wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] oilmonkey October 21, 2008 - 11:13AM

  I like Van Jones and his ideas, but he fails to address the limits of growth we are facing. I fear he is a part of the initial inflation of the newest bubble (the green-energy bubble) engineered to recover from the housing bubble, which was engineered to recover from the dotcom bubble.

  
  
• [2] Inquiring Minds October 21, 2008 - 11:18AM

  @1 oilmonkey

  spot on!

  too, it is downright frightening that the guest believes that the new president should just ram this down everyones' throats with executive power!

  governments' reactions to crises tends to make them worse, not better...history is a b**ch.

  
  
• [3] RC October 21, 2008 - 11:18AM

  If this is such a great idea, why isn't Mr. Jones starting a company to profit from this very easy, simple idea that clearly only a complete moron can't understand (sarcasim dripping)

  
  
• [4] Nancy Sadler from Brooklyn October 21, 2008 - 11:19AM

  Yes Yes Yes!

  Someone is finally making sense!

  
  
• [5] Inquiring Minds October 21, 2008 - 11:21AM

  yet another bad idea..."underwriting risk"

  most of these technologies have poor EROEI (energy return on energy invested)

  ethanol a great example: the energy returned is about what is put in

  yet, politicians got taxpayers SUBSIDY for ethanol

  get/keep the government out of this market!

  
  
• [6] mark Brown from sos-newdeal.blogspot.com AND markbnj.blogspot.com October 21, 2008 - 11:22AM

  Gee Brian.

  I am so disapointed in you, and your staff.

  I discuss this in my blog here:

  sos-newdeal.blogspot.com/2008/07/mandatory-draft-alternative-service.html

  What I say is that we NEED a National Training program

  This is inter-twined in what I say HERE about creating a national infrastructure program ( a new Manhattan project here)

  sos-newdeal.blogspot.com/2008/02/proposal-energy.html

  Essentially I say the same thing, we need to Build, start to PUMP the economy, and then let the population be REBUILT and retrained.

  These ideas came about over two years ago

  mark brown

  
  
• [7] dbryan from brooklyn October 21, 2008 - 11:25AM

  I really think van jones' ideas about a green economy combined with michael pollan's ideas about solar agriculture vs. fossil-fuel agriculture are the keys to America's future...

  
  
• [8] mark Brown from sos-newdeal.blogspot.com AND markbnj.blogspot.com October 21, 2008 - 11:25AM

  # 5

  We need INCENTIVES to START to prime the pump

  We need 3 things:

  1) infrastructure (including like van said; HOME rebuilding...)

  2) job retraining for the unemployed/underclass

  3) go green (listen to Terry Gross for 10/20/08)

  These are all interconnected, just like at my blog

  sos-newdeal.blogspot.com

  search there for energy and finance

  
  
• [9] Inquiring Minds October 21, 2008 - 11:29AM

  (just finished a prayer that this post isn't deleted)

  As a part of the Great Leap Forward, leader Mao Zedong decided that China would -- among other things -- become the leading producer of steel.

  from wikipedia, Great Leap Forward:

  "Huge efforts on the part of peasants and other workers were made to produce steel out of scrap metal. To fuel the furnaces the local environment was denuded of trees and wood taken from the doors and furniture of peasants' houses. Pots, pans, and other metal artifacts were requisitioned to supply the "scrap" for the furnaces so that the wildly optimistic production targets could be met. Many of the male agricultural workers were diverted from the harvest to help the iron production as were the workers at many factories, schools and even hospitals. Although the output consisted of low quality lumps of pig iron which was of negligible economic worth... ...he found out that high quality steel could only be produced in large scale factories using reliable fuel such as coal. However he decided not to order a halt to the backyard steel furnaces so as not to dampen the revolutionary enthusiasm of the masses. The program was only quietly abandoned much later in that year."

  Now i will pray that history doesn't repeat!

  
  
• [10] mary ellen from brooklyn October 21, 2008 - 11:33AM

  This is a shout out for Con Ed Solutions...

  I've used 100% wind power for electric for a few years now. Because I set it up in mid-October, I was lucky to lock into the lowest rates for the year, and last summer when everyone was paying 20 cents per kilowatt hour, I was paying 16 cents and the AC was 100% guilt free.

  
  
• [11] Benton October 21, 2008 - 12:24PM

  Van is spot on with his arguments. Unfortunately, the people who have made enormous profits from our current oil-based economy will fight these ideas tooth-and-nail until they find a way to make them profitable for themselves first.

  
  
• [12] Joe October 22, 2008 - 11:02AM

  Interesting show. However, one significant concern that I have, and this is based on listening to Van Jones, the This American Life crew reporting on the economic collapse, "Club For Growth" boosters like Steve Moore is this:

  +In 10 years, the caulking gun toting "Joe the Recycler" with a high school degree and 2 years of community college will still only be earning $12 per hour at "Wal-Mart Energy Inc". His kids, who were born at "Walton Maternity Suites" will get some sort of chronic illness. Joe's "Walt-Care" health insurance with it's $5,000 deducible will push him into needing another exploding rate home equity loan from "Emirates Mortages" and foreclosure will be just another dislocated elbow away.

  Yeah, alot of wealth was created in the last 30 years but for all the "Joe the ......whatevers" of America,income has been flat, flat, flat!!!!

  Only a program / process that fixes the living wage issue deserves to be truly called "sustainable".