When was the last time that we saw a tsunami of people get behind a cause in this great country? I saw it in Chicago at the Greenbuild Convention in November of '07. It was breathtaking. Interestingly enough, President Clinton was the keynote speaker, and he was far from breathtaking; he was unfocused and frustrated in his tone. Fast-forward only a couple of months, and we have the next tsunami: Barack Obama.
I see this country energized, believing in change, believing in new leadership and new ways. Obama has touched a chord in so many of us, in young people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. I hadn't made the connection about the green movement and Obama until today. All that he represents: hope, leadership, change, is what we need to institute structural changes that will turn around the calamities of global warming.
Obama says that the environment is the moral issue of this next generation. I believe the relevance of such thinking is self-evident. His charisma will lead to people wanting to do the right thing, starting by making small adjustments to their lifestyle and homes, and taking them to the workplace, riding the giant wave of green living and building.
I don't want to be accused of blindly supporting just words, like Mrs. Clinton has implied of Obama's supporters. So I went looking for his ideas and plans on how to attack the carbon emission problem, our dependency on foreign oil, and leadership in energy efficiency and reduction. At http://www.barackobama.com/index.php, may I add, written for all Americans in broad strokes, he does spell out overall goals towards a year 2030 deadline of becoming energy conscious.
His website talks about improving energy efficiency by 50% for new buildings and 25% for existing ones, towards a carbon neutral building standard by the year 2030. If you think about this, it isn't an effortless task. If you can comprehend the huge inventory of existing houses alone, the vastness of the newer suburban landscapes across America, the millions of smaller older homes from the 30's that make up the older neighborhoods in the large cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Houston, making them 25% more energy efficient will take the largest investment that we will collectively have to make.
Visit my Greenstudio blog for more on Obama and the green movement. SI SE PUEDE!
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