stimulus

President Obama's stimulus package for over 787 billion dollars included a significant chunk to be dedicated to environmental issues and projects. It includes replacing the fleet of federal cars with hybrids, a massive EPA budget to reduce pollution, "greening" federal buildings to increase energy efficiency, increasing the efficiency of the power grid (and its ability to use renewable sources like wind), as well as many more programs and slush fundings for environmental programs like job retraining. Frankly, this is a fresh wind in an area that has been deprived of the previous administrations attention and funding. It is not a cure-all, but is a step in the right direction in my view. Permanent increases in funding and studies on systematic ways to reduce our environmental impact will be necessary, but that was not the sole purpose of this package and hopefully this signals a permanent shift in national policy towards more environmentally conscious ones.

What is most interesting to me however, is that there is a subtle perceptual shift encompassed in this bill that might not be first apparent. Like I said previously, the sole purpose of this bill was not to reduce our environmental impact, it was to create jobs and help the economy. Wait...help the economy? Surely there must be some misunderstanding... the previous administration assured us the reason we couldn't be more environmentally friendly was because it would prevent job growth. And there it is. Suddenly, environmental protection is no longer a goal at odds with that of creating a healthy economy, and this recognition, more so than the actual policies entailed in the stimulus bill itself, is possibly the biggest and most positive step we could take as a nation. While I'm sure the effects of the stimulus bill will be endlessly debated for generations, there is some sort of consensus that we can now benefit economically from environmental protection and reduction of our impact. If this new assumption rings true on a very large scale, it could even end up defying the basic assumptions of the I=PAT equation on affluence and impact. Its nice to know our politicians have started to embrace the idea that you can benefit from doing the right thing. It will take focus, direction, honesty, serious examination of our society, and hard work to really get results, but people are at least starting to get that we CAN work to protect the environment AND help our economy.

All I can say is...thank god, its been a long time coming.