Random Friday: Friedman, Military Spending, Hampton Roads

I had almost forgotten about CNN, but today at the gym, I spent my time on the elliptical machine watching Campbell Brown interview's of Thomas Friedman.  I still have not read Friedman's book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, but I'm motivated to snag a copy after watching him this afternoon.  His point of tying in the current financial crisis with the debate over climate change really resonated with me.  After all, the financial crisis resulted from large financial firms taking huge risks, the cost of which taxpayers are now shouldering.  Buying oil from the Middle East, and sending our currency abroad, for an energy source that has huge geopolitical, financial, and environmental risk, is also a threat to our future.  With the supposed hacked emails causing an uproar in Congress and amongst the right, more of our peers are doubting the size behind global warming.  According to Friedman, that's neither here nor there.  Whether the future threat is 100%, 80%, or 10% certain, Friedman insists we need to act.  After all, most of us would stop smoking if we had a 10% chance of becoming a cancer patient!  To me, the argument of moving towards energy independence is what resonates with me, and what I want our leaders to instill Americans.  Unfortunately, our nation has become so politically polarized . . . spouting out "climate change" just causes many of us to shut down. 

 

 

I love the military.  Why?  From the Internet to GPS devices, radar, jet engines, and digital photography, countless military applications emerge as indispensable to modern life.  Like space exploration, military technology eventually winds its way into our homes and offices.  So while we listen to countless discussions of where our investment dollars should go, the military is taking the lead in adopting renewable energy technologies, from solar to vehicle batteries.  It's a trend I welcome:  while small firms with ambitious ideas struggle with limited funding opportunities, our military has quietly become the biggest investors renewable energy projects, for good reasons.  With 25 million acres under its management, the Pentagon can help states meet their renewable energy targets while helping their bases become more energy efficient and independent, reducing their costs in the long term.  Let the military roll out these technologies, increasing scale and improving their efficiency . . . we will all benefit in the long run.

Celebrating the holidays in Virginia Beach