In 1953 President Eisenhower nominated Charles Wilson to be his Secretary of Defense. Wilson, then the President of General Motors, had overseen GM’s war production during World War II. During his confirmation hearings he was asked if he could make a decision that was bad for GM. His response is remembered as a classic example of arrogance – “What’s good for GM is good for America.”
However, that’s not exactly what he said.
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Earth from Space, courtesy of the American taxpayer. Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous, and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC
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Earth Day, 2010, I looked to the future on Popular Logistics. In 2009, I wrote about water pollution and agricultural waste in the Chesapeake. Today I am looking at the present and recent past. While a comprehensive look at where we are can be found on the web pages of the World Watch Institute, the New York Times, and the World Factbook of the Central Intelligence Agency, I want to make a few points.
Our energy policy is “when you flip a switch, the juice gotta flow.” It ain’t magic. It’s engineering and classical physics, with an understanding of radioactive fission and decay and a profound lack of long term thinking. It ain’t magic, but it might as well be. But we really need to base our energy policy on an understanding of ecological economics and sustainability.
We’ve had a few problems with nuclear power and fossil fuel in the last few years. Yet, there’s some light on the horizon.