Changing the Collective Thought Process

After my dad pulled to my attention an article in the New York Times (January 23rd 2009 issue) titled: Environmental Issues Slide in Poll of Public Concern. The findings said that because of our economic situation the environment has become dramatically less of a concern to Americans. I found it unbearable to hold back and not try to shed light into what I call 'The Collective Thought Process'.

The World is ONE system. Our economic and environmental health are sub systems of the larger biosphere. Our natural environment provides humans with food, shelter, fuel, and many other natural resources which feed our economic system. One can only harvest enough resources to allow the natural ecosystem to grow back for the following years harvest. If one harvests too much, not enough will grow back the following year. Instead of focusing in the exact volume to consume in a given year or its capabilities, one should focus in on efficiency. Getting more from less.

Our society consumes more than is needed to sustain and grow, inadvertently waste is produced. Recently, due to the economic situation Americans has begun curbing their buying habits. Focusing their dollar spent on more useful and lasting purchases.

Global warming: It is happening, but is not the main topic of environmental concerns. Our global temperature has increased over the past few decades, believed by the majority of the scientific community. This is not my biggest global environmental concern.

Global climate change: Seattle is getting wetter & drier, New York warming in the winter but some years colder, hurricane larger & disappear for seasons, desertification growing along with the monsoons in India. Our climate is changing around us. So fast that we are beginning to not to see it. Two days ago I was working at the New York International Gift Fair, while selling a great company's mission in ECOBAGS.COM; I met a middle aged woman. She came up to me, she being from the south and said 'boy is it cold out there!' I concurred with her. It was very cold out there approaching the teens for god know how many consecutive days. Compared to last year which was very mild with little snow, this year New York City has been hit with a lot of cold, snow and in particular ice. The change from last to this, has been very dramatic. That volatility is what the majority of educated scientist and intellectuals call global climate change. So I turned to this lady and said 'your right it is very cold, but our warming planet doesn't mean that winters will be warmer, summers hotter and every cold front that much more bearable'. She looked at me in confusion and smiled and kept on walking. Our collective thought process has been brain washed on the word 'warming'.


I don't fear the heat (unless I live near an expanding desert) but I fear in my and chilren's life time the increases rainfall, floods, topsoil erosion, loss of farming capability, desertification, and all the rest that a warming planet does to our climate. Our collective and ignorant thought process connects global warming with simply heating and whether it is hot or cold outside.

If some believe it is as simple as this, let them attempt to live their lives in bliss.

2009 Inauguration & Martin Luther King Jr.

There is so much to speak about today. This is a great day. The significance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday to 41 years after he made the speech 'I Have a Dream' a African-American Man was sworn-in as president. Dr. King spoke of his vision that within 40 years he believed a African-American would be elected president (he also said his hope was 25 years though). He was pretty darn close in his estimate, and it shows the capacity of his vision. Heck, if he lived a little longer maybe it would have been 25 years.

My hope is that Barack Obama uses all the political power he has collected over the past few months to focus on core economic issues. If he does not lead us out of economic turmoil, every other initiative he wants to address will not happen.

He is calling for all of us to sacrifice for the greater good of society. No one, since FDR has had the political resources and momentum to call on so much from Americans. FDR called for the 'New Deal', and Obama is calling for his 'Deal' which will involve many of the strikingly similar concepts as FDR's plan in 1933. Click here to view more about FDR's 'New Deal'. Both involved a lot of government spending, and many argue the only reason we got out of The Great Depression was because we were building up to fight the Second Great War (WWII). It is my belief that what will pull us out of this 'depression' will be the need to conquer 'The First Great Energy Crisis'. It will be as, if not more significant than WWII was on its generation.

What are Americans willing to sacrifice?
So far it has been their jobs, houses, and savings (not that funny). I think it will be peoples time. Spending a couple of days a year doing community service of some sort to help those in need. For young adults a excellent resource to help connect you to a cause in your local community is Dosomething.org. They will take your cell number and within minutes text you the location of a place to volunteer your time in your local community.

I am willing to sacrifice the convenience of eating non-organic & non-local food. Every time you buy food, spend the extra pennies on food that is coming from your local community. It will allow you to contribute to your local community and allow you to feel good about what you are putting into your body. Again, you are what you eat- The age old slogan taught in kindergarten is true! How about extending this commitment to: Make a goal to recycle every can, bottle, jug, newspaper, & piece of cardboard (to start); it is very simple. While you might not see the entire effect of the effort, feel good that what you did will help the next generation. These two (volunteer) services are something little you can do. You know, the 'simple' things. If everybody did the simple things we would be better off.

Australia's leap in front of expectations: Wind Energy

I came across an article that sums up a much larger position on our own direction with energy. It turns out that Australia has met it's prime ministers goal of producing at least 20% of the countries energy from renewables by 2020; after the completion of a 47 turbine wind farm. Read the article HERE. South Australia can now boast that 60% of the entire countries renewables come from the southern region. The 47 turbines installed are believed to produce enough power for 70,000 homes! Don't give all the credit to the Aussie's, it turns out the Kiwi's provided all the construction and design. Trust Power of New Zealand, also operates Australia's largest wind farm. This is a story of the people who demanded of themselves to be better.

First of all, this is terrific to hear, a country rising to the vision of it's leader and producing a clean energy resource WAY ahead of schedule. To me that sounds like the resident's, contractor's, and leader's all really cared about what was going on within their country. As we turn to a new day in America I can only hope that Americans can rise to such an occasion. We have the leader to guide us, we have the money allocated, and we have the national pride & desire to systematically move forward to our sustainable goal. The goal again, is to leave the planet in a better shape for our children than it was during our time spent on it. Making use of the abundant natural resource (wind) to power our homes is only logical in the sustainable developmental path we are headed. I hope Barack Obama drives this fact home into all of us. I hope he demands more of us. Of the $850 BILLION- allocated to development, I hope most of all- it is given to projects that include energy efficiency, clean energy development, and restructuring inefficient transportation systems. All of which will create new jobs, reduce carbon in the atmosphere, and provide the necessary building blocks for sustained growth.

Does anyone have any information on what other countries are doing?

Department of Energy: Steven Chu

Steven Chu has been nominated and looks to become the Secretary of Energy. This is a very significant role within the US government. He will have the final say on the single largest budget which could be devoted to alternative clean energy research. It is the governments largest influence on energy outside of legislation. Lack of funding / legislation are the only hurdles to spur such a large amount of technological innovation only comparable to the computing boom of the 90's. Most people don't realize, but the US is being out spent on clean energy research by the Chinese and a lot of other countries around the world. If American's are not the innovator's who will be?

Who is Steven Chu?

Long story short: He is an educated man whom looks at our energy portfolio as a system, for which vast improvement can be made in the areas of efficiency and using more of what is really abundant and free- The Sun, Wind, & Tide. I have high hopes for him to make the tough decisions and upset senators from coal producing states. To simply regain America's standing as the leader in research. High order for Steve Chu right? well he has the support of the most iconic & morally powerful man since John Kennedy or FDR.



While I fundamentally believe that the US has setup itself to seize leadership regarding clean energy, energy efficiency and energy independence; we must systematically go through all policies and funding to direct our efforts. What shall our underlying principal be? How about: Our planet is 1 single system that can't get any bigger. The economy is a subsystem of that planet. There is x amount of resources available to sustain life and grow the standards of others which will only last x years. Why not use what is clean, abundant, relatively free (if carbon had a price) and just morally good for society to make our children future better than ours? Well, almost every generation believed this notion except the previous. I don't hold it against them, by any means. The previous generation setup all which is good today, while using a form of energy(oil) as a cheap form of growth. Which it was and still is. We only recently fully understand that the complexity of global climate problem. Heck, 10 years ago we didn't the computer power to comprehend civilizations impact. And when you build a civilization over 100+ years reliant on a cheap form of energy to sustain life, it will be difficult to change that. I do not wish to state a laundry list of facts on how and why global climate change is occurring, it would take way to long. I will let you look at the world's foremost independent expert on the state of the planet: IPCC REPORT. The previous link will send you to their home page, scroll down to view last years report. Over arching principal: Human civilization is causing our planet to heat rapidly which is disrupting numerous systems on this planet.

I really didn't want to go in that direction, but the plug was needed.
Point of this rant- Steven Chu is a good candidate, and any progression that happens in our economy & society will inadvertently go through him. This is because: what one thing do we use that affects every part of our life.
Answer: Energy.

Barack Obama & Thomas Friedman on 'This Week' with George Stephanopoulos

Wow. If you didn't get the chance to watch the show, it was worth the hour- (This Week). Barack Obama is becoming a real positive leader in this world. Not only does his charisma motivate one, his policies are right in line with correcting America's economy to get on a sustainable path. His first point and question was of course concerning the economy. He outlined his plan with a little more depth, but highlighted the so called 'green economy'. Clean energy, mass transit, energy efficiency, etc. is thoughtfully being laid out as pieces to the sustainable economy & sustainable growth puzzle for decades to come. He is building the foundation that directs human civilization away from greedy inefficiency. With energy demand increasing we need to become more efficient. He is proposing that 75%+ of ALL federal buildings will be given money to solely solve 1 problem, increase energy efficiency. Listening to him speak made me feel motivated, encouraged and prideful of my country, something that has not been felt for at least 8 years and possibly much more; in actuality since 1996 when the Kyoto protocol was initiated by the US (but never signed on to: errrrr....).

To top off the enjoyable 30+ of uninterrupted minutes of Obama, I was pleasantly surprised to see Thomas Friedman on the show to follow up on the round table. While he mostly spoke of the middle east troubles of Hamas and Israel (one section of his expertise), he didn't get to touch on a lot of topics which he wrote about in his most recent book. If he hasn't met Barack Obama in the past I bet he got his opportunity today. I am sure the topic of discussion was the ideas covered in Hot, Flat, and Crowded- Energy efficiency, clean energy, & sustainable development. That brings me another few ounces of confidence in the direction of the Obama administration. Obama has stayed true to his principals since voting for him. His commitment to reorganizing the government & economy based on clean efficiency for growth and sustainability. I salute to 4 years of leadership, change, & sustainability. Something that Al Gore might be passionate about, but never showed enough leadership in until he was out of office. That was harsh, I know. Al Gore didn't have the luxury (hard to call it that) of an economy in shambles to implement such altering policies. I don't hold it against him, if anything I hope it motivates him to advise Obama, because we all know it is where his life's work exists. So overall, for anyone who cares about the future, your confidence should have just increased.

Beauty in the World

It's time to change the direction of previous. I thought that adding a few pieces of art will help expand this blog and offer the people reading something. I have been taking pictures since I went on a trip to Spain and bought a old Cannon SLR. I was probably 13 at the time, but once I started looking through a lens, I learned that you can capture a moment in time. When I look back at that first roll, maybe 1 shot worked out. But I see how far my passion has developed. Throughout the year I will begin to unravel insights about a moment of beauty, clarity and understanding.

The picture at the top titled "A Brooklyn Morning", was taken in a late summer morning in August 2008. Living in the Bronx, Brooklyn is a far travel to meet friend for brunch. IT means waking up pretty early on a Saturday morning. Being my first time in Williamsburg, I decided to bring my old beat up Cannon Rebel XT along. After a long drive my beautiful wife points out this beautiful iconic New York City image of a clothes line. Click. We found a very tranquil moment in the city that never sleeps. They are sparse, but when one finds them they bring a sense of calmness and peace into a hectic way of life.

New York City holds so many cultures, traditions, and history within it's borders. To think that Queens speaks more than 132 languages, more than any other place on the planet. Brooklyn where the picture was taken above harbored Washington's troops as the siege on Manhattan took place. You can wander through the neighborhoods around Park Slope and find old armories, fortresses, and brownstones built next to ancient cemeteries. Obviously these are drops in a river of culture that NYC possess. Look to Wikipedia if you already haven't to get a taste. If you are interested in more of my photos just email me.