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Wealth gradients

Ever wonder what it is that holds people in poverty? Although never expressed in polite company, there is an undercurrent in many circles that the poor are victims of their genes. There isn't a word for it, like racism or sexism, but the mindset still exists.

Here's the real skinny: poverty, like wealth, is usually inherited. Poverty is primarily the result of competition from other human beings. People like you and me took their jobs. It is also a matter of statistics and energy. A street orphan in Bangladesh has essentially zero chance of becoming CEO of Boeing, no matter how hard he or she tries.

How do you suppose President Bush, a man who rarely reads and can hardly string a grammatically correct sentence together, became president of the most powerful nation on Earth? He was not only accepted into Yale (SAT scores: 566 verbal and 640 math), but managed to graduate as well. He later attended AA, and with the help of a higher power managed to kick the drinking habit he had developed while at Yale. The best analogy I can come up with is a ten-mile race (having been a long distance runner for most of my life, I prefer footrace analogies to football analogies). Dubya started life's race two feet from the finish line and staggered over it. Others started in a huge pack at the starting line. Arrayed before them, somewhere between the starting line and the finish line, were people born to wealthier parents.

The gentleman from Colorado

I was going to blog about this, but I honestly can't add anything to the ThinkProgress post. So I'll just steal it:

Colorado State Rep. Jim Welker (R) blasted an email to his colleagues containing "an essay written by someone else that accused 'welfare-pampered blacks' of waiting for the government to save them from Hurricane Katrina." A excerpt from that essay, written by the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson:

President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks. Had New Orleans' black community taken action, most would have been out of harm's way. But most were too lazy, immoral and trifling to do anything productive for themselves.

Welker forwarded the essay "without comment." Here is his defense:

"Some of my best friends are of different skin color, like Ed Jones," said Welker, referring to Sen. Jones, a Colorado Springs Republican who is black.

According to Jones, "he and Welker are friends, but not best friends."

Wow. Just ... wow.

Greens are fond of thinking that when another Katrina happens -- maybe another hurricane, maybe a flood, maybe a heatwave -- people will finally "wake up" and start cutting back on consumption, lobbying lawmakers to address global warming, etc. This bespeaks a rather naive view of human nature, if you ask me. Seems to me just as likely that you see stuff like the above: An outbreak of tribalism.

I'm not sure what could swing things one way or the other, but one thing that will certainly help is to have a model of a good green life, ready at hand, so people willing to resist tribalism have something easy to fall back on.

The Daily Grist Headline Battle Royale: Match 3

First, last week's winner ... d'oh! "Nobody Undoes It Like Sara Lee" with 40% of the vote. And I thought it was going to be "Bring in Da Illinois, Bring in Da Hunk" for sure!

Now, here are this week's nominees:

1. It's Hard Out Here for a Chinook: Fishing ban considered for Klamath chinook along West Coast
2. Fools Russia In: Russia to build oil pipeline within half-mile of world's deepest lake
3. Tray's Anatomy: Hospital menus getting green overhaul
4. Can We Sue Them for Label?: House passes industry-beloved food-labeling bill
5. The Leak Shall Inhibit the Earth: Northern Alaska pipeline leak may rank as one of region's largest

Vote!

Tomasita González, environmental-justice organizer, answers readers’ questions

Tomasita González is pushing to bring clean, running water and electricity to low-income communities of color in the Albuquerque area -- including her own. In answering reader questions, González -- an organizer with the SouthWest Organizing Project and this week's InterActivist -- chats about her favorite bilingual kids' book, New Mexico's status as a "nuclear colony," the rights of a toothpaste tube, and more.

Media Shower: Environmental film

If you watched the Oscars on Sunday night and were paying close attention, you may have noticed that climate change made a small appearance. Missed it? It was right there in the middle of the "issues" montage. If you don't believe me, head on over to Oscar.com and take a look at item number ten. See it? Day After Tomorrow. (For those of you not familiar with the movie, IMDb can help. May I also suggest this and this.)

As I mentioned last week, this year's Academy Awards presented a variety of green tinted films, including Syriana and March of the Penguins, which both won Oscars. But you don't need to depend on Hollywood for great environmental filmmaking. A whole host of green films are being created by independent filmmakers everywhere, and are featured at environmental film festivals around the U.S. Two of the most prominent are taking place this month.

From Clubbin’ to Clubbing

Hellooo Kitty Looking for a bar where you can “strip down and drink in your undies” and save the earth? Say konnichiwa to Japan’s green sex clubs. Featuring recycled goods ranging from kink-wear and candles to an S&M rabbit, the clean-energy cathouses also serve organic food and beer. Domo arigato, indeed. Photo: iStockphoto. Speaking of […]

We Love a Plan in Uniform

U.S. military aims to trim energy use After years of pooh-poohing fuel efficiency, the U.S. military has been ordered by the Department of Defense to cut energy use at all military bases and facilities by 2 percent per year — to which they replied, “Yes, sir! Right away, sir!” The Pentagon’s demand comes on the […]

This Protest Brought to You by the Letter … Yeah, by the Letter

Thousands of biologists ask Senate not to gut Endangered Species Act As a Senate committee prepares to craft a bill revising the Endangered Species Act, 5,738 biologists from around the country have signed a letter begging senators not to neuter the act. The missive, organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists, states, “For species conservation […]

The Leak Shall Inhibit the Earth

Northern Alaska pipeline leak may rank as one of region’s largest Cleanup crews have been working in subzero temperatures to sop up crude oil and soiled snow near northern Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay after what looks to be one of the largest spills ever in the region. The source of the crud(e) was discovered last Thursday […]

Eden Come, Eden Go

Climate change threatens newly discovered tropical paradise One short month ago, the world thrilled to the news that researchers had discovered an untouched jungle in the Foja Mountains of New Guinea in Indonesia, full of unknown or rare plants and critters. Now — you saw this coming, right? — a U.S. climate scientist has warned […]