Peace

After an surprising political win for Barack Obama, winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I felt obligated to write something after a month of silence...
Here it is: PEACE mon'.
I am switching between Bob Marley and Xavier Rudd while I write this to help set the mood.

Every other prize they honor someone who has contributed substantially to society similar to the Peace prize. The only difference with the peace prize is that viewed in current year, while the others are subject to the unspoken decade rule. It's funny to think to can evaluate the years worth of history in October, but that's how they do it.

Hopefully this win will give Obama the political clout that most news people have been claiming that he is lacking. He has been given the extraordinary tasks of Health Care & Energy. I know I am leaving out the war, but the moat important in regards to $moolah$ are these. Congress is debating a Cap & Trade piece of legislation this week, in addition rumors of a health care bill to emerge with enough support in the immediate horizon. This win by Barack will help him out dramatically. It would be political suicide to fight tooth and nail over outlandish propaganda from the coal or health care industry. Millions are spent every year to put off the formation of a cap-n-trade market scheme. It simply corrects a market failure that uneducated people still believe that excess carbon in the atmosphere created by human industry is a hoax. Well, European society used to think the world was flat, once reaching the edge you would fall off the world into some form of an underworld. A frightful end to nice trip on a boat I say!

I shared a good article about how the next decade's # isn't 2010-2020, but 350 titled: A New Number For a New Era: From 9/11 to 350. 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere that is. While we currently hover at 390, and wonder how far we can push it; other countries are attempting at taking the lead in a new world order. The order of the green sustainable revolution. I have 2 syllables for you So-Lar. Oh the all mighty bounty of solar radiation. I blame Regan and Bush 1, for us not needing coal to power our homes today. They put solar research into the dark ages until Clinton was elected. Heck, Regan tore down the wall and tore down the solar water heater on the white house at the same time. With the veil of individual freedoms for all, we pocketed a few extra for crony capitalist instead of mindset of sustainable economic development. Sustainable economic development in my humble opinion relies 100% on vast amounts of clean, cheap, and accessible energy.

So what is our government going to do? Vote for 'clean coal' or photovoltaic research? Natural gas extraction from Pennsylvania or wind/tidal capture research?

oh compromises....

World Population to Hit 7 Billion by 2011, New Stats Show

World Population to Hit 7 Billion by 2011, New Stats Show: "
Africa's population has now passed one billion and at current rates will double by 2050. School children in Central African Republic, photo: Pierre Holtz/UNICEF, Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team in CAR via flickr/Creative Commons.

Here's a sobering thought for your Friday morning: Mongabay reports a new study by the Population Reference Bureau shows that by 2011 ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Importance of Topsoil, Water, & Food

I have begun the growing in significance topic of water scarcity. Combine that concept with severe top soil erosion around the world and what do you get? Food scarcity.

I didn't write in this blog to scare, intimidate, and have no intention to neglect other very important issues. For me, the most fundamental thing to all our lives is water, wood, and shelter.

Water: We are tapping our groundwater and snow pack reserves at alarming rates around the world. As the world population continues to grow it will use more water. As countries continue to develop in developing regions such as Africa, and Asia the pressure on their water resources will continue to increase. This is not just a African or Asian problem where huge populations are growing at alarming rates, but also an American problem. Given I am writing this from the New York City area and we have basically spent the last 30 days under water, the largest problem lies in the west. From extensive irrigation in California, arid land city population rise such as in Phoenix, and continued and extensive water waste in infrastructure and agricultural use; we driving ourselves off a cliff. I just read an interesting article in the December 2008 issue of National Geographic which highlighted the issue of damming up the rivers in Northern California and southern Oregon and its effect on Chinook Salmon populations. We recently had a "30,000" salmon die off from 1 river valley (Klamath River) alone. Environmentalist are trying to remove the dams and farmer's are asking for more water. Both have very valid points, but I wish to point out the one big flaw in the farmer's point. Most farm in the US and world are huge centers of waste regarding water. Farming techniques have developed over the past few years and most significantly Israel, the land of little water developed the drip irrigation system. The most efficient way to water a crop, providing enough water to the roots to optimal growth. Our great American farms mostly use significantly more water than they need, so why fight for the overuse of water when the market (price) should force you to become more efficient.

Topsoil: What is better than digging in a garden, planting a variety of crops watching and waiting while you watch the mature? Better? Well how about being gone for a week to find that all your beans have been eaten by an animal. Very annoying. But seriously, Top soil erosion & fertile soil aeration is becoming an increasing problem in areas with very larger population such as China and India. China I believe is seeing the largest problems regarding this. The Gobi Desert is growing, fast. Hillside farming through unsustainable practices and eroding, fast.

What this means for food: Less water + less soil + larger appetite = ??? You don't have to be a scientist to figure this one out. My greatest concern is what happens when China cannot feed it's population anymore? There will be political unrest, death, and I hate to say it but political conflict. I don't mean to single out the Chinese, but there is a list of countries that face severe problems. Haiti has some of poorest individual in the world, that lack basic freedom of water and food. Why? For a period of 5 or 10 years the population grew with the market or government offering a sustainable method of energy and heat. Haitians went into their forests and cut down almost every tree in the country. Since then soil erosion has been a huge issue, without any trees and a hurricane coming how will the soil stay in place? Soil erosion turned into water scarcity because the trees and soil held in the water to be release slowly in rivers. Which meant severe flooding and famine.

No more doom and gloom from me. The tools are at our disposal to correct the inefficiencies in the world. What is lacking is education. I hope this post made 1 person interested in learning more (not from a grammatical point of view though :) )

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.

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.