Progressive Growth?

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 Lack of Progress blog, his real point was about the fact that economic growth is not sustainable.

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 ...

We can’t do this anymore.

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

FOUR PROGRESSIVE PRIORITIES

• Restoring America's global leadership
• Seizing the energy opportunity
• Creating progressive growth
• Delivering universal health care

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.