tagged w/ Refuse
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worrg
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added this
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5 months ago
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Faced with the worst environmental disaster in history, Obama wants change. He just won't fight for it.
June 15, 2010 |
There's no getting around it: President Barack Obama's speech on the BP oil disaster was an overwhelming disappointment. Despite confirming support for stronger regulation of offshore drilling and the development of a national clean energy agenda, Obama failed to offer any policies to actually prevent the kind of catastrophe currently playing out on the Gulf, and refused to coalesce around any specific measures to wean the United States off of fossil fuels. Faced with the gravest environmental catastrophe in American history, it is clear that Obama believes sweeping change is necessary. It is equally clear that he is unwilling to fight for that change.
Obama did at least reiterate his support for a six-month moratorium on new permits for deepwater oil drilling, but offered no proposals for dealing with drilling in shallow waters, and no long-term solutions for how to regulate drilling anywhere. The president also acknowledged that the Deepwater Horizon fiasco was a direct result of our nation's failure to embrace a long-term clean energy policy, and strongly urged Congress to act now to overhaul our current policy. The best moment of the speech came nearly two-thirds of the way through:
"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."
It appeared for a moment that things were about to take off. And then ... they didn't. Obama emphasized how high the stakes are on our nation's energy policy, but never exactly said what our nation must do to fix it.
"I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party – as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels .... the one approach I will not accept is inaction."
Translation: Give me a bill, I'll sign it.
What should be done? Let's start with walking back Obama's previous expansion of offshore drilling operations and redirecting the $39 billion a year in taxpayer subsidies for the oil industry toward investments in clean energy. There are plenty of problems with the cap-and-trade plan approved by the House last year, but there were plenty of good provisions that Obama could have endorsed tonight. It's not like climate change is a new issue for this administration. They've been working on it for more than a year.
The speech was, in short, woefully insufficient as a response to the worst environmental catastrophe in history. But it would be a mistake to view the shortcomings of tonight's BP speech as an isolated failure. Tonight's address, instead, is indicative of a now well-established pattern in the president's governing strategy. Obama does not advocate for reforms, he advocates for consensus, and his rhetorical insistence on fixing a "broken" Washington and entering a new "bipartisan" era has rendered his administration utterly subservient to the very problems he seeks to transcend.Faced with the worst environmental disaster in history, Obama wants change. He just... more
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This blog talks about the refusal of University of Buffalo to offer casino dealer courses. Tells how the university just backed out after agreeing to have the classes. Does the general public has a taboo about casino gaming? But are you one of those who want to become a casino dealer? Read and find out how you can still hook up with those classes.This blog talks about the refusal of University of Buffalo to offer casino dealer... more
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"The new indie film Trash Humpers observes the lives of three fictional cretin-like outcasts who lead filthy and disgusting lives on the margins of society—lives that include, yes, sex with garbage. Is there any redeeming artistic value in this? I doubt I’ll find out, because I probably won’t go see it. (I have other plans.) But the film certainly is already doing what it apparently intended to do: generating heated discussion. In film magazines and blogs, writers are grappling with the unsettling questions that Trash Humpers raises."
UTNE
Keith Goetzman"The new indie film Trash Humpers observes the lives of three fictional... more
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—Photo of marine debris courtesy of Tay Wiles. Front page photo courtesy of Project Kaisei.
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"benign by design."
it seems as though much of what we consume to day is here to stay. more particularly plastic products. How long could we expect to go on like this before it coming back to haunt us? not long, that is for sure.
Right now, as we speak there is a floating mass of garbage as big as the size of texas drifiting 400 miles off the coast of California. I don't know about you but this sounds like a job for....the conscientious consumer! Not only are we responsible for the goods we buy and the services we use them for but, also the recycling and disposal of used products.
it may seem like a monstrous task in the undertaking and that no one person can do it on their own, however, don't be deceived. it is possible and it is going to have to start with you. what you do with your time and money doesn't only affect you, it affects that of those around you as well. why you buy each product and what you use it for is your business except when the manner in which you dispose of it encroaches on your neighbors or the surrounding natural wild life.
despite all this, rest assured there have been motions towards movements against this and there are steps being made to take action and it can happen from your garage, out on your front lawn, in the alley, down on the corner, out in the street and then eventually the world. it's "micro-enviro-nomics." make it happen people. grass roots rock! see: http://current.com/items/90965135_the-dc-concierge-help-turn-dc-s-parking-spots-into-parks.htm ; http://current.com/items/90964353_parking-spaces-become-parks-in-hundreds-of-cities.htm // at the very least it is feigning an attempt at something bigger but it is better than nothing. let's join the cause so that all our efforts will not be in vain.
life is art: art is life; make it beautiful: make it happen.
~sk8bs55
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—Photo of marine debris courtesy of Tay Wiles. Front page photo courtesy of... more
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From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects... more
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An infestation of maggots left residents of a block of flats disgusted - and blaming Oxford's refuse collection system. Families living in the six flats at Slade Close, in Headington, made the discovery on Tuesday evening and called for Oxford City Council to take action to ensure proper refuse collections were carried out in the future. The incident followed news last month that the council had delayed plans to introduce a weekly food waste collection scheme across the city.
It led to renewed fears that the controversial switch to fortnightly household waste collections was causing problems with pests.
The mother-of-two said: "It was disgusting - there were thousands of maggots in the shed and stairway and outside my front door. I was shocked. We're supposed to have weekly collections, because we haven't got any recycling facilities, but it's been weeks since we had our rubbish collected. The council has cleared up the mess, but it should never have been allowed to happen in the first place."An infestation of maggots left residents of a block of flats disgusted - and blaming... more
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