Green Thursday: Obama's New Energy for America Plan

Barack Obama’s comprehensive New Energy for America plan:

• Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump with a windfall profits tax to give American families an emergency $1,000 rebate.


• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.


• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.


• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.


• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.


• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Read the full plan HERE

Next week we'll post John McCain's strategy.

Every Green Thursday we provide information critical to the survival of the planet.

Nasturtium Noshing

The LipsYard Garden is producing lots of edible goodness: Tomatoes, Potatoes, Peppers, Carrots, Beans, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Raspberries, and these edible flowers, Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus!)

All parts of the plant are edible. The flower is most often consumed, making for an especially ornamental salad ingredient; it has a slightly peppery taste reminiscent of watercress. Because of that flavor, Nasturtiums receive their name from the scientific name for Watercress (Nasturtium officinale.)

They have showy, often intensely bright flowers, with color so intense that sometimes taking a sharp, in focus photo can be quite difficult.

Making things difficult for John McCain and his supporters, is the One-Two punch of Hillary and Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The Senator from New York said it best, "No way. No how. No McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President."

Isn't it interesting that all the conservatives can do is throw stones at Obama, without having anything to say about John McCain. That's because they don't like him either!

I can't wait for President Clinton to lower the boom tonight, and bring an end to the Bush era once and for all.

Caladium

Here's a new plant in the LipsYard, Caladium (Caladium.)

It's an annual that also goes by the name Angel Wings," "Heart of Jesus," and "elephant ear."

We've put it in a shady spot in one of the raised beds.

Speaking of shady, with the Republican attack machine set on "HIGH" they forgot to turn on the "TRUTH DETECTOR."

For example: A rapidly spreading email is tricking thousands—if not millions—of Americans with outrageous lies and misrepresentations about Barack Obama's tax policies, claiming that he wants to tax your home, IRA, & even your water.

The truth is: The independent group, Factcheck.org, concludes that the smear email about Barack Obama and taxes is “a pack of lies.”

There are also smear e-mails making the rounds that claim Barack Obama can't produce his birth certificate to prove he's an American, that he's secretly a Muslim, and that he won't say the Pledge of Allegiance.

More lies.

So who's behind all this negative campaigning? The same folks who brought us Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, the Willie Horton ads, and numerous personal attacks on the Clintons. Thanks, John McCain, for running a nice clean, straight-talk campaign.

If you get one of these smear-mails, the best thing to do is 'Reply All' and send them to:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome

A Sweet Smell from the West

With a fragrance very similar to a Lily (Lilium longiflorum) the Clethra (Clethra alnifolia) is in bloom.

This shade loving shrub on the west side of the LipsYard is now alive with the light pink blooms that resemble little bottle brushes.

Along with its nice smell, Clethra attracts many butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

That other smell coming out of the West is the bad aftershave of Vice President Dick Cheney, envoy of President George W. Bush, being sent to the troubled former Soviet state of Georgia to try and figure out that mess.

A little waterboarding should do the trick, don't you think?

Is there a Haliburton division that can fix this?

Any chance he'll take the Russians hunting?

Blackeyed Susans Staring at You

The Blackeyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) bring a splash of yellow and brown to the LipsYard Garden. Are they staring at you?

They are a garden favorite because of their long flowering time.

The scientific name was given by Carolus Linneaus in honor of his teacher at Uppsala University, Professor Olof Rudbeck the Younger (1660-1740), and his father, Professor Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630-1702), both of whom were botanists.

From Rudbeckia we go to just plain Rude: A Bush Administration proposal will allow individual government agencies, rather than scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to decide whether vulnerable wildlife would be harmed by new construction projects. This move horribly undermines the Endangered Species Act.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI and member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee) said; "This is a blatant and unjustifiable attempt to gut a landmark environmental law that has protected our treasured American wildlife for more than three decades...Once again, the Bush Administration is putting its political interests first, leaving scientific decisions in non-scientific hands and corroding proud institutions of government to further its own ends."

Since the passage of the Endangered Species Act 35 years ago, all federal construction projects have been subjected to review by independent scientific panels to assess their potential to harm local plants and animals. Under the Administration's plan, however, federal agencies building dams, highways, or other major public works projects could determine for themselves whether that construction would adversely impact threatened or endangered species despite lacking the scientific expertise to make these determinations. If the proposal succeeds, it would be the most sweeping change to the ESA in decades.

No need to let those pesky scientists with all their facts get in the way of business buddies of the conservatives.

Green Thursday: Homes on Parade

The 63rd annual Metropolitan Builders Association Parade of Homes is on through September 7th. This is the first year ever that all 8 homes are each Green Built Home™ and ENERGY STAR® certified.

The Parade of Homes is not only for those interested in building new. The Parade offers the perfect environment for those looking to improve their home as well. It is much easier to envision the kinds of products you would like included in your project once you have seen them up close and personal in a Parade home.

This open space development in Muskego, WU is just 7 minutes south of I-43 offering easy access to shopping, restaurants, and outdoor recreation. Take Moorland Road south to the intersection of Janesville Road, continuing south on Durham Drive (Moorland Rd.) past Woods Rd to the entrance of Belle Chasse subdivision on Durham Drive.

Each Green Thursday we post information vital to the survival of our planet.

In the Cosmos

Poking their orange heads up throughout the LipsYard Garden are the Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus.)
These happy, tall annuals add a dash of color when the other plants start to fade in the heat of summer.Cosmos add an airy balance to the LipsYard Garden.

Not adding balance (or fairness) to the daily news landscape are Rush Limbaugh and his national and local compatriots. They've created an alternate universe where right is wrong, up is down and "callers" (mega dittos, baby) to their staged shows always agree with the host (or get shouted down if they don't.)

When Bill Clinton was president for eight years, they ran a constant campaign of lies against him on radio shows across the country. For the last eight years of George W. Bush, they have conducted an incredibly unified and tightly scripted defense for the worst administration in American history. Now they've turned their Rove-Cheney directed sights on Barack Obama.

To defend themselves from critics, they call their programs "entertainment," when in fact, it's the only news source for regular listeners, who have been lulled into submission by their daily drumbeat of a "biased mainstream media."

There has never been this kind of one-sided, from the talking points, political advocacy in the history of the electronic media, and it has poisoned the political athmosphere like never before.

Russian Sage

Down in the corner of the LipsYard, the Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is alive with color.

The grayish green leaves of the Russian Sage are pungently scented, apparent when they are crushed or brushed against. The tall, clear blue flower spikes lend a cool, airy look to the garden.

John McCain thinks he's a "Russian Sage" and has the solution to the conflict between Georgia and Russia.

Guest commentator, Stephen Crockett, doesn't think so:

Developments in the ongoing conflict between the nations of Georgia and Russia grew very hot this past week. The conflict has very long historical roots and has been potentially ready to explode since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The comments of John McCain on the current outbreak of war has demonstrated the close connection between “sounding strong” for domestic political considerations and “being stupid” in the execution of American foreign policy.

McCain has a tendency to talk tough and to threaten military consequences far too often for the comfort of many foreign policy experts and American citizens. McCain seems to have the first response impulse to use force and to send in the troops. This sometimes is appropriate but often is not the wise or intelligent course of action. McCain seems to discount the limits of military force in achieving foreign policy objectives and the negative blowback or other unintended consequences of getting involved in military conflicts without carefully studying the facts first.

Basically, McCain’s well-known bad temper marks him as a seemingly dangerously hot-head when it comes to foreign policy. McCain is very opinionated when it comes to many aspects of foreign policy.

When conflict first erupted this week, McCain quickly made harsh comments criticizing Russia. McCain clearly appears to be threatening Russia with economic, diplomatic and, maybe military actions without considering the consequences for the United States.

His comments were not very helpful in persuading Russia to halt military actions. The Russians never respond well to direct public threats or orders from the United States. Intelligent diplomacy requires the very careful use of both carrot and stick measures to achieve the desired results. When you start “being stupid” in your public rhetoric by “talking tough” before thinking through the situation, you almost always fail to achieve your foreign policy goals.

Our foreign goals in the current Georgia-Russia conflict should be (1) halt the exchange of hostilities, (2) get Russia to withdraw their soldiers from occupied Georgian territory, (3) obtain a solid diplomatic front with our European allies especially NATO members regarding this conflict, (4) guarantee the international border integrity of Georgia, (5) protect the international oil pipelines running through Georgian territory, (6) guarantee the safety of American citizens in the war zones, (7) preserve both democracy in Georgia and a measure of ethnic self-rule in the breakaway provinces within Georgia, (8) avoid outright American military conflict with Russia and (9) avoid a new Cold War between Russia and the United States.

“Talking tough” to “sound strong” in order to win points with the American electorate is a poor way to achieve any of these desired foreign policy goals. McCain was reckless and self-serving in his highly charged rhetoric.

Military action is all but impossible for the American government when it comes to responding to Russian actions in Georgia. The foreign wars launched by Bush (with the enthusiastic support of McCain) in Iraq and Afghanistan have drained away our military response ability when it comes to real threats to world peace and international emergencies. McCain, like Bush, seems to be recklessly saber-rattling regarding Iran without having the necessary military forces required to back the threats being made. We need not to make the same mistake in Georgia.

How are we going to pay for more wars? McCain and Bush have not explained how we are going to pay for the current military conflicts or rebuilding our nearly exhausted military forces, much less launch even more foreign military misadventures. Economic mismanagement and disastrous trade policies have crippled our national finances and undermined our industrial capacity to fight wars.

Even economic conflict with Russia will have a very negative effect on the American nation. The world needs Russian oil. Disruptions in the oil supply from Russia will create severe hardships on American consumers. Only the oil companies financing much of McCain’s Presidential campaign would profit from such a situation. McCain’s “tough talk” might already be keeping oil prices higher than they would have been if McCain had not made those comments.

The fact that McCain has had a chief foreign policy advisor that was directly employed by the nation of Georgia while working on the McCain campaign demonstrates very poor judgment by Senator McCain. His chief foreign policy expert on Georgia was half of a two-man lobbying firm which received around $800,000 from the Georgian government while he was advising McCain. No advisor to any Presidential candidate should be a paid agent of any foreign government. It is no wonder that McCain does not have a balanced, well-informed approach to this subject.

McCain has dangerously injected himself into this touchy foreign policy/military crisis in a very public way. McCain should remember that he is not the President. Hopefully, for the sake of the American nation, he never will be.

A Ray of Sunshine

The LipsYard Garden is alive with Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus.) The taller ones are the "Cherry Rose Hybrid,"

and these beautiful bright yellow ones are called "Baby Bear."

Did you know that sunflowers are one of the leading cash crops in the country?You can learn a whole lot about sunflowers HERE.

Also popping up like sunflowers, but without the happy feeling, are more attack ads from John McCain.

One ad features newspaper headlines criticizing Obama's tax proposals, which call for cuts for the middle class but for letting the Bush administration tax cuts lapse for those making more than $250,000 a year, and images of families.

"The press warns the 'taxman cometh,' the announcer says. "Obama's taxes mean 'higher prices at the pump.' Obama's taxes a 'recipe for economic disaster.' Higher taxes. Higher gas prices. Economic disaster. That's the real Obama."

Too bad this ad is just more of the same old false and discredited attacks that Senator McCain knows aren’t true. Senator McCain will say or do anything to hide the truth: while Obama will cut taxes for the middle class, McCain will give a billion dollars in new tax breaks to America’s eight largest corporations, while his plan provides no direct relief for more than 100 million American families.

What happened to the "Maverick?" He's been corrupted by the same team that got President George W. Bush elected.

McCain is so desperate to raise money so he can launch more negative attacks on Obama that he is getting help from a strategist with ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom McCain once helped investigate.

Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition and now on team McCain, is soliciting donors to attend a Monday fund-raiser in Atlanta for McCain and the Republican National Committee. In 2006, a House investigative committee concluded that Reed interceded with the Bush White House to help some of Abramoff's clients. Abramoff was sent to prison on conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion charges.

Despite all of his rhetoric about reform, the truth is John McCain simply cannot be trusted to bring change to Washington politics.

Green Thursday: It's all happening at the Zoo

The Zoological Society's Karen Peck Katz Conservation Education Center at the Milwaukee County Zoo is no ordinary education building. It's a conservation education building, where all the workshops are concentrated on science-based curriculum and environmental awareness. So, it only makes sense that the very materials the building was constructed with fit within the same earth-friendly guidelines that the programs do.


WKTI hangin' out at Zoo ala Carte

A major part of the building's environmental success is its incorporation of Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program. The classrooms are filled with natural light from several windows with direct western exposure. Classrooms also have special lighting features, such as strategic switching of daylight controls. Each room has both an occupancy sensor and an "auto off" switch that control light fixtures near the windows. When a room is not occupied, the sensor turns the lights and the "auto off" switch off. When the room is in use, the lights at the windows must then be manually turned on. The extra effort helps to ensure that these lights are used only when absolutely necessary.

Other energy efficiency tactics include the use of metal halide lamps, which incorporate what's known as "pulse-start technology." Simply speaking, this new technology offers a more reliable, and significantly longer, lamp life by revamping the ballast (the part that sends currents to the lamp and makes the light turn on). Another bonus is the lamp's enhanced ability to maintain consistent color temperature and performance, which results in vibrant displays and signs that won't appear washed out under bright lights.

The building also was designed with classrooms on only one side of each hallway (called a single-loaded corridor). This allows for direct natural light on each classroom's west side, and borrowed light from the day-lit corridor on the east side. This differs from typical schools with double-loaded corridors, or classrooms on both sides, resulting in dark, windowless hallways and a wider building. The building's narrower structure allows more natural ventilation, thanks to lots of screened windows. In most commercial buildings, the windows are fixed; so heating and cooling systems are almost always necessary. On nice days, opening a few windows is a natural and energy-efficient way to ventilate.

Not all the improvements are inside. Up on the roof, you won't find the usual barren black sea of tar or gravel. Instead, the space is covered with growing plants, an innovative method to reduce storm-water runoff to benefit the environment. The Zoo's horticulturists maintain the roof's plants, which are mostly sedums, low-growing succulents that don't require a lot of work. During heavy rainfall, these plants act as a gigantic sponge in the midst of a densely cemented area. By soaking up excess runoff, the foliage protects sewers from getting clogged, which can lead to untreated sewage discharging into the watershed.

Relatively cost-effective, these appropriately named "green roofs" are becoming a trend across the country, particularly in urban areas. Other "green roofs" in the area are the MMSD headquarters near downtown Milwaukee, and the Urban Ecology Center next to Riverside High School on Milwaukee's East Side. Garden roofs covered with numerous potted plants, such as the one atop Deborah Kern's Garden Room garden shop in Shorewood, accomplish some of the same environmental benefits.

Green roofs are also in the business of cooling things off. It's no secret that shiny, metal surfaces heat up fast under the sun. The "heat island effect" is what scientists call the generally higher temperatures in urban areas with many reflective buildings. Replace a reflective surface with lush greenery and heat will be absorbed when water from the plants evaporates, and surrounding temperatures decline.

Click HERE to find out about getting your own "green roof."

Every Green Thursday we post information vital to the survival of our planet.

Sweet Lily Aroma

The Lilies (Lilium 'Casa Blanca') are in stunning bloom.

They are right out side the 4 season room, and just off the patio where we have as many meals outdoors as possible.

Thier sweet aroma wafts through the air, adding another "sense-sation" to this beautiful time of year.

Commentator and economist James Galbraith laments an aroma of another kind, this one not so sweet, coming from Wall Street these days.

"Years ago, I realized that the free-market, supply-side crowd, true conservatives who'd ridden high with Reagan, dislike Bush as much as I do. I speak of the hard money, low-tax, Wall Street Journal, deregulate-and-privatize team, the nemeses of my youth, people like Bruce Bartlett, Paul Craig Roberts, the late Jude Wanniski. Suddenly, we were on the same side. Had I gone crazy or had they gone sane?

Whether it was right or wrong, "Reaganomics" had a logic. Each policy would aim at one problem. Tight money would cure inflation. Low taxes would stimulate saving and work effort. Small government would "crowd in" investment. Free trade would make us efficient. Smart people believed this and they had the authority of respected economists like Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek to back them up.

But now those ideas are dead, buried, abandoned. Deregulation brought us miseries in finance, transport, energy and the climate. Free trade agreements dole out favors to big farmers and big pharma. The financial crisis finished off what was left of monetarism, the idea that the Fed should only worry about inflation. And everyone has given up on waiting for low taxes to unleash the creativity of the ultra rich.

Under Bush, oil and gas, drug companies and defense contractors, insurers and usurers control the government of the United States and it does what they want. This is the predator state. The wisdom of free markets? The President gave his own verdict in Houston the other day: "Wall Street got drunk." True enough, but where were the grownups when the party went wild?
For many years, liberals have lived in fear and thrall of the market mantra. It's time to get over it, for if true conservatives realize that our problem is a predator state, shouldn't liberals be out there doing something about it?

Suddenly planning, standards, regulation and progressive taxes don't seem so bad."

Do we really need a third Bush term with John McCain?

Dairy Daze at the Fair

Tiara greetings from the Wisconsin State Fair. Here are all the Wisconsin County Fairest of the Fairs. Front row (L to R) is this year's State Fairest, Claire Carrol, me, and Debbie Lazaga, our traffic reporter.

Dairy Day at the fair is our favorite day. We continued the cow-milk-off tradition. This year, Josephene the Jersey was our victim. Handler, Evan, did a great job keeping her calm as we all took our 30 seconds at her under-region.

Debbie Lazaga took first pull. (I chose this photo because it looks like she's stuck her head into the cow's side.)

Fairest of the Fair was next.

Last year's champion milker was the Honey Queen, this year's bee royalty, Michelle, took her turn.

Alice in Dairyland takes us all to school with her 30 seconds. We couldn't believe she got the milk out so fast, there was a head on it!

My turn, and as usual, the city kid barely wets the bottom of the cup. Better luck next year!

Here's to a warm glass of Wisconsin Milk! (remember our rule, milk all you want, drink all you milk.)

SteveYard up North

Landscaping and plantings run in the family. Today we head to my brother (and wife Mary's) SteveYard in suburban Minneapolis. They have a water feature and plantings adjacent to the driveway. The pink flowers are Astilbe (Astilbe.) The unique tree in the back is a Weeping Norway Spruce (Picea abies 'Pendula'.)

This beautiful bed of Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) welcomes you to the front entrance. That handsome yellow bloom is a Leopard Plant (Ligularia.)

They have a very shady side and back yard, where these Hostas (Hosta) do very well. If you get very close to your screen and inhale, you can smell Zest soap. Those shavings keep the hungry deer away.

Returning to the front yard, this Russian Sage is bordered by Day Lilies (Hemerocallis.)

These Day Lilies are in beautiful bloom.

Normally, at this point in the blog, I would tear into a rant on the right, but since my brother and I have differing approaches to the political system, I'll take the high road, like John McCain has been doing in the Presidential race against Barak Obama and vice versa.