Friday, June 27, 2008

is it just me...

Last night I attended a public forum, Cities Respond to Climate Change: The Challenge of Energy Efficiency at The New School , which happens to be my alma mater. All in all, I thought the event was great and really provided some very relevant and timely information about cities and their responses to climate change currently and overtime (Portland, Oregan has definately taken a historical lead in this sense).

The reason I wanted to write about it was because I was so bothered by one of the panelists and the approaches he was advocating for. Max Schulz is a senior fellow at The Manhattan Institute , Center for Energy Policy and the Environment . According to his bio he served as senior policy advisor and director of speechwriting for United States secretaries of energy Samuel Bodman and Spencer Abraham , both Bush appointees.

Schulz was advocating for an increase in the nuclear share of energy (such a bad road to go down...not to mention scarey) - he also was attempting to advance the idea that energy efficency has only lead to an increase in energy consumption (I'm pretty sure that EnergyStar rated products in homes DOES NOT lead to people using them MORE - think about it, you buy a new fridge, its rated well - do you now use it more? No, it's plugged in the same as the old one - the difference, it is simply consuming less energy...) WAKE UP PEOPLE!

Now the thing that I have always enjoyed about The New School is that they will structure their panels in such a way that there is always someone whose policy agenda is different from the progressive ideals that The New School was founded upon and carries forward today. Last year I attended a forum where Newt Gingrich was the keynote speaker. Many students were angry that he was invited to address the school, as was I, but I wasn't upset that he was invited, I was upset at the way the forum was structured. At this particular forum there was no Q and A period; this is what bother me most. I appreciate hearing from folks who hold different ideas and opinions than me, but give me a chance to question them, give them a change to defend their agendas, give them a chance to skew science and data to support their outlandish proposals, give them a chance to hear the frustrations of the "leaders of tomorrow", give them a chance to hear that people think they are wrong and of course give them the chance to stumble over their words as they try to defend themselves.

On a similar note - I once decided to read Ann Coulter's book How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) . My mother bought the book for my brother (this is a whole other entry in and of itself)...anyway, he wasn't reading it and I decided that I should read up on what misinformation Ann Coulter is spewing. I got about halfway through the book and I couldn't read anymore - I really am convinced that she is crazy, and for that matter anyone who could believe the ideas she is defending is as well.

It all just makes me wonder, am I living in a different world than these people? Is it just me or are they CRAZY?

1 comment:

Spacegrass said...

we are all spinning seperately at the same time on this rock that is spinning. And we are all upside down. Check it in Scientific American. Our eyes adjust to make things rightside up.
Did that just blow your mind?