Re-Gain

It was 33 years ago I was both the D.C. and national Earth Day Coordinator. Just ten years before the term “recycling” was first introduced and we in the 20 th century began to awaken to the inter-dependence of us and our beloved land, air and water. Can we celebrate our appreciation for this planet by exercising greater care in how we exist?    How can we improve our quality of life with greater resolve?   Let’s show our love for the earth by asking how we can save resources for future generations.   Have we have seriously ignored our planet’s ability to sustain future life or helped it?   Presently we in the U.S. invest twenty percent in health care or $2.5 trillion dollars. Our world is just another extension of our greater health?   It is ironic that hundreds of trillions of dollars in other stuff while investing a tiny fraction in our very earth’s future.   In the last half decade we have double our population seriously depleting our globe...

Conservation for me is awakening.   When I observe the inter-relationships in nature all the elements work together sharing their nutrients since one organism’s by-products becomes transformed as food for another. Conserving is life process of sharing things for other beings.   Over the last half year I have spent much time in the woods around my home just simply enjoying this thanksgiving.    I believe there is a consciousness in conservation.    For me there is an unspoken illuminating awareness of our greater connection or collective consciousness in nature.  "Researchers at the University of British Columbia are concluding that trees are interacting with one another in a symbiotic relationship that helps the trees to survive. Connected by fungi, the underground root systems of plants and trees are transferring carbon and nitrogen back and forth between each other in a network of subtle communication. Similar to the network of neurons and...

Is true that our human growth is causing such damage to our planet it may imperil future generations?  Do recent facts that climate change is "unequivocal” and that human activity is partially responsible for this warming?  If this is true it is prudent for us to best go forth with a call for action.   If we continue to seriously not address this situation all on this planet will greatly suffer. For example such weather extreme’s include Hurricane Sandy’s $50 billion plus damages  Other costs include one quarter of all plant and animal species face the risk of extinction if temperatures increase by 2.7 °F; by 2020, 75 million to 250 million people in Africa will suffer water shortages, residents of Asia's large cities will be at great risk of river and coastal flooding, Europeans can expect extensive species loss, and North Americans will experience longer and hotter heat waves and greater competition for water; and more GHG emissions could bring "abrupt and irre...

We face a host of challenges around our planet’s future prosperity.  One key is how we view resources and our role in conserving them. For example China's solar production replaced 10 large power plants last year and their development will replace 25 plants in the next few years.  While our global economic downturn has lessened carbon use on one hand our growth is not. What is our new model for growth on this crowded and polluted planet?  For example California, has the 9th largest economy in the world and the first State to address climate change. The 10 largest countries generate 70 percent of our greenhouse gases. India is the 2nd largest coal burning with 455 proposed new plants. Who is going to plant the seeds for change? How can we Americans best prepare for climate change from an economic, social and cultural perspective? Water, food and national security are all reasons we Americans can invest in new jobs to address new energy and sustainable tech...

How much longer will our Congress ignore the our horrific crisis of trust and fiscal confidence?   We are at a threshold where Americans have to explore the full price and cost realities of all our goods and services. Otherwise we will watch a huge and fast economic sunset.   Our infrastructure and future require green fiscal management. The problem is our country has not priced things for what they truly cost. Corporate welfare and many government programs are great examples of our present crisis in resource mismanagement. Two wars, economic hardships, and other disturbing trends are evidence. We, Americans, have illustrated “profit now” instead of “invest for the future”.   Our government promotes “buy now and pay latter” because voters have supported these shortsighted short term practices. Now we have to awaken to the price and cost of our present fiscal situation. Poor price and cost structures jeopardize both our national security and prosperity. Our present ...

Are we Americans ostriches?   Why in these presidential debates nothing has been said about the climate change.   How many of us truly realize that the overwhelming scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is trapping heat in the atmosphere, with potentially catastrophic long-term effects. Obama and Romney failed to address our increasing   ecological disasters in the debates.   While they have talked about extracting ever-larger quantities of oil, natural gas and coal no discussion has been made of their serious economic and environmental impacts. Romney did falsely attacked Obama in the first debate on his failure with creating green jobs.   Yes a few did fail, however, most were a huge success . In the second debate, Romney spoke about how the President “has not been Mr. Oil, or Mr. Gas, or Mr. Coal.”   Romney declared, if elected, would be all three. Obama countered, “We have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 year...

The recent drought shows how our hottest summer on record impacts our food and water.   In the past week this lack of water grew by the size of the State of Alabama and still we have many weeks to go of potential excessive heat.   Not since the 1930’s has half of the continental United States suffered such a widespread and severe drought. The worst-hit area is the Great Plains.  Food prices will also soar with the excessive heat and all-time high temperature records. More than half of all U.S. counties have been designated disaster zones and numerous cities have implemented water restrictions.   The dryness and heat keep baking things making it difficult for the land to cool down. US Department of Agriculture have made disaster zone designations for an additional 218 counties in 12 states including Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming. Almost three-quarters of the nation's cattle...

Our region got an experience- a thunder storm on steroids moving at violent speed.    It is called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh), a straight line wind storm that sweeps over a large area at high speed.  Working outside for over 40 years I have seen some hot filthy air and weather.  I gather this may have some reason why latter we got slammed by hurricane winds.  Last night I felt like a tornado was coming.  This storm created havoc in for tens of millions of Americans after its Friday evening June 29 th impact. Coming from the Midwest, it produced tornado-like damage packing wind gusts of up to 90 mph.  You can go to http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm to see the graphic pictures of the gust front of "arcus cloud of a derecho front.  These storms stretched 750 miles from Chicago to the Atlantic Ocean, causing at least 900 reports of wind damage as well as numerous fatalities and injuries. My experience with the after...

Steve Coll’s recent book about Exxon Mobil, “Private Empire,” exemplifies the lobbying might of big oil. As so sadly how we may be robbing Peter to pay Paul.  The company’s profits were $21.3 billion first half of last year shows how money talks in DC.   Such a special interest hires some 20 additional former senators, representatives, legislative aides and others to influence decisions. When a corporation operates in over 200 nations how do you separate it from our own foreign policy? This firm would rank among the top 30 countries if revenue were counted as gross domestic product Americans’ belief in climate change also was reframed as a hoax by Exxon Mobil executives. This book documents the undemocratic power of wealth determining our future carbon economy.  Also how our environmental leaders are sleep at the wheel. ExxonMobil used the argument of lessening poverty in the third world instead of addressing global climate change as the most pressing env...

I am always amazed how we talk of economy however pay little attention exactly how we account for stuff. For examples hydraulic frac­tur­ing or "fracking" for natural gas is becoming popular however we still in the dark about its by-products and how they impact our environment. We do understand the price of gas yet we know nothing about their true environmental cost. Few Americans have any idea the value of conservation since we have invested little in profiting from pollution prevention by advocating waste reduction. Years ago World Resources Materials Flow report ( DONALD ROGICH, AMY CASSARA, IDDO WERNICK, MARTA MIRANDA 2008,WRI:ISBN 978-1-56973-682-1 http://materials.wri.org .) tracked 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 ...

I first became aware of the problem of improper disposal of motor oil and of the pollution of my local watershed of Little Falls in Bethesda, MD, which runs into one of the drinking water reservoirs of our nation’s capital in 1976. I was outraged. My father’s 40-year career as a congressional aide to both the U.S. House’s Ways and Means Committee and to the Senate Finance Committee gave me firsthand exposure to the workings of oil tax subsidies. Ironically, we do little to benefit from oil pollution prevention although more people recycle now than vote. Still, we have a long way to go in dealing with oil waste by-products. Last year the nation’s leading energy expert estimated that the US spent between $49 billion and $100 billion on energy subsidies in 2007. In the late 1970’s, millions of dollars were given to states following on a multi-billion dollar law suit settlement from oil overcharges awarded to the Department of Energy to promote energy conservation measures. And yet, the ...

Recently I did myself a favor. I followed through on a dream. I brought back an old creation. I created Ray CycleTM in 1981 while I was working for the D.C. Energy Office. Working to recycle paper and used oil, I created this educational character for my peace of mind. Later, I traded in my tights and ecology flag cap for a new costume when I got Ray's name trademarked, sharing it with the State of Connecticut. I became a court jester campaigning on April Fools Day at the US Capitol steps, proclaiming, "You are not dealing with a full deck when you throw the joker out!" Comics change their lives to abate tragedy. Over the past 30 years conserving energy and resources has given many lessons in folly and much wisdom. Many of us still tragically deny with "out of sight, out of mind" or "wasted” mentality. The impacts are multi-dimensional. Just look at our alarming overweight youth or our multi-trillion deficit as a few examples. Any form of waste, de...