A recent Truthout.org article called "Beyond Scarcity: Reinventing Wealth in a Progressive Society" shares different perspectives of wealth.
The article points out different definitions and understandings of wealth -
"Wealth is Well-being
Wealth is seen as the well-being of individuals, society and the earth. Wealth is already present in nature; it is not "created." Clean air and water, strong communities and fertile soils are inherently valuable because our well-being depends on them - independent of markets.
In this view, to "do good" is a form of wealth preservation. We can see this with a form of common wealth that we all depend upon - the air we breathe. The logic works like this:
1. Wealth is anything that creates well-being.
2. Clean air increases well-being, so it is a form of wealth.
3. Dirtying the air reduces well-being, so it is a loss of wealth.
4. Keeping the air clean is preserving wealth.
Put another way, as progressives we recognize that even the hardest working person will starve if there is no food. Conversely, we believe that the Good Life is about more than money (beautifully depicted in this video by Free Range Studios)."
Here's the video - which narrates the classic story I heard first from my first spiritual teacher Swami Muktananda.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 09, 2009
Green Stimulus Package - details from Green Dig!
Karl Burkhart creator of the excellent blog "Green Dig" -outlines some of the high points of his article on MNN - "The Green Stimulus Package Decoded"
* The Department of Energy’s appropriation jumps dramatically upward, from a typical $2 billion annual budget for EERE (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) to $14.4 billion. With this increased funding comes a dramatic shift in DOE operations. Normally, that $2 billion is used mostly to cover R&D. No money goes out for implementation except for a few grants. Now the DOE will distribute the money to grant applicants directly, adding their decades of expertise to on-the-ground implementation.
* Finally the restrictive $2000 cap was removed from an existing law that provides a 30 percent tax rebate for building owners installing solar systems. The cap made the bill almost irrelevant, and lifting it is expected to dramatically spur adoption of solar. It also is broadened to include other systems like geothermal.
* $7 billion will go directly to upgrading and retrofitting federal buildings to higher levels of water and energy efficiency. This is geared towards rapidly creating green jobs.
* $6.5 billion will go into revamping the nation’s energy grid. Right now the U.S. is a 21st century civilization powered by an early 20th century electrical grid (metaphorically it’s a bit like having our freeway system paved in dirt). This appropriation will upgrade the grid to allow the expansion of intermittent power sources like solar and wind, though there are some skeptics.
* $22 billion in tax breaks spread over 10 years (not counting accelerated depreciations) will give companies an incentive to implement EERE.
* $60 billion in load guarantees will be run out of DOE backing the expansion of new energy companies. The federal government becomes 10 percent backer of the loan, providing a reduced interest rate, much like a T-bill. Some of this will go to emergent technologies like nuclear and cellulosic biomass and, yes, “clean coal.”
* $4.2 billion for block grants for EERE inside the DOE’s $14.4 billion. Half of this money, $2.1 billion, will go right to the states for community development awarded based on population and will include local and tribal government projects (casinos excluded!). The other half will be competitively awarded, with priority given to projects that incorporate energy efficiency and include broad coalitions, such as groups of cities.
* Ways & Means repaired another tax problem that prohibited taking the renewable energy tax credit if other sources of funding, like county financing, were received. Congressman Mike Thompson succeeded in spearheading he reversal of this IRS ruling.
There are some additional moneys coming down the pipeline, most notably…
* The Clean Counties Grant Program. Here NOCa was highly effective working with decision makers on the Hill to incorporate a special program inside the upcoming Energy Bill (not part of the Recovery Bill). The grant program is a huge victory in breaking down the barriers between technologies. Normally, if an applicant wanted to do both solar and water conservation, they would have to apply twice to two different entities. Now the grant will no longer be segmented by technology, but rather be fundable as an integrated whole.
* $3.2 billion for qualified environmental conservation bonds awarded at the county level based on population.
* Senator Waxman is hard at work on a Clean Air Bill that is expected to come up for a vote in the Spring. Details are not yet available, but it is widely expected that a cap & trade system will be put in place, allowing renewable energy producers to raise additional funds by selling carbon credits to manufacturers who will now be subject to a cap on their greenhouse gas emissions.
* The Department of Energy’s appropriation jumps dramatically upward, from a typical $2 billion annual budget for EERE (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) to $14.4 billion. With this increased funding comes a dramatic shift in DOE operations. Normally, that $2 billion is used mostly to cover R&D. No money goes out for implementation except for a few grants. Now the DOE will distribute the money to grant applicants directly, adding their decades of expertise to on-the-ground implementation.
* Finally the restrictive $2000 cap was removed from an existing law that provides a 30 percent tax rebate for building owners installing solar systems. The cap made the bill almost irrelevant, and lifting it is expected to dramatically spur adoption of solar. It also is broadened to include other systems like geothermal.
* $7 billion will go directly to upgrading and retrofitting federal buildings to higher levels of water and energy efficiency. This is geared towards rapidly creating green jobs.
* $6.5 billion will go into revamping the nation’s energy grid. Right now the U.S. is a 21st century civilization powered by an early 20th century electrical grid (metaphorically it’s a bit like having our freeway system paved in dirt). This appropriation will upgrade the grid to allow the expansion of intermittent power sources like solar and wind, though there are some skeptics.
* $22 billion in tax breaks spread over 10 years (not counting accelerated depreciations) will give companies an incentive to implement EERE.
* $60 billion in load guarantees will be run out of DOE backing the expansion of new energy companies. The federal government becomes 10 percent backer of the loan, providing a reduced interest rate, much like a T-bill. Some of this will go to emergent technologies like nuclear and cellulosic biomass and, yes, “clean coal.”
* $4.2 billion for block grants for EERE inside the DOE’s $14.4 billion. Half of this money, $2.1 billion, will go right to the states for community development awarded based on population and will include local and tribal government projects (casinos excluded!). The other half will be competitively awarded, with priority given to projects that incorporate energy efficiency and include broad coalitions, such as groups of cities.
* Ways & Means repaired another tax problem that prohibited taking the renewable energy tax credit if other sources of funding, like county financing, were received. Congressman Mike Thompson succeeded in spearheading he reversal of this IRS ruling.
There are some additional moneys coming down the pipeline, most notably…
* The Clean Counties Grant Program. Here NOCa was highly effective working with decision makers on the Hill to incorporate a special program inside the upcoming Energy Bill (not part of the Recovery Bill). The grant program is a huge victory in breaking down the barriers between technologies. Normally, if an applicant wanted to do both solar and water conservation, they would have to apply twice to two different entities. Now the grant will no longer be segmented by technology, but rather be fundable as an integrated whole.
* $3.2 billion for qualified environmental conservation bonds awarded at the county level based on population.
* Senator Waxman is hard at work on a Clean Air Bill that is expected to come up for a vote in the Spring. Details are not yet available, but it is widely expected that a cap & trade system will be put in place, allowing renewable energy producers to raise additional funds by selling carbon credits to manufacturers who will now be subject to a cap on their greenhouse gas emissions.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
The problem with single issue movements - ECONOMICS
Wendell Berry wrote this article in Resurgence Magazine on the shortcomings of single issue movements a number of years ago - yet it applies.
"Essay : In Distrust of Movements by Wendell Berry
The movements which deal with single issues or single solutions are bound to fail because they cannot control effects while leaving causes in place."
In it he describes some of the core challenges to any single issue movement...
He lays out some conditions:
"... My first condition is that this movement should begin by giving up all hope and belief in piecemeal, one-shot solutions...
My second condition is that the people in this movement (the mtewiid) should take full responsibility for themselves as members of the economy.
...My third condition is that this movement should content itself to be poor. We need to find cheap solutions, solutions within the reach of everybody, and the availability of a lot of money prevents the discovery of cheap solutions...."
And I especially like his comments in support of local economy:
"If it is unreasonable to expect a bad economy to try to become a good one, then we must go to work to build a good economy. It is appropriate that this duty should fall to us, for good economic behaviour is more possible for us than it is for the great corporations with their miseducated managers and their greedy and oblivious stockholders. Because it is possible for us, we must try in every way we can to make good economic sense in our own lives, in our households, and in our communities. We must do more for ourselves and our neighbours. We must learn to spend our money with our friends and not with our enemies. But to do this it is necessary to renew local economies and revive the domestic arts."
Bottom line - the entire article is worth the read.
"Essay : In Distrust of Movements by Wendell Berry
The movements which deal with single issues or single solutions are bound to fail because they cannot control effects while leaving causes in place."
In it he describes some of the core challenges to any single issue movement...
He lays out some conditions:
"... My first condition is that this movement should begin by giving up all hope and belief in piecemeal, one-shot solutions...
My second condition is that the people in this movement (the mtewiid) should take full responsibility for themselves as members of the economy.
...My third condition is that this movement should content itself to be poor. We need to find cheap solutions, solutions within the reach of everybody, and the availability of a lot of money prevents the discovery of cheap solutions...."
And I especially like his comments in support of local economy:
"If it is unreasonable to expect a bad economy to try to become a good one, then we must go to work to build a good economy. It is appropriate that this duty should fall to us, for good economic behaviour is more possible for us than it is for the great corporations with their miseducated managers and their greedy and oblivious stockholders. Because it is possible for us, we must try in every way we can to make good economic sense in our own lives, in our households, and in our communities. We must do more for ourselves and our neighbours. We must learn to spend our money with our friends and not with our enemies. But to do this it is necessary to renew local economies and revive the domestic arts."
Bottom line - the entire article is worth the read.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Report "High Road or Low Road - Job Quality in the Green Economy"
A report analyzing job quality in the new green economy.
The report outlines the challenges and opportunities faced in uniting labor interests and environmental stewardship. There is an opportunity in creating jobs that are good paying and improve quality of life and environmental performance.
"There is a significant ray of hope amid the current economic gloom: it goes by the name of green jobs. ACer several years of calls by advocacy groups for major public investments in a clean-energy revolution, the federal government now appears ready to include large sums for projects involving renewable energy, mass transit, energy efficiency and modernization of the nation’s electrical grid in the massive economic recovery and reinvestment plan being devised by Congress."
The report outlines the challenges and opportunities faced in uniting labor interests and environmental stewardship. There is an opportunity in creating jobs that are good paying and improve quality of life and environmental performance.
"There is a significant ray of hope amid the current economic gloom: it goes by the name of green jobs. ACer several years of calls by advocacy groups for major public investments in a clean-energy revolution, the federal government now appears ready to include large sums for projects involving renewable energy, mass transit, energy efficiency and modernization of the nation’s electrical grid in the massive economic recovery and reinvestment plan being devised by Congress."
Sunday, February 01, 2009
"Agenda for a New Economy From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth"
I'm looking forward to getting David Korten's New Book - "Today’s economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. However, as David Korten shows, the steps being taken to address it – including pouring trillions of dollars into bailouts for the Wall Street institutions that created the mess – do nothing to deal with the reality of a failed economic system. It’s like treating cancer with band aids. And the financial collapse now in the public spotlight is only the tip of the iceberg. The system’s social and environmental failures may ultimately be even more destructive."
"Korten identifies the deeper sources of the failure: Wall Street institutions that have perfected the art of creating phantom “wealth” without producing anything of real value. Its major players engage in speculative trading, buy into asset bubbles, create debt pyramids, and engage in predatory lending practices. Their seeming success created an economic mirage that led us to believe the economy was expanding exponentially, even as our economic, social, and natural capital eroded and most people struggled ever harder to make ends meet."
What others are saying about Agenda for a New Economy
The story behind the book
Our hope lies not with Wall Street, Korten argues, but with Main Street, which creates real wealth from real resources to meet real needs. He outlines an agenda to liberate the latent entrepreneurial energies of Main Street from Wall Street’s deadly grip and bring into being a new economy—locally based, community-oriented, and devoted to creating a better life for all, not simply increasing profits. It will require courageous and imaginative changes to how we measure economic success, organize our financial system, even the very way we create money. Korten outlines a challenging, but practical agenda summarized at the end of the book in his version of the economic address to the nation he wishes Barak Obama were able to deliver.
Korten’s intention is not to offer final answers, but rather to provoke discussion of options that powerful interests prefer not be mentioned. These interests devised the system that has brought us to the brink of ruin. It’s time to turn away from the Wall Street system of phantom wealth and return to an economy firmly rooted in the long-term health of people and the planet.
Contents
Preface
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