Reply #31: Excellent suggestions, and I bet that implementing would not only [View All]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

cost less than the invasion and occupation of Iraq but unlike said atrocity, would create thousands of well-paying jobs, which in turn would generate tax revenues and help meet pent-up demand for essentials that financially strapped people have been holding back on.

Unfortunately, most politicians think that "doing something" means nothing more than hydrogen-powered cars (hello? What's going to happen to all that water vapor?) and higher fuel economy standards.

I have some further suggestions:

1) Encourage research into the building of climate-friendly buildings for each region. In Minnesota, that would mean encouraging traditions such as screen porches for the summer and enclosed entryways and storm windows for the winter.

2) Do a Jimmy Carter and encourage people to dress more warmly in the winter and more casually in the summer in the workplace to avoid the extremes of winter overheating and summer overcooling. (Such a program is underway in Japan.)

3) Make it illegal to build a building with windows that don't open. In areas such as Hawaii and California, air conditioning is "needed" because there is no natural ventilation. Hawaii is "too hot" only in areas where the breezes don't reach, so the energy-smart solution is to allow only buildings that take advantage of prevailing winds.

4) Make it illegal to build housing tracts that have no pedestrian/cycling/transit means of reaching essential stores and services.