Category: Renewables – Politics
PBS: Tell the Koch Brothers To Take a Hike
| May 2, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Most of us read George Orwell’s 1984 in high school, and since incorporated the adjective “Orwellian,” into our vocabularies as a result of the enormous impact this masterpiece made upon us. As it’s usually used to describe language, “Orwellian” refers to words or phrases that have been deliberately manipulated to convey meanings that are in direct opposition to the normal concepts they would have implied. For example, 1984’s protagonist works at the “Ministry of Truth,” whose function is to rewrite history, forever obscuring historic truths from the citizenry. Read More
Vermont Calls for an Amendment to Abolish “Corporate Personhood”
| April 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Tired of the big money in politics? Tired of corporations running the country? If so, you’re not alone – and, according to the “Move to Amend Coalition,” a grassroots national organization spearheading resolution efforts across the country, people of all political persuasions feel exactly like you do. And if it’s true of people generally, it’s true of Vermonters in spades, who just made their state the first to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
Express Your Viewpoints On Energy To Your Elected Leaders
| April 14, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
I hope you’ll check out our newest piece of functionality: http://2greenenergy.com/express-yourself/.
Most thoughtful Americans wonder why the United States is more a roadblock than a leader in energy-related technology. It really IS a strange phenomenon, isn’t it? There are numerous, obvious reasons that we need to move steadily away from fossil fuels: respiratory disease and environmental issues are two of them — but what about national security? Why precisely are we so steadfast in borrowing an incremental billion dollars a day and handing it over to empower our own enemies, so that we can sustain our addiction to oil? Read More
Supreme Court Decision in Citizens United v. FEC — Vermont Speaks Loudly
| April 13, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Anyone who’s ever been to Vermont recognizes that these people think and act differently from the rest of the country. Fiercely brave and unapologetically independent, Vermont cuts to the chase, unafraid to take clear and decisive action when it’s demanded.
Yesterday, the Vermont State Senate voted 26-3 (that’s pretty decisive, I would say) in favor of an amendment to the Constitution that would make clear that corporations should not be afforded the right of free speech that people enjoy under the First Amendment.
State Senator Virginia Lyons (D) led the charge. Nice going, Vermont!
Growing Segment of American Voters Skeptical of Science
| April 6, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Here’s an article whose theme we’ve discussed a great deal here: the disdain that certain of our elected leaders have for science. Personally, I have a tough time with people who expect to be taken seriously who write off evolution as “just a theory – one that has some holes in it” or dismiss climate change as a hoax despite the testimony of 97+% of the scientific community.
It looks like my viewpoints are losing ground here, however, since, as the article shows with a great precision, there is a large and rapidly growing segment of American voters who harbor an active distrust for science. I share the conclusion the author provided: “Yikes. That’s certainly not a good sign for fans of reality-based decision making.”
From Guest Blogger Joshua Okomo: National Strategies for Green Energy Development
| March 26, 2012 | Posted by okomo under Renewables - Politics |
Some simple strategies for national green energy development has worked for Germany, Netherlands and Japan. Nations poor in green energy development can copy and paste. The global least progress in green energy development is still prevalent, some nations think green energy targets set by United Nations is impossible to achieve. State institutions and political leadership in these nations can learn from successful countries. Read More
Maybe We Consumers Should Lower Our Consumption of Energy — But Is It Possible?
| March 19, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
I’ve known 2GreenEnergy reader Joe for several years now, and he’s never ceased to amaze me with his insights as a political philosopher and social critic. We hadn’t corresponded for a while, but he wrote me after having bought my book on its launch day — something for which I was quite grateful, as to whatever degree, the incremental purchase heightened the overall status of 2GreenEnergy and all we’re trying to do here.
Our conversation:
Craig: Thanks, Joe. Glad you’re still reading my stuff. I admire you.
Joe: Maybe I should be writing books instead of self-destructing as a farmer/engineer. Enjoy the weather.
Craig: Ha! We’ll, anyone with a mind like yours should most certainly be using it in every way possible. The world needs you.
Joe: That’s kinda the rub, Craig: Read More
Celebrating the U.S. Constitution
| March 13, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Here’s a piece I wrote originally in 2009 for another website, but I wanted to make it available to 2GreenEnergy readers as well.
220 years after the birth of our beloved U.S. Constitution we see its basic tenets challenged from many different directions. The complaints against the G.W. Bush administration that are most likely to endure through the coming generations are likely be rooted not so much in unpopular actions, but rather in actions that were deemed to have violated the supreme law of the land. Similarly, Republicans’ rancor with Obama’s financial bailout is based on the notion of his team’s having exceeded the powers specifically granted to the executive branch under the Constitution.
Last Friday I had the pleasure of hearing Sandra Day O’Connor speak at a luncheon. When she and I were introduced, I felt myself under pressure to keep my words brief. “A great honor to meet you,” I smiled as a shook her hand. But I sure would have liked to ask her: “Didn’t you find it frustrating to be forced to write an opinion of the narrow case you were hearing, rather than making a decision that would speak to the wider issue at stake and the way you felt it needed to be viewed vis-à-vis the Constitution? Didn’t you finding yourself constantly wanting to write, ‘This is what the nine of us think in this case. But here’s what we believe the Constitution means with respect to gun control, or abortion, or capital punishment–or whatever the larger issue happened to be?’”
She made a warm and resonant speech — one that everyone clearly appreciated — but she scrupulously avoided making comments on her personal views on philosophy and law. And she left immediately upon the completion of her talk, I presume specifically to avoid taking questions like these from people like me.
In any case, the one thing we can agree upon — almost unanimously, I think — is that the U.S. Constitution was written very carefully and thoughtfully, and that it’s a very good thing that we have something as solid and revered as this to serve as the touchstone of our conversations about law.
The Chippendale tallcase clock behind my daughter in the picture above was made circa 1790 — certainly within a few years of the construction and ratification of our Constitution. Before the clock stood in my dining room it was in my parents’ living room — and in my grandparents’ house before that. It’s not really a distinguished piece of furniture (sorry, Mom) — i.e., it’s not terrifically valuable as an antique. It was built in the fledgling U.S. by an unknown clockmaker; its movement had been imported from England, and it has no special design features that would make it particularly collectible.
But its modest monetary value does not begin to diminish my love of the piece. I look forward to winding it each Sunday evening; in fact, doing the math, I believe that I may have given it its 10,000th winding one such Sunday in the last few years. But one thing I know for certain is this: when I turn its crank each week, I feel a great sense of connectedness — to my loving parents, of course. But I also feel a mysterious connection to its previous owners — the earliest of whom lived and died in the very early days of our beloved republic. I’m proud to carry on a tradition that involves people whose names I’ll never know — people whose most basic relationship to me is the respect for a single document that was written by a group of gentlemen in Philadelphia, 220 years ago.
Making Clean Energy Incentives Permanent
| February 29, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Hey – is there a glimmer of hope that some level of sanity may come to the process of energy policy-making in Washington D.C.? I’ve often written about the folly of incentives for renewable energy that come and go, fluctuating with the volatility of women’s hem lines. There’s talk – and that’s about it, but it’s a start – of making clean energy incentives permanent.
With a Level Playing Field in the 21st Century, Nothing Is Impossible
| February 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Reg Wessels of South Africa’s Earth Corporation writes about my piece on the uncertainties of investors in renewable energy:
I often watch this debate with dismay, and as a non-American (but hugely supportive), I can’t help being frustrated by the US having to dance with the enemy. Whatever the solution, the free world looks to America with hope and admiration. Was this not the country that had the courage to pool all its resources for common purpose when the smoke had cleared over Pearl Harbor? Is this not the country that leads the world in innovation and technological expertise? Is this not the country that has shown ‘nothing is impossible’?
Reg: What a good point you raise here. I too wonder where my country has gone wrong, and I have to think I’m not alone here. Read More
