In an earlier post today, I pointed out the fact that we are not making a lot of progress in getting climate change into the national dialog. The people making the decisions are still willing to put almost everything else ahead of it.
This is just to call attention to yet another discrepancy in how perceptions differ depending on the problems you are trying to solve. While, as I pointed out, Tom Friedman made a glowing reference to the Climate
We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ...Friedman is right, but no one is listening. I have written before about the influence on the Obama Administration from the Center for American Progress. Here, according to their web home page, are our goals
We can’t do this anymore.
Not one time do the linked pages contain the idea "sustainable." It is all about seizing the opportunity and making a better life. Consumption corruption is not progressive.
FOUR PROGRESSIVE PRIORITIES
- Restoring America's global leadership
- Seizing the energy opportunity
- Creating progressive growth
- Delivering universal health care
4 comments:
I agree that consumption at our current levels is no where near sustainable. But there are a lot of "Joe Sixpacks" who won't support any kind of climate change related legislation or policy that they believe will impact their lifestyle as it exists now. So I think we have to be careful how we frame our response, and how we frame the problem for legislators.
Friedman is at it again in today's New York Times in a column titled:
This is Not a Test. This is Not a Test
"It’s always great to see the stock market come back from the dead. But I am deeply worried that our political system doesn’t grasp how much our financial crisis can still undermine everything we want to be as a country. Friends, this is not a test. Economically, this is the big one. This is August 1914. This is the morning after Pearl Harbor. This is 9/12. Yet, in too many ways, we seem to be playing politics as usual..."
"We" means the tired Republicans and Democrats. Once again, the enormity of the crisis demands a place for independent Green thinking -- something much more than a bunch of tired slogans and clichés.
Alex,
That is exactly why I was disappointed when you felt that you had to drop out of the State Senate race.
L.A. Greens are hosting the director of FUEL at our March 18 mtg.
read on:
http://losangelesgreens.org
http://thefuelfilm.com/
cheers,
Lisa
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