Critics of the Bush Administration, and more recently anyone not willfully ignorant due to partisanship, have been testing the waters of history. Will this President Bush be considered the worst president ever, or merely the worst of the presidents who made a second term? The analysis generally catalogues cronyism, corruption, ineptitude, and war mongering. The glaringly missing pieces of course are Climate Change and China, which may be properly considered of a piece. Bush, Cheney, and the neo-cons turned the heat to boil the pot that is the Middle East, and our economy’s dependence on burning carbons.
Critics of the Bush Administration, and more recently anyone not willfully ignorant due to partisanship, have been testing the waters of history. Will this President Bush be considered the worst president ever, or merely the worst of the presidents who made a second term? The analysis generally catalogues cronyism, corruption, ineptitude, and war mongering. The glaringly missing pieces of course are Climate Change and China, which may be properly considered of a piece. Bush, Cheney, and the neo-cons turned the heat to boil the pot that is the Middle East, and our economy’s dependence on burning carbons. The road to peace lies not through Jerusalem, Tehran, or Baghdad. The road to peace lies in green energy. The billions in wealth and lives we bled into the sands in the Middle east could have gone a long way toward a new energy paradigm.
As we focused on the distractions caused by the rising tide of Muslim extremism, the Chinese have simultaneously blown the restraints off heavy metal air pollution and charged far into the lead in alternative energy production. China remains relatively poor in natural resources; utilizing coal at rates that will rapidly make it the world’s leader in pollution and environmental degradation. At the same time, US News recently reported that China has become a world leader in renewable energy. “A new Renewable Energy Law took effect January 1, and the government announced a goal of having 10 percent of the country's gross energy consumption be renewable by 2020--a huge increase from the current 1 percent. Renewable energies such as wind, solar, and biofuels are expected to grow into a $100 billion market over the next 15 years in China, making it a global powerhouse in renewables.” By Bay Fang 6/12/06. China seems serous, in June Beijing hosted the 2nd Annual China Power & Alternative Energy Summit. China also seems to be investing heavily in solar energy production, especially in Mongolia and Tibet.
At home, the Supreme Court and the Environmental Protection Agency have been following company line. The EPA refuses to admit any authority over regulating carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. The Administration position not only refuses to grant authority, but also refuses to exercise authority even if it could. Over simplified, their theory they espouse being that the legislation does not specify carbon dioxide as a pollutant. However, several former EPA heads told the Supreme Court that the law intended some elasticity in the face of new and unforeseen conditions. The bench position will probably end up deciding that the plaintiffs do not have standing to sue in the first place without demonstrable harm beyond abstract theories of “climate change.”
While Bush fiddles in the Middle East the world burns carbon. Historically, our forays into nation building will be viewed as the death throes of the petroleum economy. Now America needs leaders to emerge who will focus attention and resources into ending our dependence on burning carbon. The answer does not mean switching to other carbon fuels. This only ends oil dependence. The answer must be more imaginative. Lets spend those billions not in a “war against terror” or other distracting slogans. It may already be too late.
The road to peace lies not through Jerusalem, Tehran, or Baghdad. The road to peace lies in green energy. The billions in wealth and lives we bled into the sands in the Middle east could have gone a long way toward a new energy paradigm.
As we focused on the distractions caused by the rising tide of Muslim extremism, the Chinese have simultaneously blown the restraints off heavy metal air pollution and charged far into the lead in alternative energy production. China remains relatively poor in natural resources; utilizing coal at rates that will rapidly make it the world’s leader in pollution and environmental degradation. At the same time, US News recently reported that China has become a world leader in renewable energy. “A new Renewable Energy Law took effect January 1, and the government announced a goal of having 10 percent of the country's gross energy consumption be renewable by 2020--a huge increase from the current 1 percent. Renewable energies such as wind, solar, and biofuels are expected to grow into a $100 billion market over the next 15 years in China, making it a global powerhouse in renewables.” By Bay Fang 6/12/06. China seems serous, in June Beijing hosted the 2nd Annual China Power & Alternative Energy Summit. China also seems to be investing heavily in solar energy production, especially in Mongolia and Tibet.
At home, the Supreme Court and the Environmental Protection Agency have been following company line. The EPA refuses to admit any authority over regulating carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. The Administration position not only refuses to grant authority, but also refuses to exercise authority even if it could. Over simplified, their theory they espouse being that the legislation does not specify carbon dioxide as a pollutant. However, several former EPA heads told the Supreme Court that the law intended some elasticity in the face of new and unforeseen conditions. The bench position will probably end up deciding that the plaintiffs do not have standing to sue in the first place without demonstrable harm beyond abstract theories of “climate change.”
While Bush fiddles in the Middle East the world burns carbon. Historically, our forays into nation building will be viewed as the death throes of the petroleum economy. Now America needs leaders to emerge who will focus attention and resources into ending our dependence on burning carbon. The answer does not mean switching to other carbon fuels. This only ends oil dependence. The answer must be more imaginative. Lets spend those billions not in a “war against terror” or other distracting slogans. It may already be too late.
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