Go Green Yourself

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While the price of oil is throwing the country into an economic tailspin, do any of our presidential candidates have any type of environmentally sound policy that would free us from the grasp of the Middle East, while at the same time helping eliminate global warming and keeping the planet green?

From what I have seen so far, it isn't looking very likely. All the candidates are doing a great job of "greenwashing" the American people. A lot of talk and no real solutions.

It was during one of the early rounds of the Democratic debates that it really hit me: politicians in this country are never going to be the answer to our environmental problems or the solution to the global warming crisis. The past seven years have been a gift to big polluters; the slash and burn of Clinton era environmental legislation, energy policy formed by oil companies and lies designed to fool the American public who "want to believe." Fortunately, by this time most people are onto the Bush administration tactics in almost all areas of government.

It's time for a fresh start and the Democrats should be our environmental saviors. Then I heard Barack Obama utter the words, "clean coal and nuclear power" as part of the answer to our energy woes. Could this be true? Could the people I was depending on to fix the mess of the past seven years really be saying a line that could have come from Bush himself? I felt betrayed! Not long after an article in the Los Angeles Times hit the message home. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were now recipients of some large campaign contribution from nuclear power interests.

This big payoff seems even more suspect because Barack Obama went so far as to soften legislation that would require nuclear power operators to publicly disclose any nuclear releases. The legislation sounded pretty common sense in its original state, but Obama changed it so that the words "nuclear" was stripped and so was the immediate notification. It is so watered down that nuclear energy company and campaign contributor Exelon now supports the legislation after working with Barack Obama. In its present state, it's almost useless, and Clinton pulled her support. Unfortunately, this is just another example of politicians accepting contributions from companies who do not have our best interests or the best interests of our planet at heart.

So what can we do?

There's no doubt we are in need of some strong environmentally friendly legislation; but in the absence of that, what we can rely on most is ourselves. Ultimately, we vote our leaders into office and it's up to us to make them aware of the importance of environmental issues. But when the voice of rich corporations is being heard above the voice of people it is up to us to make a difference.

Big oil and other polluters only have power because we are addicted to their product. We need to vote green with every dollar we spend. How many of us really need that Hummer or Escalade?

Vote green for transportation. If the next new car purchase we made was a Prius, hybrid or even one of the electric vehicles that will be coming on the market in the next few years the demand for green transportation would continue to increase and prices on these vehicles would come down. The success of the Prius is just an example of what the green marketplace can accomplish.

Vote green with our food choices. Eat organic fruits and veggies when possible and less meat. It's better for our waistlines and the planet.

Vote green with our investments. Companies that provide green goods and services are becoming more and more profitable, so why not devote part or your entire portfolio to them.

Vote green with our businesses. Think about what you can do to make your business more eco-friendly. From carbon offsetting to using recycled paper or even creating your own green business what we do for a living has an impact on the planet.

Vote green at home. The paint you use, the furnishings and appliances you buy, and how you heat and cool your home are some more ways to help.

Vote green by example. Live what you believe.

We need to change our demand for green products so that they become the norm, not just a Hollywood trend. As much as humanly possible, we need to make a commitment to living green and it will become and every day way of life. In doing so, we are also cutting the supply of cash to big polluters forcing them to change.

Let's hope that whoever our next president is they make a real, honest commitment to the environment. But no matter what happens we should remember that we can create change ourselves.