Not on stage at Radio City Music Hall during the two days of the World Business Forum but omnipresent, was the economy, and with an upcoming election, President Obama took a few jabs from Jack Welch and political advisor David Gergen. The former CEO of GE, who openly endorsed John McCain at the 2008 World Business Forum, criticized the President as being anti-business and improperly handling the auto bailout by "cutting the throats of investors." Gergen accused the White House as suffering from groupthink and alienating the business community, which, he said, is hurting the recovery. "He needs to bring some CEOs in. They are sitting on cash."
Obama might also want to invite Al Gore in for another look at his awesome PowerPoint, too. The former Vice President -- or as he said, "he used to be the next President of the United States" -- again expertly connected the dots between the climate crisis, sustainable capitalism and opportunity for global environmental and economic improvement.
While he avoided reopening the debate on reasons for invading Iraq, Gore began by affirming the global economy's dependence on an oil market dominated by the Persian Gulf, and "the thought of it being disrupted or under control of those who could use it as a geopolitical weapon is something not easily dismissed."
Abandoning the polluting 100-year-old technologies of the past to prepare for a sustainable 21st century could break our dependence, put people to work and save the economy, asserts the former Vice President, but we collectively suffer from inertia, which works as the enemy of change. It's partially because we can't wrap our heads around something that's unprecedented.
"We have a tendency to think if it didn't happen in the past, it's not likely to happen in the future. We never had to think about the relationship between us and the environment."
Gore cites three major contributors to the climate crisis: the global population explosion, which taxes resources; the dramatic expansion of the power-draining technologies we use; and finally, the way we think about capitalism.
"Capitalism is the most efficient form of organizing economic activity the world has ever seen. It unlocks the human potential. It has a set of organic and ubiquitous incentives. It's great that capitalism is our system," asserted the Nobel Prize winner, however, he argued, it is long past time to address the structural problems that distorted the way we operate. It's the short-term thinking that recently brought down the financial system and how that same lack of vision prevents long-range environmental solution planning.
We're entering a period of consequences, he said, leading to eventual collapse.
Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, asked Gore why there was so much polarization around global warming in the U.S.
"There is a disinformation campaign going on. Large carbon polluters spend money to create false doubts on things that are real. The ship is bearing down, but large carbon polluters are in the boat saying it's not real."
Gore urged World Business Forum delegates to affect change through political action, and press the Senate to release their stranglehold on policies through filibusters, which, he said, are influenced by special interest groups. "It's important to change light bulbs, but it's more important to change the laws."
Economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz advocated for political action of another kind -- more stimulus money, as the initial package was too small and not well-designed, he said.
"If it hadn't been for the stimulus, the unemployment would have peaked. Millions of Americans who had jobs otherwise would not. It's clear, that with the end of the stimulus the economy is getting weaker. Something has to be done."
Unfortunately, the optimal time may have passed, as Obama had opportunity after the election. Today he is more politically constrained. "When you hear we can't afford another stimulus, it's not true. We can't afford not to."
Stiglitz didn't rule out the dreaded "double dip," as there are too many potential influencers, but he did say with certainty there was not enough job creation. With 1-in-6 Americans out of work and a labor force growing at one percent per year, a large number of long-term unemployed is likely. "Getting back into the market is much more difficult. The new normal will be high unemployment."
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http://vodpod.com/watch/4066212-dr-gianluigi-zangari-bp-gulf-oil-disaster-gulf-stream-loop-current-breaking-down-effects-on-global-climate
Dear friends,
The above link is a music-video (project)
which I recently did with EMF (Environmental
Music Films) and would like to share and spread the with word with you.
I'm sure he's still making a fortune on it though.
Gore donated the proceeds of the documentary and much of his other work as well. The documentary has withstood the test of time. A conservative British judge pointed to certain predictions and calls to action which he felt were political. He added comments about them to the teachers' guidebook. However, the documentary is an approved part of the curriculum.
Gore's film is backed by peer-reviewed science. As you well know, Monckton isn't a confidence man who has no scientific training but pretends to critique science. He appears to be arguing with someone named Kreider rather than referencing the documentary. In nay event, his comments are obviously false. For example, in number one he seems to think that CO2 didn't increase before 1930 or so, when his own chart shows coal consumption. In the next graph in number 7, Monckton attempts to quantify hurricanes but counts only Atlantic storms which make landfall.
No economic policy, whether fiscal, monetary, or else, can pull us out of the Deep Depression.
I am inviting you today to
Vote for Your Economy, Now.
_______________________________________
When was the last time you were given that opportunity?
We don't intend to replace the prevalent system but to expend the number of your options.
We will add a significant amount of jobs, income and investment.
This is the only election in which the law of the majority is not binding on the minority.
If you don't participate you are still be making a choice:
the choice of relying exclusively on the prevalent system.
_______________________________________
Vote Now for the Credit Free, Free Market Economy
Add Jobs, Revenues & Investments.
Prosperous, Fair, Stable & Peaceful.
http://post-crash.com
_______________________________________
Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.
I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas.
The ideas which civil servants and politicians and even agitators apply to current events are not likely to be the newest. But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.
_______________________________________
Note: I am grateful to the owners of this publication to let me publish my Ideas on their Internet Property. I am ready to publish free articles on any media. I would be glad to reciprocate on my own Blog: http://no-w.com
****blank stare
Way too complicate to fully explain in a forum like this one (and to do if correctly requires a substantive background in the applicable areas of science and statistics, which you DownBeatLounge have already noted you do not have), but here's a start:
These are scientific facts:
* The Earth has warmed significantly over recent decades, to what may be the highest level in 2,000 years or more.
* Anthropogenic greenhouse gases including CO2 -- which is generated mostly by fossil fuel burning -- warm the Earth. Without greenhouse gases including CO2 the average temperature of the Earth would be below freezing.
* The atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased by more than a third since the dawn of the fossil fuel era, to the highest level in at least 800,000 years.
* The scientific evidence strongly indicates that said increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration is due to anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and there is no other viable scientific explanation for said atmospheric CO2 increase.
* There is a strong correlation between said atmospheric CO2 increase and said recent warming.
* Known natural forcing agents of past global warming - including changes in orbital cycles and increases in solar radiative output - cannot explain the bulk of said recent warming. Neither has any scientific theory to explain the bulk of said recent warming other than anthropogenic global warming (AGW) survived scientific scrutiny.
Again these are all scientific facts. Which is
Those that invented the various parts of the Internet have much to say about his important contributions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_and_information_technology
(Another important development made possible by government.)