So that no one has an excuse not to get involved, I've looked up some information about Saturday's Democratic Precinct Caucus...
For one, if you have no idea what a "Precinct Caucus" is (I didn't), you should start out at the Washington State Democrat Party's FAQ.
For two, you can look up where you should go to vote here.
And if you're really excited about change and being a part of it, you can sign up to volunteer by going to this page and filling out the form. For example, maybe after the 2004 Election, you felt particularly motivated to get involved. Well this is your chance!
So you know what a Precinct Caucus is, and you know where to go on Saturday, but whom do you vote for? Well there are lots of issues, but for me the question of where we get our energy after we run out of oil, and how we combat climate change are the most important issues. If you're like most Americans, you evidently care mostly about the economy. Well here's a great argument for why voting for a President should not be about the economy (hint: they don't have any control over it).
Obama has this outline page entitled "Energy & Environment." I think this is a great way to organize policy, but I haven't read much yet. Hilary has organized her outline page under the title "Energy Independence & Global Warming" which I have to say is a less inspired viewpoint. I think tying our interests in averting global warming to our fear/hatred of Islamic extremists is a particularly Republican way to frame things. In the end, she may be right. Global Warming has been in newspapers regularly for 10 years with very little public interest, so it might take fear to bring this issue to the fore. That said, I think there are a few arguments against this practice.
For one, I think Americans are at a fatigue point with the whole Iraq War, so linking this "new issue" with one that they have been beaten over the head with for 5 years might not get them all that excited or motivated about your issue. For two, I think it's best to focus on one message and one motive for changing our energy infrastructure, and both Clinton and Obama have already figured out a way to connect the all-important economy issue to the challenge of mitigating climate change -- they just need to stick to it!
The message is this: We need to become a renewable energy-based society because this is energy produced in America by Americans. New research, building new power plants, creating new energy infrastructure, modifying homes for efficiency and sustainability, and microgeneration (producing your own power) are all areas that will require new jobs that cannot be outsourced. And that's just the start. If we phase out oil and coal use, all automobiles will need to be replaced or upgraded, mass transit systems will need to be built, and electronics will need to be re-engineered to reduce plastics (and heavy metals). It's a lot of hard work, but it's all highly paid hard work, and this is what drives economies. Al Gore knows this and is working with massive venture capital firm KPCB to support companies working towards green solutions.
China has also come to this realization and are beginning to build some creative solutions including an entire city built from the ground up to be completely self-sustaining. The issue can be shaped as friendly competition with the Chinese for who can do the best by being the greenest. It's selfish capitalism turned on its head, but it needs to be pushed by the government.
For one, if you have no idea what a "Precinct Caucus" is (I didn't), you should start out at the Washington State Democrat Party's FAQ.
For two, you can look up where you should go to vote here.
And if you're really excited about change and being a part of it, you can sign up to volunteer by going to this page and filling out the form. For example, maybe after the 2004 Election, you felt particularly motivated to get involved. Well this is your chance!
So you know what a Precinct Caucus is, and you know where to go on Saturday, but whom do you vote for? Well there are lots of issues, but for me the question of where we get our energy after we run out of oil, and how we combat climate change are the most important issues. If you're like most Americans, you evidently care mostly about the economy. Well here's a great argument for why voting for a President should not be about the economy (hint: they don't have any control over it).
Obama has this outline page entitled "Energy & Environment." I think this is a great way to organize policy, but I haven't read much yet. Hilary has organized her outline page under the title "Energy Independence & Global Warming" which I have to say is a less inspired viewpoint. I think tying our interests in averting global warming to our fear/hatred of Islamic extremists is a particularly Republican way to frame things. In the end, she may be right. Global Warming has been in newspapers regularly for 10 years with very little public interest, so it might take fear to bring this issue to the fore. That said, I think there are a few arguments against this practice.
For one, I think Americans are at a fatigue point with the whole Iraq War, so linking this "new issue" with one that they have been beaten over the head with for 5 years might not get them all that excited or motivated about your issue. For two, I think it's best to focus on one message and one motive for changing our energy infrastructure, and both Clinton and Obama have already figured out a way to connect the all-important economy issue to the challenge of mitigating climate change -- they just need to stick to it!
The message is this: We need to become a renewable energy-based society because this is energy produced in America by Americans. New research, building new power plants, creating new energy infrastructure, modifying homes for efficiency and sustainability, and microgeneration (producing your own power) are all areas that will require new jobs that cannot be outsourced. And that's just the start. If we phase out oil and coal use, all automobiles will need to be replaced or upgraded, mass transit systems will need to be built, and electronics will need to be re-engineered to reduce plastics (and heavy metals). It's a lot of hard work, but it's all highly paid hard work, and this is what drives economies. Al Gore knows this and is working with massive venture capital firm KPCB to support companies working towards green solutions.
China has also come to this realization and are beginning to build some creative solutions including an entire city built from the ground up to be completely self-sustaining. The issue can be shaped as friendly competition with the Chinese for who can do the best by being the greenest. It's selfish capitalism turned on its head, but it needs to be pushed by the government.
Free trade and capitalism alone have a very bad track record of bringing about societal change. If it weren't for the government, automakers wouldn't have put seatbelts in cars, and if Congress hadn’t mandated CAFE standards in 1975, the fuel economy of most cars would still be at Ford Model T levels (some say they still are!). This might explain why fuel economy has increased only marginally over the last 25 years -- the time period in which computers, the internet, cellular/mobile phones were all invented and popularized to the point that children in Sub-Saharan Africa are now provided with laptops connected to wireless internet through mobile networks.
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