Why we need an increase in the Gas Tax

Two words - Gas Tax - are probably the worst words that a politician could ever utter, especially now. It would probably mark the beginning of the end for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John McCain. But why are we so averse to a Gas Tax?

A recent proposal in Virginia was just defeated. It "would have raised the state's gas tax of 17.5 cents a gallon, last raised in 1986, by a penny a year for the next five years. The Senate approved the plan, which would have raised $260 million annually when fully phased in."

Another reason that the gas tax was voted against was because the "federal government could be getting ready to raise the federal gas tax". I highly doubt that the feds are going to raise the gas tax as most Americans don't like the idea of paying even more for gas (however, considering that Congress' approval ratings are at 22%, they might as well take a shot - it can't get too much lower than that). Plus, the gov't massively subsidizes oil and that isn't going to stop until we actually run out of oil.

I like to look across the ocean at England, actually all of Europe for example. They have tiny cars, in large part because gas is so expensive there. It really is impossible to drive an SUV unless you have lots of money. I for one think a higher gas tax would be great. Granted, I don't have a lot of money, but this proposal would've raised gas by a penny per year. I can afford that. Plus, maybe it'll push more people to walk to work, or bike, or take mass transit.

When is America going to realize that we need to curb our dependence on oil? Or, do we already know it and just not realize the sacrifices we need to make? Do we have to make gas so expensive that we're forced to curb the dependence?

The Brain Drain

Suppose you grow up in a poor part of town with bad schools, poor health care, and not many opportunities. But you are lucky enough to get a good education, go through medical school, and become a doctor. Once you survive the long hours of medical school and become a doctor, you are able to serve your community by helping hundreds of patients in your town. You work 15 hour days and see hundreds of patients a day. But the shortage of health care professionals and health services in the town make you feel like you are fighting an uphill battle.

Then you meet a doctor traveling from a bigger city who offers you a job in the city, with fewer hours, better pay, and better living conditions. You realize you now have the opportunity to practice medicine AND spend time with your family AND give your kids a chance to grow up with a higher standard of living. What would you do?

This is the story of the Brain Drain. The expert Brains are being Drained from many of the communities that most critically need more health care professional, engineers, etc. The Iraq Study Group Report explains that many of the top engineers and experts left Iraq because of the recent war. This brain drain is one of the reasons that Iraq is having trouble rebuilding.

This story asserts that rich countries are "poaching" doctors from poor countries and that the practice should be illegal. While the poorer country has invested money and resources training its doctors, the rich country then "steals" the doctors. But don't good, hard-working doctors deserve a better lifestyle?

The brain drain is phenomenon that is seen across the world - not only between rich and poor countries, but also between rich and poor areas; often urban areas have more doctors than rural areas since urban areas typically offer better pay and more opportunities for doctors' families.

How do you think the "brain drain" should be addressed? Should "doctor poaching" between countries be illegal? What benefits or opportunities should be offered to doctors working in harsher conditions, and who should provide the compensation?

The Coal Dilemma

Of all the fossil fuels we burn, coal produces the greatest amount of carbon dioxide per energy output, meaning it contributes the most to climate destabilization. Unfortunately, the majority of our electricity comes from coal because it is the cheapest power source under our current economic structure. If we accounted for its real costs, including economic externalities (such as respiratory problems, mercury pollution, and environmental destruction caused by some coal mining), it would no longer be considered the cheapest source of energy. Unfortunately, our current economic system does not account for these costs, so we continue to harm people's health and exacerbate climate change, while enjoying falsely cheap energy.



The dilemma is that people want cheap energy so they have more money to support their families. If we pay less for our utility bill, we can spend more on food, gas, clothes, cars, houses, cell phones, entertainment.... But is it worth it? Are people really willing to sacrifice their children's health and clean environment for cheaper electricity today? Would you be willing to sacrifice some of the "extra" things you purchase so that you could use cleaner energy? What monthly purchase would you be willing to forgo so you could purchase clean energy?

You as a Power Plant?

Last week was the Super Bowl - obviously a HUGE use of power. I thought it was great that some energy decided to sponsor people riding bikes to power a half an hour of the pre-game show. I found it ironic that the half an hour was such a big deal, especially because the pre-game show started at 9am and the game started at 6:30. Anyway, in Sunday's Washington Post there was a fascinating article about how an individual can actually produce energy.

We can do it by just walking with a knee-mounted device that captures energy at the end of a walker's stride using the same type of technology that hybrid cars use the power generated by braking. More surprising, I thought, was that with the device on both legs a user was able to power 10 cellphones - at the same time - and twice the energy needed to power a basic computer. One volunteer even walked fast enough to get 13 watts - enough electricity to run a basic water-filtration system.

I would use it for my cellphone or iPod or laptop, or any other electronic device that can use it. Plus, think of the endless possibilities for developing nations. Just think - we could solve the obesity epidemic and the energy crisis at the same time! Well, it would be a start anyway.

Would you use it and what other applications can you think of? Also, we were encountering problems with the old blog template. Does this new one seem suitable?

Climate Emergency?

We have a climate emergency, according to a new book that was published online this week called "Climate Code Red: The case for a sustainability emergency." It can be found at http://www.climatecodered.net/

It's about 100 pages, and the summary and key points are great. There are two things that stick with me.

- "There is already enough carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere to initiate ice sheet disintegration in West Antarctica and Greenland and to ensure that sea levels will rise metres in coming decades."

Why do people still not believe this? For some reason, there are some people that believe that this either isn't happening, or that it's "not that big a deal." I think this may now be cited in just about every climate change report. If you still don't think reducing carbon emissions is an important issue, check out this video.

- "Our conventional mode of politics is short-term, adversarial and incremental, fearful of deep, quick change and simply incapable of managing the transition at the necessary speed. The climate crisis will not respond to incremental modification of the business-as-usual model."

Basically, we have to do something NOW - we really can't afford to wait any longer, hence the "emergency." I agree, but can we really accomplish anything in the immediate future? It seems that in the US we're stuck with the status quo until January 20, 2009. However, even after that who knows what the new President's energy and environmental policies will be and whether Congress will go along with it.

Are we really stuck until next January? I hope not, but I have a bad feeling...