Re-Gain

In the last several years I have observed some most disturbing developments. The threat of potential global destruction due to climate change, unending wars, spiral American deficit, exponential corruption, human rights violation, the validation of American torture, extraordinary corporate greed, numerous human rights and constitutional violations, lack of governmental and corporate accountability and host of other worrisome circumstances. One thing is most pressing is that we must carefully act to insure our future. It is the consensus of hundreds of eminent climate scientists who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize that we must act now. The head of this Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, R.K. Pachauri urged that how we develop in the next seven years will determine or climate by mid-century. He remarked, “ We have to act now to price carbon and create incentives to change the way we use energy and spread technology and thereby avert nothing less than an essential threat to ...

It is imperative that we start to save instead of consume. Americans have over $14 trillion worth personal debt. We must not pass these costs to our next generations. Back in the mid 1960’s we were a nation that was in the black that in last few decades declined seriously into the red. 80 percent of our debt has occurred since 1990. The Chinese now finance our war. Today Our American economy is 70 percent dependent on consumerism reflected by our $17 trillion dollar personal debt. A new documentary, “I.O.U.S.A.” presents why our debt is of serious concern. 66 percent of the gross national product stands at more than $9.6 trillion or 37 percent of GDP. David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general has been outspoken regarding the potential disaster of our total $53 trillion dollar total unfunded liabilities such as Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare. This equates to roughly $175,154 per man, woman and child. To put this in perspective the debt in 1957 was $693 billion - or a...

Neal Peirce wrote on June 8th in the Washington Post, “ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT NEEDS AN ADRENALIN SHOT.’ From my experience I totally agree. Widespread environmental action is now critical. The recently defeated global warming bill authored by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Virg.) bill to cut greenhouse gases and address climate change is another example of environmental stalemate and partisan bickering. Also this may show Americans are too self absorbed to address this planet-threatening crisis that everyone else in the world is worried about. Mr. Pierce cites James Gustave “Gus” Speth, the dean of environmental studies at Yale but an outstanding leader in this profession. In his new book, “The Bridge at the End of the World” (Yale University Press) a long list of concerns. Americans suffer from major contamination of the majority of our water bodies, polluted living conditions in over three-fifths of our nation’s counties. Two-thirds of Americans live in coun...

The cause and effect how we use oil in American reveals both triumph and tragedy. Petroleum has been both a blessing and a curse for America. We comprise less than 5 percent of the world's population, but consume 25 percent of all oil produced or about 20 million barrels or 840 million gallons. Since 1751 when the Industrial Revolution began we used the amount of fossil fuels burned that is equivalent to all plant growth on Earth for the last 13,300 years. We use this black gold there's no end to the stuff, though experts estimate we've got 50-100 years' supply left at current consumption rates. The world is currently consuming oil at the rate of 30.2 billion barrels per year. Based on the forecasts 50 to 100 years forecast is our global supply. We, Americans consume about 20.6 million barrels of petroleum per day (7.5 billion barrels per year). Currently, about 70% of the petroleum we consume is used for transportation. Light duty vehicles and freight trucks take the...

"The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. " Senator Gaylord Nelson As oil peaks, food prices rise and our dollar falls, Americans now must reinvent themselves. Jared Diamond writes about in his book, “Collapse” the fragile legacy we are leaving our future generations. America is awakening that environmental work is not just a global priority, however, a necessity for the well being for future generations. Lessening global warming is just one example of America’s responsibility to address our ecological crisis. This is a wake-up call for a new relationship of renewal for Americans of all walks to become lean and green. First, to renew ourselves we understand the price of most things and now we must show a greater spirit to demonstrate how we value all things. We are so tied to others in the world in thousands of ways. Second when we show our appreciation to our greater interconnections new opportunities become born. Such wise inquiry awakens to citi...

Dreaming of A Green Bethesda Waste less equals sustaining more. When you say Bethesda, Maryland the first thing that comes to mind is the President’s hospital and the home of National Institute of Health. However, seeds for our future prosperity are now being planted here. My vision of Green Bethesda is an organic merging of the arts with the sciences to celebrate a richer quality of life. This effort can emulate nature so to mimic and embodies the wealth of diversity and inter-relationships Health, economy and environmental management are all interconnected and related. Now, Bethesda, Maryland is one setting transforming this vision into reality. A sound body comes only by conserving at home and celebrating the heartfelt psychic benefit of exploring wiser ways to conserve. In recovery not only there is discovery, yet innovative new technologies and ways to enjoy a better life. Green Bethesda is investing in increased environmental wellness affecting our entire community. For ex...

A recent World Resources Materials Flow report* tracks the ebb and flow of how stuff goes through our economy and out into the environment . For example of these 169 materials are toxic substances— such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and others—whose life cycle, reflect the strengths and weaknesses in our national regulatory policies and procedures. According this study the U.S. showed more efficient use of fossil fuels, metals and minerals, and renewable resources. However, the trend in per capita consumption of material (a coincident indicator) is increasing, with a rise of some 23 percent over the study period. If the U.S. economy were solidly on a path to sustainability, this indicator would be declining. The total consumption of materials (a lagging indicator) grew 57 percent over the study period, to 6.5 billion metric tons in 2000. If the United States had been a sustainable economy during this period, we would have avoided the creation of 25 billion tons of waste (and its...

Green garden is about being mindful of being gentle with the earth. The less you waste the more you and the land benefits. Protecting resources is the key focus. For example, our Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. However since it is one of the most productive in the world, its continual decline due to nutrient over-enrichment is of concern. Over thirty years of research illustrated that the main concerns of the Bay were nutrient over-enrichment, dwindling Bay grasses, and toxic pollution. Invasive plants are just another environmental challenge destroying fragile ecosystems. Land can be used and developed in ways that minimize impact on water quality improve water quality and allow aquatic life to flourish. Also, climate change is creating all sorts of other concerns. Increased rainfall and drought and a host of other concerns; refer to arborday.org and refer to Hardiness zone map. The EPA estimates that 54 million Americans work on their lawn and do la...

On April 17, seventy five years ago in my home town of Edinburg, Virginia the first Civilian Conservation Corps began. Today the need for green jobs can offer the economic opportunity of the century – but only if we take advantage of this huge opportunity. Today, these industries generate 8.5 million jobs and nearly $1 trillion in annual revenue in the United States, and they contain some of the fastest growing sectors in the economy. Among the study’s findings are: if the country fails to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, it runs the risk of losing ground to global competitors. If policy and regulatory barriers to the sustained development of the industry are not addressed now, other countries like Germany, Denmark, and China will take the lead and reap the economic benefits. However, this new report also illustrates the tremendous opportunity for the United States to harvest these green collar jobs and how these industries, with the correct support, are poised to be ...

Over the last four years, eighty percent of the small-mouthed bass and sunfish population have died in the Shenandoah River. The Shenandoah is now one of the top five most endangered American rivers. Unfortunately in the last 20 years, both public and private enterprises have been allowed to impair the Shenandoah with sewage. We started with a faulty Broadway plant, then came a failed private firm called Sheaffer International, and today the Town of Broadway has taken over this bankrupt polluter with the same plant manager. This is not the blueprint for success. At this time, Virginia regulators have granted the Town of Broadway permission to dump part of their sewage back into the Shenandoah. In the fall of 2007, Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) gave just such a permit to the Town of Broadway. This “Consent Decree” sets “interim limits” on river discharges from operations at the bankrupt Sheaffer Plant. These “interim limits” stretch out to January 2011 allowi...

Jared Diamond in the beginning of the New Year wrote in the New York Times that the average rates at which people consume resources like oil and metals, and produce wastes like plastics and greenhouse gases, are about 32 times higher in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia than they are in the developing world. Now we are at 6.5 billion people on this planet, and that number may grow to around 3 billion within several decades. Presently 5.5 billion people of the developing world are growing in numbers while we in the industrialized countries consume 32 times more than the rest of the world. How many more people can the world sustain? Our developing countries make an increase in living standards a primary political goal to become industrialized. How can we in the rich countries lessen our material consumption since the poor wish to enjoy the American Dream of a high-consumption lifestyle? As millions of people in the developing world wish enjoy the first-world lifes...

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.—Aldo Leopold What is true to live in America today? We are a nation of $18 trillion dollars of personal debt. In the last few years we have accumulated an additional $260 billion dollars of foreign deficit to the $1.5 trillion dollars already owed. We continue to sink further into this black hole. We live in a land where our government has subcontracted (outsourced) energy, environmental, labor, health and even our voting machines to private interests. Inequality, injustice, and inhumanity seem to be the by-products of a nation that generates 18 billion tons of materials each, but we are unable to measure how regrettable our nation's greed impacts on those less fortunate—especially the land and its creatures. We are facing an inner form of poverty by the denial implicit in our actions. Our very democracy is in question since our quality of life reflects are country's inability to...

What life choices we make is linked to our very freedom. We Americans must become lean and green. A green liberation movement will show us how we can become more responsible, and how we can grow our ability to be ecologically responsive. Simply, if we engage in wholesome action that is beneficial to all, we become less imprisoned by our harmful habits. We must shift from being consumers to becoming conservers. We must embrace a green diet, lessening both our waste and waists. Yes, we must eat more GREENS! This is rabbit food not rabid food to lessen our country's chances of HEART ATTACK. An ethic of obesity must now change to a more wholesome diet for the sake of the planet. When we take care of the world, we help ourselves. Since what goes around, comes around, our individual actions directly have consequences that reflect back on us. Over-consuming on our planet creates lots of personal and global suffering besides breaking the collective heart. The results of human overindulge...

On December 10th, former Vice President, Al Gore said in his acceptance speech for his Nobel Peace Prize, “So today, we dumped another 70 million tons of global-warming pollution into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet, as if it were an open sewer.” In The United States, we can certainly better use and conserve our oil. Each year we use hundreds of billion gallons of the world’s petroleum supplies. Yearly, Americans use over 7 billion barrels of oil products. Since the USA constitutes 4% of the world’s population, uses over 25 % of the world’s oil, and produces 22% of climate-altering CO2, surely we must assume responsibility for the use and conservation of this precious, and finite, resource. Just five days earlier, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bill (S.2191) to address climate change establishing a national cap-and-trade system to limit the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 70 percent of 2005 levels by 2050, thanks to the le...

Since 9/11 the United States has spent half a trillion dollars combating terrorism to safeguard our nation. Now a greater crisis presents itself: the destruction of our planet. The recent United Nation's International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Report released on November 17th urges immediate action. "The Synthesis Report" is the final IPCC report after five years of study concluding that global warming is "unequivocal," temperatures have risen 1.3 F in the last 100 years, and that human activity is largely responsible for warming. More alarming is that we must act immediately. "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late," said Rajendra Pachauri, head IPCC scientist and economist. "What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." Why should we quickly respond? This report documents the following: about 20 percent to 30 percent of all plant and animal species face the ...

Today there is a cost for our rich harvest of food. We enjoy foods from the four quarters of the world, yet we have little understanding of the impact from this daily Thanksgiving. When things are out of season, we can go to the other half of the globe to supply us. Also for this abundance of fruits, vegetables, diary products, grains, fish and meats we expand enormous amount of energy and waste. Because of this bounty we are robbing Peter to pay Paul. A revolution in social consciousness is happening among tens of millions of Americans. Buying organic food is just one of the signs. The average American spends several thousands of dollars on food consumption, which is roughly 9 percent of our gross national product amounting to almost $900 billion dollars. With this astronomical cost in mind, it is important that the United States become more efficient with its processing, packaging, and transporting of food. And, there are other forms of enormous waste in how we handle our food consum...

To sustain ourselves each day we may plant seeds of hope. Doing so, offers us the power to refresh ourselves from the mental despair we daily have to endure. There are many threats to our world. There are many ways we can be destroyed. Whether it is widespread avian virus killing billions, or an asteroid destroying us, there are numerous possibilities threatening our demise. Whatever the future brings, we have one profound choice regarding ourselves. Either we can be self destructive, or we can be constructive. We are at a crossroads of fostering either hope or despair. If we are to perish as a species, we can face our demise with either grace or cowardice. Believing that we are here for a limited time can be fundamental to how we can lead a happier life. I believe if we can decide to use less, make less, and be more harmless, then, even when we do exit this earth we can leave as guests who gave this place more love then what was here when we came. 2500 United Nation scientists warn th...

Let us celebrate a new stage in our journey Oneness. We are at the point of merging our creative and rational aspects. Our very spiritual survival is at stake. As we become more intimate with our surroundings and ourselves we can experience a richer level of wisdom. Integrating the intuitive with the logical self is a life-long challenge. There are many times when how I feel and what I think are in conflict within me. Sometimes I get far too deeply into my head, and forget to have my feet touching the ground. Bridging the right brain with the left brain is a balancing act. Recently a friend posed a challenging question to me: "How do you market clean water to the public in some tangible way?" This inquiry raised many insights for me. How do you take something that appears to be no more than an idea and reframe it into a physical act? People may not be inclined to save water until they run out of it. Waiting to the last second to do something, is being reactive. To be proactiv...

The most important thing I struggle with in my life is to become peaceful with myself. War in our world begins at home. For me, I must welcome unconditional surrender, and lessen how I create my own suffering. When I embrace my shadows, and cultivate inner kindness, inner peace becomes more possible. I find that I must accept, not resist, what is true. Showing up and dealing with my issues works much better for me then avoiding them. However, knowing when it is a good time to address my inner demons is something that takes skill. Being kind with myself is a work in constant progress. Just because I feel uncomfortable does not mean I must run from things. Sometimes my cowardice comes back to haunt me. Nurturing a deeper soulful relation with myself, I will be able to become whole and happy. I can find more pleasure with my life when I find how to perform a careful examination of what truly causes me discomfort and how to best address it. This critical development is all about healing, p...

Why does conserving make a difference? If our nation is to become greener we also most become leaner. Simply put, if we wish to prosper we need to become ingenious and waste less. Every time we become thrifty we celebrate a new American Revolution. Not only are we emulating Paul Revere, the silver recycler, and George Washington, the composter, we are showing respect for all our relations as do our Native Americans. Conservation matters because new Natives now wish to renew this value, namely, that saving our land is paramount to everything we believe in. It is time we defined what tough love is, and start to insure that we take care of ourselves by being tough with ourselves. The question is, can we change our destructive consumerist patterns? Can Americans awaken to the idea that economics is about saving, not wasting things? Is it possible for conservatives and liberals to work together to lessen, not increase our waste? I believe the answer is yes. However we must go through a form...