Heard in the rooms at 123 Linden St:
- I came to AA to correct my drinking. I stayed to correct my thinking.
- My mind is out to get my ass drunk.
- My best thinking got me into the rooms of AA.
- My mind is the most dangerous place on earth to be alone.
Friday, June 26, 2009
My Thinking
Monday, June 22, 2009
Love Is Forever Changing
Only in the imagination does love promise happiness forever.
Through experience we discover the myriad dimensions of love.
Sometimes love is joy.
Sometimes passion.
Sometimes moments of serenity amongst the laughter and sadness.
Generally love is soft.
But it also may sting.
Love is forever changing.
All that love is, there's much it is not.
All that love is, there's much it is not.
Love is not shaming.
Nor is it punishing.
Love does not gloat, criticize, degrade, or diminish.
At times I think I am filled with love and yet I selfishly serve my needs before another's.
And when I truly express my love to another, there's no mistaking the warm glow that fills the body.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
A Simple Analogy
A Simple Analogy
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.
That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.
"Republicans believe everyday is the Fourth of July, but
Democrats believe every day is April 15th."
-- Ronald Reagan
Happy Father's Day
What Makes a Dad
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad
~~Author Unknown.~~
Friday, June 12, 2009
Weeds In My Garden
Looking honestly and unflinchingly at my behavior, while at the same time having compassion for myself, is a powerful combination.
I have the opportunity to change for the better, not to demand perfection of myself or others.
My perfectionism sometimes makes me forget that I'm engaged in a process of change over time. It also lets me exaggerate both how "good" and "bad" I am.
I need to remind myself not to compare my insides with other people's outsides.
I have my own unique gifts; accepting and nurturing these gifts brings me joy and allows me to contribute to the human community.
I am capable of feeling love and compassion for others who are far from perfect.
I can learn to extend that love and compassion to myself.
I have the opportunity to change for the better, not to demand perfection of myself or others.
My perfectionism sometimes makes me forget that I'm engaged in a process of change over time. It also lets me exaggerate both how "good" and "bad" I am.
I need to remind myself not to compare my insides with other people's outsides.
I have my own unique gifts; accepting and nurturing these gifts brings me joy and allows me to contribute to the human community.
I am capable of feeling love and compassion for others who are far from perfect.
I can learn to extend that love and compassion to myself.
Inner Demons
by Gerry Straub
No one is untouched by fears, neuross and anxieties.
Unless they are brought into the light,
they are free to terrorize us.
Life is all about healing oneself.
Face your shadow,
confront your inner demons.
We tend to deny in the darkness
what we experienced in the light.
by Gerry Straub
No one is untouched by fears, neuross and anxieties.
Unless they are brought into the light,
they are free to terrorize us.
Life is all about healing oneself.
Face your shadow,
confront your inner demons.
We tend to deny in the darkness
what we experienced in the light.
How often do we rediscover the Psalmist’s insight: hidden quilt festers; honest admission of guilt heals!
Sin is self-love to the point of contempt for God.
The way to overcome sin is love of God to the point of contempt of self.
Sin is self-love to the point of contempt for God.
The way to overcome sin is love of God to the point of contempt of self.
With joyful trust, let me own my sins before the Lord who gladly forgives.
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
For words and deeds of impatience and anger – pardon me, O Lord!
For words and deeds of selfish grasping – pardon me, O Lord!
For words and deeds of unkindness – pardon me, O Lord!
For those sins of which I am most ashamed – pardon me, O Lord!
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
For words and deeds of impatience and anger – pardon me, O Lord!
For words and deeds of selfish grasping – pardon me, O Lord!
For words and deeds of unkindness – pardon me, O Lord!
For those sins of which I am most ashamed – pardon me, O Lord!
O Lord, all my guilt lies open to you,
all my secret sins are known to you,
all my ugly ways are clear before you,
yet you never cease to offer me your redeeming love.
Have mercy on me in my pitiful attempts
to cloak my sinfulness with false bravado,
and grant me the joy that comes
with full repentance. Amen
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Honesty
The perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good onepermeates human affairs from top to bottom. -- As Bill Sees It, Page 17
The deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves.
C H A N G E D = Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Each Day.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Remember Love and Tolerance
"We either live under the light of Islam or we die with dignity ... brace yourselves for a long war against the world's infidels and their agents," -- Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
May you prosper and help save our planet.
U.S. Secrtary of Energy Steven Chu Harvard University Commencement Address - June 4, 2009
President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, faculty, family, friends, and, most importantly, today’s graduates, thank you for letting me share this wonderful day with you.
I am not sure I can live up to the high standards of Harvard Commencement speakers. Last year, JK Rowling, the billionaire novelist, who started as a classics student, graced this podium. The year before, Bill Gates, the mega-billionaire philanthropist and computer nerd stood here. Today, you have me. I am not a billionaire, but at least I am a nerd.
I am grateful to receive an honorary degree from Harvard, an honor that means more to me than you might imagine. You see, I was the academic failure of my family. Both of my brothers have degrees from Harvard. My older brother has an M.D. - Ph.D. from Harvard while my younger brother has a Law degree. When I was awarded a Nobel Prize, I thought my mother would be pleased. When I called her on the morning of the announcement, she replied, “That’s nice, but when are you going to visit me next.” Now, with a degree from Harvard, maybe, at last, she will be satisfied.
Another difficulty with giving a Harvard commencement address is that some students may disapprove of the fact that I have borrowed material from previous speeches. I ask that you forgive me for two reasons.
First, in order to be heard, it is important to deliver the same message more than once.
Second, authors who borrow from others are following in the footsteps of the best. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who graduated from Harvard at the age of 18, noted “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” Picasso declared “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” Why should commencement speakers be held to a higher standard?
I also want to point out the irony of speaking to graduates of an institution that would have rejected me, had I the chutzpah to apply. I am married to “Dean Jean,” a former Dean of Admissions at Stanford. She assures me that she would have rejected me, given the chance. When I showed her a draft of this speech, she objected strongly to my use of the word “rejected.” She never rejected applicants; her letters stated that “we are unable to offer you admission.” I have great difficulty understanding the difference. After all, Deans of Admissions of highly selective schools are in reality, “Deans of Rejection.” Clearly, I have a lot to learn about marketing.
My address will follow the classical sonata form of commencement addresses. The first movement, just presented, were light-hearted remarks. This next movement consists of unsolicited advice, which is rarely valued, seldom remembered, never followed. As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
Here comes the advice.
First, every time you celebrate an achievement, be thankful to those who made it possible. Thank your parents and friends who supported you, thank your professors who were inspirational, and especially thank the other professors whose less-than-brilliant lectures forced you to teach yourself. Going forward, the ability to teach yourself is the hallmark of a great liberal arts education and will be the key to your success. To your fellow students who have added immeasurably to your education during those late night discussions, hug them.
Second, in your future life, cultivate a generous spirit. In all negotiations, don’t bargain for the last, little advantage. Leave the change on the table. In your collaborations, always remember that “credit” is not a conserved quantity. In a successful collaboration, everybody gets 90% of the credit.
Jimmy Stewart, as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie “Harvey” got it exactly right. “Years ago my mother used to say to me, ‘in this world, Elwood, you must be …she always used to call me Elwood …in this world Elwood, you must be Oh so smart, or Oh so pleasant’. Well, for years I was smart ... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.”
My third piece of advice is as follows. As you begin this new stage of your lives, follow your passion. If you don’t have a passion, don’t be satisfied until you find one. Life is too short to go through it without caring deeply about something. When I was your age, I was incredibly single minded in my goal to be a physicist. After college, I spent eight years as a graduate student and post doc at Berkeley, and then nine years at Bell Labs. During that my time, my central focus and professional joy was physics.
Here is my final advice.
Pursuing a personal passion is important, but it should not be your only goal. When you are old and gray, and look back on your life, you will want to be proud of what you have done. The source of that pride won’t be the things you have acquired or the recognition you have received. It will be the lives you have touched and the difference you have made.
After nine years at Bell labs, I decided to leave the warm, cozy ivory tower for what I considered to be the “real world”, a university. Bell Labs, to quote what was said of Mary Poppins, was “practically perfect in every way,” but I wanted to leave behind more than articles in scientific journals. I wanted to teach and give birth to my own set of scientific children.
Ted Geballe, a friend and distinguished colleague of mine at Stanford who also went from Berkeley to Bell Labs to Stanford years earlier, described our motives best:
“The best part of working at a university is the students. They come in fresh, enthusiastic, open to ideas, unscarred by the battles of life. They don't realize it, but they're the recipients of the best our society can offer. If a mind is ever free to be creative, that's the time. They come in believing textbooks are authoritative, but eventually they figure out that textbooks and professors don't know everything, and then they start to think on their own. Then, I begin learning from them.”
My students, post doctoral fellows, and the young researchers who worked with me at Bell Labs, Stanford, and Berkeley have been extraordinary. Over 30 former group members are now professors, many at the best research institutions in the world. I have learned much from them. Even now, in rare moments on weekends, the remaining members of my biophysics group meet with me in the ether world of cyberspace.
I began teaching with the idea of giving back, but I received more than I gave. This brings me to the final movement of this speech. It begins with a story about an extraordinary scientific discovery and the new dilemma it poses. It’s a call to arms and about making a difference.
In the past several decades, our climate has been changing. Climate change is not new: the Earth went through six ice ages in the past 600,000 years. However, recent measurements show that the climate has begun to change rapidly. The size of the North polar ice cap in the month of September is only half the size it was fifty years ago. The sea level has been rising since direct measurements began in 1870, but the rate since 1990 is five times faster than it was between 1870 and 1890.
Here is the remarkable scientific discovery: For the first time in human history, science is now making predictions of how our actions will affect the world fifty, a hundred and two hundred years from now. These changes are due to the increase in carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution.
The Earth has warmed up by roughly 0.8 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the industrial revolution. There is already approximately a one degree rise built into the system, even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today. Why? It will take decades to warm up the deep oceans before the temperature reaches a new equilibrium.
If the world continues on a business-as-usual path, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there is a fifty-fifty chance the temperature increase will exceed five degrees by the end of this century. This increase may not sound like much, but let me remind you that during the last ice age, the world was only 6 degrees colder. During this time, most of Canada and the US down to Ohio and Pennsylvania were covered year round by a glacier. A world five degrees warmer will be a very different place. The change will be so rapid, that many species, including us, will have a hard time adapting.
We also face the specter of non-linear “tipping points” that may cause much more severe changes. An example of a tipping point is the thawing of the permafrost. The permafrost contains immense amounts of frozen organic matter that have been accumulating for millennia. If the soil melts, microbes will spring to life and cause this debris to rot. The difference in biological activity below freezing and above freezing is something we are very familiar with. Frozen food remains edible for a very long time in the freezer, but once thawed, it spoils quickly. How much methane and carbon dioxide might be released from the rotting permafrost? Even if only a small fraction of the carbon is released, it could be greater than all the greenhouse gases we have released to date. Once started, a runaway effect could begin.
The climate problem is an unintended consequence of our success. We depend on fossil energy to keep our homes warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and lit at night; we use it to travel across town and across continents. Energy is a fundamental reason for the prosperity we enjoy, and we will not surrender this prosperity. The United States has three percent of the world population, but we consume twenty five percent of the energy. By contrast, there are 1.6 billion people who don’t have access to electricity. Hundreds of millions of people still cook with twigs or dung. The life we enjoy may not be within the easy reach of many in the developing world, but it is within sight, and they want what we have.
Here is the dilemma. How much are we willing to invest, as a world society, to mitigate the consequences of climate change that will not be realized for at least 100 years? Deeply rooted in all cultures, is the notion of generational responsibility. Parents work hard so that their children will have a better life. Climate change will affect the entire world, but our natural focus is on the welfare of our immediate families. Can we, as a world society, meet our responsibility to future generations? While I am worried, I am hopeful we will solve this problem. I became the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in part because I wanted to enlist some of the best scientific minds to help battle against climate change. I was there only four and a half years, the shortest serving director in the 78 year history of the Lab, but when I left to become Secretary of Energy, a number of very exciting energy institutes at the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley had been established.
I am extremely privileged to be part of the Obama Administration. If there ever was a time to help steer America and the world towards a path of sustainable energy, now is the time. The message the President is delivering is not one of doom and gloom, but of optimism and opportunity. I share this optimism. The task ahead is daunting, but we can and will succeed. We know some of the answers already.
There are immediate and significant savings in energy efficiency and conservation. Energy efficiency is not just low-hanging fruit; it is fruit lying on the ground. For example, we have the potential to make buildings 80% more efficient with investments that will pay for themselves in less than fifteen years. Buildings consume 40% of the energy we use, and a transition to energy efficient buildings will cut our carbon emissions by one third.
We are revving up the remarkable American innovation engine that will be the basis of a new prosperity. We will invent much improved methods to harness the sun, the wind, nuclear power, and capture and sequester the carbon dioxide emitted from our power plants. Advanced bio-fuels and the electrification of personal vehicles make us less dependent on foreign oil.
In the coming decades, we will almost certainly face higher oil prices and be in a carbon-constrained economy. We have the opportunity to lead in development of a new, industrial revolution. The great hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, was asked how he positions himself on the ice. He replied he skates “to where the puck is going to be, not where it’s been.”
America should do the same.
The Obama Administration is laying a new foundation for a prosperous and sustainable energy future, but we don’t have all of the answers. That’s where you come in. In this address, I am asking you to join us. As our future intellectual leaders, take the time to learn more about what’s at stake, and then act on that knowledge. As future scientists and engineers, I ask you to give us better technology solutions. As future economists and political scientists, I ask you to create better policy options. As future business leaders, I ask that you make sustainability an integral part of your business.
Finally, as humanists, I ask that you speak to our common humanity. One of the cruelest ironies about climate change is that the ones who will be hurt the most are the most innocent: the worlds poorest and those yet to be born.
The coda to this last movement is borrowed from two humanists.
The first quote is from Martin Luther King. When he spoke on ending the war in Vietnam, his message seems so fitting for today’s climate crisis:
“This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man ….We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.”
The final message is from William Faulkner. On December 10th, 1950, his Nobel Prize banquet speech was about the role of humanists in a world facing potential nuclear holocaust.
“I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.”
Graduates, you have an extraordinary role to play in our future. As you pursue your private passions, I hope you will also develop the passion and the voice to help the world in ways both large and small. Nothing will give you greater satisfaction.
Please accept my warmest congratulations. May you prosper and help save our planet.
President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, faculty, family, friends, and, most importantly, today’s graduates, thank you for letting me share this wonderful day with you.
I am not sure I can live up to the high standards of Harvard Commencement speakers. Last year, JK Rowling, the billionaire novelist, who started as a classics student, graced this podium. The year before, Bill Gates, the mega-billionaire philanthropist and computer nerd stood here. Today, you have me. I am not a billionaire, but at least I am a nerd.
I am grateful to receive an honorary degree from Harvard, an honor that means more to me than you might imagine. You see, I was the academic failure of my family. Both of my brothers have degrees from Harvard. My older brother has an M.D. - Ph.D. from Harvard while my younger brother has a Law degree. When I was awarded a Nobel Prize, I thought my mother would be pleased. When I called her on the morning of the announcement, she replied, “That’s nice, but when are you going to visit me next.” Now, with a degree from Harvard, maybe, at last, she will be satisfied.
Another difficulty with giving a Harvard commencement address is that some students may disapprove of the fact that I have borrowed material from previous speeches. I ask that you forgive me for two reasons.
First, in order to be heard, it is important to deliver the same message more than once.
Second, authors who borrow from others are following in the footsteps of the best. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who graduated from Harvard at the age of 18, noted “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” Picasso declared “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” Why should commencement speakers be held to a higher standard?
I also want to point out the irony of speaking to graduates of an institution that would have rejected me, had I the chutzpah to apply. I am married to “Dean Jean,” a former Dean of Admissions at Stanford. She assures me that she would have rejected me, given the chance. When I showed her a draft of this speech, she objected strongly to my use of the word “rejected.” She never rejected applicants; her letters stated that “we are unable to offer you admission.” I have great difficulty understanding the difference. After all, Deans of Admissions of highly selective schools are in reality, “Deans of Rejection.” Clearly, I have a lot to learn about marketing.
My address will follow the classical sonata form of commencement addresses. The first movement, just presented, were light-hearted remarks. This next movement consists of unsolicited advice, which is rarely valued, seldom remembered, never followed. As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
Here comes the advice.
First, every time you celebrate an achievement, be thankful to those who made it possible. Thank your parents and friends who supported you, thank your professors who were inspirational, and especially thank the other professors whose less-than-brilliant lectures forced you to teach yourself. Going forward, the ability to teach yourself is the hallmark of a great liberal arts education and will be the key to your success. To your fellow students who have added immeasurably to your education during those late night discussions, hug them.
Second, in your future life, cultivate a generous spirit. In all negotiations, don’t bargain for the last, little advantage. Leave the change on the table. In your collaborations, always remember that “credit” is not a conserved quantity. In a successful collaboration, everybody gets 90% of the credit.
Jimmy Stewart, as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie “Harvey” got it exactly right. “Years ago my mother used to say to me, ‘in this world, Elwood, you must be …she always used to call me Elwood …in this world Elwood, you must be Oh so smart, or Oh so pleasant’. Well, for years I was smart ... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.”
My third piece of advice is as follows. As you begin this new stage of your lives, follow your passion. If you don’t have a passion, don’t be satisfied until you find one. Life is too short to go through it without caring deeply about something. When I was your age, I was incredibly single minded in my goal to be a physicist. After college, I spent eight years as a graduate student and post doc at Berkeley, and then nine years at Bell Labs. During that my time, my central focus and professional joy was physics.
Here is my final advice.
Pursuing a personal passion is important, but it should not be your only goal. When you are old and gray, and look back on your life, you will want to be proud of what you have done. The source of that pride won’t be the things you have acquired or the recognition you have received. It will be the lives you have touched and the difference you have made.
After nine years at Bell labs, I decided to leave the warm, cozy ivory tower for what I considered to be the “real world”, a university. Bell Labs, to quote what was said of Mary Poppins, was “practically perfect in every way,” but I wanted to leave behind more than articles in scientific journals. I wanted to teach and give birth to my own set of scientific children.
Ted Geballe, a friend and distinguished colleague of mine at Stanford who also went from Berkeley to Bell Labs to Stanford years earlier, described our motives best:
“The best part of working at a university is the students. They come in fresh, enthusiastic, open to ideas, unscarred by the battles of life. They don't realize it, but they're the recipients of the best our society can offer. If a mind is ever free to be creative, that's the time. They come in believing textbooks are authoritative, but eventually they figure out that textbooks and professors don't know everything, and then they start to think on their own. Then, I begin learning from them.”
My students, post doctoral fellows, and the young researchers who worked with me at Bell Labs, Stanford, and Berkeley have been extraordinary. Over 30 former group members are now professors, many at the best research institutions in the world. I have learned much from them. Even now, in rare moments on weekends, the remaining members of my biophysics group meet with me in the ether world of cyberspace.
I began teaching with the idea of giving back, but I received more than I gave. This brings me to the final movement of this speech. It begins with a story about an extraordinary scientific discovery and the new dilemma it poses. It’s a call to arms and about making a difference.
In the past several decades, our climate has been changing. Climate change is not new: the Earth went through six ice ages in the past 600,000 years. However, recent measurements show that the climate has begun to change rapidly. The size of the North polar ice cap in the month of September is only half the size it was fifty years ago. The sea level has been rising since direct measurements began in 1870, but the rate since 1990 is five times faster than it was between 1870 and 1890.
Here is the remarkable scientific discovery: For the first time in human history, science is now making predictions of how our actions will affect the world fifty, a hundred and two hundred years from now. These changes are due to the increase in carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution.
The Earth has warmed up by roughly 0.8 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the industrial revolution. There is already approximately a one degree rise built into the system, even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today. Why? It will take decades to warm up the deep oceans before the temperature reaches a new equilibrium.
If the world continues on a business-as-usual path, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there is a fifty-fifty chance the temperature increase will exceed five degrees by the end of this century. This increase may not sound like much, but let me remind you that during the last ice age, the world was only 6 degrees colder. During this time, most of Canada and the US down to Ohio and Pennsylvania were covered year round by a glacier. A world five degrees warmer will be a very different place. The change will be so rapid, that many species, including us, will have a hard time adapting.
We also face the specter of non-linear “tipping points” that may cause much more severe changes. An example of a tipping point is the thawing of the permafrost. The permafrost contains immense amounts of frozen organic matter that have been accumulating for millennia. If the soil melts, microbes will spring to life and cause this debris to rot. The difference in biological activity below freezing and above freezing is something we are very familiar with. Frozen food remains edible for a very long time in the freezer, but once thawed, it spoils quickly. How much methane and carbon dioxide might be released from the rotting permafrost? Even if only a small fraction of the carbon is released, it could be greater than all the greenhouse gases we have released to date. Once started, a runaway effect could begin.
The climate problem is an unintended consequence of our success. We depend on fossil energy to keep our homes warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and lit at night; we use it to travel across town and across continents. Energy is a fundamental reason for the prosperity we enjoy, and we will not surrender this prosperity. The United States has three percent of the world population, but we consume twenty five percent of the energy. By contrast, there are 1.6 billion people who don’t have access to electricity. Hundreds of millions of people still cook with twigs or dung. The life we enjoy may not be within the easy reach of many in the developing world, but it is within sight, and they want what we have.
Here is the dilemma. How much are we willing to invest, as a world society, to mitigate the consequences of climate change that will not be realized for at least 100 years? Deeply rooted in all cultures, is the notion of generational responsibility. Parents work hard so that their children will have a better life. Climate change will affect the entire world, but our natural focus is on the welfare of our immediate families. Can we, as a world society, meet our responsibility to future generations? While I am worried, I am hopeful we will solve this problem. I became the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in part because I wanted to enlist some of the best scientific minds to help battle against climate change. I was there only four and a half years, the shortest serving director in the 78 year history of the Lab, but when I left to become Secretary of Energy, a number of very exciting energy institutes at the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley had been established.
I am extremely privileged to be part of the Obama Administration. If there ever was a time to help steer America and the world towards a path of sustainable energy, now is the time. The message the President is delivering is not one of doom and gloom, but of optimism and opportunity. I share this optimism. The task ahead is daunting, but we can and will succeed. We know some of the answers already.
There are immediate and significant savings in energy efficiency and conservation. Energy efficiency is not just low-hanging fruit; it is fruit lying on the ground. For example, we have the potential to make buildings 80% more efficient with investments that will pay for themselves in less than fifteen years. Buildings consume 40% of the energy we use, and a transition to energy efficient buildings will cut our carbon emissions by one third.
We are revving up the remarkable American innovation engine that will be the basis of a new prosperity. We will invent much improved methods to harness the sun, the wind, nuclear power, and capture and sequester the carbon dioxide emitted from our power plants. Advanced bio-fuels and the electrification of personal vehicles make us less dependent on foreign oil.
In the coming decades, we will almost certainly face higher oil prices and be in a carbon-constrained economy. We have the opportunity to lead in development of a new, industrial revolution. The great hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, was asked how he positions himself on the ice. He replied he skates “to where the puck is going to be, not where it’s been.”
America should do the same.
The Obama Administration is laying a new foundation for a prosperous and sustainable energy future, but we don’t have all of the answers. That’s where you come in. In this address, I am asking you to join us. As our future intellectual leaders, take the time to learn more about what’s at stake, and then act on that knowledge. As future scientists and engineers, I ask you to give us better technology solutions. As future economists and political scientists, I ask you to create better policy options. As future business leaders, I ask that you make sustainability an integral part of your business.
Finally, as humanists, I ask that you speak to our common humanity. One of the cruelest ironies about climate change is that the ones who will be hurt the most are the most innocent: the worlds poorest and those yet to be born.
The coda to this last movement is borrowed from two humanists.
The first quote is from Martin Luther King. When he spoke on ending the war in Vietnam, his message seems so fitting for today’s climate crisis:
“This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man ….We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.”
The final message is from William Faulkner. On December 10th, 1950, his Nobel Prize banquet speech was about the role of humanists in a world facing potential nuclear holocaust.
“I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.”
Graduates, you have an extraordinary role to play in our future. As you pursue your private passions, I hope you will also develop the passion and the voice to help the world in ways both large and small. Nothing will give you greater satisfaction.
Please accept my warmest congratulations. May you prosper and help save our planet.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Thoughts On My Journey
Thoughts from my journey:
- A spiritual journey is acco
mpanied by considerable trial and error, confusion and fear. - Developing the virtue of humility is a key spiritual basic.
- Self-distrust is an awareness of one’s innate tendency to deceive oneself when making a decision.
- Humility will never demean the disciple nor trample on one’s inherent dignity.
- To the degree that my heart is empty of worldly love, God can fill it with heavenly good.
- The journey must begin; the first step in faith needs to be taken.
Staying spiritually fit is my daily purpose and walking the path set before me.
Quotes From Today's Headlines
NOAA's National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center calls for "a 50% probability of a near-normal season, a 25% probability of an above-normal season & a 25% probability of a below-normal season."
As the fate of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for terrorism suspects dangles in the wind awaiting President Obama's decision, the Pentagon has made it clear that the controversial U.S. Navy base, seaport and airstrip in Cuba - the only strategic U.S. military installation in the Caribbean - will continue to function in full operation, as will its McDonald's, Taco Bell and Starbucks.
Libertarian National Committee Chairman William Redpath charged: "President Obama has accomplished at least one thing with GM's bankruptcy: a transfer of tremendous wealth from GM's lenders & U.S. taxpayers to the United Auto Workers union that supported his election."
"Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right," Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez joked on a live television broadcast.
As the fate of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for terrorism suspects dangles in the wind awaiting President Obama's decision, the Pentagon has made it clear that the controversial U.S. Navy base, seaport and airstrip in Cuba - the only strategic U.S. military installation in the Caribbean - will continue to function in full operation, as will its McDonald's, Taco Bell and Starbucks.
Libertarian National Committee Chairman William Redpath charged: "President Obama has accomplished at least one thing with GM's bankruptcy: a transfer of tremendous wealth from GM's lenders & U.S. taxpayers to the United Auto Workers union that supported his election."
"Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right," Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez joked on a live television broadcast.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Supreme Indifference
Should our judges be judged by their gender,
Or the justness of verdicts they render?
Should we reckon their race,
Or their ken in a case
As a strict Constitution defender?
-F.R. Duplantier