X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
the agenda
X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
|
|
the agenda |
| |
Earth
Helping the environment is NOT a fuzzy, charitable thing Americans should do in prosperous times; and avoid in not-so-prosperous times. Repairing the environment is rock solid fiscal wisdom. We can either plant trees and ground cover at every opportunity, or start saving right now, the tens of trillions of dollars it will cost the next generation to artificially purify their water supplies. No machine or process known to man can do a better job than nature of keeping our water clean. Nature can do it for pennies compared to millions to do it by technology. All nature needs is a little bit of help from us - now.
Agenda Items
The "slash" left after logging a forest - the branches, leaves, roots, etc.. - adds more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when it decays than the forest takes away. Government regulations to reduce this slash, perhaps motivating industry to find more uses for the slash in paper and wood products, can bring the U.S. close to being in compliance with the Global Warming Treaty.
Designate all the oil fields in Alaska a part of the Strategic Oil Reserve. The existing reserves can keep America going for hours, at best. We need weeks or months, at least. The worse the war on terrorism gets, the greater should be our fuel reserves. The Bush Administration lobbied long and hard to open the Alaska Wildlife Refuge to drilling to produce the oil and gas there. They say it's important to make the U.S. less dependent upon foreign crude. If they were really interested in making America more self sufficient they would do what the Nazis did in Germany during World War II. The entire German economy, and it's war machine, were all run 100% on synthetic fuels made from coal. They also made all the rubber they needed from coal. The U.S. has the largest coal reserves of any nation in the world. The odds of us running out of fuel are infinitesimally small. It's bizarre that synthetic fuel from coal has never been mentioned in any national energy debate. The Germans also made all their rubber from coal - how many more important materials could be synthesized?
Double the EPA air quality standards - ie make them two times as strict as they are now. Each state should have allowable air pollution quotas. If they want additional credits they can earn them by planting trees, which costs virtually nothing. Ten years from now a monkey should be able to go from coast to coast and never touch the ground, like it was 200 years ago.
Every state in the nation has their own Energy czar. These individuals should be empowered to reduce energy use across the board. Relieve the federal government of this obligation (other than on federal properties) and reduce its role to establishing consistent evaluation criteria and scientific standards. Every building should be required to renew it's energy efficient sticker each year just like we have to get our cars inspected each year.
Auto manufacturers are able to sell SUV's because they are classified as trucks. Revoke this classification and live by the rules, or implement the ultra high efficiency technology developed by the Clinton Administration (recently discontinued by the Bush Administration). People wouldn't love their trucks so much if they knew the auto corporations make a minimum of $10,000 clear profit on every truck they sell. You can see why they spend so much money on advertising.
Energy conservation standards should be enforced by allotting a specific amount of fuel to each state. This can be linked to strong incentives to plant trees, preserve aquifers, conserve water and other natural resources. The federal government is empowered with the ability to retaliate because it needs this authority to motivate the states into conscientious use of our natural resources. If the states do their job, there will be no penalties - indeed, they will ultimately experience cost reductions.
The military is the single biggest user of energy in the world. Yet they are also the most wasteful. Conserving energy at home immediately allocates more discretionary funds for operations overseas in the Asia theatre.
The government should begin training American Indian volunteers for fire fighting units. They can be paid by being allowed to re-settle federal forest and wildlife preserves. Wild fires are a serious threat, and must be dealt with by the experts. Probably be a good idea to turn over the border patrol to the Indians. Give them free reign to patrol the border on horseback just like the old days. Likely scare the hell out of any drug smugglers or illegals trying to cross the border. Not just the Mexico border; but the Canadian border too - both in the continental U.S. and Alaska. Be a good change from the reservation life.
Sanctions should be considered against Brazil and other nations permitting the destruction of the rain forests, including lobbying to have Brazil excluded from the International Space Station project. If they need jobs and solid industry to keep the poor farmers from burning the forests, they can be provided. If they need military personnel to police the rain forests, they can be provided.
The use of federal land by commercial operations should be revamped so the cost to the loggers or cattlemen is the same as if they were leasing commercial land. A sustained effort should be made to re-plant all available federal lands (including military reservations, federal lands, and interstate right of ways) to its maximum sustainable levels. Incentives should be made to encourage states to do the same with their land, especially that used for the land grant colleges in every state, and any other properties over which the federal government has any say. Enlist the support of "Adopt-A-Highway" participants and offer tax credits for companies with extensive land holdings who participate.
A recent influx of huge 20-ft Australian jelly fish has made the Mississippi River delta off the Gulf Coast into a dead zone. This threatens the fish and shrimp industry of the entire region - thousands of square miles of vital ocean ecologies. These jelly fish thrive on the abandoned drilling and production platforms in the Gulf. The government should send military teams to demolish all these platforms, and bill the owners the cost of doing so.
On June 14, 2002 there was an earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter Scale at Yucca Mountain. That area is one of the most active volcanic zones in North America - over 600 major tremors have been registered in the last decade alone. It doesn't seem to be a very safe place; especially for the 10,000 years that it will take the radioactive waste to become safe. Congress passed the law by an overwhelming margin.
© 2003 by bill clark
_____________________________________
banner advertising below this line
