Hello Again Mr. Smith,
Southern Exposure is also in the business of helping to establish small wind energy systems as a mainstay for development of distributed energy generation. As authorized dealers for Mariah Power's Vertical Axis Wind turbines (please visit www.mariahpower.com) we have increased our capacity to help make that happen.
You are correct in the observance that distributed generation receives little press coverage. The realization that distributed generation is the model upon which nature operates receives even less observance, let alone any real understanding. Nature of course having been traditionally the model of efficiency, at times approaching 100%. As is the case in systems such as photosynthesis energy conversion from sunlight into chemical energy and disbursed effectively to feed the plant.Wind is also a product of that natural disbursement of energy as the earth is attempting to cool itself from the uneven heating of it's surface by the sun. Distributed energy generation should be approached as a component of local growth because it saves energy and is therefore most efficient. However it also has to be understood that local energy also has a symbiotic relationship to the rest of the world. When seen in that context one can more effectively identify and manage their local resources. Having identified the true nature of these natural phenomena and how people can emulate natures systems is the foundation of real capacity to bring a more sustainable change for America and the world. Being cognizant of this, it is our job to educate people as to what "green" really means. We look forward to the opportunity to seek out and work with like minded people such as yourself to build the capacities needed to swing the pendulum of change into truly appreciating our 21st century capacities and responsibilities.
Thanks,
Jim Bates
Southern Exposure Renewable Energy Co.
455 kearsley Creek Court
Ortonville, Michigan 48462
web www.seenergyco.com
blog- www.sendenergy.blogspot.com
Phone (248) 245-7114
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sailing On The Seas of Knowledge
This is a letter I sent to the publisher of a newsletter dealing with some cutting edge developments involving energy procurement from waves on the high seas. You can visit the newsletter by -
http://www.waveenergytoday.com/
Hello Ian,
I appreciate your newsletter and hope we can eventually tie in with projects from the Great Lakes areas of North America. My name is Jim Bates, I am a renewable energy contractor and electrician. As president of Southern Exposure Renewable Energy Co.(see www.seenergyco.com.) I have been also been attempting to increase the potential of working in the marine environment to capture the natural energies such as the wind through the use of Vertical Axis Wind turbines. Although we are just starting down that road by developing some collaboration with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) (see http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/ ).
Not seeing these endeavors simply as "power projects", we are also working to foster changes in how students view themselves in regards to their opportunities regarding these natural energies and life in general. As you know, we don't know the answers. So rather than continue to have the students and society study to give half answers to what we don't know... It makes more sense to empower them to learn how to think and then come up with the innovation necessary to solve all these questions of how to harness these natural energies in ways that do no harm and foster intelligent growth in all areas of life. A great example would be to create similar projects to the following coral reef building projects http://www.globalcoral.org/Reef%20Restoration%20and%20Coastal%20Protection%20Project.htm. Every where you turn and look (including places you don't) these kinds of innovations should be fostered.
These energies that people are so want to describe as "alternative energies" are actually natural energies and they are part and parcel of an environment that did, should and could support life in the seas and above them. The real "alternative" energies are the nuclear, coal and fossil fuels that have been misapplied and have interrupted and sometimes killed off the circles of life's natural energies that supported all life in the seas (yes, and above them too). So that would be the true measure of sustainability and education, that is to the extent humanity has developed the capacity to utilize these natural energies for not only electricity but to comprehend and use it to support and repair life's natural growth processes. So our children will have a future. (It sure as hell makes life more interesting too!)You are also welcome to visit one of our blogs at www.sendenergy.blogspot.com to learn more of that activity.
In closing a long winded response letter here I want to add that my mother was a Murphy, the family being from the City of Cork in the County of Cork, Ireland and my namesake of course being English I hope to visit your part of the world someday and would like very much to see some of the projects you've highlighted there in the newsletters.
Have a great life over there!
Sincerely,
James W. Bates
Southern Exposure
Renewable Energy Co.
455 Kearsley Creek Court
Ortonville, Mich. 48462
Website; www.seenergyco.com
Email-renewablesjim@gmail.com
Cell 248-245-7114
Fax 248-627-9501
http://www.waveenergytoday.com/
Hello Ian,
I appreciate your newsletter and hope we can eventually tie in with projects from the Great Lakes areas of North America. My name is Jim Bates, I am a renewable energy contractor and electrician. As president of Southern Exposure Renewable Energy Co.(see www.seenergyco.com.) I have been also been attempting to increase the potential of working in the marine environment to capture the natural energies such as the wind through the use of Vertical Axis Wind turbines. Although we are just starting down that road by developing some collaboration with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) (see http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/ ).
Not seeing these endeavors simply as "power projects", we are also working to foster changes in how students view themselves in regards to their opportunities regarding these natural energies and life in general. As you know, we don't know the answers. So rather than continue to have the students and society study to give half answers to what we don't know... It makes more sense to empower them to learn how to think and then come up with the innovation necessary to solve all these questions of how to harness these natural energies in ways that do no harm and foster intelligent growth in all areas of life. A great example would be to create similar projects to the following coral reef building projects http://www.globalcoral.org/Reef%20Restoration%20and%20Coastal%20Protection%20Project.htm. Every where you turn and look (including places you don't) these kinds of innovations should be fostered.
These energies that people are so want to describe as "alternative energies" are actually natural energies and they are part and parcel of an environment that did, should and could support life in the seas and above them. The real "alternative" energies are the nuclear, coal and fossil fuels that have been misapplied and have interrupted and sometimes killed off the circles of life's natural energies that supported all life in the seas (yes, and above them too). So that would be the true measure of sustainability and education, that is to the extent humanity has developed the capacity to utilize these natural energies for not only electricity but to comprehend and use it to support and repair life's natural growth processes. So our children will have a future. (It sure as hell makes life more interesting too!)You are also welcome to visit one of our blogs at www.sendenergy.blogspot.com to learn more of that activity.
In closing a long winded response letter here I want to add that my mother was a Murphy, the family being from the City of Cork in the County of Cork, Ireland and my namesake of course being English I hope to visit your part of the world someday and would like very much to see some of the projects you've highlighted there in the newsletters.
Have a great life over there!
Sincerely,
James W. Bates
Southern Exposure
Renewable Energy Co.
455 Kearsley Creek Court
Ortonville, Mich. 48462
Website; www.seenergyco.com
Email-renewablesjim@gmail.com
Cell 248-245-7114
Fax 248-627-9501
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Communication Matters
In this synthetic world we as a society have signed onto, we find ourselves increasingly at a loss for being able to communicate a sense of worth and generally experience a nagging anxiety from the inability to feel at home in our own skin let alone where we reside and work. The Northwest Earth Institute has a series of discussion courses that have empowered scores of people to communicate their thoughts, observations and ideas about the real world we live in. If you have a notion that perhaps there is something more to life than being a sponge for abuse and misery, if you would like to discover a sense of place and become empowered enough to share ideas and actions with your neighbors and other folks that believe there is more to this life than work to pay bills on an endless treadmill, then read about the discussion courses contained herein or go to their website. It can be found at www.nwei.org. If you would like to change your outlook on life by learning to communicate your true passions for feeling alive and empowered to make great changes, then read on. Write back if you have any questions, together we can walk down the path of discovering all we are missing in this wonderful but brief life. A sustainable life is one that has found a place on the continuum of life by learning from our ancestors in a way that empowers our generation and those that come through us into the future. You will be amazed when you discover that there always have existed the answers to an abundant life swirling around us. Thru discussion you can learn what it is that you don’t know and embark upon the greatest journey of self discovery that can lead to a life of connectedness and continual self improvement!
Welcome to your new Journey, May the wind be always at your back!
Jim Bates 05-08-2008
Site MapHomeAbout UsContactCourse ResourcesRelated LinksJoinSearch:Advanced Search… NW Earth InstituteSectionsDiscussion Courses North American Network Communities and Organizations Workplace Programs Additional Programs Volunteer Donate Get InvolvedDonateVolunteerBegin a discussion circleJoin our list!Enter your email address to receive our e-newsletterPrivacy PolicyOverheard...“The Work of the Northwest Earth Institute is essential – now more than ever. Personally, I admire the NWEI’s model for change – the critical role of personal awareness and responsibility at the personal, bioregional, and planetary level, and from that place of care, taking action.” – Susan Gleason, Media and Outreach Manager, YES MagazineYou are here: HomeDocument ActionsWelcomeOverview and introduction to Northwest Earth Institute programs, overview, introduction, sustainability, education, sustainability education, place based education, sense of place, bioregionalism, watershed, lifestyle, lifestyle choices, curriculum, curriculum development, sustainability curriculumThe Northwest Earth Institute is recognized as a national leader in the development of innovative programs that empower individuals and organizations to protect ecological systems.Today, NWEI offers seven study guides for small groups. These self-guided discussion courses are offered in workplaces, homes, faith centers, neighborhoods, and community centers throughout North America.Global Warming: Changing CO2urseChoices for Sustainable LivingMenu for the FutureVoluntary SimplicityHealthy Children-Healthy PlanetDiscovering a Sense of PlaceExploring Deep EcologyNWEI programs encourage participants to explore their values, attitudes, and actions through discussion with other people. These programs are organized around three key principles:An earth-centered ethic promoting individual responsibility for the Earth.The practice of engaged simplicity to enrich life and reduce personal impact on the Earth.A dedication to living fully in place and protecting the unique bioregion in which you live.The Northwest Earth Institute is creating fundamental change in Western culture. NWEI programs encourage individuals and organizations to protect ecological systems and provide the resources to enable small groups to take action in local communities. Together, we can create a sustainable future.*To order discussion guides, please call NWEI at 503 227 2807 or email contact@nwei.org with your order."Action on the environment comes from thinking aboutit--comes from real conversations about the real facts, our real lives,our real hopes.Northwest Earth Institute is one of the places that makes those conversations happen, and that's why they're a vital part of the change we need to see.”-Bill McKibben, Author of The End Of NatureNorthwest Earth Institute317 SW Alder, Suite 1050, Portland, OR 97204 503.227.2807 : contact@nwei.orgDiscussion CoursesNewsRead Earth Matters, NWEI's quarterly newsletter NWEI's Newest Discussion Guide, Menu for the Future, now available More news… powered by Plone site by ONE/Northwest and served with clean energy
Welcome to your new Journey, May the wind be always at your back!
Jim Bates 05-08-2008
Site MapHomeAbout UsContactCourse ResourcesRelated LinksJoinSearch:Advanced Search… NW Earth InstituteSectionsDiscussion Courses North American Network Communities and Organizations Workplace Programs Additional Programs Volunteer Donate Get InvolvedDonateVolunteerBegin a discussion circleJoin our list!Enter your email address to receive our e-newsletterPrivacy PolicyOverheard...“The Work of the Northwest Earth Institute is essential – now more than ever. Personally, I admire the NWEI’s model for change – the critical role of personal awareness and responsibility at the personal, bioregional, and planetary level, and from that place of care, taking action.” – Susan Gleason, Media and Outreach Manager, YES MagazineYou are here: HomeDocument ActionsWelcomeOverview and introduction to Northwest Earth Institute programs, overview, introduction, sustainability, education, sustainability education, place based education, sense of place, bioregionalism, watershed, lifestyle, lifestyle choices, curriculum, curriculum development, sustainability curriculumThe Northwest Earth Institute is recognized as a national leader in the development of innovative programs that empower individuals and organizations to protect ecological systems.Today, NWEI offers seven study guides for small groups. These self-guided discussion courses are offered in workplaces, homes, faith centers, neighborhoods, and community centers throughout North America.Global Warming: Changing CO2urseChoices for Sustainable LivingMenu for the FutureVoluntary SimplicityHealthy Children-Healthy PlanetDiscovering a Sense of PlaceExploring Deep EcologyNWEI programs encourage participants to explore their values, attitudes, and actions through discussion with other people. These programs are organized around three key principles:An earth-centered ethic promoting individual responsibility for the Earth.The practice of engaged simplicity to enrich life and reduce personal impact on the Earth.A dedication to living fully in place and protecting the unique bioregion in which you live.The Northwest Earth Institute is creating fundamental change in Western culture. NWEI programs encourage individuals and organizations to protect ecological systems and provide the resources to enable small groups to take action in local communities. Together, we can create a sustainable future.*To order discussion guides, please call NWEI at 503 227 2807 or email contact@nwei.org with your order."Action on the environment comes from thinking aboutit--comes from real conversations about the real facts, our real lives,our real hopes.Northwest Earth Institute is one of the places that makes those conversations happen, and that's why they're a vital part of the change we need to see.”-Bill McKibben, Author of The End Of NatureNorthwest Earth Institute317 SW Alder, Suite 1050, Portland, OR 97204 503.227.2807 : contact@nwei.orgDiscussion CoursesNewsRead Earth Matters, NWEI's quarterly newsletter NWEI's Newest Discussion Guide, Menu for the Future, now available More news… powered by Plone site by ONE/Northwest and served with clean energy
SOMETHING'S in the WIND! (First Mover Status Improves?)
Wind Power Group Blows Off State Alternative Energy Proposal
By the MIRS News Service
A leading wind energy association blew off the House-passed energy package Tuesday, saying the legislation would actually put $2 billion in new investment in wind energy projects at risk.
In letters to Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Senate Energy Policy Committee Chair Bruce Patterson (R-Canton Township), the American Wind Energy Association urged the leaders to make a "fresh start" with annual renewable energy requirements much more aggressive than what passed the House two weeks ago.
The bills, HB 5548 and HB 5549, dictate that 10 percent of the state's energy should come from renewable sources by 2015, but AWEA said the bills have so many "toothless enforcement provisions" the requirements really only require less than one-half of one percent of additional renewable energy by 2014.
AWEA's letter says the bills contain "no benchmarks of any kind for 2010 and 2011, and only the weakest benchmarks for 2012 through 2014. And it said enforcement provisions are misdirected at utility expenditures rather than actual performance in obtaining renewable energy. Overall, the association said the legislation "fails to provide any significant incentive for wind developers toestablish projects in Michigan."
The association said that in order to create a "nationally significant" market, the standard should be set in 2010 with 5 percent, ramping up 1 percent every year until the 10 percent by 2015 is set.
"The House legislation, as a package, cannot accurately be described as a renewable energy standard, and the public should not expect economic benefits to result from the package," the AWEA stated in its letter to Granholm and Patterson. "To avoid unwarranted market and public confusion created by opaque legislation, our industry asks for your assurance of a veto should such legislation reach your desk."
The Granholm administration showed no signs of scrapping the House compromise for something brand new. Press Secretary Liz Boyd said a number of alternative energy businesses expressed support for the current legislation.
While AWEA praised the recently passed Ohio renewable energy law, Boyd said the Buckeye State only called for 3.5 percent energy from renewable sources by 2015.
"We hope to persuade the AWEA to come on board in the Senate," Boyd said.
Joining the AWEA in today's press release were seven wind energy manufacturers that sought to put an exclamation point on their belief that the House package "fails to create a market of any significant size" and fails to give any incentive for manufacturers to build production facilities or create jobs in the state.
"Last week, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signed legislation creating a real market for renewable energy in Ohio and aggressively positioning Ohio manufacturers to compete in the growing wind energy market," said AWEA Manager of State Legislation Hans Detweiler. "It is not too late for Michigan to do the same."
The AWEA press release didn't get past the Customer Choice Coalition, which held up the press release as a reason the public should be skeptical of the House package, which guarantees DTE, Consumers Energy and other incumbent utilities at least 90 percent of the state's energy market.
"Consumers benefit when we have more competition, not less -- and AWEA is asking for more competition, as does CCC," said CCC Spokesman David Waymire.
© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.
By the MIRS News Service
A leading wind energy association blew off the House-passed energy package Tuesday, saying the legislation would actually put $2 billion in new investment in wind energy projects at risk.
In letters to Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Senate Energy Policy Committee Chair Bruce Patterson (R-Canton Township), the American Wind Energy Association urged the leaders to make a "fresh start" with annual renewable energy requirements much more aggressive than what passed the House two weeks ago.
The bills, HB 5548 and HB 5549, dictate that 10 percent of the state's energy should come from renewable sources by 2015, but AWEA said the bills have so many "toothless enforcement provisions" the requirements really only require less than one-half of one percent of additional renewable energy by 2014.
AWEA's letter says the bills contain "no benchmarks of any kind for 2010 and 2011, and only the weakest benchmarks for 2012 through 2014. And it said enforcement provisions are misdirected at utility expenditures rather than actual performance in obtaining renewable energy. Overall, the association said the legislation "fails to provide any significant incentive for wind developers toestablish projects in Michigan."
The association said that in order to create a "nationally significant" market, the standard should be set in 2010 with 5 percent, ramping up 1 percent every year until the 10 percent by 2015 is set.
"The House legislation, as a package, cannot accurately be described as a renewable energy standard, and the public should not expect economic benefits to result from the package," the AWEA stated in its letter to Granholm and Patterson. "To avoid unwarranted market and public confusion created by opaque legislation, our industry asks for your assurance of a veto should such legislation reach your desk."
The Granholm administration showed no signs of scrapping the House compromise for something brand new. Press Secretary Liz Boyd said a number of alternative energy businesses expressed support for the current legislation.
While AWEA praised the recently passed Ohio renewable energy law, Boyd said the Buckeye State only called for 3.5 percent energy from renewable sources by 2015.
"We hope to persuade the AWEA to come on board in the Senate," Boyd said.
Joining the AWEA in today's press release were seven wind energy manufacturers that sought to put an exclamation point on their belief that the House package "fails to create a market of any significant size" and fails to give any incentive for manufacturers to build production facilities or create jobs in the state.
"Last week, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signed legislation creating a real market for renewable energy in Ohio and aggressively positioning Ohio manufacturers to compete in the growing wind energy market," said AWEA Manager of State Legislation Hans Detweiler. "It is not too late for Michigan to do the same."
The AWEA press release didn't get past the Customer Choice Coalition, which held up the press release as a reason the public should be skeptical of the House package, which guarantees DTE, Consumers Energy and other incumbent utilities at least 90 percent of the state's energy market.
"Consumers benefit when we have more competition, not less -- and AWEA is asking for more competition, as does CCC," said CCC Spokesman David Waymire.
© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Let's Get CREATIVE!
Posted: Monday, 05 May 2008 3:41PM
'Creative Economy' Firms Can Now Get State Tax Credits
Michigan's creative business community will get a boost as a result of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's signature on a series of bills that would make creative businesses eligible for state MEGA tax credits.
State officials say the bill, sponsored by State Sen. Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac), will have a significant impact on Southeast Michigan's efforts to develop creative economy jobs by broadening the definition of businesses eligible for MEGA credits to include those in the creative sector.
State Sens. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) and Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) played a vital role in the success of this legislation and lead the advocacy to include the creative businesses for the MEGA eligibility.
Creative businesses have been defined as:
*Architecture and design including architectural design, graphic design, interior design, fashion design, and industrial design
*Digital media including Internet publishing and broadcasting, video gaming, Web development, entertainment technology
*Advertising and marketing firms including advertising and marketing agencies,public relations agencies, and display advertising
*Music production including record production and development, soundrecording studios, and integrated high-tech record production and distribution
*Film and video including motion picture and video production and distribution, postproduction services, and teleproduction and production services
Businesses meeting these criteria will be eligible for high-tech or high-wage MEGA credits which are credits against the Michigan Business Tax. A high-wage business is a business that has an average wage of 300 percent or more of the federal minimum wage.
The bills take immediate effect.
"In this new economy based on innovation and globalization, progressive leaders recognize that creativity now drives global competitiveness," said Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, lead advocates for amending the bill to include the creative sector.
"Those communities that can develop and sustain an environment in which its creative talent can thrive will be able to most effectively drive economic development success -- both because of job growth in specific creative industries and because communities with a dynamic, creative soul attracthigh impact employers and talented, skilled employees."
Added James C. Epolito, president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.: "These incentives will encourage creative business enterprises to consider Michigan and bring new opportunities to attract new media and advertising companies to locate in our state. We now can promise our most talented writers, film-makers and artists new job opportunities that were previously only available elsewhere."
Rothwell noted that globally, creative industries are estimated to account for more than 7 percent of world GDP and the annual growth of the creative industries is twice that of the service industries and four times that of the manufacturing industries.
Developing Detroit's creative economy is one of the main recommendations of Detroit Renaissance's Road to Renaissance, a plan to transform Southeast Michigan's economy.
More at www.detroitrenaissance.com.
© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.
'Creative Economy' Firms Can Now Get State Tax Credits
Michigan's creative business community will get a boost as a result of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's signature on a series of bills that would make creative businesses eligible for state MEGA tax credits.
State officials say the bill, sponsored by State Sen. Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac), will have a significant impact on Southeast Michigan's efforts to develop creative economy jobs by broadening the definition of businesses eligible for MEGA credits to include those in the creative sector.
State Sens. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) and Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) played a vital role in the success of this legislation and lead the advocacy to include the creative businesses for the MEGA eligibility.
Creative businesses have been defined as:
*Architecture and design including architectural design, graphic design, interior design, fashion design, and industrial design
*Digital media including Internet publishing and broadcasting, video gaming, Web development, entertainment technology
*Advertising and marketing firms including advertising and marketing agencies,public relations agencies, and display advertising
*Music production including record production and development, soundrecording studios, and integrated high-tech record production and distribution
*Film and video including motion picture and video production and distribution, postproduction services, and teleproduction and production services
Businesses meeting these criteria will be eligible for high-tech or high-wage MEGA credits which are credits against the Michigan Business Tax. A high-wage business is a business that has an average wage of 300 percent or more of the federal minimum wage.
The bills take immediate effect.
"In this new economy based on innovation and globalization, progressive leaders recognize that creativity now drives global competitiveness," said Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, lead advocates for amending the bill to include the creative sector.
"Those communities that can develop and sustain an environment in which its creative talent can thrive will be able to most effectively drive economic development success -- both because of job growth in specific creative industries and because communities with a dynamic, creative soul attracthigh impact employers and talented, skilled employees."
Added James C. Epolito, president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.: "These incentives will encourage creative business enterprises to consider Michigan and bring new opportunities to attract new media and advertising companies to locate in our state. We now can promise our most talented writers, film-makers and artists new job opportunities that were previously only available elsewhere."
Rothwell noted that globally, creative industries are estimated to account for more than 7 percent of world GDP and the annual growth of the creative industries is twice that of the service industries and four times that of the manufacturing industries.
Developing Detroit's creative economy is one of the main recommendations of Detroit Renaissance's Road to Renaissance, a plan to transform Southeast Michigan's economy.
More at www.detroitrenaissance.com.
© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A Voice of Reason?
Who Will Tell the People?
Traveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore ... have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
Money Can't Buy You Love (or Success)
The misapplicatin of reources, that is the attempt to use money as a panacea for all ills is a symptom of the disease. It's been tried to buy kids good grades, buy teachers collusion and in general to buy time, a commodity we seem to be extreemly short of. These attempts to continually substitute cash for caring, caring about the truth only leads us further from the succsess that is still ours to experience. But the following article is right , that success is slipping away. And not just for America but all of humanity. The attempt to create a more sophisticated form of brain surgery in order to dump in the STEM soup will not work. However if you give a kid a cardboard box on a hill and guide them to describe the cause and effect of gravity, you would well be on your way.
A critical part of establishing the beachead for STEM in each community is for people to gain the sense of place we have mentioned so often.And in order for success it has to be found in every facet of life in every community. I really believe that this is just another abstract idea for 99% of anyone who hears the term. But a sense of place HAS to happen in order for real learning to take place. Learning is a state of existence as a higher level of consciousness in thought takes place to continually sort and sift information for each individuals understandings of what they perceive as life for them.This is natural for all people and to some extent for animals to a point in their life. For the infant human it reaches a crescendo of creative and cognitive development in the Einstein years and if nurtured continues somewhat unabated through out life although on different levels of thought as their bodies and perceptions develop.
There is a common denominator for people and animals to a point of divergence, it is the instinctive basis for empowering all the senses, they are the five senses; sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell. All of these are essential to navigating the shoals of life in the physical world. All animals and people have this gift,but just watch your dog or cat, they are light years ahead of you in having mastered the use of these basic senses. It is the sixth sense that has the capacity to set people apart from the banal existence of animals or the hunter gatherer in the urban jungle. This sense of there is something not quite in focus, something that is lingering to be born through an awareness, a clarity of purpose for our life, this sense is a need or longing to create and it is the prime motivator that has to be incubated and nourished in every person, most importantly it must be protected and allowed to flourish in every child. In order for Children to bring about the advances in understandings of STEM and life that are so crucial to our continued existence, they have to ask the questions and be encouraged to find the answers themselves. We will most assuredly fail if the old model of education does not get out of the way.Students cannot continue to answer the mimeographed questions from a teacher who has memorized what they needed to know to attain their teachers degree, or at least they cannot do this and truly learn. As we know one of the basic tenets of insanity is to perform the same tasks and expect different outcomes. That's not to say there isn't any capacity in some teachers to guide the students, that will remain to be seen and observed continually as opportunities to interact with children occur. Changing the pedagogy and predicates of childhood learning is the only key to unlock the door of success now, it always was. We didn't and still don't see this truth for many reasons, the main one is that the vast majority of people were too desensitized as children to perceive the opportunity to use that sense of creativity or to even become aware that they hold within themselves the essence of a kernel of this potential. As the enlightened few know this light exists within each child and may even still reside in some locked room deep within the psyche of most adults. I think the great ones of our past and present times called the potential for this positive creative brilliance to shine forth from the darkness as grace. In nature you see, we observe that all life flows in cycles. As long as life has the capacity to complete its cycles there is the chance for new life.
I am almost sorry to tell people that all the appropriations of every dollar couldn't buy a modicum of success in saving us now. For the answer to societies dilemma can't be bought, it can only be achieved through an agreement among enough people that we must rapidly and without restraint create lasting learning environments that empower our children to carry forth their own capacity to ask the questions. These questions which are the formative elements of thought, these thoughts are the precursors of thinking, this thinking will bring about the organic innovation that is the object desire of America's and all Humanity's continued survival for life's success on our planet.
A critical part of establishing the beachead for STEM in each community is for people to gain the sense of place we have mentioned so often.And in order for success it has to be found in every facet of life in every community. I really believe that this is just another abstract idea for 99% of anyone who hears the term. But a sense of place HAS to happen in order for real learning to take place. Learning is a state of existence as a higher level of consciousness in thought takes place to continually sort and sift information for each individuals understandings of what they perceive as life for them.This is natural for all people and to some extent for animals to a point in their life. For the infant human it reaches a crescendo of creative and cognitive development in the Einstein years and if nurtured continues somewhat unabated through out life although on different levels of thought as their bodies and perceptions develop.
There is a common denominator for people and animals to a point of divergence, it is the instinctive basis for empowering all the senses, they are the five senses; sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell. All of these are essential to navigating the shoals of life in the physical world. All animals and people have this gift,but just watch your dog or cat, they are light years ahead of you in having mastered the use of these basic senses. It is the sixth sense that has the capacity to set people apart from the banal existence of animals or the hunter gatherer in the urban jungle. This sense of there is something not quite in focus, something that is lingering to be born through an awareness, a clarity of purpose for our life, this sense is a need or longing to create and it is the prime motivator that has to be incubated and nourished in every person, most importantly it must be protected and allowed to flourish in every child. In order for Children to bring about the advances in understandings of STEM and life that are so crucial to our continued existence, they have to ask the questions and be encouraged to find the answers themselves. We will most assuredly fail if the old model of education does not get out of the way.Students cannot continue to answer the mimeographed questions from a teacher who has memorized what they needed to know to attain their teachers degree, or at least they cannot do this and truly learn. As we know one of the basic tenets of insanity is to perform the same tasks and expect different outcomes. That's not to say there isn't any capacity in some teachers to guide the students, that will remain to be seen and observed continually as opportunities to interact with children occur. Changing the pedagogy and predicates of childhood learning is the only key to unlock the door of success now, it always was. We didn't and still don't see this truth for many reasons, the main one is that the vast majority of people were too desensitized as children to perceive the opportunity to use that sense of creativity or to even become aware that they hold within themselves the essence of a kernel of this potential. As the enlightened few know this light exists within each child and may even still reside in some locked room deep within the psyche of most adults. I think the great ones of our past and present times called the potential for this positive creative brilliance to shine forth from the darkness as grace. In nature you see, we observe that all life flows in cycles. As long as life has the capacity to complete its cycles there is the chance for new life.
I am almost sorry to tell people that all the appropriations of every dollar couldn't buy a modicum of success in saving us now. For the answer to societies dilemma can't be bought, it can only be achieved through an agreement among enough people that we must rapidly and without restraint create lasting learning environments that empower our children to carry forth their own capacity to ask the questions. These questions which are the formative elements of thought, these thoughts are the precursors of thinking, this thinking will bring about the organic innovation that is the object desire of America's and all Humanity's continued survival for life's success on our planet.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
DOUBLE-DOWN on our STEM ITEST Grant Work!
Fri, May 02, 2008
Summit: Save STEM or watch America fail
At current rates of investment in STEM research and education, America is losing its competitive edge, panelists warn
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
Panelists say awareness is not enough and that the U.S. needs to take action.
Two years after a report called "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" warned that the United States is falling behind in math and science education, endangering America's competitiveness in the global economy, education leaders, lawmakers, and cabinet members met for a national summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss what progress--if any--has been made in closing the gap. Their verdict: The U.S. needs to make a greater investment in critical math, science, and research programs for these efforts to succeed.
In the two years since the National Academies issued its "Gathering Storm" report, Congress passed a bill called the America COMPETES Act, which outlined measures to improve math and science research and education. The legislation called for expanding science research by doubling the basic research budgets for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the Department of Defense. It also created programs to hire and train more highly qualified math and science teachers and increase the number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes in underprivileged schools.
But the bill was only an authorization, not an appropriation, and lawmakers failed to fund many of these programs in the 2008 federal budget. (See "Final 2008 budget a mixed bag for schools.")
Though Congress passed many of the measures recommended by the "Gathering Storm" report, "we're [just] now in the process of passing appropriations to support those actions," acknowledged Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology.
"Authorizations are not enough," agreed Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. "We won't get anywhere without funding."
Private-sector funding from Exxon Mobil, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has supported the creation of a project called the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). In its first year, NMSI rolled out grants to launch AP Training and Incentive programs in seven states, as well as replicate a math and science teacher-training program called UTeach at 13 universities. (See "Schools aim to solve huge math problem.") But summit panelists said the federal government needs to step up its support for these kinds of initiatives, too.
Panelists cited many examples of success, such as the largest initial public offering in history and the launch of a new research university with a day-one endowment of $10 billion (equal to what it took MIT 142 years to accumulate).
Trouble is, these accomplishments are happening in China and Saudi Arabia, respectively--not in the United States. In fact, in spite of bipartisan agreement on the need to improve student achievement in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] disciplines, little has been done in the U.S.
In a recent op-ed piece published in advance of the summit, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, had this to say: "We are starting to see the consequences of our neglect in STEM. China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest exporter of information-technology products--and the U.S. has become a net importer of those products. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that America is the world's technological leader in the 21st century."
Even so, federal funding has not increased, according to reports from Tapping America's Potential and the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation. Basic research funding at federal agencies has not increased, and some programs have been cut. The research and development tax credit has not been made permanent and has been allowed to expire.
In addition, policy makers have not been able to agree on visa and permanent resident green-card reform for highly educated professionals.
G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, said nothing has really happened in the last two years to advance the goals of the "Gathering Storm" report. Declared Clough: "Our momentum has not only slowed--it's reversed."
Craig Barrett, chairman of the board at Intel Corp., condemned the shortsightedness of politicians and elected officials. "Unless you're a short-term program during an election [season], you won't get funding," he said. "We're not investing in the future; we're not looking forward, because we have this sense of entitlement."
"Churchill said that you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else," said Norman Augustine, CEO emeritus of Lockheed Martin. "Our nation's leaders need to follow through on their bipartisan effort in the America COMPETES Act and fund improvements to math and science education. Otherwise, our nation's greatest export is likely to be our jobs and our standard of living."
Sally Ride, chief executive officer of Sally Ride Science and the nation's first female astronaut, said it takes a long time to build a new foundation. "It reminds me of that Road Runner cartoon where the coyote keeps chasing after the road runner, and he keeps running and running until he realizes he's off the cliff and loses his footing. That's us right now," she explained.
Ride said she believes not enough people, especially parents and students, understand how important it is to take an interest in science. She cited a report from Public Agenda, titled "Important, But Not for Me: Parents and Students in Kansas and Missouri Talk About Math, Science, and Technology Education," which found that even though parents and students say they understand the importance of STEM education, they don't see how it applies to them personally.
Charles Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering and former president of MIT, believes Americans are simply too comfortable and are riding out the momentum gained by the rise of STEM education in the 1950s and 60s.
"The enemy I fear most is complacency," said Vest. "The science and engineering talent, tools, and research required to prosper and be a world leader in this century do not grow on trees. We urgently need to invest in people and knowledge and create well-paying jobs. We must again be the ‘can do' nation--building a strong, competitive economy and meeting the challenges of energy, security, healthcare, and global change."
Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said he believes the U.S. is falling behind in STEM education because Americans "value the fruits of science, but they don't know where they come from. That's why we're currently under-investing in R&D in every sector. It's a result of the 1950s, where we had a bimodal population. We basically told people: ‘If you're not going to be a scientist, then don't bother studying science.'"
Wolf attributed the lack of appropriations to the state of the country's fiscal health. Because of the nation's $54 trillion debt, and with the dollar decreasing in value every day, America simply doesn't have the funds needed to support STEM programs or provide more for the National Science Foundation and NASA, he said.
"Every science program is under discretionary spending," said Wolf. "This needs to change; but how? Should the U.S. declare bankruptcy?"
For many panelists, boosting the federal investment in STEM-related research and education begins with creating a greater sense of urgency.
"The initial [Gathering Storm] report helped to start and maintain public focus," said Vest, "but now we must establish a sense of urgency, not just awareness."
Tom Luce, CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative, said the summit's goal is to help move the report from the playing field to the goal line.
"We're here to help implement strategies, not just talk about what the report says. It's more than just a report--it's an action plan that needs to be developed," said Luce.
According to Clough, Congress and the general population need to understand the link between this report and the economy. He said Americans need to care about the COMPETES Act and many other calls to action delivered by the report, because without STEM education, America won't be able to compete globally--causing a stagnation of median income and a lower standard of living.
"People at the state level get what's going on. We're just lacking the will at the national level," he said.
Concluded Vest: "Tell your representatives and senators--as well as your favorite presidential candidate--that funding math and science education, investing in basic research and development, and welcoming the best and brightest from around the world is the only way to guarantee that their children and grandchildren will enjoy the continuously rising standard of living that Americans have come to expect.
"America can't afford to wait while the rest of the world surges forward. The Cold War is over. Globalization and modernization are racing ahead, there are billions of new competitors in the economic race with the United States--and we are falling behind."
National Academies http://www.nationalacademies.org
Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
National Math and Science Initiative http://www.nationalmathandscience.org
UTeach http://uteach.utexas.edu
Tapping America's Potential http://tap2015.org
Task Force on the Future of American Innovation http://www.futureofinnovation.org
Sally Ride on TechWatch http://www.eschoolnews.com/video-center/esn-techwatch/?i=53391;_hbguid=0f29fd65-c137-45d2-8967-f0ad7e1ee463
Summit: Save STEM or watch America fail
At current rates of investment in STEM research and education, America is losing its competitive edge, panelists warn
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
Panelists say awareness is not enough and that the U.S. needs to take action.
Two years after a report called "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" warned that the United States is falling behind in math and science education, endangering America's competitiveness in the global economy, education leaders, lawmakers, and cabinet members met for a national summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss what progress--if any--has been made in closing the gap. Their verdict: The U.S. needs to make a greater investment in critical math, science, and research programs for these efforts to succeed.
In the two years since the National Academies issued its "Gathering Storm" report, Congress passed a bill called the America COMPETES Act, which outlined measures to improve math and science research and education. The legislation called for expanding science research by doubling the basic research budgets for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the Department of Defense. It also created programs to hire and train more highly qualified math and science teachers and increase the number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes in underprivileged schools.
But the bill was only an authorization, not an appropriation, and lawmakers failed to fund many of these programs in the 2008 federal budget. (See "Final 2008 budget a mixed bag for schools.")
Though Congress passed many of the measures recommended by the "Gathering Storm" report, "we're [just] now in the process of passing appropriations to support those actions," acknowledged Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology.
"Authorizations are not enough," agreed Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. "We won't get anywhere without funding."
Private-sector funding from Exxon Mobil, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has supported the creation of a project called the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). In its first year, NMSI rolled out grants to launch AP Training and Incentive programs in seven states, as well as replicate a math and science teacher-training program called UTeach at 13 universities. (See "Schools aim to solve huge math problem.") But summit panelists said the federal government needs to step up its support for these kinds of initiatives, too.
Panelists cited many examples of success, such as the largest initial public offering in history and the launch of a new research university with a day-one endowment of $10 billion (equal to what it took MIT 142 years to accumulate).
Trouble is, these accomplishments are happening in China and Saudi Arabia, respectively--not in the United States. In fact, in spite of bipartisan agreement on the need to improve student achievement in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] disciplines, little has been done in the U.S.
In a recent op-ed piece published in advance of the summit, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, had this to say: "We are starting to see the consequences of our neglect in STEM. China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest exporter of information-technology products--and the U.S. has become a net importer of those products. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that America is the world's technological leader in the 21st century."
Even so, federal funding has not increased, according to reports from Tapping America's Potential and the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation. Basic research funding at federal agencies has not increased, and some programs have been cut. The research and development tax credit has not been made permanent and has been allowed to expire.
In addition, policy makers have not been able to agree on visa and permanent resident green-card reform for highly educated professionals.
G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, said nothing has really happened in the last two years to advance the goals of the "Gathering Storm" report. Declared Clough: "Our momentum has not only slowed--it's reversed."
Craig Barrett, chairman of the board at Intel Corp., condemned the shortsightedness of politicians and elected officials. "Unless you're a short-term program during an election [season], you won't get funding," he said. "We're not investing in the future; we're not looking forward, because we have this sense of entitlement."
"Churchill said that you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else," said Norman Augustine, CEO emeritus of Lockheed Martin. "Our nation's leaders need to follow through on their bipartisan effort in the America COMPETES Act and fund improvements to math and science education. Otherwise, our nation's greatest export is likely to be our jobs and our standard of living."
Sally Ride, chief executive officer of Sally Ride Science and the nation's first female astronaut, said it takes a long time to build a new foundation. "It reminds me of that Road Runner cartoon where the coyote keeps chasing after the road runner, and he keeps running and running until he realizes he's off the cliff and loses his footing. That's us right now," she explained.
Ride said she believes not enough people, especially parents and students, understand how important it is to take an interest in science. She cited a report from Public Agenda, titled "Important, But Not for Me: Parents and Students in Kansas and Missouri Talk About Math, Science, and Technology Education," which found that even though parents and students say they understand the importance of STEM education, they don't see how it applies to them personally.
Charles Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering and former president of MIT, believes Americans are simply too comfortable and are riding out the momentum gained by the rise of STEM education in the 1950s and 60s.
"The enemy I fear most is complacency," said Vest. "The science and engineering talent, tools, and research required to prosper and be a world leader in this century do not grow on trees. We urgently need to invest in people and knowledge and create well-paying jobs. We must again be the ‘can do' nation--building a strong, competitive economy and meeting the challenges of energy, security, healthcare, and global change."
Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said he believes the U.S. is falling behind in STEM education because Americans "value the fruits of science, but they don't know where they come from. That's why we're currently under-investing in R&D in every sector. It's a result of the 1950s, where we had a bimodal population. We basically told people: ‘If you're not going to be a scientist, then don't bother studying science.'"
Wolf attributed the lack of appropriations to the state of the country's fiscal health. Because of the nation's $54 trillion debt, and with the dollar decreasing in value every day, America simply doesn't have the funds needed to support STEM programs or provide more for the National Science Foundation and NASA, he said.
"Every science program is under discretionary spending," said Wolf. "This needs to change; but how? Should the U.S. declare bankruptcy?"
For many panelists, boosting the federal investment in STEM-related research and education begins with creating a greater sense of urgency.
"The initial [Gathering Storm] report helped to start and maintain public focus," said Vest, "but now we must establish a sense of urgency, not just awareness."
Tom Luce, CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative, said the summit's goal is to help move the report from the playing field to the goal line.
"We're here to help implement strategies, not just talk about what the report says. It's more than just a report--it's an action plan that needs to be developed," said Luce.
According to Clough, Congress and the general population need to understand the link between this report and the economy. He said Americans need to care about the COMPETES Act and many other calls to action delivered by the report, because without STEM education, America won't be able to compete globally--causing a stagnation of median income and a lower standard of living.
"People at the state level get what's going on. We're just lacking the will at the national level," he said.
Concluded Vest: "Tell your representatives and senators--as well as your favorite presidential candidate--that funding math and science education, investing in basic research and development, and welcoming the best and brightest from around the world is the only way to guarantee that their children and grandchildren will enjoy the continuously rising standard of living that Americans have come to expect.
"America can't afford to wait while the rest of the world surges forward. The Cold War is over. Globalization and modernization are racing ahead, there are billions of new competitors in the economic race with the United States--and we are falling behind."
National Academies http://www.nationalacademies.org
Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
National Math and Science Initiative http://www.nationalmathandscience.org
UTeach http://uteach.utexas.edu
Tapping America's Potential http://tap2015.org
Task Force on the Future of American Innovation http://www.futureofinnovation.org
Sally Ride on TechWatch http://www.eschoolnews.com/video-center/esn-techwatch/?i=53391;_hbguid=0f29fd65-c137-45d2-8967-f0ad7e1ee463
Friday, May 2, 2008
Cognitive Educational Competitiveness Differentiator
May 2, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
The Cognitive Age
By DAVID BROOKS
If you go into a good library, you will find thousands of books on globalization. Some will laud it. Some will warn about its dangers. But they’ll agree that globalization is the chief process driving our age. Our lives are being transformed by the increasing movement of goods, people and capital across borders.
The globalization paradigm has led, in the political arena, to a certain historical narrative: There were once nation-states like the U.S. and the European powers, whose economies could be secured within borders. But now capital flows freely. Technology has leveled the playing field. Competition is global and fierce.
New dynamos like India and China threaten American dominance thanks to their cheap labor and manipulated currencies. Now, everything is made abroad. American manufacturing is in decline. The rest of the economy is threatened.
Hillary Clinton summarized the narrative this week: “They came for the steel companies and nobody said anything. They came for the auto companies and nobody said anything. They came for the office companies, people who did white-collar service jobs, and no one said anything. And they came for the professional jobs that could be outsourced, and nobody said anything.”
The globalization paradigm has turned out to be very convenient for politicians. It allows them to blame foreigners for economic woes. It allows them to pretend that by rewriting trade deals, they can assuage economic anxiety. It allows them to treat economic and social change as a great mercantilist competition, with various teams competing for global supremacy, and with politicians starring as the commanding generals.
But there’s a problem with the way the globalization paradigm has evolved. It doesn’t really explain most of what is happening in the world.
Globalization is real and important. It’s just not the central force driving economic change. Some Americans have seen their jobs shipped overseas, but global competition has accounted for a small share of job creation and destruction over the past few decades. Capital does indeed flow around the world. But as Pankaj Ghemawat of the Harvard Business School has observed, 90 percent of fixed investment around the world is domestic. Companies open plants overseas, but that’s mainly so their production facilities can be close to local markets.
Nor is the globalization paradigm even accurate when applied to manufacturing. Instead of fleeing to Asia, U.S. manufacturing output is up over recent decades. As Thomas Duesterberg of Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a research firm, has pointed out, the U.S.’s share of global manufacturing output has actually increased slightly since 1980.
The chief force reshaping manufacturing is technological change (hastened by competition with other companies in Canada, Germany or down the street). Thanks to innovation, manufacturing productivity has doubled over two decades. Employers now require fewer but more highly skilled workers. Technological change affects China just as it does the America. William Overholt of the RAND Corporation has noted that between 1994 and 2004 the Chinese shed 25 million manufacturing jobs, 10 times more than the U.S.
The central process driving this is not globalization. It’s the skills revolution. We’re moving into a more demanding cognitive age. In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information. This is happening in localized and globalized sectors, and it would be happening even if you tore up every free trade deal ever inked.
The globalization paradigm emphasizes the fact that information can now travel 15,000 miles in an instant. But the most important part of information’s journey is the last few inches — the space between a person’s eyes or ears and the various regions of the brain. Does the individual have the capacity to understand the information? Does he or she have the training to exploit it? Are there cultural assumptions that distort the way it is perceived?
The globalization paradigm leads people to see economic development as a form of foreign policy, as a grand competition between nations and civilizations. These abstractions, called “the Chinese” or “the Indians,” are doing this or that. But the cognitive age paradigm emphasizes psychology, culture and pedagogy — the specific processes that foster learning. It emphasizes that different societies are being stressed in similar ways by increased demands on human capital. If you understand that you are living at the beginning of a cognitive age, you’re focusing on the real source of prosperity and understand that your anxiety is not being caused by a foreigner.
It’s not that globalization and the skills revolution are contradictory processes. But which paradigm you embrace determines which facts and remedies you emphasize. Politicians, especially Democratic ones, have fallen in love with the globalization paradigm. It’s time to move beyond it.
Op-Ed Columnist
The Cognitive Age
By DAVID BROOKS
If you go into a good library, you will find thousands of books on globalization. Some will laud it. Some will warn about its dangers. But they’ll agree that globalization is the chief process driving our age. Our lives are being transformed by the increasing movement of goods, people and capital across borders.
The globalization paradigm has led, in the political arena, to a certain historical narrative: There were once nation-states like the U.S. and the European powers, whose economies could be secured within borders. But now capital flows freely. Technology has leveled the playing field. Competition is global and fierce.
New dynamos like India and China threaten American dominance thanks to their cheap labor and manipulated currencies. Now, everything is made abroad. American manufacturing is in decline. The rest of the economy is threatened.
Hillary Clinton summarized the narrative this week: “They came for the steel companies and nobody said anything. They came for the auto companies and nobody said anything. They came for the office companies, people who did white-collar service jobs, and no one said anything. And they came for the professional jobs that could be outsourced, and nobody said anything.”
The globalization paradigm has turned out to be very convenient for politicians. It allows them to blame foreigners for economic woes. It allows them to pretend that by rewriting trade deals, they can assuage economic anxiety. It allows them to treat economic and social change as a great mercantilist competition, with various teams competing for global supremacy, and with politicians starring as the commanding generals.
But there’s a problem with the way the globalization paradigm has evolved. It doesn’t really explain most of what is happening in the world.
Globalization is real and important. It’s just not the central force driving economic change. Some Americans have seen their jobs shipped overseas, but global competition has accounted for a small share of job creation and destruction over the past few decades. Capital does indeed flow around the world. But as Pankaj Ghemawat of the Harvard Business School has observed, 90 percent of fixed investment around the world is domestic. Companies open plants overseas, but that’s mainly so their production facilities can be close to local markets.
Nor is the globalization paradigm even accurate when applied to manufacturing. Instead of fleeing to Asia, U.S. manufacturing output is up over recent decades. As Thomas Duesterberg of Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a research firm, has pointed out, the U.S.’s share of global manufacturing output has actually increased slightly since 1980.
The chief force reshaping manufacturing is technological change (hastened by competition with other companies in Canada, Germany or down the street). Thanks to innovation, manufacturing productivity has doubled over two decades. Employers now require fewer but more highly skilled workers. Technological change affects China just as it does the America. William Overholt of the RAND Corporation has noted that between 1994 and 2004 the Chinese shed 25 million manufacturing jobs, 10 times more than the U.S.
The central process driving this is not globalization. It’s the skills revolution. We’re moving into a more demanding cognitive age. In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information. This is happening in localized and globalized sectors, and it would be happening even if you tore up every free trade deal ever inked.
The globalization paradigm emphasizes the fact that information can now travel 15,000 miles in an instant. But the most important part of information’s journey is the last few inches — the space between a person’s eyes or ears and the various regions of the brain. Does the individual have the capacity to understand the information? Does he or she have the training to exploit it? Are there cultural assumptions that distort the way it is perceived?
The globalization paradigm leads people to see economic development as a form of foreign policy, as a grand competition between nations and civilizations. These abstractions, called “the Chinese” or “the Indians,” are doing this or that. But the cognitive age paradigm emphasizes psychology, culture and pedagogy — the specific processes that foster learning. It emphasizes that different societies are being stressed in similar ways by increased demands on human capital. If you understand that you are living at the beginning of a cognitive age, you’re focusing on the real source of prosperity and understand that your anxiety is not being caused by a foreigner.
It’s not that globalization and the skills revolution are contradictory processes. But which paradigm you embrace determines which facts and remedies you emphasize. Politicians, especially Democratic ones, have fallen in love with the globalization paradigm. It’s time to move beyond it.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The New Frontier or The End of Times
It's well past time for some plain facts about the situation that America and the World finds itself in. Think Green is the new catch phrase craze that is in vouge. We see and hear about it in almost every direction. It's mostly a mixture of ego, fluff and hype and mixed in with a healthy fear of the unknown.
You must ask yourself that even with this supposed new conciousness of the Earth why are so many people going hungry, why so many people are becoming homeless and why is the earths life support systems being corrupted and wiped out at an accelerated rate?
We as a nation are presented with a 9 trillion dollar debt to debtor nations who may call on us to pay up at any time now. We have a country run by a bunch of Barney Feiff's(Sorry Don, you did a fine job of acting) holding onto some nukes saying "It may be our debt , but it's your problem", (that is, until a changing of the guard takes place). Yep folks were in a heap of dung. This debt, was brought to you by voodoo economics. A system that knows the "cost" of everything and the true vaue of nothing. It is the science of leading economic indicators where the cart leads the horse. It's not a science of appreciating the value of our resources, it's rather the game of "Whats ours is mine and what's yours is mine". People, you really need to understand this, the debt owed to the Chinese is nothing compared to the one owed to Mother Nature. As you see, our Mother carries a real big stick and we are all about to get beat.
Time's they are a changin, for sure. There are answers to all this but it will take some serious agreements for them to have any effect. In order of priority we need to ;
1. Start with the truth. Allow the children to hold court over the vetting process of discerning the truth in all matters. They are not vested in decades of lying to themselves and society.
2.Change the educational system from its present form which is totally irrelevant to the situation we find ourselves in. Empower the students to become aware of their capacity to think by asking them to become aware of our world. This can be accomplished by performing a resource analysis of all things natural and man made.That is to take an inventory of all natural and human processes. Present and past. As these evaluations take place create the new mathematics sytems to understand the interrelationships between cause and effect.
2. Concurrent to this evaluation process expose the low hanging fruit to be realized in changing to a system of Natural Capitalism. In Nature all energy is free and as water it continually seeks its own level. In nature, resources are inherantly all used to support the next step in the processes of life's business. There is no waste in nature. There is a very efficient sytem of recycling everything to continue the cycles of life. We have to stop murdering those systems and work with them to enrich life's processes.
3.Distributed generation and distribution of resources in nature is a local business model for good reason. We need to mimic that system by growing and purchasing all our food, building materials, clothes and other goods locally and develop these systems as quickly as possible. This local support in creating community will head off the impending social and natural disasters as the economic depression continues to spiral. Do you really want to continue to argue about this until you are on the street also?
4. Collaborate amongst communities like nature does in its global interactions such as the weather and water systems. So too we can create systems of travel and exchange of goods and services as they are needed to support necessary interactions amongst communities. Systems of modeled efficiency.
This will be continued and we ask you to share your insights, for now I will leave you with the questions- have you ever wondered why you are here in this place and time and do you have the capacity to discern the real truth of your existence? Do you support life in it entireity as nature must or will you just continue to look after your own needs? Are you an empowered individual with capacity to help make positive and substantive changes that are needed or are you just another consumer battery paying for your next recharge?
You must ask yourself that even with this supposed new conciousness of the Earth why are so many people going hungry, why so many people are becoming homeless and why is the earths life support systems being corrupted and wiped out at an accelerated rate?
We as a nation are presented with a 9 trillion dollar debt to debtor nations who may call on us to pay up at any time now. We have a country run by a bunch of Barney Feiff's(Sorry Don, you did a fine job of acting) holding onto some nukes saying "It may be our debt , but it's your problem", (that is, until a changing of the guard takes place). Yep folks were in a heap of dung. This debt, was brought to you by voodoo economics. A system that knows the "cost" of everything and the true vaue of nothing. It is the science of leading economic indicators where the cart leads the horse. It's not a science of appreciating the value of our resources, it's rather the game of "Whats ours is mine and what's yours is mine". People, you really need to understand this, the debt owed to the Chinese is nothing compared to the one owed to Mother Nature. As you see, our Mother carries a real big stick and we are all about to get beat.
Time's they are a changin, for sure. There are answers to all this but it will take some serious agreements for them to have any effect. In order of priority we need to ;
1. Start with the truth. Allow the children to hold court over the vetting process of discerning the truth in all matters. They are not vested in decades of lying to themselves and society.
2.Change the educational system from its present form which is totally irrelevant to the situation we find ourselves in. Empower the students to become aware of their capacity to think by asking them to become aware of our world. This can be accomplished by performing a resource analysis of all things natural and man made.That is to take an inventory of all natural and human processes. Present and past. As these evaluations take place create the new mathematics sytems to understand the interrelationships between cause and effect.
2. Concurrent to this evaluation process expose the low hanging fruit to be realized in changing to a system of Natural Capitalism. In Nature all energy is free and as water it continually seeks its own level. In nature, resources are inherantly all used to support the next step in the processes of life's business. There is no waste in nature. There is a very efficient sytem of recycling everything to continue the cycles of life. We have to stop murdering those systems and work with them to enrich life's processes.
3.Distributed generation and distribution of resources in nature is a local business model for good reason. We need to mimic that system by growing and purchasing all our food, building materials, clothes and other goods locally and develop these systems as quickly as possible. This local support in creating community will head off the impending social and natural disasters as the economic depression continues to spiral. Do you really want to continue to argue about this until you are on the street also?
4. Collaborate amongst communities like nature does in its global interactions such as the weather and water systems. So too we can create systems of travel and exchange of goods and services as they are needed to support necessary interactions amongst communities. Systems of modeled efficiency.
This will be continued and we ask you to share your insights, for now I will leave you with the questions- have you ever wondered why you are here in this place and time and do you have the capacity to discern the real truth of your existence? Do you support life in it entireity as nature must or will you just continue to look after your own needs? Are you an empowered individual with capacity to help make positive and substantive changes that are needed or are you just another consumer battery paying for your next recharge?
Saturday, April 26, 2008
GREEN Builders
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
MichiganMall.Com, MITechNews.Com Team Up To Promote Green Companies
ROCHESTER HILLS – MichiganMall.Com has teamed up with MITechNews.Com to offer "Green" builders, developers and businesses a golden opportunity to advertise their products and services to a receptive audience.
MichiganMall.Com has created a “GreenTech” section where Green businesses can advertise at very low rates. The listing includes a logo, phone number and other contact information, as well as links to the company’s web site. MichiganMall.Com will also promote its new GreenTech section to its 40,000 plus unique visitors each month.
What’s more, MITechNews.Com, a Michigan technology news portal site, will promote MichiganMall.Com’s new classified ad section on its new GreenTech section (http://www.mitechnews.com/Articles.asp?sec=104&name=GreenTech) and on its GreenTech podcast channel. MITechNews.Com attracts more than 20,000 visitors each month.
“We’re really excited about this new joint venture with MichiganMall.Com,” said MITechNews.Com Editor and Publisher Mike Brennan. “It seems everyone is looking for ways to help the environment and decrease global warming. There are a lot of Green businesses that can help them do just that and we’ve got a great way to connect both of these audiences.”
A 90-day listing on the new MichiganMall.Com GreenTech section is priced at just $99.95. It can be renewed in 90-day increments for just $89.95. The package includes a 60 pixel square logo, contact information, and links to the company’s web site.
Advertising also is available at the MITechNews.Com GreenTech section and on the web portal site’s GreenTech podcast channel. For advertising information at MITechNews.Com, email Brennan@MITechNews.Com
To advertise on the MichiganMall.Com GreenTech section, email Info@MichiganMall.Com
Author: Mike Brennan
Source: MITechNews.Com
MichiganMall.Com, MITechNews.Com Team Up To Promote Green Companies
ROCHESTER HILLS – MichiganMall.Com has teamed up with MITechNews.Com to offer "Green" builders, developers and businesses a golden opportunity to advertise their products and services to a receptive audience.
MichiganMall.Com has created a “GreenTech” section where Green businesses can advertise at very low rates. The listing includes a logo, phone number and other contact information, as well as links to the company’s web site. MichiganMall.Com will also promote its new GreenTech section to its 40,000 plus unique visitors each month.
What’s more, MITechNews.Com, a Michigan technology news portal site, will promote MichiganMall.Com’s new classified ad section on its new GreenTech section (http://www.mitechnews.com/Articles.asp?sec=104&name=GreenTech) and on its GreenTech podcast channel. MITechNews.Com attracts more than 20,000 visitors each month.
“We’re really excited about this new joint venture with MichiganMall.Com,” said MITechNews.Com Editor and Publisher Mike Brennan. “It seems everyone is looking for ways to help the environment and decrease global warming. There are a lot of Green businesses that can help them do just that and we’ve got a great way to connect both of these audiences.”
A 90-day listing on the new MichiganMall.Com GreenTech section is priced at just $99.95. It can be renewed in 90-day increments for just $89.95. The package includes a 60 pixel square logo, contact information, and links to the company’s web site.
Advertising also is available at the MITechNews.Com GreenTech section and on the web portal site’s GreenTech podcast channel. For advertising information at MITechNews.Com, email Brennan@MITechNews.Com
To advertise on the MichiganMall.Com GreenTech section, email Info@MichiganMall.Com
Author: Mike Brennan
Source: MITechNews.Com
My Dear IRENA Would You Like To Dance?
Time for an International Renewable Energy Agency?
by Lily Riahi, Contributing Writer
Berlin, Germany [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
At the invitation of the German Federal Government, representatives from more than 60 countries met in Berlin earlier this month to discuss the founding of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organization that will exist to exclusively promote the adoption of renewable energy worldwide.
"Promoting renewables must now become a global and universal priority, and IRENA is a necessary condition for that goal. If we intend to embark on the renewable energy revolution, we cannot do it without IRENA."-- Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council
Participants expressed a sense of urgency to begin a swift transition to a more secure, sustainable renewable energy economy with the assistance of an international body. A variety of countries have expressed support for IRENA, including Spain, India, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Portugal and South Africa.
During the Berlin meeting on April 10th and 11th, government representatives met to discuss and hone the objectives, activities, finances, and organizational structure of IRENA. A common point of discussion during the workshops was the relationship between IRENA and other existing international bodies that deal with energy issues. Some countries expressed concerns over the duplication of activities or unecessary competition with organizations such as the International Energy Agency.While there were concerns over how IRENA would work alongside other bodies, it was made clear by participants that a strong, independent force for supporting renewables is necessary to realize the full social, economic and political benefits of clean energies. It was generally agreed that most of the existing initiatives lack a focal point. With limited mandates and capacities, current international renewable energy associations, networks and UN bodies cannot fill the institutional gap that IRENA plans to fill, said Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council.
“Promoting renewables must now become a global and universal priority, and IRENA is a necessary condition for that goal. If we intend to embark on the renewable energy revolution, we cannot do it without IRENA,” said Jagger in a speech.
“IRENA will work toward improved regulatory frameworks for renewable energy through enhanced policy advice, improvements in the transfer of renewable energy technology; progress on skills and know-how for renewable energy; it will be able to offer a scientifically sound information basis through applied policy research; and better financing of renewable energy,” she continued.
Although the International Energy Agency (IEA) established an advisory board on renewables in 1982, the world has yet to see a breakthrough in renewable energy adoption. This proves the need for an exclusive focus on creating the structural changes needed to ensure widespead adoption of renewable energy, said Hermann Scheer, founder of the European Association for Renewable Energies and member of the German parliament.
“The IEA will have to compensate for all of the current energy problems and won’t have time to push for new forms of energy,” said Scheer.
The IEA deals with questions of supply security and the needs of energy markets. This is reflected in its allocation of votes, which are based mainly on the oil consumption of different countries. As a result, it doesn’t cover in great detail the economic, political, and social aspects of renewable energy. In its in-depth country reviews, the IEA analyzes the energy policies of member states without fully recognizing the potential renewable energy, say some critics. The agency's focus remains on primarily on large-scale energy supply and therefore does not offer much needed advice on how to adapt energy markets towards more decentralized energy sources such as renewables. Further, in contrast to IRENA’s proposed global approach and diverse membership, the activities of the IEA are largely limited to countries involved with the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
According to conference organizers, IRENA will work alongside the IEA and other international bodies in areas of renewable energy research, similar to the relationship between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the IEA. One of the major reasons for the foundation of the IAEA in the 1950s was the desire to exploit the opportunities offered by what was then a new energy source. The same attention needs to be given to renewables, said Jose Etcheverry, a chair of the World Council on Renewable Energy.
“The world sorely lacks innovative economic, social and political institutional frameworks to provide strong support for renewable energy development worldwide,” said Etcheverry. “Conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear power have incredibly powerful lobbyists to ensure that their interests are provided with preferential treatment over the more socially desirable options of renewable energy and efficiency.”
IRENA will address several critical barriers that are preventing the full-scale adoption of renewable energy. It will provide informed policy advice and assistance to national governments that are currently lacking the means and capacity to develop effective regulatory frameworks for renewable energy adoption.To strengthen technology transfer IRENA will combine the various independent projects and optimise synergies between them, focus on knowledge exchange, integrate technical, administrative and financial actions, and create suitable incentives for industry to engage in developing countries. Of course, none of these tasks can be fully accomplished without adequate human capacity. IRENA will provide an inventory of current training activities and provide courses for policy-makers and regulators on how to overcome administrative barriers to renewable energy adoption.
The time to create IRENA is now, said supporters. Indeed, as organizers learn from the decades of experience of other international agencies, they believe they can create of the most innovative, streamlined agenices in the world while helping usher in a new era of clean, sustainable energies.
Lily Riahi is a RenewableEnergyWorld.com Correspondent currently working out of Canada. She is a research intern for the office of Dr. Hermann Scheer and is currently finishing her masters on the socio-cultural barriers to renewable energy adoption.
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Reader Comments (6)
Author:willstedt heikki
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
The world needs a strong and well funded IRENA, a focal point were developing countries can find the assitance needed to leap-frog conventional energy technologies that simply cannot give solutions to the energy deprived billions living in those countries. At the same time it would be a counter-balancing force to the more conservative focus of the IEA and IAEA, which is badly needed if the world is to see future energy scenarios were renewables are more than 20% of the total world energy consumption by 2050. The EU should push for Germany or Spain to host the IRENA in order to keep the momentum for renewables that has been developed in the EU thanks mostly to these two countries.
Comment 1 of 6
Author:Paul Johnson
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
Please, no more ineffective bureaucracies that lack the ability to hold members accountable.
Comment 2 of 6
Author:morty prisament
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
Even if IRENA might start out with limited enforcement capabilities, such an organization would provide a much needed "framework" and "forum" through which information can be shared, issues debated, and policies developed. A comprehensive approach utilizing a central forum will stimulate discussion and actions on one of the most precient and far-reaching issues of our time. Currently, there is a flurry of activity on a multitude of fronts. If such an entity accomplished little more than tracking research, technological developments and trends, provided periodic commentaries on economic, financing, and marketing considerations, and reported on policy developments-all from an international perspective, we would be thereby advancing the transition to renewables.
Comment 3 of 6
Author:william hughes
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
Something a new IREA could tackle immediately is a world wide ban on double metering. Double metering has succeeded in Germany to encourage the massive uptake of Solar Electric which is a very good thing but only because of a totally unrealistic and unsustainable FIT policy. In the long run it exposes the German small generator to income tax on every unit (kwh) they produce and GST (VAT) on every unit they use. Worse still it exposes their power company to the same charges on the same transactions. This will make the power companies much more reluctant to be used as the batteries of the small generators. Single metering with the single metre simply turning backwards when you generate makes you transparent to the tax officials except for your small net buy or sell of power. Even if your present government only looks at the difference between your two metres, what is there to stop a future government from utilizing this 'tax oportunity'. Nothing. If governments are truly serious about weaning their economies off fossil fuels, they will legislate for single metering.
Comment 4 of 6
Author:derek louden
Date Posted:April 26, 2008
Scotland offers a possible future HQ for a world renewables centre. With a core of established energy professionals in nearly all sectors of renewables technologies Scotland is at the cutting edge of offshore wind, wave and tidal current research. Our long history in hydro power is now joined by biomass schemes and crop research. We have many educational institutions who are participating in top-grade research and in Aberdeen have the European oil capital with a world-class centre of engineering innovation and potential finance for new projects.Scotland also plays host to innovative market solutions such as community scale developments which provide potential models for global renewables. Communities such as Gigha offer an economic model capable of global implementation and offering small communities real empowerment. Communities such as Findhorn & their Unitar centre offer a world-leading example of low impact living for a low carbon age.At a macro and a micro level, Scotland offers the best choice to host any new IRENA HQ.
Comment 5 of 6
Author:Jim Bates
Date Posted:April 26, 2008
The most effective place for the headquarters at this time for IRENA is in the frontiers of development and that is where it should always be. That is to say the basis for renewable energy discovery and usage is Life's longing for itself. Our struggle is to comprehend how to do this dance with the natural energies all around us. In order to work with these natural energies we must release people minds from the prisons that have been created by attempting to live by an unnatural system of development. This unatural capitalism has never given true respect or placed a real emphasis on the value of Earth's natural systems. As a Natural Capitalist developer I believe the fastest, most practical and sound policies for accomplishing the goals of IRENA and like minded people is to develop learning environments and pedagogies that empower the children's creative and innovative capacities to think. Not WHAT to think but empower them in HOW to think.This week there was a 12 year old who gave a speech at a press conference in Pigeon, Michigan where he attends the Laker schools and he spoke to why renewable energies are so vitally important to him, his generation and to their childrens, children. The truth of the matter is, the children get it! Because this kind of development is based on the truth! Let's develop true innovation capacity in education worldwide. This is where the headquarters of IRENA will flourish , in the minds of people around the globe that have made a new agreement to support life in it's infinite wisdom and to join this global dance towards recreating and appreciating a truly sustainable Global community.
Comment 6 of 6
by Lily Riahi, Contributing Writer
Berlin, Germany [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
At the invitation of the German Federal Government, representatives from more than 60 countries met in Berlin earlier this month to discuss the founding of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organization that will exist to exclusively promote the adoption of renewable energy worldwide.
"Promoting renewables must now become a global and universal priority, and IRENA is a necessary condition for that goal. If we intend to embark on the renewable energy revolution, we cannot do it without IRENA."-- Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council
Participants expressed a sense of urgency to begin a swift transition to a more secure, sustainable renewable energy economy with the assistance of an international body. A variety of countries have expressed support for IRENA, including Spain, India, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Portugal and South Africa.
During the Berlin meeting on April 10th and 11th, government representatives met to discuss and hone the objectives, activities, finances, and organizational structure of IRENA. A common point of discussion during the workshops was the relationship between IRENA and other existing international bodies that deal with energy issues. Some countries expressed concerns over the duplication of activities or unecessary competition with organizations such as the International Energy Agency.While there were concerns over how IRENA would work alongside other bodies, it was made clear by participants that a strong, independent force for supporting renewables is necessary to realize the full social, economic and political benefits of clean energies. It was generally agreed that most of the existing initiatives lack a focal point. With limited mandates and capacities, current international renewable energy associations, networks and UN bodies cannot fill the institutional gap that IRENA plans to fill, said Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council.
“Promoting renewables must now become a global and universal priority, and IRENA is a necessary condition for that goal. If we intend to embark on the renewable energy revolution, we cannot do it without IRENA,” said Jagger in a speech.
“IRENA will work toward improved regulatory frameworks for renewable energy through enhanced policy advice, improvements in the transfer of renewable energy technology; progress on skills and know-how for renewable energy; it will be able to offer a scientifically sound information basis through applied policy research; and better financing of renewable energy,” she continued.
Although the International Energy Agency (IEA) established an advisory board on renewables in 1982, the world has yet to see a breakthrough in renewable energy adoption. This proves the need for an exclusive focus on creating the structural changes needed to ensure widespead adoption of renewable energy, said Hermann Scheer, founder of the European Association for Renewable Energies and member of the German parliament.
“The IEA will have to compensate for all of the current energy problems and won’t have time to push for new forms of energy,” said Scheer.
The IEA deals with questions of supply security and the needs of energy markets. This is reflected in its allocation of votes, which are based mainly on the oil consumption of different countries. As a result, it doesn’t cover in great detail the economic, political, and social aspects of renewable energy. In its in-depth country reviews, the IEA analyzes the energy policies of member states without fully recognizing the potential renewable energy, say some critics. The agency's focus remains on primarily on large-scale energy supply and therefore does not offer much needed advice on how to adapt energy markets towards more decentralized energy sources such as renewables. Further, in contrast to IRENA’s proposed global approach and diverse membership, the activities of the IEA are largely limited to countries involved with the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
According to conference organizers, IRENA will work alongside the IEA and other international bodies in areas of renewable energy research, similar to the relationship between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the IEA. One of the major reasons for the foundation of the IAEA in the 1950s was the desire to exploit the opportunities offered by what was then a new energy source. The same attention needs to be given to renewables, said Jose Etcheverry, a chair of the World Council on Renewable Energy.
“The world sorely lacks innovative economic, social and political institutional frameworks to provide strong support for renewable energy development worldwide,” said Etcheverry. “Conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear power have incredibly powerful lobbyists to ensure that their interests are provided with preferential treatment over the more socially desirable options of renewable energy and efficiency.”
IRENA will address several critical barriers that are preventing the full-scale adoption of renewable energy. It will provide informed policy advice and assistance to national governments that are currently lacking the means and capacity to develop effective regulatory frameworks for renewable energy adoption.To strengthen technology transfer IRENA will combine the various independent projects and optimise synergies between them, focus on knowledge exchange, integrate technical, administrative and financial actions, and create suitable incentives for industry to engage in developing countries. Of course, none of these tasks can be fully accomplished without adequate human capacity. IRENA will provide an inventory of current training activities and provide courses for policy-makers and regulators on how to overcome administrative barriers to renewable energy adoption.
The time to create IRENA is now, said supporters. Indeed, as organizers learn from the decades of experience of other international agencies, they believe they can create of the most innovative, streamlined agenices in the world while helping usher in a new era of clean, sustainable energies.
Lily Riahi is a RenewableEnergyWorld.com Correspondent currently working out of Canada. She is a research intern for the office of Dr. Hermann Scheer and is currently finishing her masters on the socio-cultural barriers to renewable energy adoption.
Previous Article
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Reader Comments (6)
Author:willstedt heikki
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
The world needs a strong and well funded IRENA, a focal point were developing countries can find the assitance needed to leap-frog conventional energy technologies that simply cannot give solutions to the energy deprived billions living in those countries. At the same time it would be a counter-balancing force to the more conservative focus of the IEA and IAEA, which is badly needed if the world is to see future energy scenarios were renewables are more than 20% of the total world energy consumption by 2050. The EU should push for Germany or Spain to host the IRENA in order to keep the momentum for renewables that has been developed in the EU thanks mostly to these two countries.
Comment 1 of 6
Author:Paul Johnson
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
Please, no more ineffective bureaucracies that lack the ability to hold members accountable.
Comment 2 of 6
Author:morty prisament
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
Even if IRENA might start out with limited enforcement capabilities, such an organization would provide a much needed "framework" and "forum" through which information can be shared, issues debated, and policies developed. A comprehensive approach utilizing a central forum will stimulate discussion and actions on one of the most precient and far-reaching issues of our time. Currently, there is a flurry of activity on a multitude of fronts. If such an entity accomplished little more than tracking research, technological developments and trends, provided periodic commentaries on economic, financing, and marketing considerations, and reported on policy developments-all from an international perspective, we would be thereby advancing the transition to renewables.
Comment 3 of 6
Author:william hughes
Date Posted:April 25, 2008
Something a new IREA could tackle immediately is a world wide ban on double metering. Double metering has succeeded in Germany to encourage the massive uptake of Solar Electric which is a very good thing but only because of a totally unrealistic and unsustainable FIT policy. In the long run it exposes the German small generator to income tax on every unit (kwh) they produce and GST (VAT) on every unit they use. Worse still it exposes their power company to the same charges on the same transactions. This will make the power companies much more reluctant to be used as the batteries of the small generators. Single metering with the single metre simply turning backwards when you generate makes you transparent to the tax officials except for your small net buy or sell of power. Even if your present government only looks at the difference between your two metres, what is there to stop a future government from utilizing this 'tax oportunity'. Nothing. If governments are truly serious about weaning their economies off fossil fuels, they will legislate for single metering.
Comment 4 of 6
Author:derek louden
Date Posted:April 26, 2008
Scotland offers a possible future HQ for a world renewables centre. With a core of established energy professionals in nearly all sectors of renewables technologies Scotland is at the cutting edge of offshore wind, wave and tidal current research. Our long history in hydro power is now joined by biomass schemes and crop research. We have many educational institutions who are participating in top-grade research and in Aberdeen have the European oil capital with a world-class centre of engineering innovation and potential finance for new projects.Scotland also plays host to innovative market solutions such as community scale developments which provide potential models for global renewables. Communities such as Gigha offer an economic model capable of global implementation and offering small communities real empowerment. Communities such as Findhorn & their Unitar centre offer a world-leading example of low impact living for a low carbon age.At a macro and a micro level, Scotland offers the best choice to host any new IRENA HQ.
Comment 5 of 6
Author:Jim Bates
Date Posted:April 26, 2008
The most effective place for the headquarters at this time for IRENA is in the frontiers of development and that is where it should always be. That is to say the basis for renewable energy discovery and usage is Life's longing for itself. Our struggle is to comprehend how to do this dance with the natural energies all around us. In order to work with these natural energies we must release people minds from the prisons that have been created by attempting to live by an unnatural system of development. This unatural capitalism has never given true respect or placed a real emphasis on the value of Earth's natural systems. As a Natural Capitalist developer I believe the fastest, most practical and sound policies for accomplishing the goals of IRENA and like minded people is to develop learning environments and pedagogies that empower the children's creative and innovative capacities to think. Not WHAT to think but empower them in HOW to think.This week there was a 12 year old who gave a speech at a press conference in Pigeon, Michigan where he attends the Laker schools and he spoke to why renewable energies are so vitally important to him, his generation and to their childrens, children. The truth of the matter is, the children get it! Because this kind of development is based on the truth! Let's develop true innovation capacity in education worldwide. This is where the headquarters of IRENA will flourish , in the minds of people around the globe that have made a new agreement to support life in it's infinite wisdom and to join this global dance towards recreating and appreciating a truly sustainable Global community.
Comment 6 of 6
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Future of Children AND Digital Media and Learning
Children and Electronic Media
Volume 18 Number 1 Spring 2008
executive summary
CONTENTS
Introducing the Issue
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Trends in Media Use
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Media and Young Children's Learning
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Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement
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Media and Children's Aggression, Fear, and Altruism
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Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships
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Media and Risky Behaviors
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Social Marketing Campaigns and Children's Media Use
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Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing
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Children's Media Policy
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Volume 18 Number 1 Spring 2008
executive summary
Download a full version of this journal issue
 | Volume 18 Number 1 Spring 2008 (1946K) [download] |
| | Policy Brief (306K) [download] |
| | Executive Summary (114K) [download] |
CONTENTS
Introducing the Issue
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn is the Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development and Education at Teachers College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. Elisabeth Hirschhorn Donahue is associate editor of The Future of Children and a lecturer at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Trends in Media Use
Donald F. Roberts, the Thomas More Storke Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication at Stanford University, has spent more than thirty years conducting research and writing about youth and media. Ulla G. Foehr is a media research consultant specializing in children and media use behaviors.
Media and Young Children's Learning
Heather Kirkorian is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst. Ellen Wartella is a professor, executive vice chancellor, and provost at the University of California–Riverside. Daniel Anderson is a professor at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.
Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement
Marie Evans Schmidt is a research associate at the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston. Elizabeth A. Vandewater is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas–Austin.
Media and Children's Aggression, Fear, and Altruism
Barbara J. Wilson is the Paul C. Friedland Professorial Scholar and head of the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is grateful to Kristin Drogos for her research assistance and to Craig Anderson and other participants at the Future of Children conference for their insightful comments.
Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships
Kaveri Subrahmanyam is a professor of psychology at California State University–Los Angeles, and associate director of the Children's Digital Media Center, UCLA/CSULA. Patricia Greenfield is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California–Los Angeles and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, UCLA/CSULA.
Media and Risky Behaviors
Soledad Liliana Escobar-Chaves is assistant professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Craig A. Anderson is director of the Center for the Study of Violence and distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University.
Social Marketing Campaigns and Children's Media Use
W. Douglas Evans is vice president for public health and environment at RTI International.
Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing
Sandra L. Calvert is a professor and the chair of the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University. She is also the director of the Children's Digital Media Center.
Children's Media Policy
Amy B. Jordan is director of the Media and the Developing Child sector of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. She thanks Jordan Grossman and Katlin Esposito for research assistance, Angela Campbell for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript, and the participants at the Future of Children conference for their input and ideas.
TECH TOWN JOB FAIR!
Posted: Wednesday, 23 April 2008 4:46AM TechTown Hosts Job Fair TODAY | ||
| Detroit (WWJ) -- WISH Detroit, a promotional and marketing campaign supporting people to Work Invest, and SHop in Detroit, is hosting the Second Annual Technology & Emerging Sectors Career Fair on April 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. "Today Michigan is working hard to attract new industries to the state in order to reduce our dependence on the automotive industry and TechTown epitomizes the new Michigan culture of diversified economy." said William Kaafarani, president of WISH Detroit, in a press release. | ||
| © MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved. |
URGENCY FACTOR? LARGE!
| Report: Michigan Leads Nation In Tech Job Loss |
| Michigan lost the largest number of tech jobs in the country in 2006, but still remained in the 10th spot having the most high-tech positions, according to a recently released survey.
Source: AeA |
| © MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved. |
EXTREME GREENE (Strategic Partner)
The Dickens family of Pigeon, in the Thumb, is one of the state's greenest. Dad Brion, mom Kathy, daughters Aubrey, 7, and Chelsea, 11, and dog Toto show off the electric plug-in car they use for errands.
Brion Dickens makes biodiesel fuel for use in his off-road construction equipment using waste oil that is collected from local restaurants. His company, Woodland Wind, installs wind turbines.
TODAY IS EARTH DAY
Michigan family takes green living to the extreme
They even make own electricity
BY TINA LAM • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • April 22, 2008
PIGEON -- Brion and Kathy Dickens might just be Michigan's greenest couple.
Consider:
• They heat their 4,000-square-foot home with a biomass boiler that is fed with pellets made from wood, corn or sugar beets.
• They have their own windmill to provide electricity.
• Their electric car recharges by plugging into the windmill's turbine.
• Brion makes his own diesel fuel from waste grease to help fuel his Dodge pickup and Oldsmobile and to completely fuel his construction equipment.
• They helped start an annual Earth Day celebration four years ago that now draws about 6,000 people a year.
• They've helped turn their local school district, where Kathy is principal of Laker Junior High, super-green, with three wind turbines that provide about 60% of the elementary school's electricity, a new project to put in biodiesel buses and green energy for the district-owned superintendent's house.
"To me, they're inspiring," said Scott Whipple, math and science codirector for the Huron Intermediate School District, sponsor of the Earth Day celebration. "They're showing others what can be done."
Asked if people think they're weird, Kathy laughed.
"Some couples golf together, some bowl together," she said. "We talk about renewable energy. I guess we're a little obsessed."
Brion and Kathy met 17 years ago as teachers in Lenawee County.
"We hit it off," said Brion, 41.
They were never hippie types. Kathy, 40, said they were raised in conservative homes; their moms washed out plastic sandwich bags and reused paper plates.
"We've always had the like mind-set of trying to do things as frugally as possible," Brion said. "We don't enjoy spending money."
Added Kathy: "We're cheap."
As a general contractor for more than two decades, Brion has tried to design energy-efficient buildings.
"I see where things are going," he said. "The days of cheap gas and electricity are over."
When they added to their Victorian farmhouse surrounded by farm fields outside Pigeon in 2002, they were using propane for heat. Their home is close to Saginaw Bay in Michigan's Thumb. Because they were doubling the home's size and adding Kathy's dream indoor pool, they feared propane costs would be astronomical. Brion looked into alternatives.
He chose a corn-fired boiler because corn was cheap then, at $2 per bushel, and a more efficient fuel than propane.
"We paid back our installation costs in a year" with the savings, he said.
Unfortunately, he didn't foresee the ethanol boom and skyrocketing price of corn, which has lately flirted with $6 a bushel. Now, he's using wood or sugar beet pellets from the local co-op. Local farmers grow sugar beets, and the pellets are made from leftover pulp.
"It's still cheaper than propane," he said.
The boiler heats the indoor pool in the winter; in summer, it's heated by solar panels. They're not off the grid, though; when the family wind turbine is down, as it is now because of a broken blade, they get electricity from DTE Energy. At times, though, they sell electricity back to the utility.
Brion buys biodiesel from the local co-op as a way to support farmers or uses a processor to make biodiesel from french fry grease he rounds up from local restaurants. He estimates he's made 300 to 400 gallons over the past few years and has taught school kids how to do it. This week, he'll be helping students to make biodiesel out of sunflower seeds from a crop the school grew beneath its wind turbines.
Brion is passionate about wind power. His company, Woodland Wind, installs turbines (admittedly few so far in Michigan), and he's a wind educator for the state's Energy Office, driving thousands of miles across the state on his own time to talk to anyone who is interested.
Kathy scours Web sites looking for state, federal and foundation grants. Her grant-writing abilities have brought Laker schools a composter; wind turbines; a science lab where kids learn how to make their own wind turbines; grants for a turbine; solar panels that track the sun's movement; a new biomass boiler for the superintendent's home; processors to make biodiesel and seed oil, and a program to use 20% biodiesel on buses and retrofit old buses with equipment to clean up their diesel emissions.
She just submitted grants for plug-in hybrid buses and biomass boilers for the schools.
"I look for ways to save taxpayers money and for kids to learn something," she said.
She said her community is forward-looking and accepting change. Pigeon is home to the state's commercial wind farm, which farmers have welcomed.
"I've never heard anything negative about any of these things," Kathy said.
The Dickenses' two daughters -- Chelsea, 11, and Aubrey, 7 -- are used to their parents' projects by now. In 2005, just after Kathy learned she'd gotten a grant to put up the school's wind turbines, the family took a road trip to New England. The parents promised their daughters a puppy in exchange for countless stops along the way to see turbines. The girls bit.
On long summer evenings, the couple sits on their wide farmhouse porch thinking of new ways to lower their carbon footprint.
"We're never done," Brion said.
Contact TINA LAM at 313-222-6421 or tlam@freepress.com.
Grow renewable energy on farms
BY RUSSELL LUNDBERG • April 22, 2008
As Michigan debates its energy future, one clear way forward is to build a strong renewable energy industry, which can help our state provide affordable electricity while creating jobs, strengthening our economy, and protecting our land and water.
Twenty six states and the District of Columbia are already demonstrating that the best way to build this new industry is through the adoption of a standard requiring that a percentage of energy come from renewable sources, such as wind, solar or farm-based bio-gas.
A strong renewable energy industry will also benefit farmers, rural landowners and their communities, as we have begun to see in the Thumb.
In Michigan and across the nation, farms and rural communities represent the front lines of the renewable energy industry. Many of these projects, from wind turbines to methane digester, are taking place on Michigan farms, and they're benefiting farm communities.
Take wind energy. Developers are leasing land from farmers and rural landowners so they can install wind turbines. This helps generate income for farmers as well as much needed electricity. So far, renewable energy developers have built 32 turbines in the Thumb. Another 46 are being planned to be built soon, also in the Thumb. Each wind park of about 30 turbines or so can provide enough electricity to power 15,000 homes, thus diversifying our electricity supply.
The extra income helps farmers keep their land and pass it on to the next generation. Furthermore, when farmers have a little bit more money in their pockets, they spend it locally and give back to their communities. Renewable energy also helps us protect Michigan's land, lakes and water, as we burn less fossil fuel.
Despite all these benefits, Michigan's full potential in renewable energy remains unrealized. While the wind energy sector has planted some promising seeds, we can attract even more renewable energy projects. What Michigan needs is a renewable energy standard that will set clear targets and goals, keep costs affordable, and hold energy providers accountable.
For farmers and rural communities, renewable energy represents the winter harvest that protects our family farms in today's economy. Let's build a strong renewable energy sector in Michigan, end our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, and help local communities at the same time.
RUSSELL LUNDBERG is the building and zoning director for Huron County. Write to him in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com.
Take full advantage of wind's potential
BY SARA MARGARET GILBERT • April 22, 2008
The winds of change are blowing strong in Michigan. They are moving over the lakes and across the plains, gusting through depopulated urban centers and ritzy suburbs alike. The problem is that state lawmakers are slow to harness these winds: A clean, endless supply of economic rejuvenation blows right by them.
Michigan possesses tremendous wind energy resources. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says that we have wind resources that are consistent with utility-scale energy production. We could generate enough zero-pollution electricity to replace or supplement multiple large power plants. What's more, the turbines that capture wind energy can be manufactured in Michigan, creating thousands of jobs and diversifying the state's economy.
But last month, state Senate Republicans said no to large-scale wind energy development. They passed an energy bill that did not include a statewide renewable portfolio standard. An RPS would require that up to 25% of the electricity generated in Michigan come from renewable resources by 2025. It would make Michigan an ideal location for wind developers and turbine manufacturers, because they would have a guaranteed market for their products.
By not passing an RPS, legislators waved off the chance to tell investors that Michigan is a great place to locate turbine manufacturing plants. They passed up cleaner air and reduced dependence on volatile natural gas prices. They let us down.
The Republicans contend that they are taking decisive action and tout their so-called Green Michigan Initiative as proof. Their proposal requires that the state Department of Management and Budget purchase 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, pointed out that "state government is one of the largest consumers of electrical energy in Michigan" and that if government leads by example, others surely will follow.
What Richardville and his colleagues should realize is that government's lone demand for renewable energy will not bring clean energy investors to Michigan. Economic transformation requires bold action. The only thing that will kick-start large-scale development of renewable energy here is a clear signal from the state that we are serious about capitalizing on our resources.
Renewable energy is Michigan energy. The systems can be manufactured here, installed here, and produce pollution-free energy here. Why are we letting it go to waste?
SARA MARGARET GILBERT is a graduate student at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy. Write to her in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com.
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