Washblog

Alan Greenspan 'Iraq war largely about oil'. So let's all do our part and Reduce Carbon Footprint

Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who served in that influential role from 1987 to 2006:
"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
  link here.

Thank you Alan Greenspan for stating what was obvious and known in 2003, what my U.S. Army son-in-law said when he was deployed in Baghdad in 2003 - 2004.  Now, how about this country get busy reducing reliance on oil and doing something to actually reduce our carbon footprint.  

That is something we CAN do!  Every one of us, from any and all belief systems, maybe a bridge to reach across the divide after all.

(read more below the fold)

  The Federal Reserve Board chairman oversees the United States' Federal Reserve Bank system; Greenspan, who was appointed to his powerful post by Ronald Reagan, went on to serve under several presidents. A self-described "libertarian Republican," he makes his observation - and others that are sure to upset the Bush gang - in his much-anticipated memoirs, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.  The book is being published today in the U.S.  link here.

  With Al Gore's excellent presentation 'An Inconvenient Truth' on realities of effect on our planet due to climate changes of global warming; with many independent communities coming together, and sharing some old fashioned neighborly principles towards sustainable living; it makes sense to me that the issue of Iraq war, global warming, sustainable community living, reducing (eliminating) carbon footprint, weave together into one issue ring with wide ripples rather than as independent,separate issues.

  It's not a new thought for me, but I have to appreciate Alan Greenspan's intentional or accidental comment that the Iraq war was initiated  due to oil crisis - threatening America's way of life.  But that, in my opinion, does not translate to a threat to America's national security as much as it is a wake up call to America and the rest of the world about a need to examine and change a carbon-based dependency lifestyle.

  One of my friends phoned me last week, to ask for networking contacts to help bring attention to the issue they face in West Virginia of coal mining by blowing off the tops of the mountains in the Appalachian Mountain Range.  I knew of the issue, having just seen it on Bill Moyers Journal 'mountaintop mining' the Friday before.  When you actually see the mountains being blown up, it hurts viscerally some ancient place inside. Among one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world and how long will it take for the mountains to heal - how many hundreds of generations?

  When I have thought of what has driven this Administration and Congress to invade a country that was not a national security threat to us to gain a competitive foothold for the oil in the Middle East, I have often wondered at how 'desperate' we must be - as a nation, as a country, as a people.  And yet, I have often wondered why not tell the American people the truth and let them rise to the crisis, apply their uniquely American energies to finding solutions rather than permitting the corporations to herd us into a false flag crisis.  

  I'd like to invite ongoing discussion/comments  and I know there are many communities in WA already invested in actualizing sustainable living to reduce carbon footprint.  I hope readers will add not only their thoughts, but links to community actions that are doing exactly this kind of thing.  I can't help but wonder if every American went to work on building solutions via lifestyle changes reducing oil dependency, if there would be a need to continue to keep troops deployed in Iraq for the next 10 years or longer.  The troops could come home, and help America work on strengthening her positioning and standing in the world, in a leadership role of building rather than destroying countries sharing this planet with us.

  While the protests campaigns and the political jesting continue, and I'm sure they will, maybe another element could be added that has people reaching across the divide - neighbors with like concerns striving to lead a new way out of the fear-based quagmire defined by this Administration and Congress.

  Pollyanna-ish?  Maybe, but maybe not.  Your thoughts?      

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It always boils down to corporations.

Back in 79 Jimmy Carter was saying these same things.  Now how can we have a President devoted to taking us off carbon dependency 28 years ago and still be where we are today?

The media destroyed Carter's image in order to defend the oil companies.

A poster my roomate put up back in 79 said it all:

Coal?  Coal would be a great alternative energy source.  We control all the coal plants.

Nuclear?  Nuclear would be a great alternative energy source.  We control all the nuclear plants.

Solar?  Solar would be a great alternative energy source.  We control all the, um, SOLAR WON'T WORK!!!

Meanwhile, my apartment manager was busily taking us off the grid and putting us on solar.  All 49 units in the complex he owned.  Back in 1979 when even then we were being told it wouldn't work.  We lived up here in the NW and never had to go back on the grid despite all the rain and clouds.

It worked all the way back then.

So why don't we have it?  Why are we STILL beholden to the oil companies?  Why are we fighting in Iraq?

Corporate greed.  Corporate control of our nations resources, of what's rightfully YOURS AND MINE.

by Pen on Tue Sep 18, 2007 at 01:41:26 PM PST

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We have another story writer blogger here at Washblog that can shed more light on this, from actual experience and I hope he will share/blog  that experience in a front page story.... (Jason - please, would you?)

from the SCALLOPs website :

Over the past couple years, local sustainability groups have been sprouting up all over Puget Sound, as neighbors join up to take action locally for the sake of our planet. This spring, a few of us got together to compare notes, and ended up launching SCALLOPS - a consortium of 35 "Sustainable Communities ALL Over Puget Sound."

At the Sustainable Solstice Festival, 16 SCALLOPS "delegates" are meeting publicly to share successes, troubleshoot challenges, and get inspiration and ideas from each other. JOIN US! Be a part of making your community more sustainable - connect with your local group, or learn how to start one!

And from   Cultural Change this excerpt:
Sail transport and Puget Sound's SCALLOPS network
Written by Jan Lundberg
(with contributions by Fulvio Casali, Paul Flowers, Dan Bednarz, and Vic Opperman)
Culture Change Letter #165 - September 1, 2007

In the waters around Seattle, Washington, three dozen communities are enriching their bioregion with a common vision of sustainability -- despite
the pressures of corporate globalization dominating almost everyone's life.  This new vision is being coupled with the resurgence of sailing, with an eye to the tempestuous horizon promising the unprecedented effects of peak
oil and global heating.

With faith in both humanity and renewable-energy powered sails, an historic movement is getting off the ground in the Puget Sound. The group called
Sustainable Ballard had already advanced green initiatives in their Ballard neighborhood northwest of downtown Seattle, gaining the attention of Al Gore. After much success in its four years of organizing, the group has an
offspring that seems destined to become far bigger than the parent: SCALLOPS - Sustainable Communities All Over Puget Sound.

It was born out of frustration
with anti-war activity when the U.S. and Britain invaded Iraq. During this
time, the founders were also aware of peak oil and climate change. Seeing
the futility of attacking a negative (the executive branch across the
continent) without offering an alternative, Sustainable Ballard's founders
-- Vic Opperman, David Wright, and Erica Jones -- decided to focus their
energy on rallying people aro