As we celebrate one of Christendom's most sacred holidays today, it only seems fitting to depart from my secular commentary to wish everyone of all religions, faiths and persuasions a most joyous Easter Sunday regardless of whether or not you share the popular Christian belief in the actual events of that day some 2,000 years ago. To me it is all about love, forgiveness, renewal, hope, grace and salvation as ordained by God or other higher being, which seems to be a central tenant of all religions, to bring about a more abundant life for us all. In the early 1950's Bishop Fulton J. Sheen began his famous "Life is Worth Living" television series in which I can still remember him quoting the famous John 10:10 passage - "I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly".
But in our contemporary world, perhaps the best expression of the true meaning of Easter was made by President Obama in his brief weekly address yesterday which I invite you to both read and watch at wcbstv.com/national/Obama.easter.message.2.1609494.html . Surely, we can all agree with the essence of his message relating to the common purpose of the "family of man" to aspire for a more meaningful life. In addition we here in Little Rock can carry that Easter spirit of renewal a step further by enjoying and sharing with our family and friends the rebirth of nature blooming all around us during one of the most beautiful times of the year, as seen in the budding azaleas, redbuds, dogwoods, forsythias, jonquils and tulips. In short, simply pause and take stock of our many blessings and what is truly important in our lives, in my view.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
On the Horns of a Dilemma
Last month, on February 25th, I had the pleasure of listening to an extraordinary presentation by Mr. Claiborne Deming, former president and CEO of Murphy Oil Company in El Dorado, on the subject of climate change. While there are those who think climate change, also known as global warming, is fiction, Mr. Deming made a powerful and persuasive argument that we are experiencing that phenomenon by our increased use of fossil fuels due to a variety of factors, not the least of which are population growth and increased wealth. While he presented a vast amount of research data to back up his thesis, I came away with the following basic understanding of his message, but please go to http://clintonschool.uasys.edu and click on Distinguished Speakers to watch a video of his full presentation and judge for yourself.
1. There is a relatively finite amount of total energy output world-wide of 400 quadrillion BTUs that will remain relatively constant for the next twenty years.
2. Wealthier people consume more energy per capita than less wealthy people.
3. As a result of #2 above, we in the United States consume 25% of that total output, even though we only have 5% of the world population.
4. The world temperature is on an upward trend thought to be caused by the increased use of fossil fuels.
5. The emerging nations of China, India, Indonesia and Brazil are increasing in both population and wealth much faster than we are and, therefore, will be consuming not only more energy per capita but a greater share of that total energy output in the future.
6. Because of their relatively low cost and abundant supply, fossil fuels, principally coal which emits some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide, will remain the primary source of energy for these nations in the foreseeable future which will only exacerbate the climate change problem.
7. We must find affordable alternatives to fill that gap between that total available energy and the ever increasing demand that is rapidly shifting that finite supply to other nations.
In regard to Mr. Deming's conclusions as to how we as individuals and collectively as a nation address what he terms as a huge "dilemma", I understood them to be:
1. Practice conservation.
2. Increase efficiency.
3. Pursue renewable resources like wind and solar.
4. Make more use of our immense natural gas supplies.
5. Build more nuclear power plants.
The fact that of the 53 nuclear power plants currently under construction in the world today none are being built in the United States is astounding but not surprising to me. No doubt that extended hiatus is related to the regulatory obstacles and fear that have stifled such development since the Three Mile Island incident thirty-one years ago yesterday on March 28, 1979, the history of which you can read in great detail at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html. France, where 85% of its power generation is nuclear, figured this out decades ago. Additionally, I feel we must also rely on brand new technologies like the Bloom Box which was profiled in a "60 Minutes" story on February 21st, and has been written up in the New York Times, the Los Angeles and many other publications including our own Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, to help solve this problem. Wal-Mart, Bank of America, Federal Express and Google all now use it as a power source, so it is obviously a creditable technology that is fascinating to read about at http://bloomenergy.com. And, finally, we must definitely examine the total disconnect in public policy that apparently allows new coal-fired power plants to be built when those being fueled by natural gas, a cleaner energy source also found in abundant supply in this country, are currently operating at 50% capacity nation-wide and one in southern Arkansas at only 24% (Mr. Deming's statistics), in my view.
NOTE: "Down to the Wire: Climate Policy Alternatives" will be the subject of another timely presentation on climate change at the Clinton School of Public Policy at 6:00 pm Wednesday evening, March 31st.
1. There is a relatively finite amount of total energy output world-wide of 400 quadrillion BTUs that will remain relatively constant for the next twenty years.
2. Wealthier people consume more energy per capita than less wealthy people.
3. As a result of #2 above, we in the United States consume 25% of that total output, even though we only have 5% of the world population.
4. The world temperature is on an upward trend thought to be caused by the increased use of fossil fuels.
5. The emerging nations of China, India, Indonesia and Brazil are increasing in both population and wealth much faster than we are and, therefore, will be consuming not only more energy per capita but a greater share of that total energy output in the future.
6. Because of their relatively low cost and abundant supply, fossil fuels, principally coal which emits some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide, will remain the primary source of energy for these nations in the foreseeable future which will only exacerbate the climate change problem.
7. We must find affordable alternatives to fill that gap between that total available energy and the ever increasing demand that is rapidly shifting that finite supply to other nations.
In regard to Mr. Deming's conclusions as to how we as individuals and collectively as a nation address what he terms as a huge "dilemma", I understood them to be:
1. Practice conservation.
2. Increase efficiency.
3. Pursue renewable resources like wind and solar.
4. Make more use of our immense natural gas supplies.
5. Build more nuclear power plants.
The fact that of the 53 nuclear power plants currently under construction in the world today none are being built in the United States is astounding but not surprising to me. No doubt that extended hiatus is related to the regulatory obstacles and fear that have stifled such development since the Three Mile Island incident thirty-one years ago yesterday on March 28, 1979, the history of which you can read in great detail at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html. France, where 85% of its power generation is nuclear, figured this out decades ago. Additionally, I feel we must also rely on brand new technologies like the Bloom Box which was profiled in a "60 Minutes" story on February 21st, and has been written up in the New York Times, the Los Angeles and many other publications including our own Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, to help solve this problem. Wal-Mart, Bank of America, Federal Express and Google all now use it as a power source, so it is obviously a creditable technology that is fascinating to read about at http://bloomenergy.com. And, finally, we must definitely examine the total disconnect in public policy that apparently allows new coal-fired power plants to be built when those being fueled by natural gas, a cleaner energy source also found in abundant supply in this country, are currently operating at 50% capacity nation-wide and one in southern Arkansas at only 24% (Mr. Deming's statistics), in my view.
NOTE: "Down to the Wire: Climate Policy Alternatives" will be the subject of another timely presentation on climate change at the Clinton School of Public Policy at 6:00 pm Wednesday evening, March 31st.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Doing the Right Thing
It's confession time. I had already drafted a blog on a totally different subject when the announcement of the passage of our nation's first comprehensive health care reform legislation hit the news yesterday. This is simply an achievement too big and timely to ignore and not offer some commentary on, particularly after a year of heated debate and rhetoric that has further divided this country and destroyed what David Brooks calls "The Spirit of Sympathy" (read his column in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette or go to
http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch?query=David+Brooks&srchst=cse ).
How can one not be excited by the fact that after almost 100 years of trying, this country has finally joined the rest of the industrialized world in providing health care for most of our citizens, including the over 30 million Americans who currently have none at all. Yes, I've listened to all of the arguments that it will socialize our health care system (think Medicare) and bankrupt our country in the process. But what about families that are being personally bankrupted as a direct result of not having any health care coverage who will now be able to get it? Or finally prohibiting those who have a major medical condition from being thrown out of an insurance plan, a situation with which I have had personal experience? Or having a child with a preexisting condition who will now be able to get health insurance? Or having no cap on lifetime benefits? Or closing the troublesome donut hole in the prescription drug coverage? Or addressing the rising health care costs in the United States? Are these benefits of this new law really the ingredients of the "Armageddon" predicted by the current House Minority Leader? The sun still rose in the east this morning, and will no doubt set in the west.
Of course this plan is not perfect. But, as our President has stated many times over the past year, you do not go for the perfect at the expense of the good, and the good of HR4872 far outweighs any bad. Just as with other major legislation passed throughout our history (e.g. National Parks, Women's Voting Rights, Social Security, Medicare, Civil Rights, etc.), this country will be much better off with the passage of this transformational legislation simply because it is the right thing to do, in my view.
http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch?query=David+Brooks&srchst=cse ).
How can one not be excited by the fact that after almost 100 years of trying, this country has finally joined the rest of the industrialized world in providing health care for most of our citizens, including the over 30 million Americans who currently have none at all. Yes, I've listened to all of the arguments that it will socialize our health care system (think Medicare) and bankrupt our country in the process. But what about families that are being personally bankrupted as a direct result of not having any health care coverage who will now be able to get it? Or finally prohibiting those who have a major medical condition from being thrown out of an insurance plan, a situation with which I have had personal experience? Or having a child with a preexisting condition who will now be able to get health insurance? Or having no cap on lifetime benefits? Or closing the troublesome donut hole in the prescription drug coverage? Or addressing the rising health care costs in the United States? Are these benefits of this new law really the ingredients of the "Armageddon" predicted by the current House Minority Leader? The sun still rose in the east this morning, and will no doubt set in the west.
Of course this plan is not perfect. But, as our President has stated many times over the past year, you do not go for the perfect at the expense of the good, and the good of HR4872 far outweighs any bad. Just as with other major legislation passed throughout our history (e.g. National Parks, Women's Voting Rights, Social Security, Medicare, Civil Rights, etc.), this country will be much better off with the passage of this transformational legislation simply because it is the right thing to do, in my view.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Homelessness Uninterupted
As a follow-up to one of the anonymous comments generated by last week's blog, I fully understand the concept of replacement dollars of the proposed city sales tax for our parks and zoo, but the phrase "for other needs" gives me pause. In addition to where, when and how the anticipated increase in this new park/zoo tax will be spent on those facilities, it would be nice to know within some degree of identification what those other needs might be. In addition to infrastructure mentioned last week, let me suggest another - the homeless day resource center about which so much has been discussed and written for years.
Even though it is unclear just how many new dollars will be generated for these other needs by this proposed new tax, I think there would be strong support to dedicate a significant amount of whatever that is to our homeless problem, the face of which can be seen early most weekday mornings at the corner of Markham and Cross Streets. Although there are many divergent opinions as to what that day resource center should look like and where it should be located, let me further suggest an excellent model for replication - the Community Partnership for the Homeless, Inc.'s facility in Miami, Florida. Go to http://cphi.org to learn more. As an aside, the State of Florida enacted a food tax much like our local A&P tax that is dedicated exclusively to provide money for their homeless issue, so there may be another possible source of revenue that could be coupled with a portion of this new tax to provide a truly meaningful bundle of sustained funds for a day resource center in Little Rock. Besides the problem of funding, though, there is also the lingering obstacle of NIMBY, or "Not In My Back Yard" (a topic for a future blog) that has plagued us for years.
So, if there can be some clear explanation of exactly where, when and how all of the proposed new city sales tax dollars will be spent before the park/zoo tax is voted on perhaps later this year, it may well be our best hope to address not only the parks and zoo, but many of those yet unidentified other needs of our city including a goal to interrupt homelessness . If so, it may well warrant the description of "a smart proposal" which most citizens, including me, would support, in my view.
Even though it is unclear just how many new dollars will be generated for these other needs by this proposed new tax, I think there would be strong support to dedicate a significant amount of whatever that is to our homeless problem, the face of which can be seen early most weekday mornings at the corner of Markham and Cross Streets. Although there are many divergent opinions as to what that day resource center should look like and where it should be located, let me further suggest an excellent model for replication - the Community Partnership for the Homeless, Inc.'s facility in Miami, Florida. Go to http://cphi.org to learn more. As an aside, the State of Florida enacted a food tax much like our local A&P tax that is dedicated exclusively to provide money for their homeless issue, so there may be another possible source of revenue that could be coupled with a portion of this new tax to provide a truly meaningful bundle of sustained funds for a day resource center in Little Rock. Besides the problem of funding, though, there is also the lingering obstacle of NIMBY, or "Not In My Back Yard" (a topic for a future blog) that has plagued us for years.
So, if there can be some clear explanation of exactly where, when and how all of the proposed new city sales tax dollars will be spent before the park/zoo tax is voted on perhaps later this year, it may well be our best hope to address not only the parks and zoo, but many of those yet unidentified other needs of our city including a goal to interrupt homelessness . If so, it may well warrant the description of "a smart proposal" which most citizens, including me, would support, in my view.
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