Bringing about Real Change to our Economy

Obama-Biden propose to:  Cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families, because the economy needs to be revitalized from the bottom up, not top down. Read more Enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. Read more Obama and Biden: Believe that trade with foreign nations should create American jobs, not send them overseas. They will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security. Read more Believe that we should invest in innovation and manufacturing jobs in the growing clean energy market, freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil within a decade and creating 5 million green jobs. Read more Believe that rebuilding our highways, bridges, roads, ports, air, and train systems will create jobs, ensure safety, and bolster our long-term competitiveness. Read more Will increase federal support for research, technology and innovation for companies and universities so that American workers can lead the world in cutting edge jobs and products. Read more Will level the playing field for small business by eliminating all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses. Read more Will strengthen the ability of workers to organize for good wages, healthcare, and secure pensions. Obama and Biden will fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Obama and Biden will ensure that labor appointees support workers' rights and will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers. Obama and Biden will also increase the minimum wage and make sure it remains a real wage year over year. Read more Will crack down on fraudulent brokers and lenders. They will make sure homebuyers have honest and complete information about their mortgage options, and they will give a tax credit to all middle-class homeowners. Read more Will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in credit card borrowing. They will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices. Read more Will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, to ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and to require disclosure of all pension investments. Read more Will help working families by doubling funding for after-school programs, expanding the Family Medical Leave Act. They will provide low-income families with a refundable tax credit to help with their child-care expenses, and encourage flexible work schedules. Read more (09/18/08)

America’s Self-inflicted Societal Collapse

Chris Clugston writes: The vast majority of our population, mainstream America, maintains the belief that we are on the road to the promise land—perpetual economic growth and prosperity enabled by unlimited natural resources. Moreover, they believe that our American way of life is a birthright, our destiny; “the American way of life is not negotiable”. A small but growing minority of concerned citizens, the informed few, understands that we are actually on the highway to hell—the road to societal collapse. They implore us to slow down—to “conserve natural resources”, to “reduce our impact on the environment”, to “balance our budgets”… But we dare not do anything “too drastic”; it wouldn’t be “socially acceptable”. The reality is that we are running flat out on the highway to hell, and that societal collapse is imminent—possibly within 5 years, probably within 15 years, and almost certainly within 25 years. Our only rational course of action is to “get off” the highway—to transition quickly and beginning immediately to a sustainable lifestyle paradigm. The consequences associated with “getting off” will be very painful—significant reductions in our population level and material living standards—but they pale in comparison to the consequences associated with “staying on”. ... Perceptions of our current situation… Mainstream America believes that we have experienced transitory economic, social, and political problems throughout our country’s history; and that since we have always successfully resolved our problems in the past and have continuously improved our level of material wellbeing in the process, we have nothing to fear today. Concerned citizens believe that our orgy of excess caused a litany of ecological and economic problems, which are placing ever-increasing stress on our overtaxed ecosystems and economy. As a result, we are rapidly approaching various “tipping points” that could cause serious lifestyle disruptions if we fail to “act soon” by stopping the orgy and addressing its consequent problems. Because they perceive “cyclical-ity” to be the “natural order of things”, mainstream America trivializes or totally denies our current predicament. They hold a faith-based belief that our problems will always resolve themselves favorably, because they always have in the past. Concerned citizens correctly perceive that our orgy of excess and its consequent ecological and economic problems pose serious threats to our American way of life, but they erroneously conclude that the orgy itself and its derivative problems are our primary concern. The reality is that our American way of life—300+ million people enjoying historically unprecedented material living standards—is not sustainable; it is not even close to being sustainable. Over-exploited sources of the critical ecological resources and economic resources upon which our existing lifestyle paradigm depends will prove to be woefully inadequate to support our ever-increasing population level and material living standards in the not-too-distant future. Overly-depleted natural resource reserves, overly-degraded natural habitats, and overly-stressed sources of pseudo purchasing power will be unable to meet our rising domestic requirements, let alone ever-increasing global demand. We are grossly overextended—living far beyond our means—both ecologically and economically. Our transition to a sustainable lifestyle paradigm is inevitable; our choice involves the process by which we effect our transition. We can transition voluntarily, thereby mitigating the associated lifestyle disruptions—population level reductions and material living standard degradation—or, we can refrain from taking meaningful action and allow Nature to orchestrate our transition, the results of which will be horrific. (09/18/08)

Environmental Enemy of the Year

The Guardian / UK -- Sarah Palin may have seen the light - sort of - on climate change but that did not spare her from being singled out yesterday as America's environmental enemy of the year. The Centre for Biological Diversity awarded Palin its Rubber Dodo award for her insistence - despite evidence to the contrary - that the polar bear population was rising across the Arctic. The Arizona thinktank condemned the Alaska governor as a "global warming denier". "Governor Palin has waged a deceptive, dangerous, and costly battle against the polar bear," Kieran Suckling, the centre's director, said. "Her position on global warming is so extreme, she makes Dick Cheney look like an Al Gore devotee." The slap comes less than a week after Palin belatedly admitted the possibility of a human factor in climate change, in her first television interview since she was chosen as John McCain's running mate. The conversion was followed by further revelations of Palin's tenuous relationship with scientific fact. News reports yesterday said that Palin bought a tanning bed and moved it into the governor's mansion soon after her election. A few months later, in May 2007, she issued a proclamation during skin cancer awareness month urging Alaskans to take preventive measures. "Skin cancer is caused, overwhelmingly, by overexposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from tanning beds," she said in a press release. McCain had skin cancers removed in 1993 and 2000, and is religious about using sun screen and wearing a hat outdoors. (09/18/08)

The Plight of the Bluefin

BBC Viewpoint -- Ted Danson writes: I'm an actor, but ocean issues have been important to me for a big part of my life. I became involved in the mid-1980s when I took my daughters to the beach, only to find it had been closed for swimming as a result of pollution. Since then, I've spent the last 20-plus years as an ocean advocate, working with Oceana (and its predecessor organisation) to help in its efforts to restore the oceans to vitality and health. I am on Oceana's board of directors. One thing I learned early on is that pollution isn't the biggest problem facing the oceans, though it is certainly important. It's overfishing. We're just taking too many fish out of the sea. Since 1950, 90% of the big predator fish - your swordfish, your shark - have disappeared. This summer, Oceana launched a new campaign and a new research boat, the MarViva Med, dedicated to saving the northern bluefin tuna, or Thunnus thynnus. This is your elite fish, the kind that sells for $100 per pound (£125 per kg) or more in Japanese fish markets. Unfortunately for the bluefin, it's not only one of the world's most coveted seafood species - it's also one of the most threatened. Since the mid-1990s, tuna populations have spiralled downward, and scientists warn that an immediate moratorium on fishing is the only way to avoid an irreversible collapse. In June, the European Union closed the bluefin tuna season for most ships two weeks early, but that's only a stop-gap measure. Time is running out to save these sleek and powerful fish. ... Some conservationists estimate that the fishing industry took 50,000 tonnes of bluefin from the Mediterranean by mid-June of this year - and the quota was set at 28,500 tonnes. Iccat has set a declining quota for Atlantic bluefin over the next few years as part of a 15-year recovery plan, reducing the total allowable catch to 25,500 tonnes in 2010. But it isn't enough. Bluefin need a generational breather to prevent total collapse. In the meantime, the data gathered by researchers aboard Oceana's MarViva Med tells us that the quotas that are in place are not effectively enforced and are ignored by the tuna fleet. Even as a lay person, not a scientist, it's abundantly clear to me that overfishing is pushing our oceans towards an irreversible collapse. Bluefin tuna is just one species that's already at the brink of extinction. We can bring the tuna back, but only if we act now. (09/18/08)

State of the Planet

BBC Environmental Science -- Globally human populations are growing, trade is increasing, and living standards are rising for many. But, according to the UN's latest Global Environment Outlook report, long-term problems including climate change, pollution, access to clean water, and the threat of mass extinctions are being met with "a remarkable lack of urgency". ... Over the last 20 years, the human population has increased by a third, global trade has tripled, and per capita income has gone up by 40%. Annual emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, have also increased by one third. ... As the human population grows it has reached the point, the UN says, "where the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available". ... Sixteen thousand species are threatened with extinction. Habitat loss is a major factor as many forests are cleared for agriculture. The UN estimates the global annual loss of primary forest is 50,000 km2. ... The availability of fresh water will decline, according to the UN, who project that by 2025 1.8bn people will be affected by water scarcity. Sanitation is also a major issue, as contaminated water is the greatest single cause of human disease and death. The state of the world's fisheries is also touched on by the report which says many fish stocks are overexploited, while the demand for fish is expected to rise alongside growing populations. ... By the end of 2007 it is estimated that more people will live in cities than rural areas for the first time in history. The satellite image of the US city of Las Vegas (left) shows how rapidly metropolitan areas can grow. The city was home to 557,000 people in 1985, by 2004 this had risen to nearly 1.7 million. This rapid growth can put pressure on water resources and infrastructure. (09/18/08)