People say “all politics is local.” People in The Bahamas, New Jersey, Europe and California have more or less the same solution – re-usable shopping bags – to the same problem – plastic bags in landfills. Personally, I favor charging for plastic bags, which rewards people for doing the right thing and penalizes them for doing the wrong thing. It seems fair, given that we are paying, in our taxes, for burying the plastic bags. I would also like to see more cellulose based plastics.

Another common problem is converting our electric grid to run on electricity generated from clean, sustainable systems. Based on our brief conversation, it seems that the U. S. has four advantages over the Bahamas: Net Metering, Economic Incentives, Rulings in the Supreme Court, and possibly, our President-Elect, Barack Obama.

1. “Net Metering”
The”Net Metering” laws in place allow people to sell excess power they generate into the grid. The solar array I have planned for my home will power my house, and feed excess power into the grid.

2. Costs and Incentives
To get over the problem of the initial cost, the U. S. economic stimulus plan passed in October includes a 30% tax credit on installation of solar or wind power. The costs are high, but with this tax credit the payback is estimated to 4 to 7 years in various parts of the country, including New Jersey, New York, and California. Solar electric systems will pay for themselves many times over their lifetimes.

3 Recent Supreme Court Rulings
The U. S. Supreme Court, in April, 2007, ruled, in MASS v ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, and in ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE v DUKE ENERGY that the EPA must regulate carbon. These rulings have profound and dramatic significance. Unless they are reversed, the U.S. will have to move to a sustainable energy architecture. Not just for electricity, but for transportation and for agriculture. The Supreme Court rulings do not prohibit the use of hydrocarbons for energy, transportation or fertilizer, or nuclear power (which when you consider the fuel and waste management processes, is worse than coal). The rulings just require carbon capture and storage. However the technology, if it exists, is too expensive. Thus, many in the environmental community think these ruling will stop the development of new conventional nuclear and fossil fuel plants.

4. Barack Obama
Popular Logistics focuses on the New York, New Jersey, and the US. We don’t know anything about local Bahamanian politics, however, after Jan. 20, we will have a President who’s education and intellect are up to the job, and who is not part of or beholden to the oil industry.