Humans face a tsunami of problems with the global economy, energy, and the environment. At the same time, the exploitative relationship of free market economics, fossil fuels and the environment is becoming ever more clear: Companies, people and governments can no longer afford to conduct business with dirty energy sources that pollute the skies, foul our water, melt polar ice caps, or contaminate our lands.
Nor can we afford any longer to bury or incinerate our solid waste.
“The conventional method for waste management is to dump the waste into designated landfill areas where it is left for years without being monitored. Landfill activity remains the most commonly used organized waste disposal method in the world. It is also the easiest and the cheapest. However, brimful landfill sites, hazardous waste and uncontrolled greenhouse gases cause greater environmental and economical impacts. As a simple example, part of the carbon content of the waste when it is dumped into a landfill site, is emitted into the atmosphere in the form of methane, which has a greenhouse effect 20 times greater than that of CO2.”
To continue handling solid waste by burying or incinerating or outright burning it it is putting all life on earth at risk. Need a clear example of what’s really happening in America’s landfills? Expert: Runoff At Landfill Tests ‘Very High’ For Radioactivity” << Click there.
In our hearts and minds, we surely know better. Governments can legislate for lower emissions, but there’s only so much that regulation can do. Businesses must answer to their shareholders. We aren’t going to stop creating waste. And we currently do very little to change how we treat this thing called trash.
True, we have other things on our minds. Credit is a bittersweet memory for many individuals and businesses who’ve lost their jobs and homes. Many biofuel facilities sit idle, their owners in bankruptcy. Plans for new facilities are either being scaled down or mothballed. Oil prices have plummeted and decimated many alternative energy providers.
To make matters worse, our government is broke. Banking, insurance and finance have cratered. Heavy industry has cratered. Two of 3 US automakers are imploding and taking a huge slice of the American economy driven by thousands of car dealers, parts suppliers, repair shops, tire dealers, OEM manufacturers, etc., down with them.
That leaves you and me holding the bag with what’s left. Our trash. And biomass from nature, at least where it’s proven sustainable. Along with nature’s biomass abundance, we’re always making trash; why not put it to work for America’s future?
Parts of many US National Forests and western wildland-urban interfaces are tinderboxes. Thinning projects are proven to help reduce fuel loads and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, but most of the slash is burned in place; why not put this biomass to work for America’s future?
It is widely believed that once abundant petroleum and coal resources are dwindling, even as the world’s population soars. Extreme oil price volatility is the new norm. The gap between oil and coal energy values and the potential offset provided by alternative energy in the next few decades is wide.
In short, we’re going to need all the alternative energy sources we can create. But America already needs a lot of important things:
America needs good paying jobs.
America needs local involvement in community affairs.
America needs green businesses.
America needs green energy.
America needs tax revenue.
America needs to clean up its trash the smart way.
The foundation of capitalism is opportunity and making things happen. And the eyes of the world are watching for what America’s going to do next.
