.html
– Gray Water Systems… http://www.greywater.com/
– Rainwater Harvesting… http://www.rain-barrel.net/
– Rooftop Gardening… http://www.cityfarmer.org/rooftop59.html
– Black Water Treatment… http://wapedia.mobi/en/Blackwater_%28waste%29
– Evapotranspiration Cooling… http://www.eoearth.org/article/Evapotranspiration
– The Water Fueled Car… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car
– Insulations… http://insulation.sustainablesources.com/
– Rammed Earth Walls… http://arch.usc.edu/Programs/Research/RammedEarthConstruction
– Adobe Bricks… http://www.elmerfudd.us/dp/adobe/brick.htm
– Straw Bale Construction… http://www.dancingrabbit.org/building/straw_bale.php
– Passive Solar Design… http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/construction/solardesign/orientation.html
– Geothermal Heat Pumps… http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12640

Pardon Me!?!

Just yesterday I received an e-mail from the ACLU mentioning that George W. Bush may very well give Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, and others who are or have been in his administration something known as a Preemptive Pardon. When I read this, I said to myself, “Preemptive? WTF!?!”

What rational explanation can justify the granting of immunity by a sitting President to a person who has not yet been convicted nor even formally charged with a crime? It sounds ridiculous, yet it seems to have been acted upon once already… when Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a presidential pardon before he had been convicted or even formally charged with the Watergate crimes.

Doesn’t this go against core American values of justice and due process? And isn’t it implicit that by allowing high-ranking officials to evade accountability for undermining the Constitution and violating the law will give a “Get Out Of Jail” pass to future public officials who commit high crimes against the people of the world, or against the interests of the American People? Maybe I’m naive, but doesn’t this define a certain powerful segment of the upper tier of our society as above the law? And how can a sitting president project his will into a succeeding president’s term, effectively nullifying the possibility of an investigation into past activities or bringing up charges against a former official?

Let me remind the reader that several officers in this administration, including the President himself, could easily be accused and tried for crimes such as subterfuge, libel, misrepresentation, torture, illegal wiretapping, and even treason under our own Federal laws. And though it would require a great act of political courage by our President Elect, Barack Obama, followed by the tying up our courts for a good whi a series of independent investigations are under way, would most certainly send a precedent to all future public officials and elected representative that they ARE accountable to their actions.

There are so many questions that need answers, such as “Was there tampering and/or fraud committed during the 2000 and 2004 elections?” Or, “Were any of the Bush Administration or American Neo-Conservatives involved with the planning, goings-on, or suppression of information that led to 9/11? And what about war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it is understood under the Geneva Convention and the International Criminal Court?

The Geneva Convention, which was ratified by the U.S., and is therefore as applicable as our own laws, is explicit in that it prohibits torture, the use of “violence,” “cruel treatment” or “humiliating and degrading treatment” against a detainee “at any time and in any place whatsoever.” The War Crimes Act of 1996 made any grave breach of those restrictions a U.S. felony.

This preemptive perversion of the Presidential Pardon would enable Bush to prevent any future criminal investigation into his administration’s activities. Though interestingly, through accepting a pardon, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and so on would be, by default, admitting their guilt.

In an editorial by The New York Times, it stated:

“The Bush administration distorted statutes and case law to legally justify interrogation techniques that had long been considered torture under domestic and international law. It relied on sloppy or aggressive legal analysis as a basis for evading judicial review of a warrantless wiretapping program. It has at every turn chosen the most expansive interpretation of the law to rationalize indefinite detentions and deny federal court review to those in custody. It has, in short, determined its preferred course of action first and then stitched together absurd readings of the law to defend those choices.”

With regard to torture, to outline the laws broken by our public officials, I offer the following information…

To show how inhumane the practice is, a U.S. volunteer is waterboarded.

– Dick Cheney, the sitting Vice President, orchestrated the use of torture, secret prisons, and detention without charge. The vice president’s office played a central role in eliminating limits on coercion in U.S. custody, and created a distinction between forbidden “torture” and the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading” methods of questioning which they advanced as permissible.

A hooded and wired Iraqi prisoner, believed to be Satar Jabar, who reportedly was told that he would be electrocuted if he fell off the box.

– Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense, authorized the use of abusive interrogation methods at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Abu Ghraib. These methods included abuse, humiliation, torture, sodomy, and homicide.

Lynndie England and Charles Graner posing with prisoners ordered to form a human pyramid.

– John Ashcroft, the former US Attorney General, reportedly participated in National Security Council meetings authorizing specific forms of abuse on specific prisoners, and approved Office of Legal Counsel torture memoranda.

England pointing to a naked prisoner being forced to masturbate in front of his captors.

– George Tenet, forner Director of the CIA, oversaw the Extraordinary Rendition Program (the extrajudicial transfer of a person from one state to another, particularly with regard to the alleged transfer of suspected terrorists to countries known to torture prisoners or to employ harsh interrogation techniques that may rise to the level of torture), as well as the abusive interrogation methods, including waterboarding, by CIA officials.

Sgt. Ivan Frederick sitting on an Iraqi detainee between two stretchers.

– John Yoo, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, authored memos that tried to provide a legal basis for the torture and abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody.

United States soldier Spc. Graner prepares to punch restrained prisoners.

– Alberto Gonzales, the former White House Counsel, chaired discussions about the authorization of specific forms of torture and abuse, and urged the president not to apply the Geneva Conventions to many of the detainees.

Spc. Charles Graner poses over Manadel al-Jamadi's corpse.

– Condoleeza Rice, the current Secretary of State, chaired the National Security Council meetings reportedly authorizing specific forms of abuse on specific prisoners.

One of the previously unreleased images released in February 2006 by SBS in Australia, showing a man covered in excrement forced to pose for the camera.

In my opinion, this should be fought against, tooth and nail, by the American People. Then, there should be clear and rigorous conditions placed on the whens, hows, and limitations of a Presidential Pardon.

The pardon should be made available to correct judicial error, not used for the sake of political expediency or to absolve an administration’s criminal activities.

And now the big question… if these and the many other accusations against the Bush Administration (especially those of fraudulent election activity and/or involvement with 911) are found to be true in a court of law, would it not be prudent to retroactively nullify the many laws and appointments that this administration has made?

What do you think?

•••

Sources include the ACLU’s letter and citations from Wikipedia