A Quick Note

Everyone who visits this site should familiarize themselves with the innovative strategy that the State of Washington has implemented to reduce greenhouse gases, traffic congestion, gasoline costs, and time delays on highways in urban areas. This solution is supported by local governments, the private sector, and regional transportation districts, and should be a model for all congested urban areas in the United States. Washington is the only state in the U.S. that has reduced the percentage of single occupancy vehicles (SOVs) or solo commuters, while all others have seen increases. How do they do it? By giving tax breaks to companies of 100+ employees for every worker who uses some form of transportation to work other than driving alone. This can include carpooling, vanpooling, telecommuting, flex-time, mass transit, etc. The business community in Washington State has embraced this program because it not only gives them a tangible tax benefit, it results in many other documented side benefits, including: less sick time taken, increased worker productivity, decreased employee turnover, and the cost savings of not having to provide additional parking for growing companies. For companies that ship products, deliveries happen faster. For retail companies, there is more parking available for customers. The benefit to the larger community is decreased commute times, less highway congestion, less pollution, and overall a more efficient utilization of existing roadways, saving millions of dollars for the State, municipalities, and private firms not having to build more highway lanes or parking structures. The key is involving the business community -- that is what changes workers' behavior on a scale large enough to make a difference. Many governmental agencies already use these strategies, but bringing the private sector into the mix is what makes it even more powerful. Each company is free to devise whatever commute-trip reduction strategy works best for them, and to reward or recognize employees who participate in the program in whatever way they choose. Chevron, the largest employer in California, has devoted an entire website to the concept of conservation, which it states "is the easiest, cheapest, and most reliable form of 'new' energy." Our roadways are a precious resource, and must be shared in the same way that airspace is shared in restaurants. If we had never enacted laws to restrict smoking or to encourage recycling, the logical result would have been more deaths from secondhand smoke and the need to simply build more garbage dumps. It is time for corporate America to do its part in reducing commute-hour congestion for the greater good. Even if every car and truck on the road today were a hybrid, it wouldn't fix the congestion that is impacting our nation's productivity and global competitiveness. Individuals interested in reading of Washington's successes can find summary report for 2005 and 2007 at the following websites: 1. CTR Task Force 2005 Report to the Washington State Legislation, at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/172087A9...
and 2. 2007 CTR Board Interim Report, at
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/TDM/CTRInterimReport0...

I drafted this piece and plan to circulate it to several newspapers. Soon we will know who are lawmakers will be. Now it is time to get the nation involved in the discussion of what they should do. I would appreciate any feedback on this point of view.

Wednesday Morning November 5, 2008 – The Most Important Day in a Century
Dan Belenky
dbelenky@yahoo.com

The next 80 days are the most important days we have seen in two or more generations and probably the most important we are likely to see in our lifetimes. Before our elected representatives sit down to their jobs, let’s tell them what we really want.
We, the people, have an obligation to our grandchildren, our children, our neighbors and ourselves to decide the type of world we want and what we see as the important first steps. We must decide as a nation what are our top priorities? We, the people, must set the course, continue the discussion and reach an overwhelming consensus about what we need to accomplish, when and why.
When you look at the campaign, the platforms and the positions, they are all focused on incremental steps to solve today’s problems. They might be good enough to win an election but it doesn’t make a national vision and it doesn’t begin to address the real issues that we face today. The important issues are the ones that will affect the lives of our descendents for many years to come. Before I list my top 10 priorities let’s consider the most important issues facing our nation and the world today.

Biodiversity and Global Warming
World population, which was under 3 billion when I was born in 1954 is currently almost 7 billion and is expected to grow to around 9 billion by 2050. If the projections prove correct, this should be the maximum population in the foreseeable future. We just can’t carry on business as usual. If the world continues to rely on technologies that add CO2 to the air and require thousands of square miles of land to be cleared every year, the world of 2100 will be so much less livable in so many ways. In my opinion, we have no choice, we must begin to turn this ship now using full rudder to steer in the right direction and all engines engaged to reverse direction.

Control of Corporations
I love corporations, and capitalism, they are a fantastic way to organize and direct productive resources. But corporations are not people. Corporations are legal entities created by our lawmakers to enable groups of people to accomplish goals. The nation is a nation of people. We, the people, must re-assert our collective authority over the corporations. When corporations can buy lawmakers, squander trillions on the mortgage mess, and act with impunity, it is time to revisit systems of controls to assure the corporations act in the best interests of the nation and not the other way around.

Education
You’ve heard the story again and again how our schools are stuck in a 19th century agrarian model. I’ve put education above the social safety net because educated citizens are our only true social safety net. We need a revolution in elementary education and massive improvement in secondary education.

A Social Safety Net that Works
We need to re-invent our social safety net. The great leap we made in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s took us far, but it doesn’t cut it in today’s world. We need to improve all aspects, from healthcare to health insurance to retirement security, to care of the young and disabled. Our healthcare technology is the best in the world, our healthcare delivery one of the most inequitable. In my opinion employers have no business being involved in health insurance. If you lose your job, or can’t get a job, or for a hundred other reasons aren’t on the employment roles, does that make you a second class citizen. Healthcare is too important to be an employee benefit. And having to switch providers because your new employer’s plan doesn’t have the same PPO is sheer lunacy. At least with retirement security we have a model. Social Security provides a base; it should be improved and expanded.

Here are my top 10 priorities. Every one of these is urgent and should be addressed as a critical issue of national security, akin to Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Katrina and the credit meltdown.

1. Nuclear Power,
It is unequivocal that the massive and growing population of the world is upwardly mobile. They want a much improved, if not an “American” lifestyle. Electricity is the wonder of the 20th century. It makes modern life possible and will continue to make the lives of the world’s people better now and in the future. We will need to multiply the worldwide supply of electricity by a factor of 10, or more, while eliminating all CO2 emissions. Wind and Solar will improve, and deserve massive support, but let’s not leave out the best current technology.
Nuclear power research has come a long way since Three Mile Island, and there is still a long way to go. Go to the Department of Energy website and read up on the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative. We can build a closed fuel cycle that will recycle the spent fuel from plants creating huge new sources of fuel, reduce proliferation risk, minimize the volume and toxicity of high level nuclear waste and reduce bio-segregation requirements from multiple thousands of years to a few hundred years. Instead of filling 10 Yucca mountains, that one repository will be able to can handle all the worldwide high-level waste for several generations. There is much work to be done, and many demonstration facilities to be built. We should start building them now!

2. Wind, Solar and Other Renewable Energy have far to go. These technologies are just becoming commercial. With enough incentives they can be more productive, less expensive and provide services in the many parts of the world that are not served by the electric grid.

3. Build the next generation electric distribution and load management systems.
Electricity markets don’t exist from a demand point of view. We each get all we want no matter what the cost. If we want to have lower demand, build fewer power plants, use electricity more efficiently and expand the benefits of modernity to all the world’s people we should support and encourage this R & D. Thanks to Thomas Friedman’s excellent “Hot, Flat and Crowded”.

4. Tax CO2 emissions and double-tax imports of carbon-based fuels.
Set the incentives in line with our goals. You can’t eliminate al-Qaeda when you underwrite them with $150 billion petrodollars a year. Significant taxes on oil imports were unpopular in the 80’s and 90’s and would have been difficult after 9/11. But, today when gas prices are back down around $2.50 a gallon, after two seasons at over $4.00 would you pay $1.00 a gallon to help assure that prices don’t spike that way again and to improve the world for your grandchildren?

5. Properly fund education. We have to think and invent and design the world of the next generation. Let’s invest in our most important resource. From teachers, to infrastructure, to R&D we’ve wasted a generation. Let’s not waste another.

6. Regulation of corporations is essential. This includes lobbying reform, regulatory reform and giving shareholders real power. Let’s not have another mortgage mess in our lifetimes. Let’s get big oil out of the Senate and back where they belong, as servants of society, not the other way around.

7. Military reform is vital. We need to resolve our military engagements, and rebuild our reputation as the preservers of peace, dignity and the leader of world in the struggle for democracy and human rights, and not the world’s biggest petro-bully. Control of arms proliferation is a hot button issue. You don’t think al-Qaeda manufactures all those advanced weapons in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan do you?

8. Health insurance reform is high on everyone’s list.

9. Reform of representative government. Lobbying reform and election finance reform are two huge issues. It’s great the Barcak Obama won, but money should not be buying a seat in our “representative” government. Is our country for sale to the highest bidder or the best ideas?

10. Strengthen and improve Social Security.

These are my top 10. In the next 30 days, let’s each ask, what are mine? Start the discussion and vote. Vote with your letters, vote with your blogs, vote online, make your opinion known let’s build a solid national consensus on what we need to do any why!

Don’t just grab your coffee and prepare to forget about politics for two more years. There is work to be done. United we defeated the Nazi’s, and controlled Communism, United we have built this wonderful nation. United we have attacked racism and social inequality. We each have our top 10. Let’s pull together and work together to form a UNITED vision for the goals of our generation.

This morning, I got up at 5 AM (Sunday) so I could drive my son to cross country practice (at school 25 miles from where we live.) I usually work out on my treadmill and watch MSNBC or CNN while on the treadmill. But nothing of interest was on so on a whim I turned to see what was on FOX NEWS. Unfortunately, it was a Greta Van Susteren hosted program meant to inspire fear and hatred about Obama because of his "dangerous" ideas and associations. We were meant to be very afraid because Obama had served on a board together with Ayres who was promoting pride among African American kids. The program went on with such scare tactics and about 5 minutes of this dribble was about all I could take. So I turned it off and put on my Ipod with a copy of Hot Flat and Crowded which I had just purchased and started listening. The points you were making were set in sharp relief against the fear mongering of the FOX NEWS program. You pointed out how the 2 trends that were discouraging were set off by the encouraging possible third trend. And I was thinking, would it have made any difference had Tom Friedman been asked to serve as a consultant to George W. Bush and had been asked to share his views on the trends he was seeing since 9/11? Sadly, I concluded that sharing those views with George W. Bush would not have impacted him the way it is impacting me listening to them and probably is impacting most of your readers and listeners. And I started to try to understand why that might be and whether anything could be done to make people like Bush or Sarah Palin see the consequences of the direction in which they want to take the country. If you have any thoughts about how you can get your ideas to impact the nearly 50% of the country who has the Bush-Palin perspective, I'd love to read about them in a future column of yours.

Mr. Friedman,
I posted on the Chapter 18 discussion board about the importance of starting all of this with education. In high schools you can find the most idealistic people to send out into the world so they need to have a good grasp of what is going on. I don't know if you are familiar with the course AP Human Geography but so many things you write fits right in with its units of study. Look into it and if you need to know more just ask, I have taught it for 6 years.

Peace. What is peace? Some people still don’t understand the meaning of peace. To some peace is going on strike in the name of peace. To some peace is going to war in the name of peace. To some peace is God; Yet there prevails holy wars to pacify the “wrath of God.” But none of this has any meaning.
For, peace is the calm, quiet, and tilled earth. Greenery upon this earth is what’s peace. Feed the earth with plants, green open fields, and healthy green forests. That’s peace. Everything peaceful revolves around the green we grow on our earth. That’s peace. More greenery is more positive life. That’s peace.
Nature grows with every leaf. So does peace. Let’s help rebuild this world without darkness and hatred. Let’s rebuild this world with everything green and redevelop our environment. That’s peace. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I am an Indian child studying in the United Arab Emirates.

Aditya Rakesh Kombra
Grade 9,
Delhi Private School,
Sharjah, UAE

Mr. Friedman,
I notice on page 188 that the Hydrogen fuel cell has been dismissed as part of the answer. Both BMW and Toyota or Honda as auto mobiles power bby hydrogen. Water in water out. Norway, of all places, has built a highway from Oslo that goes around the pensula with hydrogen stations along the way. The station look just like gas station. The ' pumps are the same size as the gas pumps we see every day. The difference is they take in water, any water, clean it, seperate the hydrogen from the oxygen and fill up the cars they have modified. The frames actually are modified to hold the hydrogen. Each wheel has it's own electric motor. I was very impressed. I do agree that this has to be a systemic change, but it seems to me this could be part of it. T.Boone Pickens has some good ideas as well.

Thanks for the last two books. You've scared the hell out of me. Hopefully you've done the same for everyone else.

Best Regards J.Blackburn
www.theradiogypsies.com please take a look.

In reading your book, I couldn't help but make comparisons between the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis and the fall of Russia. Are there more correlations to be made than just dependence on natural resources that result in potential instability? It seems to me that a greater lesson to be learned is that something (for relatively) nothing - whether it be natural resources or some other source of low-input income - is the ultimate cause of economic and social instability.

In order for the general public to respect the incredible transition our planet is undergoing, there has to be a way for them to first understand the situation.

The more examples we create to communicate the seriousness of this problem, the better, as not all people learn in the same ways or bond to the same material.

If we can uncover the most appropriate methods to approach separate demographics or even subcultures to market the idea to, the more they are likely to relate, retain, and respond. This message must penetrate the public ear using whatever methods available.

I heard your interview on NPR, several of your comments seemed to indicate you had no idea why the US energy policy makes no sense. For example
drill, drill - what am I missing here
drill, drill - what planet are they on?
it's crazy, the Ohio senator actually voted against it (tax credits)
You may find my OPEDNEWS.COM piece helpful.
It was number one in the column for 14 hours (3 is average).
Here is the link

http://www.opednews.com/articles/-Give-Us-the...

Actually I have another Oped piece that included Denmark with the following observation

Frankly, when you compare how America has responded to the 1973 oil shock and how Denmark has responded, we look pathetic.
Because it was smart taxes and incentives that spurred Danish energy companies to innovate, Ditlev Engel, the president of Vestas — Denmark’s and the world’s biggest wind turbine company — told me that he simply can’t understand how the U.S. Congress could have just failed to extend the production tax credits for wind development in America.

and of course and explanation that is included in the current article
"Give Us the ANWAR and Keep Shopping"-They Found They Can't Have Both"

Hi Mr. Friedman-
I think it is great you are leading the charge on et in the media. The world has a way of balancing things out, which is not to say we will be part of it as the human society we now have. With the USA and Europe sliding into recession there will be higher unemployment therefore less income revenue. So governments departments being dependent on revenue streams will increase tax's where you can't avoid them ,that is consumption tax's. This will be a good thing as it will set a price trigger on oil and transport costs of goods. Forcing the gluttonous in society, be it corporate or individual to economize there carbon footprint to stay viable. We in Australia introduced a goods and service tax some several years ago as income tax cuts were considered politically shrewd ,when it was introduces the opposition parties said it would kill our economy but the opposite happened and we now have very low unemployment. Fuel prices in Australia is 50% tax which you would think strange in such a vast desolate country dependent on long distant transport but even with such a tax we still have city road commuters buying over powered uneconomical cars. It was only recently when fuel prices sky rocketed that this environmentally reckless practice start to abate. Moving taxes from income to consumption and energy taxes accelerates the economy as the rich don't get to so easily evade taxes by sending profits to offshore companies as fees. As the money stays in the economy it is produced in, it develops a multiplying effect which is what has happened in our economy . It also slows companies abilities to take windfall gains ( inflated CEO bonuses which they will obviously give back now their companies are going broke, if there was a GST they would) as the supply and demand curve is pushed up meaning that supply is reduced to manageable levels as the price is pushed up by a goods and services tax to ease consumption. MOVE YOU TAX SYSTEM FROM INCOME TO CONSUMPTION and you will ease the pain coming for the world.

Hi Mr. Friedman-

I watched your interview on "Morning Joe" today. I agree that an E.T revolution is the way to go! As a social worker and program director for "at-risk" youth in New York City, I see first hand just how out of the loop our students are regarding the growing challenges swallowing the world.

I also agree that we must focus our energy on cultivating the great minds of this country to push us forward, instead of relying upon past inventions and outdated thinking. So in chapter 18, you should reserve room for the innovative ideas of American youth, particularly those who are voiceless and disenfranchised. I have found it is often true that those pushed into the darkest corners possess the brightest light.

The National Charrette Institute (NCI), a non-profit I co-founded, recently launched “Sustainable Community Charrettes” (SCC), a plan to hold planning events for deserving American cities at minimal cost to them. The SCC employs the Charrette – a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, intensive community process - to produce a comprehensive plan and implementation strategies for community sustainability.

A SCC will significantly reduce the community’s carbon footprint and reliance on non-renewables; improve the community’s ability to anticipate and adapt to economic (e.g., jobs, reduce utility cost), environmental (e.g., climate, water), and social (e.g., affordable housing, public health) changes; and help the community forge a community-authored policy and regulatory framework to achieve the desired outcomes. The services and products would be adjusted to reflect the community’s funding, needs, and capacity for leadership and support.

In California, the Dept. of Conservation, Water Resources, Cal-Trans, and the Institute for Local Government plus several non-profits will collaborate on our first SCC in Tracy following resolution by their Council. The Tracy SCC will allow us to work out the ‘bugs’ and develop a customizable template applicable for communities around the country, including software. For the roll-out, we will issue RFP’s to cities interested in holding an SCC, starting on the West Coast.

Please let me know if our program might be of interest to your efforts.

Sir

I saw you in person at my University. I completely agree with your message. For the 18th chapter, I would suggest you talk about how we can avoid running away from our problems- as we have been doing about the Energy Crisis. Its not only the USA, but a whole lot of people over the world. Could you address you we can start bringing that in our discourse. i feel the "conservatives" just keep that "hunky dory" image to hide the fact from the real people. You are so right that the public knows that there is a problem- and it is a women's suffrage type of problem. But as "internet activists" and backyard recyclers, we know we can do as much as we can- so we now need direction to keep it on. It would be nice if you wrote a 20 ways you can help note in your book- because we do want to do something. Tell us somethign grassroots- if to start with.

Tom, I too saw you on Charley Rose,the passion is real the time is right, we have to save the earth.I remember when there was a black out I think in the north east
the prez was going to get to work on the "grid" I watch a lot of news and I have
seen not a thing.and you know it goes on and on,maybe 100 advanced thinking persons
standing with Senator O'Bama "the Irish spelling" would give the World a thoughtful moment,
Your Friend
Jim

Mr. Friedman...After reading your books,
and having just started HOt, Flat, and
Crowded...I have decided that you
MUST run for president of the United
States...save our country and the rest of the world...THANKS

I watched the Charlie Rose interview at 3 am. I sent an e mail to David Plouffe (campaign manager for Barack Obama) at 9 am. I am in complete agreement that Obama has not projected his passion to the US people. I believe he would be the better of the two candidates yet I still think I will write in Tom Friedman as my candidate for President this November.

This week I heard your interview on "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross concerning America's oil addiction. It was so compelling that I called family members saying "Quick, turn on NPR!" My concern, however, is that you are "preaching to the choir." I think a major obstacle to getting the rest of the congregation alarmed is complacency encouraged by mainstream media. Yet the idea that our politicians take money from oil company lobbyists to encourage more oil dependence here which in turn enriches Middle Eastern dictators who turn around and finance terrorists who turn around and carry out "9/11s" on us is one that vividly describes our no 1 security problem. There must be a way to get this message out to voters.

I agree with the above comments completely. The question is how can we get the Obama campaign to start hammering away ?

I don't normally join these discussions, but just saw your interview with Charlie Rose and feel compelled to add my comments. Recent events are making me fearful that the American people will again be swayed into electing a President that is hog-tied to the oil interests of the world.

I am a technical person who was trained in the nuclear industry 50 years ago, and have a good understanding of physics, electrical energy production and power transmission. I lost my love for Nuclear Power many years ago when I realized there was no good solution for the problem of nuclear waste disposal and started looking at alternate energy solutions.

It has become evident to me over the last few years that the only solution to our energy problems would have to come from alternate energy sources, with solar, wind and geothermal leading the way. These are solutions that are developed and ready to go. The only reason they haven't taken off in this country is the huge lobbying done by the oil interests. Moves to extend the alternate energy tax credits are blocked, political careers are threatened, strong advocates such as Al Gore and Michael Moore are ridiculed.

Some of the worst offenses though are committed by the media. Most reports about the energy crisis seen in the mainstream media focus directly on oil and nuclear. When alternate sources are mentioned, the focus is usually on ethanol from midwestern corn, with barely a mention of solar, wind and geothermal.

Germany recognized the energy problem several years ago and instituted the 100,000 roof plan to create 100,000 entrepeneurs in 10 years. It was so successful, the parliament tried to eliminate the subsidy early, but the backlash was so great, they were forced to scale back their early subsidy cancellation.

I was convinced that Obama had a similar plan in the works and have heard some hints of it, but unless he wins in November, we won't have a chance of having anything more than a tighter grip by the oil industry.

Unless you and some other powerful advocates, who can see the handwiting on the wall can get to Obama and his campaign, and convince him that this is probably the single most important issue of the Presidential campaign, and it needs to be presented to the American public in a strong, clear and effective manner, you won't need to write Chapter 18. It will be too late!

Mr. Friedman.
Why are so many of us inventors suppressed.?I have designed a car that runs on air,just compressed air.We have designed an alternate fuel from a 650,000,000 ton a year minimum ;current landfill waste.I have designed a semi trailer that weighs 3800 lbs.,lighter than current models.We have a method to store solar power for when the sun is down.Residential v.o.c. monitors..At Absolute; we are not Einsteins ,Edisons or Bell`s .We just care and invent real Solutions.
Corporately I go back to 1972,,When it wasn`t cool to be green.The ideas go back that far,and to date.
Please The problem seems to be there are no investors willing to invest.
Would willingly move our technologies south.Out of all the green investors out there maybe with your help one will find us. Thank you,,Not asleep at the wheel..
Harley.
Absolute Waste Solutions Inc.