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Today's Top News
A Solar Victory and Military Defeat at the White House
Five things are certain about solar panels going back on the White House roof:
* They won't generate nuclear waste;
* They won't be targets for terrorists hoping cause an atomic holocaust;
* They'll be working many years before any new atomic reactor could be built;
* They'll deliver usable heat and electricity far more cheaply than new nuclear plants;
* They'll make the US that much freer from the oil addiction that fuels our disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The great unknown: could this solar power zap Team Obama with the courage to confront the nuclear/military madness now destroying our nation?
These new panels go far beyond what Jimmy Carter installed and then Ronald Reagan tore down. Carter's $30,000 rig was installed in 1979 to heat water, which it did.
Reagan's 1986 tear-down defined his assault on the green power industry on behalf of King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes & Gas).
We at Greenpeace marched with many others in 1991, at the launch of the first Gulf War, demanding George H.W. Bush reinstall the panels. He wouldn't.
We asked the same of Bill Clinton. He wouldn't either.
George W. Bush did quietly install some solar features on the White House.
After a first refusal, Obama says he'll now re-instate solar water heating to the White House roof, AND will add photo-voltaic cells that will generate electricity.
Team Obama is clearly responding to the anger of the Democratic base, which expects the White House to be truly green.
This includes ferocious opposition to atomic energy. The administration recently granted $8.33 billion in loan guarantees for a double-reactor scam in Georgia. Barely underway, the project has already emitted $100 million in hikes for the state's ratepayers. The builders are now asking for an extra $1 billion. Endless delays and cost overruns are as certain here as they were for the "first generation" of reactors, and as are now being endured in Finland and France.
But Steven Chu's Department of Energy may want still more guarantees for yet another disastrous reactor project in Maryland, Texas or South Carolina. And Obama has pushed Congress to hand more money to a failed industry efficient and reliable only in wasting billions of public dollars.
Can we dream that the new solar panels will zap some green sense into Obama's energy planners?
Likewise the military. Obama's magic opportunity came when he "evaluated" escalating the war in Afghanistan, which is now officially ten years old, the longest in US history.
But through weeks of deliberations, he met only with "experts" in suits and uniforms. He never talked with his once-ardent and hopeful supporters in the grassroots movements for peace, justice and environmental preservation.
Now we read, from Bob Woodward and others, that the generals refused to even provide the President with the exit strategy he requested.
Who runs this country? The civilians or the military?
Obama's tragic decision to escalate robbed the nation of the resources needed to rebuild our economy and employment.
So the Democrats now stumble blind into mid-term elections, void of a vision that shines with any real hope for an economic turn-around.
Restoring solar power to the White House is a tiny but tangible step toward the Solartopian future necessary to our survival.
Now must come the definitive demise of atomic power. Imagine what an amazing green-powered Earth we'd now occupy had all those billions not been squandered on that failed technology.
And we need a fearless focus on the gargantuan military budget that cripples our moral and fiscal core. Imagine what Obama's Nobel Prize speech -- and mid-term election prospects -- might resemble had he begun that process rather than jumping in to the Afghan quagmire.
We've been a quarter-century fighting to restore those solar panels to the White House roof. We seem to have won that one.
Given what we've seen of this administration, it might seem delusional to think it would seriously confront the nuke/military madness.
But we are winners as well as dreamers. And without that happening, we don't survive.
- Posted in
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43 Comments so far
Show AllObama has completely rendered his Nobel Peace Prize - MEANINGLESS!!!!!!!!!!
Whups -- I should have replied, and referred, to FrankS's comment. My apologies.
mr. wasserman, i plan to SURVIVE without DREAMING that the pigs will fly out of my butt.
Come on Harvey, cheerleading for corporate democrats to go green is like trying to change the spots on a leopard, it ain't going to happen! If you want a green revolution, than you need to elect green politicians, not corporate sycophants! If you want change you have to stop supporting the center right in this country and do a hard left, otherwise you are just bashing your head against the wall! Tell us Harvey, does bashing your head against the wall feel good to you?
Yeah, right, the military will be 'green' and flush with money and while the country is bankrupted. That's what I call a nightmare. How can you find 'hope' in such treachery?
A happy green military is kind of like a STD free rapist.
Poor Harvey. He gives himself away as an Obama cheerleader who has yet to come to grips with the delusional nature of his original assumptions.
He thinks Obama should have talked to his grassroots supporters and that's why Afghanistan is a mess?
Mr Wasserman, Obama could have talked with the anti-war congresscritters from Barbara Lee to Ron Paul. He could have talked with prominent anti-war commentators like Justin Raimondo or Andrew Bacevich on the right to Tom Englehart or Noam Chomsky on the left.
He chose to talk to no one who supported peaceful solutions. On his foreign policy team he appointed no one who supports peaceful solutions to anything. Good grief. WAKE UP!!!
Everyone has defined this garbage for what it is in the first 6 posts. Thanks!
I offer a friendly amendment to mightymite's comment -- I believe that the committee "of five persons, to be elected by the Norwegian Storting" that awarded the Peace Prize to Obama rendered the Prize "meaningless" far beyond Obama's poor power to add or detract.
I think Harvey was trying to play devil's advocate on this one.
An interesting article about the need and possibility of libertarians and progressives working together on things like this war, the drug war, civil liberties:
www.activistpost.com/2010/10/5-key principles-that-unite-populist.html
Those are the kinds libertarians I would like to work with although I would never call them tea party libertarians but civil libertarians.
Tea party style libertarians are usually the Ayn Rand genre I don't like. http://www.commondreams.org/further/2010/10/06-1
harvey wasserman
OK, everybody. Good comments. The point of the article is to emphasize, in a positive way, what needs to be done to stop the nuclear/military madness.
It's important to celebrate our victories. Solar water heating going back on the White House roof, with the addition of PV, is important and has a certain significance, as does the White House garden. Are these small victories? of course. Are they co-optable? of course. Are they better than nothing? Yes.
Do they mean the world has changed and all is now headed in the right direction? obviously not.
Do I believe Obama is going to magically come to the anti-nuke anti-military discipline we need to survive? not likely. Note the use of the word delusional at the end.
But lets take our steps one at a time. We have made significant strides in stopping nuclear power. Obama has been a huge disappointment on the nuke side, but has taken strides forward on the green energy side.
On military spending, it's been bleak. I agree with FrankS that he rendered his Nobel meaningless. Even worse, I think he embarrassed us all with a pro-war acceptance speech.
Think if he had used that opportunity to announce a Great Rethinking not only of our middle east strategy, but of our military posture overall. What a moment that might have been.
Instead we now pay the price for a tragic missed opportunity.
But what choice do we have except to continue organizing, agitating and demanding the change we really need. Obama is Obama. Our goals are far beyond anything he is now willing to do.
So we harbor no illlusions about what to expect from the White House, the Congress, the whole corporate establishment.....and we keep pushing, as hard as we can, to turn things around. We expect nothing.....but we work til we win. So what else is new?
stop pushing the wrong car.
that's new.
Harvey 12:54 ------ I agree with your posting( please delineate Oilybomber's green achievements just as to shed some light on them)
What most posters are saying is this system is too far gone to save and the Dimo's need to be shunted aside before any meaningful progress may be made in the USA.
What is good is that the Dimo Politicians have realized Oilybomber's horrific policies have alienated the base and are now mouthing platitudes inorder to lure the base back once again.
But all the typing and moaning by us posters have achieved the worthwhile effect of reenforcing our commitment to a total rejection of a failed party, Dimos.
Vote third party and make a statement.
And Harvey PV modules will still be operating when Nukes need to be decomissioned.
First, I believe Michelle Obama's garden is nothing but a PR ploy to divert us from the fact that Monsanto is running things. Second, the Nobel speech was not a missed opportunity, it was a calculated speech by someone who would accept an honor without earning it.
More importantly, pushing on Congress is a ridiculous waste of time unless you're trying to stop things. Want clean, renewable energy? STOP subsidizing oil, gas, coal, nuclear. Want low cost health care? STOP protecting the nmonopoly of the AMA and STOP increasing the budget of the evil FDA. Want industrialized food off the table? STOP subsidizing corn, wheat, soybeans and CAFO's. Got the picture?
The one on the to do list...Want campaign finance reform? SPONSOR a corporate personhood amendment.
Harvey,
I think the key questions I have for you are: are you anti-capitalist? Do you think capitalism, a system that requires infinite growth and infinite markets, is an acceptable system to live under on a finite planet? Do you really believe the ruling class will change it's imperial madness in time to reverse the ecocide we are witnessing?
Anything short of a militant, radical, anti-capitalist environmental and social justice movement is akin to erecting a solar panel on the Titanic.
"Anything short of a militant, radical, anti-capitalist environmental and social justice movement is akin to erecting a solar panel on the Titanic."
I do not know that "militant" needs to be included. "Radical" needs to be remembered for its true meaning "Of, or pertaining to, the root" as it has been co-opted to mean "far out" or "extreme."
Food not Bombs and the Rainbow Gatherings, as well as Critical Mass are probably the 3 most effective "well known" strategies for achieving the aims we share. "Yes Men" type of subversion also seems to work well.
In our day of media created consciousness, one must always consider not what your actions represent, but what they will be shown to represent. How those that control the media will choose to show something, if they show it at all. "Militant" tends to frighten most of the people who would be allies.
militant: vigorously active and aggressive, esp. in support of a cause
if we politely ask those in power to change their ways, via a reformist voting platform, then we have already lost, and we can look forward to the extinction of millions of species, possibly our own, in the future.
what is more frightening? mass extinctions or alienating privileged 1st worlders?
co-signed.
Focus on local winnable green races. And constantly pressure the Dems on war, clean energy, jobs, and environment. Hold their feet to the fire. Call Dems daily, and show up and challenge them at every public event to do the right thing.
Repugs and blue dogs are total sell outs, and must be blocked at all costs. We laid back before and got stolen elections, Repug courts, citizens united, and other corporate fascist eviscerations of our democracy.
Is Harvey really this uninformed and gullible? Or is he rather blatantly and disingenuously cheerleading for the D party? It seems the latter. Sorry to be so harsh but this appears to be more superficial clap-trap that amounts to nothing.
We are faced with huge structural, systemic problems and crises not seen in our lifetimes. We don't need more superficial and thinly-veiled sycophantic window-dressing to hide those underlying crises we are faced with. Although much of the professional punditry seems to be in overdrive doing just that.
He asks "who runs the country?" Please!
The Banksters? (and Insurance protection rackets)
BigOil?
The MIC?
BigPharma/Drugs
BigAg (Monsanto, ADM, Cargill, Weyerhauser, ConAgra etc.)
I call it the 5 families of the Corporate Mafia
"Team Obama is clearly responding to the anger of the Democratic base, which expects the White House to be truly green."
This is, yet again, another completely transparent, jaw dropping piece of Obama theatrical bullshit. It's not even insulting any longer. It's funny. Obama is such a dullard, such a boy scout while at the same time being such a smooth, cunning, back stabbing button man. Interesting combination, probably true of almost all sociopaths.
Bravo!
I have great respect for the work of GreenPeace.
However.
I am concerned that Mr. Wasserman does not see the new installation of solar panels on the White House for what it is, a blatant act of pandering which is grossly NOT a reflection of this administration's priorities. The speed of this announcement by the White House belies their actions.
This administration and their bipartisan co-conspirators have seemingly invariably fought against promoting green technologies and have promoted the idea that green technologies are too difficult, expensive, and unreliable, while they simultaneously pour billions of tax dollars into toxic energy sources. They are even promoting the great fraud of "clean coal".
So, here we must ask, What has made them change their behavior in this small regard?
Mid-term game playing.
So many people seem so eager to take this action at face value.
The only response the White House should receive is that this is not enough. This is the message they get from the Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street and it always does wonders for them.
They are putting sugar icing on a rattlesnake and then expecting us to buy it for the children.
This "government" makes Marie Antoinette seem empathic.
This is scary. That these cretins would even use such a cheap ploy to reign in a few loose votes says one hell of a lot.
Desperation.
Anyone see Axelrod on Letterman? Dunno about anyone else, but what I saw was the eyes of a scared & desperate man.
Democrats are just stupid. Hate to use that word, but they've squandered every ounce of confidence and support of everyone except the most die-hard liberals. I can only believe its stupidity or by design. I sure don't know. And I really don't care at this point.
Solar panels on the White House. What's the point? They'll be coming down in 2013 anyway.
cheap they are.
It's pretty pathetic that it's finally being done. The small and relatively poor country of Jordan had solar panels for heating water on many houses belonging to ordinary people at the time Carter installed his. You can be they haven't removed them in the interim.
Of course no apology is necessary.
The essence of my analogy is nothing to apologize for.
I would be just as happy as anyone, that the Green Revolution is taking hold, out of necessity.
That the Pentagon's slaughterhouse might be spared downsizing, by that same Revolution, does not excite me whatsoever.
That the Green Revolution is somehow a de facto partner to the MIC, in some kind of mutually beneficial relationship, does not bring me any joy whatsoever.
"Outside the US, nuclear is thriving."
That is false. Look at the snags a lot of nations relying on nuclear energy have run into. The EU has undergone a lot of power outages with nuclear generators and ethical/moral issues have arisen with dumping the nuclear wastes into Russia and Africa.
"The UAE has ordered 4 reactors. Turkey has ordered 2. Kuwait is planning on 4 reactors. Jordan is planning on 2. India has 4 reactors under construction and is planning in excess of 35 more."
I find that hard to believe given that those countries have a lot of hot and dry weather while nuclear power plants require enormous amounts of water just to operate.
The Elephants & Donkeys empirePie October 7th, 2010
The trunks are in the trough
for enough is not enough;
guns for butter is heady stuff
to tuff it out for going soft
but...
try pumping nookie while aloft;
also pump the lead if your game is off;
since the Alpha in the pack is lost
and ....
party donkeys bray: “our soil will never see the plow”
First, the military runs the country.
Second, if you want to know everything about nuclear plants gone wrong, ask the residents of Suffolk County, Long Island. We're still paying for it years and years after it was built and, in the end, never really ran. Shoreham was the issue that sparked Alec Baldwin's extensive knowledge in this area, because it became a pet peeve. I didn't know of his knowledge until he wrote a blog about it on HuffPo, but it makes sense. We've been suffering the highest rates in the country for years, in spite of kicking out the private country and starting this joke of an authority.
If I had the money and owned the home I live in I would put solar panels on the roof tomorrow. I am utterly fascinated by this older home across the street from Infant Jesus Church in Port Jefferson. It's got quite a neat solar setup on the roof and it's a thing of beauty -- green energy.
The MIC is only one part of the ruling Mafia,
What about the Banksters?
Big Oil?
Big Pharma?
Big Ag?
Although it is difficult to determine, my gut instinct tells me the Banksters are the most powerful of the 5 Families.
I appreciate the information, and your very civil dialogue. Sometimes I could rise to a higher standard.
I'll check out all of the information that you cited.
Have a good weekend!
imagine people living on solar pannels and community gardens and OFF the corporate power grid (pun intended).
that's the global fascist capitalists' worst nightmare.
harvey wasserman
just one or 2 forlorn pro-nukers to respond to in here:
vogtle (georgia) is a disaster in the happening. that project will suck up all the cash in that state and return nothing but a worthless hulk. or 2 of them. just hope they never go radioactive.
obama is a truly tragic figure. he had the opportunity to begin a re-shaping of us military/imperial policy and didn't do it. like lyndon johnson, his presidency is now doomed. unfortunately, he will take the rest of us down with him---but not ALL the way down.
did we expect more or less? that's not the point. an opportunity has been lost. a tragedy is unfolding. we need to fight harder than ever to turn this thing around. solar panels on the titanic is not a bad quip---but in the long run, if the earth itself is the titanic, then we need to be finding solutions. if any of you have a definitive answer, we'd all love to hear the plan. in the meantime, we hang together, or we hang separately.