2008 Woodie Awards
Plant a tree where your mouth is
Issue date: 9/4/07 Section: Op-Ed
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Leo Rosten, a Polish-born American author and social scientist, said: "The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all." What difference are we making? During my frequent travels through the state capital, I pass many offices where the doors are adorned with posters saying, "Let's really care about the kids. No more debt." While I agree that we should not mortgage away the financial future of our children, what these posters tell me is that the status quo is just fine. And I cannot agree with that.
When we talk about caring for our children's future, why are we only thinking about short-term dollars and cents? The debt some are willing to leave our children would be far harder to clear up. That debt is the price they would pay for an abused environment and an addiction to foreign oil. The more dependent we are on fossil fuels, the more expensive they become. The more we use the old sources of energy, the more polluted our environment becomes.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, we have had 10 ozone action days from May until the end of June - 10 days where the air was unfit to breathe, 10 days where our senior citizens and young children were advised to stay indoors. It is folly to pretend to love the beauty of nature and yet do nothing to protect it. We must adopt a strategy that weans us off of fossil fuels, encourages the production and use of sustainable, alternative energy and rewards conservation. This is what the governor's Energy Independence Strategy - House Bills 1200 through 1203 - would do. And yes, I support it. For an investment of $850 million, paid for through a 45-cent surcharge on your monthly electric bill, we get:
$244 million to help residents buy efficient appliances and/or install solar panels.
$106 million for venture capital, grants and loans to grow our alternative energy businesses - an investment that would create jobs and spur economic investment in Pennsylvania.
When we talk about caring for our children's future, why are we only thinking about short-term dollars and cents? The debt some are willing to leave our children would be far harder to clear up. That debt is the price they would pay for an abused environment and an addiction to foreign oil. The more dependent we are on fossil fuels, the more expensive they become. The more we use the old sources of energy, the more polluted our environment becomes.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, we have had 10 ozone action days from May until the end of June - 10 days where the air was unfit to breathe, 10 days where our senior citizens and young children were advised to stay indoors. It is folly to pretend to love the beauty of nature and yet do nothing to protect it. We must adopt a strategy that weans us off of fossil fuels, encourages the production and use of sustainable, alternative energy and rewards conservation. This is what the governor's Energy Independence Strategy - House Bills 1200 through 1203 - would do. And yes, I support it. For an investment of $850 million, paid for through a 45-cent surcharge on your monthly electric bill, we get:
$244 million to help residents buy efficient appliances and/or install solar panels.
$106 million for venture capital, grants and loans to grow our alternative energy businesses - an investment that would create jobs and spur economic investment in Pennsylvania.
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