Monthly Archives: April, 2009
First 100, next 1,360
It’s the next big mega-moment for the American news media: Obama’s 100-days report card.
So, this is my take. But first, let’s start with two steps.
First step: As you read this, think about the challenges you’ve faced in the last 100 days to reflect on what you’ve been able to accomplish. Doesn’t seem like a lot of time, does it?
Second step: While my Republican friends say that we shouldn’t spend time bemoaning the past, a respect for history’s role in understanding the present and plotting the future requires that we at least recognize the position the Bush administration got us into.
San Diego’s Outsized Carbon Footprint
The carbon footprint of the average San Diegan — including residential energy use and transportation — is larger than that of the average resident of Los Angeles, CPI documents in an Earth Day policy brief. The paper also shows that the City of San Diego lags behind LA in policies to reduce energy use.
San Diegans travel 23% more road miles per year than our notoriously car-reliant neighbors in LA – 9,463 miles per capita. Less than 6% of San Diego’s energy comes from renewable sources, far below the state-mandated 20% utility companies are required to reach by 2010.
Those are among the findings in Climate Change Performance and Policy: San Diego versus Los Angeles, issued today by CPI.
$8 a week in taxes isn’t bad
The $800 billion stimulus package Congress passed in February contained tax cuts for millions of Americans and major investment in infrastructure and public programs. The debate and negotiations that led up to the bill’s passage echoed a 60-year-old debate between Keynesian, demand-side economics and conservative, supply-side dogma.
Obama and Democrats argue that tax cuts for workers stimulate growth by putting spending money in the pockets of American families. More cash for workers means more spending, leading to more hiring and ultimately more spending. The Republicans, on the other hand, believe you give tax cuts to the wealthy so they invest, innovate and create jobs.
The Anti-People’s Ordinance
An average San Diegan generates eight pounds of trash a day. You get a black container that you put out to the curb every week. If you’re disabled or have trouble getting the can to the right spot, the guy in the orange uniform helps you out.
The truck itself is part of a pioneering effort to reduce greenhouse gases. It follows a route through the neighborhood meticulously calculated by GIS technology, with the drivers’ input, to maximize speed and efficiency. The trash truck then goes to Miramar Landfill, the first municipally-operated landfill in the nation to earn international certification.
Your trash is then compacted and composted in a lined pit with environmental quality controls and an innovative process of re-vegetation with native plants.
A Different Relationship
President Obama can and should establish an entirely new framework for our relationship with Mexico.
First, we need to recognize the reality of interdependent national economies, common binational labor and capital markets and interconnected social and family networks.
Second, we need to commit ourselves to overarching goals of creating sustainable economic development that lifts Mexican standards of living and preserves an American middle class.
