Madoff Goes Global

Here’s an excellent write-up that describes the ways in which we are stealing from future generations to feed ourselves and the parallels between doing so and any other Ponzi scheme.

PONZICONOMY: Our global pyramid scheme

I’ve read Plan B 2.0, an excellent book, and notice that there is a link to a new version Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown.

Don’t forget, the article doesn’t even mention the fact that not only is the oil at the pump a subsidized and limited resource, so is the oil we pour on our corn as fertilizer.

That’s right, industrial fertilizers are petroleum products. We’re eating oil!! That can’t be good for either our health or our long term prospects in terms of a very large population dependent on a fossil, non-renewable, resource.

Tell Me Now That Carter Was A Bad President

Please read this article about Carter’s 1977 speech and tell me now that Carter was bad for the country and Reagan was good. Go ahead. Tell me now which of those two presidents had the right long term plan for this country. Tell me how much worse off we would have been had we continued with Carter’s energy plan. Tell me that this speech of Carter’s didn’t detail a large chunk of the events that have now come to pass as a result of not following his plan.

Obama: Eloquently Stating What Needed to be Said

Here’s yet another incredibly eloquent speech by Obama. I find it very refreshing that we have a candidate that can correctly pronounce place names and even the word nuclear. Further, some of the sentiments expressed in this speech are sentiments I’ve been hoping to hear expressed for a long time. Here is someone who can show real leadership, something we have been sorely lacking for 7 years.

I you prefer to read the text, rather than listen to a 36 minute video, the text is available on the Obama webiste.

1,700 Climate Scientists and Economists Recommend Action

Top U.S. Scientists and Economists Call For Swift, Deep Cuts In Global Warming Pollution
More than 1,700 Say Early Reductions Can Benefit Economy

I must admit that this is in the pattern ordinarily used by the climate change skeptics. They love to quote a large number of scientists that dispute that climate change is real or dispute that it is human caused.

However, it has been my experience that such claims are often made when the scientists listed largely fall into one of three categories, scientists in a field not related to climatology, names of people who may or may not be scientists but have no peer reviewed papers to their names, or known ExxonMobil employees.

Perhaps you might say that these 1,700 fall into similar categories on the other side. However, in this case, according to the League of Conservation Scientists, among the names are:

The signatories, compiled by UCS, include six Nobel Prize winners in science or economics, 31 NAS members, and more than 100 IPCC authors and editors

More Gore

Here’s another incredibly persuasive, inspiring, and informative video from Al Gore. He’s such an excellent speaker and offers real analysis and solutions to the crisis of our time, climate change. This is the big one. There is no problem facing humanity today that approaches the seriousness and certainty of climate change left unchecked. Please watch this enlightening, empowering, and uplifting video. Watch for his analogy regarding tar sands and shale; it’s a classic.

TED: Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis — Note: I recommend downloading the mp4. I had problems trying to watch it on the web page. It’s under 100M. Your mileage may vary.

Earth The Sequel

There is also a description of Earth the Sequel on EDF’s website. There’s a book signing in Manhattan. Details below pasted from an email I received from EDF.