Now Playing: Environment
Topic: Environment
Times come when the best thing to do is dig in, say what needs to be said and move on. Gather 'round everyone. Republicans, drop the cigar into the martini. Yes, you can keep the olive. Democrats, drop the joint, grab a tub of your favorite organic derived yogurt and sit down. Of course you can sit cross legged. Fellow Libertarians, dismount the soap box and draw nigh. Green Party, carry on. You don't listen anyway.
Now most of you know I used to teach History. My second most famous career was as the head of an environmental NGO. Seriously. It would be impossible to make up my life. But facts are facts.
Around the blogosphere people are going to be discussing the new energy bill. There will be experts discussing oil, air, trees and water. My personal expertise is in advocating for clean water and protection of coastal wetlands. I spent a bunch of time knee deep in raw sewage pouring into the sea, watching people destroy perfectly good protective wetlands and fighting a government that was, well, a joke that nobody laughed at because it wasn't that funny.
I could post the new energy bill and I could even make a few deft professional comments about specific points in the legislation. Give me a day or two and I could debate it. But I have tasted futility and I know that the taste is rotten. Trust me when I tell you that debate is futile.
Here's why I say that.
People will almost always act in their own best interest. Best interest can be defined in many different ways. The environmentalists will argue that everyone's best interest is served by protecting rapidly dwindling resources. They're right. No matter how you look at it, this planet has some serious problems. Manmade? Some yes, some no. Helped by human endeavors? Don't bet your mortgage payment on it.
Businessmen will say that jobs, a stable economy and growth are in everyone's best interest. They're right. I don't want to go back to pristine because the stone age doesn't carry any particular appeal to me. Sit down, fellow environmentalists. Hear me out. There is a possible future where technology is harnessed and safe for the ecosystem and its inhabitants.
This is where we drop the philosophical pretense. Let's get pragmatic. Right now, the U.S. is dependent on foreign oil. In a cosmic twist of great humor, that oil by and large is buried in the ground under nations that not only don't care for the U.S., but some hate us (See: Chavez, Hugo).
Our home grown specialty is coal. I don't much care for a fuel that produces "black lung" as a byproduct. And in case you missed it, check out the story in the Sunday New York Times about the nuclear plant in Florida that had a serious case of the "whoopsies" and accidently sent contaminated waste to the local landfill. Holy glowing rusty appliance, Batman.
So we're in a fix.
How do we solve the problem? I don't know. Sheesh, I'm not an expert on global catastrophes. But I do know that somehow, our self-interests have to come together. One way to do that is to figure out ways to press for compromise. Nobody should be taking this Energy Bill/Platform for New and Even Bigger Corporate Welfare Schemes sitting still. But how to press for a sound energy policy, not based on the individual propping up the bloated oil interests? (Hint: it has nothing to do with embargos or protests or recycling)
If ever there was a problem to throw money at, this is it. Sit down Democrats and Republicans. The last thing we need is for congress to spend another dime. Not that there's anything wrong with a bridge to nowhere in Alaska...
This is where the Libertarian impulse has a distinct advantage. Fellow believers in the free markets, I am preaching the gospel of wealth through hydrogen. Someone, somewhere is going to make a crapload, pardon, CRAPLOAD of money on next generation technology. And not just hydrogen.
You think Shell has one of the largest stakes in solar cells because of a powerful corporate social conscience. No, people, I'm talking about walking with your toes squishing through that crystal white sand on (insert your favorite island name here) because you had the foresight to invest disproportionate and otherwise fool's risk money into technology from the science fiction sector.
Now, I was advised by a powerful attorney not to give specific financial advice. But if you are under 55 and have decent health insurance, check out the alternative energy sector. Nature has a way of achieving balance. No matter what we do, the oil's going to run out and steam engines aren't going to cut it. Let's get those portraits of Franklin into the hands of those who walk in his footsteps with imagination tempered by prudence.
The air will get cleaner and the next generation of energy will come online. Why not make a load of money in the process? That is all.
