A short walk today: getting ready for a barbeque tonight. Spring cleaning!I finished Mckibben's Eaarth last night. Quite good--mostly. I liked the first half of the book much better than the second half. And of the second half, I mostly liked it.
Greentangle has written of his reservations about the book. Mainly, that it is much too human centric. I agree.
A couple of other things: First, I would have liked to have seen more than a page on the role of the US military---mainly, that we cannot afford it anymore.
Secondly, I think Mckibben pooh poohs the role of big government too much. You'd think the guy was a Tea Partier!
I stand with I.F. Stone--who believed up until his death that government can make big changes--fast! Imagine a Solar Panel program modeled after the Student Loan program? Zero percent interest with twenty year terms to anyone who owns a house! That would make for a quick change!
Government still can do that most wonderful thing called "social planning". It is up to the people to make sure that this planning is done on a more Green path---and not aligned with the Corporations as it is done now.
Green social planning by the Federal Government, local food, local economies, decentralized energy, sustainable building and more space for wilderness are not mutually exclusive. The Whole is always greater than the Sum of its parts.
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