Boehner's Close Ties with Lobbyists

In an article written by Eric Lipton, brings up the topic of John A. Boehner's (representative of Ohio) connections to lobbyists. In order to conquer the passing of the regulatory bill, Boehner suggested to lobbyists to team up. He felt that this would be the best way for them to take their last shot. In the end the bill passed, however, many people express negative feelings toward his relationship with the lobbyists. Lipton writes that,

The woman he hopes to replace, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, derided him on Friday as having met “countless times with special-interest lobbyists in an effort to stop tough legislation” that would regulate corporations and protect consumers. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, through a spokeswoman, charged that he “epitomizes the smoked-filled, backroom, special-interest deal making that turns off voters about Washington.” 

Obviously, democrats are turned off about Boehner's close ties and they hope that these ties won't have a positive impact on his political endeavors.

Mental Health Break: Lady Gaga's Stance on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Lady Gaga made a speech about her strong opinions in repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. This seems to be an effective way to get more people listening.

How Does Obama Feel About Losing his Top Economic Advisor?

Obama's top economic advisor, Larry Summers, is leaving the White House soon to return back to being a Professor at Harvard University. Not everyone seems to agree if this is a good thing or a bad thing. In an article from the CNN Wire Staff, Obama claims that,

"Over the past two years, he has helped guide us from the depths of the worst recession since the 1930s to renewed growth, and while we have much work ahead to repair the damage done by the recession, we are on a better path thanks in no small measure to Larry's wise counsel."

To Obama, Summers has contributed a great deal of his knowledge, and he is sad to see him go. A White House official explained that Summers agreed to a one-year policy. Obama, however, invited him to stay for one more year. Unfortunately, Harvard has a strict two-year leave policy and Summers had already committed to returning for the Spring semester of 2011.
Although Obama seems rather adamant that Summers' knowledge has been of great benefit, there are others who are happy to see him leave. 

"He was criticized by conservatives for his role in the Obama administration's economic stimulus package and its bailout of automakers General Motors and Chrysler, while some of the administration's liberal supporters accused him of watering down needed reforms in the wake of the financial crisis that erupted in 2008."

Regardless of everyone's opinion of Summers, his time to leave has arrived and he is staying loyal to his job at Harvard. 

The Electric Car Makes a Comeback

In 2006 film director, Chris Paine, directed his documentary titled, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" He created this film to glorify the benefits of electric cars that had been popular but were then destroyed. Mother Nature Network interviewed him about his new upcoming film, "Revenge of the Electric Car," which revels the electric car's regain in popularity.

There will be a part of the film documenting the Driving Sustainability 2010 conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, where the world's first electric-car-based transportation system will be discussed. Iceland having just a mere population of about 300,000 and 85% of the country's electricity being zero-emission geothermal makes this country highly conducive to this type of transport.

If you haven't seen Paine's first film, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" be sure to watch the trailer at the bottom of the interview.

Plans for Energy Efficiency in the Mojave

An article by Tiffany Hsu explains the plans for the Abengoa Mojave Solar Project.

After many approvals and receiving a 1.45 billion dollar federal loan from President Obama, the project will soon be getting underway. Getting underway doesn't mean that it will be done any time soon. Construction is planned to begin in the 4th quarter of 2010. The project will be set in San Bernardino County, about 100 miles north east of L.A. The entire project will take up about 1,700 acres of private land.

"The Mojave plant is scheduled to start producing energy commercially by the early 2013. The installation will use technology in which the sun hits curved parabolic mirrors arranged in troughs that heat fluid. The heated fluid then generates steam that produces electricity as it expands through steam turbine generators.

The state is pushing investor-owned utilities to glean 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020."

Although this plan is not expected to be considered very helpful until ten years from now, the project is still a step in the right direction on our way to becoming "green."

Can America Keep Up?

In an article titled, "How Innovation Killed the Lights," by Peter Whoriskey, he discusses that the last major GE factory, in Winchester, VA, will be closing this month. This is a factory in which incandescent light bulbs are produced. The factory is being shut down because of Congress' ruling in 2007 that banned all incandescent bulbs to be made by 2014. This law will force Americans to only use fluorescent bulbs which are said to be more energy efficient.

Although switching over to fluorescent bulbs is saving energy, it is also depriving many Americans of jobs. Not only have the jobs slipped away, but the entire industry is now overseas. 

"Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China. Consisting of glass tubes twisted into a spiral, they require more hand labor, which is cheaper there. So though they were first developed by American engineers in the 1970s, none of the major brands make CFLs in the United States."

Whoriskey discusses that there are a lot of countries all jumping into the "green bandwagon," which creates competition among countries to be the world's suppliers of more "green" products. Whoriskey also explains that,

"In Obama's vision, the nation's mastery of new technology will create American manufacturing jobs.
"See, when folks lift up the hoods on the cars of the future, I want them to see engines stamped "Made in America," Obama said in an Aug. 16 speech at a Wisconsin plant. "When new batteries to store solar power come off the line, I want to see printed on the side, "Made in America." When new technologies are developed and new industries are formed, I want them made right here in America. That's what we're fighting for."

It is obvious that America did not win the battle over the who-can-make-more-efficient-light-bulbs battle. Our earth keeps getting hotter and hotter and America needs to figure out a way to dominate in the innovative world.

Should We Expect Less of Our Longevity?

One of the main topics of Tom Freidman's, Hot, Flat and Crowded, is overpopulation. He discusses in his book the major effects that overpopulation has on the world. Not only is it a problem now, but it is going to be a problem for our future unless we do something about it.
How exactly do we go about decreasing our population size? Or how do we prevent it from increasing at the rate it is growing now? Is it ethical to stop improving our health care and simply ignore the needs of individuals in order for them to live? I was interested to find an article that stated the statistics of longevity of men and women in New York and in the entire nation. By the end of the article the author, Roni Caryn Rabin, explained that the there is a gap in longevity between men and women. According to the directer of epidemiology, Carolyn Olson,

“We want to encourage New Yorkers to incorporate physical activity into their routines, pay attention to their weight and make small changes in diet, like eating more fruits and vegetables, consuming less sodium, and drinking more water instead of soda,” Ms. Olson said. “We want to send a message: we would like our men to be living longer.” 

It was reported that in the US females tend to live to the age of 82 and men only to 76. Although the average person prefers to have a decently long life span, should our expectations decrease in order to help the issue of overpopulation?

"The 2 Elephants in the Room"

In this article written by, Mark Bittman, he discusses a book called The Coming Famine by Julian Cribb. Bittman describes that Cribb addresses many of the same issues brought up in Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded.
The Coming Famine is referring to the fact that overpopulation is becoming a larger and larger problem for our earth.

"Mr. Cribb is reporting on the fate of a planet whose resources have, in the last 200 years, been carelessly, even ruthlessly exploited for the benefit of the minority. Now that the majority is beginning to demand — or at least crave — the same kind of existence, it’s clear that, population boom or not, there simply isn’t enough of the Euro-American way of life to go around."

Another topic that Cribb brings up in his book is the issue of the world becoming more and more "flat," as Freidman would put it. The world becoming flat signifies the rise in the middle class which means there is higher demand for resources.

"Most important are what he calls “the two elephants in the kitchen”: population growth and overconsumption. A projected 33 percent growth in population in the next 20 years, combined with increased consumption of meat as the global middle class grows larger, means that food production must grow by at least 50 percent in that same period."

Both overpopulation and the rise in middle class is combining into one immensely huge crisis for the world.

At this point it seems that the world's situation can't be any worse until we remember the global warming problem. Bittman describes some of Cribb's explanations for how to become a more environmentally stable society in his book. One of them is:

"He proposes subsidizing small farms for their stewardship of the earth, and paying them fairer prices for production; taxing food to reflect its true costs to the environment; regulating practices that counter sustainability and rewarding those that promote it; and educating the public about the true costs of food. “An entire year of primary schooling” should be devoted to the importance of growing and eating food, he suggests."

Both Cribb and Freidman understand how and why our society is diminishing. Our world is becoming "Hot, Flat and Crowded."