December 5, 2007
The Greening of America (Brent Budowsky)
Al Gore, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Hagel, Mike Bloomberg, Sam Nunn, General Electric, Coca-Cola, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, British Airways, Wall Street firms, venture capitalists galore, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and the armies of the progressive Internet are all part of the greening of America that will transform our politics and business in ways that will astonish and amaze those who are left behind.
The greening of America is about the liberation of and inspiration for an America that will soon be de-Bushed, in which major changes are already advancing and the negativity surrounding Bush will be receding until it finally disappears into the dustbin of history and the real America re-emerges when he is gone from government for good.
The greening of America involves a mindset of politics, business, culture, entertainment, technology and patriotism that will liberate and energize an American spirit that will be Prometheus unbound from a status quo that American voters, consumers, investors and business have already left behind.
The greening of America is about change that brings an idealism, hope and opportunity to the center of American life that will be far more powerful and inspirational and exciting than our Bush-dominated debate suggests, when the darker forces he represents are removed, and the better angels of our nature are liberated, and the American idea, American ingenuity, and the notion of American Dreams are again restored to center stage, where they belong.
Global warming is merely one example as change advances with lenders, borrowers and government realizing that a wave of "Grapes of Wrath"-style foreclosures hurts everyone. There are signs of labor unions beginning serious talks with conservative businesses to deal with the healthcare crisis.
Mike Bloomberg dines with Chuck Hagel and breakfasts with Barack Obama, while Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for a post-partisan politics as the president and Congress compete for who will be the first to reach 80 percent unpopularity.
Global warming is at the cutting edge of the greening of America because it involves a wholesale transformation out of the oil-based economy with its ripoffs of consumers, unjust profits, massive pollutions and pressures for war, as well as a wholesale transformation into new energy that will improve every aspect of life for every citizen, in every nation of the world.
Global warming is a powerful catalyst for the greening of America because it is the first mega-post-partisan issue that brings together extraordinarily diverse viewpoints, involves gigantic profit-making opportunities from a sweeping business transformation, and dovetails with larger trends that are already advancing. Consider this:
Movie star Brad Pitt builds green homes in New Orleans while national security leaders warn of danger from climate change, Al Gore joins a premier venture capital firm and Arnold Schwarzenegger takes landmark action in California. Global conglomerates support major legislation, grassroots progressives mobilize and the entire NBC family broadcasts a week of spectacular television with features on the polar icecaps and analysts discussing New-energy stocks.
The Ozone Man is now an analyst for the CIA, warning about the dangers of global warming, a marketing strategist for DuPont, seeking major business opportunities for a new energy and conservation economy, and the programing director for NBC, doing a weeklong special on the dangers of the old oil economy and the opportunities of the new Renewable-energy economy.
It is very conceivable that the next leader of the free world will be a supporter of the greening of America, backed by a Congress that supports the greening of America, in a historic political transformation that will make the years of Bush look like a dark age of the past.
The next historic political realignment, comparable to the FDR coalition of the left and the Reagan coalition of the right, will be led by political leaders who recognize that the new post-partisan majority dwarfs the polarization deadlocking both parties today.
The next great fortunes of American business, comparable to the enormous wealth that was generated by building the transcontinental railroad and then the Internet age, will be made by those who seize the enormous profits generated by the seismic transition to a post-oil, post-pollution economy.
The next era of American global leadership, comparable to the rebuilding of democracy and prosperity in Europe after the Second World War, will begin with America rejoining the community of nations in a global campaign against climate change and culminate with the generation-long surge of American exports that will lift consumers and nations with new, clean, safe energy.
The greening of America will be driven by the liberation from the dark, divisive, negative, fear-ridden and backward status quo that is overwhelmingly rejected by a large majority of American voters, the heart and soul of Main Street, and the smartest minds on Wall Street.
The greening of America will be driven by the time-honored truth that the land of the free and home of the brave is more than the sum of its parts. We are more than a garrison state of warring factions told by small-minded leaders that we should be angry at each other, afraid of our future and alienated from the better angels of the American nature.
The greening of America has support today, in ways large and small, from average citizens determined to achieve change, from investors and entrepreneurs preparing to make great fortunes with products that will change the world, from the actors who rebuild homes, political leaders calling for post-partisan politics, and every company and individual named in this column.
As the greening of America unfolds, people will be astonished at the burst of optimisim and ingenuity that is beneath the surface of our public debates, which will define the future that is now.
It is a time for activism, engagement and winning the fight for change, and when it comes, it will begin a new period of optimism, hope and renewal that will thrill Americans and bring hope to the world.
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Ah, the audacity of hope!
Comment by Igor R. — December 5, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
World is facing food shortages: reports
The world is eating more than it produces and food prices may climb for years because of the expansion of farming for fuel and climate change, new reports say.
Biofuel expansions alone could push maize prices up over two-thirds by 2020…the International Food Policy Research Institute said.
…"The world eats more than it produces currently, and over the last five or six years that is reflected in the decline in stocks and storage levels. That cannot go on, and exhaustion of stocks will be reached soon."
Countries such as Mexico have already experienced food riots over soaring prices, von Braun added. …"The days of falling food prices may be over," said von Braun, lead author of the World Food Situation report.
"Surging demand for food, feed and fuel have recently led to drastic price increases … climate change will also have a negative impact on food production," he added.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/071102/9/29oo.html
Comment by Larry from C — December 5, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
Great post Brent.
Prepare for the Flat Earth society of neocons to tell us all the globe is really cooling, and that Al Gore is perpetuating this myth of global warming. Remeber these are the nutballs that voted for Dumbya. Huh, Igor and Rosennuts? Talk about being relegated to the lunatic fringe…….
Comment by Lester — December 5, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Be damned that US constitution! Move it out of the way so you can have your commitees on global oneness with the earth; Pathetic!
Comment by Rich — December 5, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
Rich, how does global warming compromise the Constitution?
Comment by Lester — December 5, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Translation: They want what's inside your wallet. No real sincerity from the Green movement except when it comes to your money.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — December 5, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
I share the dreams and hopes of the author on this one. It's a sad state of affairs for the GOP that they still to this day hold on to their pipe dreams of a Neo-con privatized paradise here in America when the majority of American's are ready for a clean sweep towards progressive leadership. Rather than accept their defeat in 06′ and strive for partisanship, they have all but sealed their fate in 08′ to become the minority party for generations to come. To think that they could regain their status by filibustering progressive legislation and lock-stepping with Bush without consequence has been torturous to watch, but will hopefully teach them a lesson.
Comment by scottyurb — December 5, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
This is continued pushing of the religion of Global Warming. Transfer large amounts of wealth from US & Europe to the poor countries. How can the socialists destroy capitalism? Push this falsehood. The government schools in the U.S. have dumbed down our populations to the point where false science seems real. This is the same forecasting that lead Newsweek to have a cover predicting the next Iceage.
Comment by GDH — December 5, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
Can't wait tell the moron is out of there!!!.Amen!!Free at last!
May he spend the rest of his days wondering around, and around and around in his mass confusion, on his beloved ranch.
Where he can't hurt anyone but himself.
Don't hear Mummy and Daddy braging about little George any more now do ya!Wonder what happend to his twins..don't spose he sent them off to war do ya!
Comment by geri — December 5, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
As usual, fruitcake right wingers come blasting through with their hypocrisy, even on pollution and global warming.
We know where they stand on corruption, perversions and military service so now we hear their know nothing blatherings about the environment.
Plaintively I ask the following rhetorical questions; If a major polluting industry were to want to move in next door to you would you welcome it with open arms?
If you wouldn't,why?
If you would welcome it, would you file a complaint if someone were to put trash in your yard?
Remember, fruitcakes, the environment is inviolable.
Comment by fascismisdead — December 5, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
The government couldn't end poverty. A trillion wasted. The government can't stop crime. More people murdered every year. The government has spent trillions on auto safety. Fourty thousand or more killed every year in auto accidents. Now, suddenly, the government will fix
the alleged global warming situation. Haven't we got enough problems the government can't fix already?
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — December 6, 2007 @ 11:35 am
Robert: Well put but you don't understand, it's because we in the US don't want to cooperate with the more "progressive' nations that value the collective over the individual. We and that damn constitution that values, borders over globalization, individuals over government bureaucracies, and add to that the stinginess of we conservatives that don't want to hand over more money to fix the problems the politicians have created trying to drive us to socialization like the european model, say, France…
Lester: Global Warming doesn't threaten the constitution but some of the regulations and participation in world organizations could have huge ramifications on our sovereignty and the way we operate our economy and busnisses. It all sounds great until you start working out the details, and often those details mean we have to answer to people that don't fall under the jurisdiction of our constitution…
Comment by Rich — December 6, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Well rich, maybe there's a parallel to a cry that you people give. You say that it's worth giving up freedom to keep us safe from the big bad terrorists. It's OK to violate the Constitution, isn't that correct?
Now you're faced with another similar thing. Are you willing to give up some different things that are yours by right, to save this planet for your children and grandchildren?
I say you're wrong on the premise, but I'm putting it to you in a way that you obviously well understand.
Comment by Chris Calbi — December 6, 2007 @ 2:57 pm
From your lips to the Flying Spaghetti Monster's noodley ears!
In the wake of the 2000 "election", Kevin Phillips offered the opinion that we were seeing not the triumph of "conservatism", but its last gasp. Your piece fits in neatly with that assessment.
Of course, after eight years of Bush, and the years of Republican obstruction we can still count on, "last gasp" may be something other than metaphorical….
Comment by Roddy McCorley — December 6, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
Brent,
I sometimes admire your positive attitude, but much of the time it verges on wishful thinking.
The United States has always led the planet in high ideals. And at the same time, we have always been leaders in self-delusion and hypocrisy.
And it's never been any different. George Washington was a mediocre General who came out of the Revolution as the second richest man in the United States.
John Adams was hiding in his guarded house in Philadelphia, afraid the the French Revolutionaries would come to the United States and bring the guillotine with them. This is the John Adams who gave us the Alien and Sedition Acts which led to Benjamin Franklin's grandson being thrown in jail.
Our current dismal crop of "leaders" are the tag end of a long tradition.
And despite all of this, we still have the potential to live up to our professed ideals.
But it's not going to happen because someone waves a flag and appeals to our better nature.
When I signed up at Kucinich headquarters my first suggestion was that he dump the motto: "Strength through Peace" - or whatever it is - and replace it with "It's time to kick-ass and take names".
Comment by GM Pierce — December 6, 2007 @ 7:38 pm
wtf???
None of this constituiton crap makes sense…just stop global warimg, just stop it
Comment by James — December 11, 2007 @ 11:08 am
You been smoking too much of the greening again, brother. Jesus ain't to be found in your little neo-hippie rantings.
Comment by Bilbo — August 7, 2008 @ 5:47 am