Living the American Green

Update!  Everything has been quite on the Please Do These Things for the Environment front for a little while: not a lot of requests or demands from our in-box.  That is, until this week, when everyone went CRAZY!

People been demanding all kinds of stuff from us, but the important one seems to be all surrounding the Bailout Package.  Now, as we’re sure you all know, everyone is clamoring to get a piece of the big dollars Uncle Sam is about to be throwing around.  And on Wednesday, the Obama Package (hehe) got past the House (along VERY partisan lines) and is on the Senate.  Well, Green-For-All, 1Sky and WeCanChange are all suggesting that the package contains a lot of cash for the green-collar based plans.  If you are interested in some really interesting reading (watch out: time wormhole!) the we recommend scrolling through both the stimulus bill as posted here and some of the comments sections.   We aren’t really sure if the Bailout is popular on the left because Obama likes it, or because it’s actually a good Bill, and we aren’t sure if it was unpopular with House Republicans for the same reasons.  It doesn’t seem like it’s all that different then what the Bush crew was proposing, yet the battle lines have totally redrawn.  Balls to that.

To add our own voice to the hew and cry, the only thing that we would point out is that Republicans seem to have very short memories when it comes to how these things happened and how the economic crisis came about.  To say that a Bailout package that gives money directly to industries instead of lowering taxes is “more of the same” or “more of the Liberal silver spoon elite” seems to ignore the fact that deregulation and giving money back to the taxpayers is what got us into this mess.  Turns out that giving a tax credit means that poor folk who need it get a few bucks, and rich folk who don’t want to spend it get a lot of bucks.  That’s how it works in a vaguely progressive tax system.  Also: we don’t like Kool-aid!  We were JUST having a conversation last night that the Kool-aid man sort of creeps us out!  Please stop accusing us drinking Kool-aid!

But we digress.

The point of all this is that the stimulus bill might be rife with problems, or it might be pretty good.  We aren’t nearly smart enough to know.  But the Green-Collar economy lobby is strongly behind this Bill, and that’s the point of this site, ain’t it?

He makes some good points (sorry that its dated to before Al testified before Congress.  Old news now.  The concern has become the Senate, where a Democratic Majority can not carry the weight) and because it’s Al Gore, we clicked on this link and asked our Senators to support the stimulus.  But, then again, they are democrats anyway, so we aren’t that worried who’s side they are on.

(interesting side note: the different green mailing lists we are on are starting to compete for time and compete for numbers.  One crew offers that they contacted senators “more then 24,000 times!” other are nearing 40K.  We wonder how much lobbying power each group can claim to muster, and we wonder how much of that depends on which form letter we choose to send to our senators when we click that button.  Also, can you imagine if the New Senator from NY, Gillibrand, DIDN’T vote for the package?  Man, would Paterson come off looking like a dick!)

UPDATE: VAN JONES THINKS I AM AWESOME!  HE SAYS:

Here are three things we think you’ll be especially excited about in President Obama’s economic recovery plan:
1.  GREEN JOBS ACT: $500 Million
In 2007, Green For All and our allies got the Green Jobs Act signed into law. The Act authorizes federal support for green-collar job-training programs. But last year, Congress failed to appropriate the money. Now, President Obama and the House want to invest $500 million in these programs. (YAY!) (Editor note: the YAY was Van Jones, not me!)

But the Senate wants to create a grant program at half that amount, and divide this smaller pie into smaller pieces – by directing the funds to train workers in various industries (not just green ones). (Boo!)

With the support of the President and the House, full funding for the Green Jobs Act finally is within sight. But we need your help to move the Senate.

2.  WEATHERIZATION: $6.2 Billion
President Obama’s recovery package contains the largest weatherization investment in history, as well as funding for a number of other programs that will increase the energy efficiency of America’s buildings. Upgrading our buildings so that they protect us better from the weather means we can spend less energy heating and cooling them.

This is the single biggest thing we can do right now to stop global warming. Nothing in the country uses as much energy as our buildings – not even our transportation. And weatherizing won’t just save lots of energy and reduce greenhouse gases – it will also create a ton of new green-collar jobs!

3.  DOUBLING RENEWABLE ENERGY
Efficiency is only part of the solution. We also need to replace the fossil fuels we’re burning with renewable energy. The recovery plan is part of that, with plans to double our capacity to generate renewable energy in just three years. Another big job engine!

If you wanted to contrivbute to Van Jones’ power to Lobby Congress (instead of Al’s) you would do that here.

What with the President wasting no time making hay on the environmental issue, these be exciting times for those of us freaked the freak out by the general inaction of the past eight years.  We johnny-come-lately’s to the green scene haven’t been living with a receptive gov’t since we’ve been paying attention: frankly, we’re a little freaked out!

The decision to let States regulate their own auto-emission standards will certainly be an interesting first step, as we’ve observed earlier this week.  What it does, however, is remind us of an interesting question we’ve been thinking on before.  From my pal BC:

“you mentioned some time ago that energy efficiency ought to trump energy supply questions in policy formulation.  why?  oftentimes, efficiency encourages more aggregate use, as in increases in energy efficiency don’t necessarily translate into decreases in energy use.” (more…)

-Thammuzzy-

Our ambitions as a civilization are out of control. If we were in Ancient Greece we would have been struck down by the anger of Zeus well before this monstrosity was conceived in the dark hearts of men.

Look, and behold: The Bacon Explosion.

Aaaaaaaand…I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these is waiting at our Super Bowl party. Call an ambulance for us in advance.

-Thammuzzy-

…that we would still be hearing about Obama’s non-issue arugula debacle? A quick recap: while campaigning way back when before the Iowa caucuses, he attempted a bit of a joke about the price of arugula at Whole Foods, which, unsurprisingly, fell flat in a state with no Whole Foods. That should have been the end of the story, essentially. But long after the fact, this little gem of nerdy non-humor was resurrected as another horseman of the Obamacolypse by every would-be-pundit with a keyboard and an innate fear of rogue vegetables’ links to al-Qaida.

So we were treated to spins such as this: “Nobody knows exactly what the hell arugula is. I’m a fairly upper middle class guy who travels frequently. I eat at nice restaurants. I’m sure I’ve eaten arugula before. I know its a lettuce type thingy…If us average dumb hick clodhopper Iowan’s did know that Whole Foods is some hoighty toighty, yuppie, liberal, feel good, overpriced, pretentious, organic food market we’d have been even more offended by the reference.” (from Tusk and Talon) 

Or how about: “For all of his talk about helping the poor and telling us we have to be community activists, we already know how out of touch with even the average American Barack Hussein Obama is. It’s not just Obama’s ‘Arugula Moment,’ when he famously lamented the price of arugula at Whole Foods to Iowa farmers who’d heard of neither the snooty greens nor green purveyor.” (from freerepublic.com)

First of all. Hate off the Iowans, guys! For a demographic that claims to defend the working class against the slings and arrows of truffle-guzzling elitists, you sure seem to think awfully little of people in rural areas. Never heard of arugula? The arugula that is grown all over the US and is distinguished from regular-ol’-spinach mainly by its longer name and slightly different flavor? Whenever I read these guys’ frenzied defenses of rural America, my mind always jumps to those insurance commercials – “It’s so easy, a caveman could do it!” “It’s so elitist, Iowa hasn’t even heard of it!” Um, pretty sure  Iowa is rural, not prehistoric.

(more…)

Under the Bush administration, the EPA took on a strange, almost perverse relationship with the Environment it allegedly was supposed to protect.  One of the best parts: the insistence that States could not regulate auto emission standards because that would somehow muck up the greater Federal level standards that were going to to be coming down the pike any day now.  Bush is no longer in office:

And THAT is an exciting ten minutes of video.

Concept: XKCD.com: Read it, Bitches

Again, we know you guys never watch the stuff that we work so feverishly to track down and embed for you, but the significance of this speech is not to be missed.  Obama has come out swinging on the issue that most excited us about him: common sense.  He has a memory longer then the traditional straw poll, and he realizes that gas prices can not be the only thing that sets emission standards and car/truck regulations.  The political moment is not as white hot as it was this summer (remember Drill Baby Drill?  well… we didn’t.  We just decided that a sweeping recession would be the better fix for pump-shock), but he has figured out how to spend less political capitol on the issue: let states handle it, and just get out of the way!  Then, once the new highs for emissions have been set, a Federal baseline law will seem less absurd.

And, we still haven’t gotten tired of that little “My administration will listen to Science” dig at Bush.

I was in the Union Square Virgin Mega Store this weekend, and aside from feeling like I was about to contract Advanced Delusionary Schizophrenia with Involuntary Narcissistic Rage due to the amount of people and noise, I was having a grand ol’ time checking out the DVDs and books. The book section is tiny, but has a pretty good selection of modern offbeat fiction works, some solid film books, and of course, those ever-popular anime monoliths.

But then I saw it, in the corner. Standing on its own, trying to prop up the morals of the box store built out of noise and waste and economic excess. It was the “Green Living” section. Really? Green Living? What does that even mean? And what is it doing in this ridiculous store? And then came the kicker. My girlfriend noticed that it was where the porn section used to be. So there we have it folks. Fake, unhelpful, expensive, green self-help books for the guilt-ridden nouveau riche are invading, and not even our immoral habits are safe.

Fact:  Everyone likes technology.

After all, it is widely acknowledged that the interwebs and assorted new gadgets and gizmos will be what rescue us from the otherwise irredeemable wastelands of global warming.  Like, for example, the iPhone.  The iPhone, that iPinnacle of personal smartphone wizardry that has come to symbolize the height of must-have conspicuous iConsumption.  How is it going to change the world, you ask?  Well CHECK THIS OUT!!

It’s basically the best thing ever for your average iPhone user: constant small strokes of ego, an interactive application, and a wittle gween twee that gwoes if you walk enough.

(A few mea culpas: clearly, UbiGreen isin’t setting out to save the world, they are setting out to make a neat and useful product.  Clearly, the spokesperson for this product doesn’t use this product (BA-ZIIIING).  Clearly, making people more aware of their daily habits is actually a great way to make people think about their transportation choices and their overall Carbon footprint.  Clearly, we just really really want an iPhone, but we haven’t ponied up for one yet because we are poor.  And, finally, clearly Americans are going to be all about something that lets us quantify how much we are “winning” at saving the world.  Just like that addictive MpG meter on the Prius makes you NEED to drive like a douchbag to maximize each trip.)

This program also gets us back to the “awareness as action” issue — does making you aware of your impact on the earth actually change your impact in any way?   In this case, we are actually pretty impressed with the concept behind the UbiGreen product: it calls your individual actions to task, and puts numbers on daily routines, including things like monetary cost and physical health.  If life as a modern environmentalist is all about finding a balance in how to live in a modern world while still being aware of your place on an aging globe, this little app could act nicely as a scale.  Plus, for extra environmental points, you will note that you can plug a gadget into your old crappy phone and still play along at home!  You don’t even need a shiny new iPhone! (but you want one.  Ohhhh do you want one.)

(side note:  Why the HELL can’t someone make a goddamn phone that doesn’t begin to break down 6 months after you get it?  I KNOW I am hard on phones, but come on!  You’re going to lock me into a two year contract with a shitty peice of plastic that I have to worry about recycling when it inevitably craps out, forcing me to shell out for a new phone AND worry about where all the electronic components are going to end up?  REALLY??     Ok.  Back to the show.)

As a general rule, raising awareness about an issue is positive but insubstantial: you learn to feel generally guilty about  something without getting a hard and fast solution.  But this iPhone app actually would help you figure out the most environmentally friendly way to navigate through your day.  This gets our vote as one of the best uses of the iPhone yet!

And this would go down as one of the worst.

We all know what a TinyUrl version of the LtAG website would look like: http://tinyurl.com/dbodvs

It’s small, simple and concise, but does it REVEAL anything about the site?

Well, the good folks over at the 2log got bizzy, and they came up with a way to generate a URL that really got to the meat and potatoes of what a website was all about.  www.theamericangreen.wordpress.com not enough for you?  Try the BigUrl below the fold:

(more…)

-Thammuzzy-

I have to admit: I’m getting a bit nervous about the “superfood” craze.

For those of you who have ordered in thai food every night for the last four years and haven’t been to a supermarket or other public place with advertisements, superfood can be defined as an ingredient or combination of ingredients with greater than average health benefits, especially where hard-to-obtain nutrients are concerned. Examples include quinoa (the South American grain that knocks the snocker out of rice in any comparison of protein, fiber, manganese – and taste), pomegranate (with its oh-so-trendy power to bring those free radicals to justice), many seaweeds (with just about every nutrient in the book), walnuts (get the omega-3 of fish without the debilitating neurological failure of mercury poisoning!), and, happily, dark chocolate. 

So what’s the problem? (more…)

We’d like to extend a warm LtAG welcome to thammuzzy (tho we still don’t know what the name means, per say).  However, there is a point that needs to be made Re: Vegetarianism and such.   As thammuzzy pointed out:

“In the interest of full disclosure, however, we have to note that this new writer, who (spoiler alert!) happens to be the writer of this post, is a vegetarian (well, lazy vegan) – thus invalidating the claim in our “About Us” page that we don’t hold truck with tofo and sprouts and other such namby-pamby secretly-socialist born-in-Indonesia freedom-hatin’ side-dishes. Today for lunch I made myself some sautéed brussel sprouts dusted with turmeric and ginger: Q.E.D.”

Well, in a new Barack Obama America, we imagine that there will be even more of this hippy crunchy tom-foolary.  And you know what?  We would love to play along.  We really would.  We’ve even tried to go down the path once or twice ourselves, swearing off meat when a particularly intense bout of Eco-guilt gets its claws into us.  But you know what?  Here is the problem with all of this: Meat.  Is.  Delicious.

We’re sorry.  It just is.

(more…)