Re-Gain

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may  begin to use it with love and respect. —Aldo Leopold Earth Day is celebrating its 45th birthday this Wednesday. Since  1970, there has been enormous environmental changes due to the first Earth Day's sweeping green awakening.  In 1980, I was a national and D.C. Earth Day organizer. Today our world is in delicate balance. This Earth Day we need to be engage in our planet's life support systems - planting seeds of future prosperity. Earth Day now has to happen everyday with clean-ups, educational activities, tree plantings, and other green acts.   Each one of us can better our lives by honoring our Earth, seas, and skies.   Everyday we can deepen our connection with the natural world, the cycles of life, and the rhythms of nature. This is greatest step toward higher self care.  Each day we can show our thanksgiving for our home, this planet.  Increasing our gratitude gives us a richer...

Each year on this planet we lose forests the size of Germany. This earth needs more trees to give us new oxygen, water and share. 82 years ago Franklin Roosevelt kick off one of his first New Deal program called the Civilian Conservation Corps and its first camp was in my home town, Edinburg, Virginia.  Two million men were employed and planted almost three billion trees.     Conservation industries generate over 8.5 million jobs and nearly $1 trillion in annual revenue in the United States, and represent some of the fastest growing sectors in our economy. However, the many other forms of conservation that is not accounted for. Did you know that George Washington being our nation’s first composter (http://www.robarner.com/washington.html) and surveyed the valley were I live.  In his name a century ago the George Washington Forest was created for our benefit.   The GW forest acts as a huge water treatment system purifying our drinking water. For example, ...

George Shultz's Washington Post 3/15/15 opinion article, A Reagan Approach to Climate Change (A 19) , urges Republican action by citing what his former boss would do.  As Reagan's Secretary of State, Mr. Shultz wisely opts for responding to recent evidence by taking an insurance policy out in the form of a carbon tax.  Both Conservatives and Liberal economists have widely supported such a market based approach.  Factoring national security and scientific facts. Mr. Shultz urges to stimulate private capital in case of worse case scenarios causing serious harm.   Both solar and wind power have proven their effectiveness. A recent Department of Energy report thinks wind power could fill one-third of the U.S. needs by 2050.  However favorable tax breaks are needed to support these turbines.  DOE cites that a shift to wind would result in a net price increase of about 1 percent for consumers in the next fifteen years and would provide an overall savin...

There is a tremendous opportunity to identify and better manage our hidden resources. Awakening to new uses for our by-products directly recharges our valuable earth. Improved inventories of what we discard will stimulate a greater understanding of new ingenious ways to grow.   Such renewal creates new prosperity since such resource management taps into new energy and materials. Better tracking of resource and material use can provide us with a more holistic approach to “best use” and new enterprises. Preserving our world is a gold mine of new commerce and industry. Over seven billion people now live on this earth.   In the next decades, an additional several billion people are estimated to increase our ranks.   It is imperative we measure, manage and sustain resources for the future uses. Each year Americans use, discard and recycle more than 17.3 billion tons of waste including non-sewage wastewater.   The total volume of non-waste water is 4.9 b...

Understanding the exact context of how things interrelate or where things come from and go provides us greater ecological wisdom. Exploring how things flow on to new forms and uses gives us a greener awakening. Just look how water transform from a cloud, to rain, to water, to ice, back into the air over and over again. There are many phases how an organism or product goes through. All living and non living thing go through a series of stages throughout its life and death. For example our very body composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen eventually returns back into our larger ecological cycle. Life on this planet consists of many cycles revolving around and around. Whether it is the hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, or whatever cycle that occurs understanding how these cycles interrelate are vital to our advancement. For example accounting for materials flows gives us greater understanding our larger life cycles.  Because material ...

Observe Jan 16 and Shout Out for Solar Day! Since the 1970’s I have advocated solar power and worked with the Solar Lobby and other groups. I help build solar homes and much more.   Let’s give the Sun a chance to give us greater energy.    Support giving solar power its investment tax credit (ITC) that expires in 2016.   We give it to coal and oil why not solar? Today, the solar industry employs 143,000 Americans and pumps more than $15 billion a year into the U.S. economy.  This amazing growth is due, in large part, to smart and effective public policies, such as the ITC, Net Energy Metering (NEM) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).  By any measurement, these policies are paying huge dividends for both the economy and environment.  Despite all of the progress, solar now faces an uncertain future. Please spread the word to encourage all of your colleagues, friends, neighbors, family members, and others to supports solar to give us a “...

As human doings we now must face the challenge to become human beings.   Let’s be truthful about both our blessings and curses to improve our planet's prospects.   We have to speak the same language and agree on a few ley things if we wish to best go forth. Increasing better management and efficiencies increases our quality of life.   Now for us to embark with this intention to wisely act is the tenor of the times.   There are many ways to plant seeds for the future stimulating resource conservation and waste reduction. However there is a risk involved, massive financial experimentation, uncertain results, complex relationships, and an inescapable mandate for improvement. The world economy will eventually face this reality so we best conserve and preserve this place.  Our output and inputs must balance with increased environmental and social considerations on how this Earth’s future welfare is assured.   Creating new business that...

Taxpayers for Common Sense recently cites in “Free Gas”, a real American tragedy (http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/taxpayers-are-losing-millions-on-natural-gas-extracted-from-federal-land?utm_source=wastebasket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=free-gas).   Let’s agree that wasteful free subsidies for oil and gas companies is not good for this country or this earth.   Why do these profitable corporations pay nothing for over $380 million in royalties on the gas they have extracted over the past eight years on federal land? The gas and oil industry has avoided paying royalties on gas they use as fuel for their drilling rigs is decades old.   Since 1946 our Congress has permanently exempted any natural gas used for fuel on well sites from royalty payments.   How does it make sense that royalty-free fuel for oil and gas companies. Now the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in the Department of Interior, is considering changing these outdated free drill...

When I respect things, no matter if they are natural, human or spiritual, it is a form of thanksgiving.  Showing such reverence, either by conserving or just observing, I directly become interlinked with a profound appreciation of being on this Earth. Counting my blessings becomes a gift that keeps sustaining me. Nothing for me can be more rejuvenating than expressing gratefulness for all the ways this life and its people, and resources has provided me. Just maintaining a state of gratefulness re-energizes me, and moves me to shift my attitude so that I look for the silver lining in every cloud. Instead of looking at things as a curse, I can see them as the blessing they truly are.  This is a peak experience because this brings me in a flow state, since I am in ultimate relationship with all things.  The power of gratitude leads me to a greater sense of purpose, and a richer life. Invoking appreciation gives me ...

Americans have yet to address healthcare efficiency as a priority. Health care reform offers an enormous potential for boasting the economy's prospects. If we can emulate Canada and only spend 11% of GDP on health care we would save $950 billion a year. [1]   In the last five years I have been taking care of all aspects of my Dad’s affairs.     The estimated economic value of unpaid work by some 42 million family caregivers in 2009 was $450 billion according to AARP. ...the total Medicare spending in that same years was $509 billion ...nearly $ 3 trillion was estimated in lost wages, social security benefits, private pension for men over fifty caring for their parents. Met-life estimates roughly $350k for woman and $284K lost for man for a typical fifty -years and over caring for their parents. [2]   Due to being self-employed just a few hours a week has allowed me insight as my father’s advocate.    A large part of my father’s life was...