Posted on Wednesday, February 1, 02012
How Money Corrupts Congress and a Plan to Stop It from The Long Now Foundation on FORA.tv
"He said the type of corruption rampant in the US Congress is not the old type of bribery, where congressional representatives had safes in their offices to hold the cash they received for voting in certain directions. That is now illegal and eliminated. This new type of corruption is more subtle, indirect and harder to outlaw. Corporations legally donate money to the election campaigns of legislators, who in turn tend to vote in favor of the interests of those corporations. Non-profits like Maplight can graph the evidence that a representative voting in favor of a particular corporate-friendly law will receive 6 or 10 or 13 times the funding than someone who opposes the law. He cited studies that showed the ROI (return on investment) of lobbying to be 1,000%. It was one of the sanest expenses for a corporation. But the distortion is not just one sided. The issue that Congress spent the most time on in 2011 -- a year when US was waging two wars, dealing with a near economic depression, and revamping health care -- was the bank swipe fee. Who should pay the credit card use fee -- the banks or the stores? There were corporations on both sides of this minor argument, but each side was promising campaign funds, so this was the issue that got all the attention of the officials. But the real money to be made in Congress is the relative fortune to be made as a lobbyist after leaving office. The differential in wages between a staff member and a lobbyist has escalated a hundred fold in the past 40 years. Now 43% of staff go on to become lobbyists. The promise of a well-paying job working for corporate interests later is enough to warp voting now.
None of this is illegal, but Lessig argues that we have a constitutional argument for eliminating it. The Constitution talks about the republic being "dependent on the people alone." But now it is dependent on corporate funders, and more and more JUST on corporate funders. His solution is to return the republic to being dependent on the people alone. His solution is an innovative kind of campaign finance reform. Give every voter a $50 campaign voucher. The $50 comes from the tax pool. It can be given to any candidate who accepts only money from the vouchers (and maybe a limit of an optional voluntary $100 per single voter). Thus all campaign money would come in very small amounts from The People. Lessig calculates that the total amount of money raised this public way would be 3 times the amount raised by private means in the last election cycles, and therefore more than adequate. But it would break the grip of corporate influence over what is voted up. The result would not be harmonious utopia, but the usual give-and-take compromises of politics -- which the US has not seen in decades. The issues that people cared about would return to the agenda."
Posted on Wednesday, November 2, 02011
Laura Cunningham: Ten Millennia of California Ecology from The Long Now Foundation on FORA.tv
Sustainability Media filmed another amazing talk hosted by the Long Now Foundation's Seminars About Long-term Thinking in October. In this talk Ecologist, Artist and Oil Painter, Laura Cunningham brings us her near 30 years of research and passion to understand the historical landscapes of California. Beautiful artwork and amazing revelations of our past California. Enjoy!
Posted on Monday, October 31, 02011
As Shoulder High Productions continues to help document the Stanford University Medical Campus Renewal Project, this story about the University's efforts to preserve the trees of the beautiful Stanford campus seemed to be a great fit to share with the Sustainability Media community.
In this video you can see the same company that relocated and preserved the trees surrounding the NYC 9/11 site, as they masterfully box and transport the giant Oaks and Redwoods that make the community so unique and natural.
"In order to advance construction efforts, trees across the medical center campus are being protected, preserved for re-planting or repurposed. It's amazing to witness the boxing and storing of these trees, many of which will come right back to the hospital sites once construction is completed. Environmental Design, Inc., walks us through the process underway."
Learn more about the project here: http://stanfordpackard.org/
Remember that you can watch in HD by clicking the button in the bottom right of this play window after you press play.
FYI: (from http://www.cleanairgardening.com/plantingtrees.html)
Planting trees can also help cool your home in the summer. The Arbor Day Foundation states that the overall effect of the shade created by planting a healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners running 20 hours a day!
In the winter, trees can act as windbreaks for your home and will help you save on heating costs. The Journal of Horticulture claims that saving on heating costs can reach as much as 25 percent!
Trees shade buildings, streets, and homes. If enough trees are planted in cities, the overall microclimate improves and total energy use for heating and cooling is reduced. The EPA has some great information on how planting trees and other vegetation can help to reduce the overall high temperature of your city!
Other Helpful Links:
The Value of Trees to A Community: http://www.arborday.org/trees/Benefits.cfm
The EPA on Heat Island effect: http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/index.htm
Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 02011
Plenty of people today know about Global Warming and its adverse effects for both us and the planet we call home, but many ask what can I do about it? The best thing to do is stay informed. Knowing where emissions contribute to this problem is the first part of the battle in being able to empower yourself towards lasting change. Thankfully, the United Nations Environmental Programme has come up with this fascinating info-graphic to break it all down for us.
It shows you exactly what kind of emission is caused by which sectors and what uses or activities cause these emissions to be released into our atmosphere. You'll note that the Energy sector takes up the biggest segment of this flow chart. No real surprise there, but the question becomes how do we combat this in creative ways that allow us as citizens to make an impact on Climate Change?
A very important part of this ongoing process is to remind our government that we support initiatives which foster environmental awareness and action. Petitioning your local, Statewide, and Nationally elected officials to push for renewal energy resource production is something that needs to happen now more than ever. While we wait on the political process to shift, there's a lot we can do now by employing simple strategies. Starting with local businesses and building owners serves a dual purpose. For one, it benefits the business as it would cut down on their energy usage. For another, it helps you stay actively involved in the fight against Climate Change on a local level.
A great idea for how to achieve this goal comes to us from Project Rooftop.
Project Rooftop proposes that if we were to paint every rooftop in urbanized areas white, instead of black which traps heat, smog, and spikes energy usage, we would be able to do away with an entire year's worth of CO2 emissions for our planet. That's environmental ingenuity in action. To find out more about Project Rooftop, adopt a roof, or volunteer to get painting in your neighborhood, you can sign up here: http://www.whiteroofproject.com/volunteer-now/
Maybe you know of a building in your neighbor that would be interested in a little lift for it's rooftop color. If it's in the Bay Area, and the building owner is game, perhaps we'll come out and film the process to document how you became an agent for lasting environmental change.
Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 02011
Considered to be the father of the modern Environmental Movement, Aldo Leopold(1887–1948) continues to inspire us today. An American ecologist, forester, and environmentalist, his life's work encourages us to consider our relationship with the land we live within. His actions led to the first designated Wilderness Area in the world. Leopold himself used the term "green fire," the name of this excellent documentary on his life. He uses the term to describe the spirit of the natural world that in his youth he unknowingly compromised its interconnected composition by hunting the American wolf to near extinction. I strongly encourage giving the documentary a viewing and congratulate the filmmakers.
Commonly thought to be his greatest contribution, the well defined term "Land Ethic" can be further explored in his book A Sand County Almanac. I'll leave you with his own words.
If you'd like to learn more about the film please visit: https://www.aldoleopold.org/greenfire/index.shtml
Posted on Monday, April 18, 02011
Posted on Tuesday, March 15, 02011
At the February Seminar About Long-term Thinking hosted by the Long Now Foundation, Mary Catherine Bateson suggested many exceptional paradigm shifts and observations on living more deeply as we age. An early comment she made that resonates still for me came after she posed a light hearted rhetorical question to the audience asking if we thought we'd be "wise" when we got older. Her response was very motivating.
"We all say 'experience' is the best teacher, but only if you do your homework. And the homework for the teacher called experience is reflection...and we put that off." If you would like some help reflecting about you can watch the clip below.
However the most ground-shaking concept she shared with us in my opinion was her challenge to consider thinking of the Earth as our child rather than our mother. She proposed this chiefly because of her reflections upon how we in America actively and passively treat the elderly. It was a powerful moment and significant thought. I encourage you to watch the clip below to hear it for yourself.
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking are organized by the Long Now Foundation. You can join and listen live each month in San Francisco or online where ever you are in the world. Click below for more!
Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 02011
After 10 years of grassroots advocacy, garage based engineering and dreams of saving the earth, Felix Kramer and Ron Gremban of Calcars.org celebrate with Dr. Andy Frank as they receive their Chevy Volts. This was a major accomplishment because it marked the end of their initial campaign at Calcars. First to prove to the Auto Industry that Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles were not only possible using today's readily available technology, but that the American public wanted this technology and secondly to see a major auto company mass produce a PHEV. Well the proof of all their hard work is finally now available. GM's Chevy Volt is an extended range PHEV and according to Dr. Andy Frank, his new Chevy Volt drives and operates exactly like his initial ideas 25 years ago. Congratulations to Felix, Ron and Andy and the rest of the community that has fought and striven against all odds to see this day. And here's to the next goal: Establishing a business model and best practices for the mass conversion of the millions of non electrified vehicles on America's roads today to PHEV's. Learn more at Calcars.org
CalCars ChevyVolt 2011 from Shoulder High Productions, LLC on Vimeo.
Here's a list of other blog articles and videos we have made for CalCars.org over the years.
http://sustainabilitymedia.com/blog/02009/mar/12/calcars-part-pbs-special-energy/
http://sustainabilitymedia.com/blog/02009/aug/05/calcars-announces-major-victory/
http://sustainabilitymedia.com/blog/02008/mar/01/calcars-calls-presidential-canidates/
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BLOG UPDATE: March 2nd, 2011
Take action today and send a message to President Obama urging him to follow through on his pledge to support EV's and PHEV's in the marketplace. He needs our support to realize this vision. Click the picture below to share your support the Sierra Club's campaign!
Posted on Tuesday, November 2, 02010
Sustainability Media recently produced an exciting event for The Long Now Foundation called The Long Conversation . Over 6 hours, 21 of the San Francisco Bay Area's most interesting minds came together to share the stage in a series of fascinating and at times groundbreaking conversations. Of special note was an announcement that came out of a conversation between Long Now board member Peter Schwartz and NASA Ames Research Center Director Pete Worden. It has made its way around the internet by now and we are so glad to have helped facilitate this exciting announcement and stimulating Long Now Foundation event.
The Hundred Year Starship Initiative, a project that NASA Ames and DARPA are undertaking to fund a mission to the red planet by 2030 was disclosed and you can listen to more about the project here. Be sure to check in at longnow.org and ForaTV for more videos of from the Long Conversation and other exciting events.
With a projected price tag in double digit billions of dollars, NASA is only kicking in $100,000 and DARPA's adding $1 million. So the strategy now seems to be to pull in a team of Billionaires to execute on this vision. The entire project though has completely taken me by surprise though because of the nature of the trip. They are not embarking on the project as trying to figure out how to bring people back from Mars once they get there as a necessary component of the project. The Mission is to send people to Mars and empower them the best they can with the means of getting themselves home by mining the resources available there. This is obviously a high stakes approach which evidently has a list mile long at NASA of volunteering astronauts willing to take on the project and the potential one way mission.
I grew up with the reality that humanity had accomplished the dream of flying to space and landing on the moon. Each successive trip was then seen by generations like mine as a repeat performance and a chance to perfect the accomplishment. While I understand the gigantic strides in scientific knowledge that have come from the successive trip to space, I also acknowledge that the daring sense of vision pushed us beyond orbit in the first place is not reflected in these near orbit tasks. The concept of pushing the limits again to attempt to put a colony of pioneering scientists on a neighboring Planet has always captivated me and I'm thrilled to hear there is a plan in place to try to accomplish this. I salute the ambition, the scientists and the funders of this great vision.
Posted on Wednesday, September 15, 02010
If I asked you to guess how many nuclear explosions have occurred on earth up until 1998, what would you say?
100? 500? 1000?
Nope...the answer can be experienced by watching this video entitled "1945-1998" by Isao Hashimoto (Japan, © 2003) . It is unsettling and eerie to listen to the rhythm of our nations execute, test and posture with this technology. It is also amazing certain places on this globe are still there after all the explosions that have occurred.
Sustainability Media invites you to attend the next Seminar About Long-term Thinking that we film for the Long Now Foundation at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Author, Richard Rhodes will discusses his latest book, The Twilight of the Bombs: Recent Challenges, New Dangers, and the Prospects for a World Without Nuclear Weapons . -- "A single weapon profoundly shaped world history for most of a century. Its disappearance can have equally profound effects."
And please take 2 minutes to listen to an interview by the New York Times of photographer Peter Kuran as he narrates his pictures from years of documenting atomic and nuclear explosions. Pretty amazing stuff.
Posted on Friday, June 11, 02010
Here are 3 web pages where you can help:
1.) Tell President Obama that you stand with him making this America's next priority.
Posted on Wednesday, May 5, 02010
WE HAVE POSTED 4 UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ENTRY. PLEASE REVIEW AND TAKE ACTION TODAY.
The United States of America needs to come together right now and dedicate our will, ingenuity and resolve to transforming the means in which we fuel and power our national economy. We need to use this moment in time to catalyze the social and political process of creating a new sustainable and clean energy policy. From the fuels which power our personal vehicles to the means in which we power our industries, cities and homes - our Nation and Planet Earth needs us to change.
A May 4th New York Times article reads: " In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow."
Just look at this infographic by David McCandless breaking down the severity of this spill. CLICK ON GRAPHIC TO ENLARGE
We cannot let BP off the hook on this crisis. And we need to look in the mirror as well. Our own politicians regularly grant exemptions to the environmental impact studies of the oil industry's offshore drilling operations. In a May 5th article in the Washington Post Kierán Suckling, executive director of the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, explains how this federal waiver system puts "BP entirely in control" of the way it conducts its drilling operations. The Federal Minerals Management Service (MMS) "oversight role has devolved to little more than rubber-stamping British Petroleum's self-serving drilling plans." The MMS gave BP's lease at Deepwater Horizon a "categorical exclusion" from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on April 6, 2009 -- and BP continued their lobbying efforts to expand those exemptions just 11 days before the explosion.
Why? Why did the agency of our government that's tasked with oversight of the safety precautions allow BP and other oil companies the ability to drill with obviously inadequate safety precautions and "rubber-stamp" oversight? Because AMERICA IS ADDICTED TO OIL. Our entire country absolutely depends upon it to fuel our economy and our daily lives.
We need to change. This devastating crisis is just one in a long line of ramifications of how systematically and destructively addicted we are. Here are a few things to consider to help support and bring upon the change we need. Please review and take action today!
1.) Sign RePower America's Petition and "call on Congress to stand up to polluters and ignite a clean energy revolution by passing comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation this year!"
2.) Contact your Senator and tell them that you support The U.S. House of Representatives work on a bill to raise the liability cap for oil spills to $10 billion from $75 million and that all of Congress needs to work on the Clean Energy and Climate legislation bill THIS YEAR! This phone number will route you directly to your Senator's office 1-877-973-7693. It takes 2 minutes!
3.) Donate to the Sierra Club's efforts to fight for stronger environmental and energy laws that will go toward helping reduce our dependence on oil, without putting our oceans and fragile coastal environments at risk and endangering the millions of jobs supported by coastal economies.
4.) Send a picture of yourself holding a sign in front of a BP gas station and join 1Sky's movement to tell Congress to stop Offshore Drilling.
UPDATE: added 5/13/10
This is video of the actual oil leak. Everyday the list of scientists grows who are testifying that the flow rate is far greater than the early EPA and BP estimates.
Update: added 5/20/10
If you don't see blue in the water in this picture you're looking at the oil slick. It is truly and horribly gigantic as this image from space shows. Click to enlarge.
UPDATE: added 5/27/10
With BP's Top Kill strategy underway still for the 2nd day, new perspectives are being presented to us to show the extent of the disaster under the surface where the majority of the devestation is occuring.
Update: added 6/4/10
With the latest "Top Kill" effort to cap the BP Horizon Oil Spill having failed, the folks at Information is Beautiful have updated their initial inforgraphic of the spill. And while we would have wished for a quicker and less passive federal managing of BP's response, President Obama has quite appropriately declared that there will be a criminal inquiry into the BP Horizon Oil Spill. As a citizen of the US and of Planet Earth, I'm glad to see an effort to demand accountability of this disaster. The Obama Administration has also wisely seized the opportunity to advance and promote a new Clean Energy Policy for the United States of America. This is vital to decreasing our addiction and dependence on oil and non-renewable fossil fuels. Please add your voice in support of these efforts.
IN A LETTER FROM JOHN KERRY:
Hello Friend,
No long wind-up needed this time, I just wanted to share with you what President Obama just said in Pittsburgh about the climate and energy legislation you and I have been working overtime to get passed for a year now:
"The House of Representatives has already passed a comprehensive energy and climate bill, and there is currently a plan in the Senate - a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans - that would achieve the same goals. Pittsburgh, I want you to know, the votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months. I will make the case for a clean energy future wherever I can, and I will work with anyone to get this done, and we will get it done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century. We are not going to move backwards, we are going to move forward."
If you have time, read his entire remarks, but if you don't, here's the bottom line: this is just what we needed with Congress coming back into session next week. Just as we saw with health care, when the President throws down the gauntlet, and puts his prestige on the line and puts the full weight of the White House behind it, we can do big things - the whole debate changes.
This is the fourth time in just 12 days that the President has made it crystal clear that he's not waiting - he's working with us to get our bill passed this year. As he's been saying, the catastrophe in the Gulf shows without a doubt that we need to end our oil addiction, and the Senate has to be on record this year doing something to finally tackle the challenge - no watered down, feel good measures that only postpone the day of reckoning; we're making it happen now.
This is going to be a big fight and we'll need all hands on deck in the next couple of months to make this happen - but now no one can dispute this: President Obama has doubled down on victory.
I'll loop back with ways you can make a difference - now I wanted you to see this, and I want you to know we're on track for the fight you've been pushing for every step of the way.
Now let's make it happen,
John Kerry
Posted on Wednesday, April 21, 02010
Here's a fun and quick animated video recounting the last 40 years of the modern environmental movement. Don't worry it is only 4 minutes and while entertaining, it is a useful refresher course in case you missed part of it.
Of course I say the modern environmental movement because long before we even knew about dangerous chemicals and pollutants there were pioneers who spent their life trying to instill an ethos of stewardship, respect and celebration of the natural world: Aldo Leopold , President Theodore Roosevelt , Henry David Thoreau , John Muir , George Perkins Marsh, Ansel Adams to name just a few.
Modern environmentalist, Paul Hawken, gave a talk at the Long Now Foundation entitled “The New Great Transformation.” In it he describes the future of the environmental movement and it is quite inspiring.
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 02010
There is a Live Webinar to listen to the launching of the next X Prize today at 2:00pm PST. Sign up here!
X PRIZE Foundation is pleased to announce that Cisco is the Presenting Sponsor of the Energy and Environment Prize Group. The goal of the partnership is to generate breakthroughs in climate change, water resource management, energy distribution and storage, clean energy, and energy efficiency/use.
Areas of Interest for the Energy & Environment Prize Group:
Sustainability Media filmed X Prize Foundation Founder, Peter Diamandis back in September of 2008 for the Long Now Foundation's Seminars About Long-term Thinking .
Posted on Saturday, April 3, 02010
This might be a bit complicated at first, but I guarantee you it is well worth a few moments of your time to explore these sites.
Have you ever wondered how vast the entire known Universe is? Have you ever sat there trying to imagine how small an atom is in comparison to, oh I don't know, let's say a beach ball? Well me neither really, BUT I have good news for you! Now you can actually get the answers to those crazy questions! Created by a Flash programming group called "Fotoshop" I present to you a way to zoom from the smallest concept to the widest imaginable view of everything. - Ok that didn't actually describe it very well. You'll just have to visit this site and press "Play" and start scrolling the slider controls left to right until you catch on.
The whole experience reminds me of two talks Sustainability Media has filmed for the Long Now Foundation.
The first was called "Playing with Time" and featured renown music producer, Brian Eno sharing the stage with Game Design legend, Will Wright (of Sim and Spore fame). In it Will Wright demos his now released follow up to his franchise of Sim games with Spore where you start by playing as an amoeba of sorts and evolve your creature to eventually colonize galaxies.
The second is a talk we just filmed in April of 2010 entitled, "Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization" by Neuroscientist and fictional author, David Eagleman . Eagleman shared with us his latest short story where he writes his entire maternal lineage dating back to the very first female gendered organism a Happy Mother's Day Thank You Note. Check back in a few weeks for a video link.
Anyway, I thought I would share with you a few things that help me understand how marvelously complex and giant we humans are in comparison to the smallest pieces of matter in the universe and at the same time celebrate how awe inspiring it is how small we are in comparison to the vastness of our Universe...Enjoy!
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