Comments Tod Brilliant has made

ACEA says to tax carbon . . .

I know this thread is dead, but if anyone happens to come by - this from ACEA (European Car Manufacturing Association) is absolutely pro-carbon tax. Well, it's more than that... read on:

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/11/14/want-less-co2-pay...

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Hoorah!

Let's hope there has benn a sea change! Last time the Dems controlled things, they (and Gore) sat on their hands.

Please, everyone, contact Nancy Pelosi's office and DEMAND that her party tackles the environmental issues that face us. Remember, nowhere in her "Six for '06" plan does she mention the environment (other than a vague statement concerning a reduction on dependence on foreign oil).

Nancy Pelosi can be reached at (202) 225-4965. Email = americanvoices@mail.house.gov

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

All in agreement

Good to hear my initial suspicions were correct. Browsing the vender list, the affair did seem decidedly 'crunchy' which sadly does more harm, in my eyes, than good.  NOthing wrong with dreadlocks, mind you. Patchouli on the other hand. ..

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

RE What we need. . . .

AMEN to this.  A 'sense of mission.' Indeed. UNITY is another key component as we are far from unified at present in our collective drive to educate, legislate and make change for the better.

I wish we had time to let our kids save the world. It's up to US and we have to do it RIGHT NOW. It is on our shoulders - not to make money or seek to commodify the 'sustainability movement' as too many of us have done, distracting us from our real goal and breaking us into competing camps (whose site has more hits to allow greaterer ad revenue? whose book is shooting up the amazon charts faster?).  

Yes, a sense of mission. The mission ABOVE all else. Unity. This is what we need, but I doubt very much we will achieve in time. Proactive unity is nearly impossible . . . we'll unite all right, forced by impending disaster, but it will be too late by then.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Great Interview - Need More of This

It's all summed up by:

"I am convinced that right-of-center voters will respond to a thoughtful case for environmental protection that is presented in terms that resonate with their values."

Now if we can only figure out how to properly 'market' our message (something we've failed to do in a consistent manner), we'll have a real nonpartisan push for rapid, wartime changes. What we MUST do, immediately, is break down the currently existing eco-fiefdoms, egos, and personalities and make way for a unified federation.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Great piece, Kit

Very, very interesting to watch Murdoch these days, who does seem to be mellowing and growing with age. Further, it's very important to hammer home the point, with articles like this, that climate change is as non-partisan issue as they come.  

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Dave - Time to hit the history books

Dave -

You are way off on this one. Research the history of third parties in the United States. In fact, research the birth of your own Democratic party for starters. Please, spare me the "but that was so long ago" retort. Time means little with regard to this debate. Human foibles, temperment and politics are constants in this equation. Men like Nader, Debs and even Teddy Roosevelt (He was a third party man, remember? Do you?) pushed liberal agendas very effectively. Your dismissal of third parties as a fantasy dispenses, in a rather empty flourish, with centuries of contradicting facts.

Take a look at the people who are doing real good in the environmental movement and you'll find that they are non-partisan and would embrace ANY party that seeks to move the ball the farthest and fastest. Dave, your denial reminds me of what Leggett says at the beginnning of "The Carbon War": (roughly) "Pundits never saw the fall of the Berlin War and would have laughed at anyone predicting it. They are doing the same thing with advance predictions of massive climate change." You're doing the same thing, Dave, with third parties. You're falling victim to the unique myopia of "It's never happened, so it won't happen" - and what's worse, it HAS happened, unmasking your tunnel vision as entirely self-imposed!

Aside from this narrowness (which you will shed in time, I'm certain), your vantage point and your perspective has been quite enlightening and I do enjoy your posts here/at Huffington.

Cheers,

Tod

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Shrink/Rethink

Atreyger -

Surely you recognize that the "pack of wild wolves" fear invoke harkens back to the types of fears that made us attempt to subdue the natural environment in the first place. This isn't realistic or constructive thinking. There are other solutions.

Again, shrinking the size of our cities opens up far larger corridors than simply cutting holes/paths through existing sprawl. We can and will depave as oil supplies dwindle. It's not a matter of whether we will shrink, but whether we do it in an organized fashion, one that doesn't turn our suburbs into abandoned "islands" and create chaotic exodii all across developed nations.

To think that our cities will continue in their present form and plan accordingly is to miss the volumes of writing on the walls. We are in an amazing position to implement the corridors that Jason speaks of - we need only take a look at the changing face of development and plan accordingly.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Nice thinking, Jason

Your strongest point is one that needs repeating again and again. Namely, that the "doom and gloom" approach, while informative, is divisive. What we cannot be, can never think of being, is partisan. Too often, however, I see the environmental movement being led by partisan thinkers simply because they see that one party supports them more than the other. This leads (in the USA) to never, ever garnering more than 51% of the support of the people. Further, we have to move beyond placing blame (another problem with Gore's film) as it does ZERO in terms of gathering support. Who gives a damn who is to blame for our current plight? We have plenty of time to sort that out later.

Right now we have to work VERY swiftly to shrink and reverse our impact. We have to shrink/condense our cities, first and foremost (all this hubub about electric/hybrid vehicles as only reinforces the vehicle-first mentality of urban development - and in fact does more harm than good), making them up to ten times more energy efficient and opening up the types of wildlife corridors you propose. I recommended reading Richard Register's "EcoCities" for more on this critical, environmentally-friendly and economically invigorating notion. Register's plan dovetails nicely with your agenda, Jason.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Amen, Dave

Thank God for this post, Dave. I was just starting to think that the Democrats in the USA (let me be frank, I consider any registered Dem a conservative) were going to jump on the Obama train - when the train is carrying no cargo! The TIME magazine piece was very illuminating in that it showed Obama as having ZERO inkling of a comprehensive energy policy (to be fair Gore didn't seem to have one during eight years in office but now he suddenly does now that he has no career-thwarting risks). I fear that Obama has posterity heavy on his mind, that he wants to be the first black President and that he won't do anything to risk tarnishing this historic first. If he gets in office, I very much doubt he would do much to rock the boat. The TIME article was very clear about this. It pointed out that Americans like Obama for the same reason they like Oprah, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods - they do not fit racial stereotypes. In other words, TIME tells us (and I find this deeply disturbing) that these black celebrities do not "act black" (whatever that means) and so the white population accepts them. God forbid we have a black leader who voices his opinions of what it's like to be black in America! Malcolm X? He'd have NO CHANCE in today's P.C. culture. No, he'd be dismissed before he ever got a chance to become a leader. Modern leaders? We expect them to have no fire, to have no strong personal vision . . . no FURY. And if we expect to get anywhere with our movement, we're going to need to find that FURIOUS LEADER and fast. It aint Obama.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Mmm. .

The Dems, bless 'em, can't get it done. This is not enough, nor is it fast enough.

Some may say it's better than nothing, but is it really? Is it better to make incremental changes that will appease many and lessen the demand for real change, or is it better to demand someone/some party with the juicy amalgam of integrity and intelligence who will call for real changes right now?

I don't believe in the "it's better than nothing" mentality, nor do I abide by "you have to understand, the political machine doesn't work that way" excuses. There are no human institutions that are immune to rapid, unexpected change.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Clarity

Actually, Doug, I want to be more clear and more fair to your point as I agree with you, completely.

It's sad that celebrities seem to be often questioned and quoted these days on the issue of "sustainability" (very purposeful quotes). The public would be far better served if others, like yourself, were given the attention and media play. Yet, that isn't what is happening. The game may be pathetic, but it IS the game that is being played and that is going to take time to change. In the meantime, let us do what it takes to get a very clear, very smart message out there in every way we can. You have your method, I have mine. Together, we're working toward the same set of goals.

I would like to see space cleared in the pantheon of pop icons for scientists, analysts and other great minds. It wasn't so long ago that Einstein, Oppenheimer and others were revered. We can, given time, resurrect the public's appreciation of genius, but in the meantime the best we can do is carve and manipulate a puppet or two through which their words will be heard and understood.

I don't care if the pill is administered via fruit punch or enema, so long as the patient is cured.

" . . . because the world doesn't matter anymore if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar

Wind Power!

I agree with most of what is said here. However, in order to make the necessary and RAPID changes in how and where our grid gets its juice, we need to implement a tax shift away from personal income tax and on to energy useage. Of course, this requires a move to a true-cost economy, so gas for example, will shoot to over ten dollars per gallon. Yet, with subsidies shifted from oil to companies who wish to get into the wind game (GE shackles the industry to an extent so more competition would be fantastic), we would rapidly have more than enough wind power in the United States to enjoy guilt-free driving of our hotrod Teslas and more domestic but far more useful Chevy S-10s. This tax shift is not as unrealistic as it seems. Several Euro countries are already doing it. We simply need a third party with the vision and mandate to get it done. Will never, ever happen on the Republican or Democrat watch. On Umbra on electric cars posted 3 years, 3 months ago 12 Responses