Fool me once…

The events since the BP well exploded and began spewing oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico have forced President Obama's hand. No politician wants to be the one to catch the Peak Oil hot potato, but it looks like it's landed right in Obama's lap. In his Oval Office speech the other night, he came the closest any president has yet to frankly discussing the challenges we face (emphasis mine):

So one of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations, better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20 percent of the world’s oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean -- because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water. For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked -- not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor. The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight.

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The Norway Advantage

My 19-year old Norwegian niece ("Katja") just left town after visiting my family for four days. We had the opportunity to have several long conversations with her comparing Norway to the United States. I'm not going to suggest that Norway is perfect, but when you read the following list, it might make you wonder why the United States can't get its act together to be at least somewhat more like Norway. Here's what Norway offers to its citizens: - Single-payer healthcare ("The only requirement for receiving healthcare in Norway is that one be alive.") - Free schooling at the grade school and high school level. In fact free schooling at the university level as well. Competition can be fierce for getting into particular schools at the University level (my niece is keeping her fingers crossed that she gets into law school this fall), but anyone who can do the school work is allowed to go to school. - The average Norwegian has five weeks of vacation every year. - Generous maternity and paternity leave, with pay. Further, many businesses offer high-quality child care for their workers. The government offers subsidized child care. - A generous social security system

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How did democracy cease to be in Iran?

What happened to democracy in Iran? It didn't die a natural death. Iranian democracy was killed by well known actors that included British Petroleum and the United States. You can learn more by listening to Stephen Kinzer, former New York Times reporter, who was iran-oil-creative-commonsinterviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now (video interview). From the 1920's through the 1940's Great Britain controlled all of the oil in Iran, thanks to "a corrupt deal that they had struck with a few representatives of the old declining Iranian monarchy, all of whom had been paid off." The troubles began when Iran began to assert ownership of its own oil:

[A]fter World War II, when the winds of nationalism and anti-colonialism were blowing throughout the developing world, Iranians developed this idea: we’ve got to take our oil back. And that was the general—the kind of national passion that brought to power Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was the most prominent figure in the democratic period of Iran during the late '40s and early ’50s. It was Mosaddegh's desire, supported by a unanimous vote of the democratically elected parliament of Iran, to nationalize what was then the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. They carried out the nationalization. The British and their partners in the United States fiercely resisted this. And when they were unable to prevent it from happening, they organized the overthrow of Mosaddegh in 1953. So that overthrow not only produced the end of the Mosaddegh government, but the end of democracy in Iran, and that set off all these other following consequences. The Shah ruled for twenty-five years with increasing repression. His rule produced the explosion of the late '70s that produced the Islamic regime. So, it was to protect the interests of the oil company we now know as BP that the CIA and the British Secret Service joined together to overthrow the democratic government in Iran and produce all the consequences we've seen in Iran over the last half-century.img_0083
Why was the United States willing to get involved in this despicable overthrow? Kinzer suggests that the U.S. was more than willing to believe that there were "communists" in Iran, despite any supporting evidence. The British merely took advantage of this American paranoia. Therefore, the U.S. facilitated the overthrow of a sovereign Middle Eastern country without any justification.

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No Impact Man follows up

A few days ago, Colin Beavan ("No Impact Man") came to St. Louis to discuss his book (at one of the branches of the St. Louis Public Library). I have previously posted on his fine book. I did so because I was impressed that Beavan was actually doing something to dramatically decrease his impact on the planet rather than simply talking about doing something. Beavan offered much good advice at his recent talk. In his book, he offered lots of nuts and bolts about lessening one's impact on the planet. At last week's talk, he focused quite a bit on motivating us to change ourselves. Here are some of his points: - "I'm the only person I can change." - There are 14,000 dead lakes in the United States and Canada, lakes that used to have water. - In the UK, the political parties strive to show who can do more to save the environment, which is dramatically different than it is in the United States. - "Just look around this room . . . How cool are libraries! What a great model, sharing things--passing them from person to person." -"What I did was always intended to have an element of stunt." - The best thing about my year-long experiment was getting rid of television. - The average American throws away 40 items of clothing per year. - The hardest part about getting anything done to lessen the impact of people on our environment is "changing habits." - Americans are overworked so much that they don't have the time to spend with their loved ones. "We are out of balance." - "Where do I find the time to make bread?" - Progress "might not mean more technology." - The average American watches 4.5 hours of television per day. - "We've got to stop thinking that environmentalism is about deprivation." Colin Beavan - Image by Erich Vieth - Car-based urban planning leads to obesity and loneliness. - The interests of the people must be aligned with the interests of the planet. We need to make personal and business decisions that are in line with our values. When we do this, our institutions will become more functional. - If someone who resists says that he is concerned about national security, ask him why he would want to rely upon unstable regimes for energy. - The wastebasket was not invented until 1900. - The problem about our environment is not about good and evil. It's about systems that are not working. - We all have the capacity to do good. Use your talents to make a difference. - when someone comes up to me and says "you should talk about X," I tell them "no, YOU should talk about X." -To are the straws that broke the camel's back. Anyone can be a hero. - We have a choice. You can be the victim of your culture or you can be the master of your culture. - There is no profit in local farming. Please support them, and you'll be proud. - "No-impact is not a religion." - Beware of talk about carbon offsets. It doesn't undo the damage. I call it "carbon penitence." It's not a bad thing, but we should instead find renewable energy and invest in it. - How can we change other people? "Listen and love instead of telling and anger."img_2629

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