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Solar Obstacles

It really doesn’t matter who wins the nobel peace prize, the fact is the type of societies we’ve developed around the planet are not prepared and doing relatively little to truly counter their excessive energy use and polluting. While I realize some parts of the world are better than others at preparing, today I’m thinking of my homestate of New Jersey.

Mom called a few days ago and mentioned how unbearably high the power and heat costs are just to keep our family home going. She and dad still live in the house I grew up in, which happens to be in an area of New Jersey that pays amazingly high property tax, and mind boggling energy costs. Of course these homes are built in such a way that they cost alot to just maintain basic utilities.. the wonders of suburbia.

So mom says she’s interested in solar power for heating and hot water. Which of course reminds us both of grandma and grandpa’s house in Portugal.. located in a tiny village. Even as far back as 1989 I remember that they had solar panels on the roof, which were for hot water. Amazing to consider that my grandparents weren’t even environmental activists, it was just a relatively common practice, almost 20 years ago, to get solar panels to heat water throughout Portugal.

My mother’s fear, of course, like many working citizens throughout the world, is if changing her energy system to solar is affordable? She worries of the costs for solar panels, that they might bring a tremendous financial burden. Word amongst her friends is that its too expensive. Once again note the problem with such street wisdom, it is 2007 and we know enough about the planet to know we should use less energy, and yet in a state as modern and populous as New Jersey… the average person writes off getting solar energy because of the cost? This should not be so.

I’ve begun the process of researching what the steps would be, and even as a relatively smart person, I’m getting confused already. Apparently it takes 60 days, for example, to actually get solar panels that are approved by the state and ready to be used. You would figure, considering the state of the world, that the state or local government would have some kind of tax break or financial assistance to help people go solar. So far it seems, THEY DO. If you can figure out the system and fill out the right forms, and indeed, put up the money for the system… the state of New Jersey will cover 40% of the costs.

Still I’m not convinced about the process if a government, be it national, provincial, or local, is serious about reducing the amount of energy people use and helping citizens use alternative sources. And without the support of government, it will be even more difficult to change the mentality of a population that always comes back to the issue of cost in the form of money. But let’s see what more research can dig up, maybe my mom and dad will be able to go solar sooner rather than later.

Nato in Afghanistan

The last few weeks one of my regular podcast listens has pleasantly surprised me with some solid programs. This week, as I drove my boat towards home this morning while listening to my podcasts, Amsterdam Forum from Radio Netherlands hit it right again.

The topic this week was the military mission in Afghanistan, who is doing what, what countries are wanting to get out, and special attention to the troubles of the Dutch to afford and continue to carry out their mission in Afghanistan.

They threw around the numbers of how much it costs the Netherlands to keep their military in the country. They also mention things that I sometimes forget.. like that the Dutch are in a very dangerous area, and the many countries like Canada are under a great deal of pressure at home to get out. Then there was the story of how the German troops aren’t allowed to do numerous types of activities that are deemed too risky. And ultimately you hear from a Dutch military analyst who says he predicts they’re be there for at least ten more years.

The whole time I kept thinking what a bizarre situation we’ve created. (we being citizens of the world) Its supposed to be a rebuilding mission but it is still a military mission and there seems to be no end in site and even the idea that things are improving has become debatable. Then of course there’s the idea of leaving and what will happen to the country at it seems they are not capable of keeping the pseudo puppet government in power.

Nevermind my analysis, the point today is to recommend you listen to this edition of Amsterdam Forum; create interviews from such an impressive array of participants. I really admire their work on this one… and continue to worry about what has happened and what will happen in Afghanistan.

Wealth Pyramid

Sometime around the spring of 1999, I stepped into my first day of a class that would change my life forever. It was African-American politics at William Paterson U, and in walked a polite and mild mannered man who would later become one of my most valued friends and mentors.

In my fuzzy memory, the first thing Yemane did, after telling us his name, was to draw a pyramid on the board. He divided that pyramid, a tiny line near the narrow top, which he labelled — 80% of the world’s wealth. Then he circled the rest of the pyramid, pointing especially to the large bottom part — 20% of the world’s wealth.

Actually I think it was more dramatic than that… Yemane was (and is) excellent at breaking down the world around us. From that point on politics, understanding who gets what, why, and how, became an obsession.

This week I see a familiar statistic… the global concentration of wealth report reveals that in the last 5 years… that pyramid has gotten worse. The people at the top, the small group, have gotten richer than ever before. And the rest of the people in that pyramid, the majority of people in our world, have gotten poorer.

The updated and more accurate statistic from the report is as follows:

0.7% of world’s population control more than 1/3 of the world’s wealth.
Where? Half of that group are in North America, while 1/4 are in Europe.

I’ve always believed that this statistic is one of the best places to start if you want to pick apart what is wrong with the world. If you want to spark people’s concern and interest in figuring out why this has happened and the tremendous price humans pay because of this mind boggling inequality.

Later this week I’ll have a podcast on this topic, with guests. So stay tuned.

bmtv59 Majority Rule

In Federalist Paper Number 10, James Madison warned of the dangers posed by majority rule or small groups of people being able to control a nation. On today’s internet we are once again faced with the tyranny of the majority in the form of popularity. Any site you go to values whatever gets voted for or “dugg”. Yet just like in Madison’s time, we also must protect against the tyranny of the internet majority.

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Work and Passion

Phone rings last thursday, it’s my friend Robert from Brooklyn Bridge.. a sustainable investment organization based here in Amsterdam that I’ve been working with. Not too long ago, I remember Robert had posted an opening on his blog, the organization is looking for a conference organizer to help with their annual sustainable investment conference in Paris. (Im going this year)

What is interesting, and I felt the need to share with you – the internets – is the trouble Robert is having. Despite the fact that the Netherlands is experiencing a job-boom, and that more and more people around the world are concerned about and dedicated to the goals and ideals of trying to make corporations behave more responsibly, he doesn’t find any such person who wants the job. To put it another way, no candidate has come forward that actually is passionate about the idea of sustainable investment.

So then the question comes to mind: is the current generation of people coming out of university seeking the type of work that not only will provide them with a good quality of life but also that has a larger global objective.. to improve the world in some way. Or rather, is it just about getting the cool job, some money, and buying the stuff they always wanted. Is it a quest for stuff or a quest for change?

After getting Robert’s call asking me about this issue, and then reading his related blog entry, I continue to wonder. Then again, as the video in his post points out, there is an unbelievable huge number of organizations, companies, and groups around the world dedicated to social justice, environmentalism, etc. Still, sometimes I get into conversations with university students, or recent grads, and it does seem like something isn’t clicking right. Where are the world changers?

I remember Anna

One year later, remembering Anna Politkovskaya.

A journalist amongst journalists. Human amongst humans.

Never forgetting the importance of journalists and reporters who are willing to speak up, speak out, and stay citical no matter what.

Never forgetting that she was murdered with the help of a corrupt government, who have murdered and oppressed in the name of profits and power.

I hope to one day be 1/10th of the kind of journalist she was.