Word: fossilizing
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Already in his role as energy secretary, Chu has expressed intentions to reduce fossil-fuel dependence, decrease greenhouse-gas emissions, and harness existing energy sources in the most effective manner possible. His stated goals, substantiated by his concrete achievements, square nicely with the university’s recent environmental initiatives. Yet, while the creation of the Office for Sustainability this fall and the articulation of six “Sustainability Principles” in 2004 represent laudable progress, Chu’s address should not serve as an occasion for Harvard to flaunt its achievements. The task of transforming Harvard...
...other tragedy is that we can't. There's huge hype these days about a "nuclear renaissance," since the industry now has its act together, fossil fuels are frying the planet, and solar and wind are only intermittent electricity sources. But nuclear energy is still paying the price for the disastrous era that ended with TMI. And it's too high a price. (Read Nuclear's Comeback: Still No Energy Panacea...
Work the Program Given that we've brought on the current crises through a quarter-century of self-destructive financial excess and overdependence on debt and fossil fuels, during the same quarter-century we've all become familiar with a way of thinking about self-destructive excess and dependence. The vocabulary of addiction recovery could come in handy just now. We are like substance abusers coming off a long bender, hitting bottom (we can only hope) and taking the messes we've made as a sobering wake-up call. I've always thought many of the 12 Steps were superfluous...
...Admit that we are powerless over addiction to easy money and cheap fossil fuel and living large - that our lives had become unmanageable...
...losing their salience. For a while, America will be in a state of ideological flux - which means we'll be unusually free to improvise a fresh course forward. We can have universal health coverage and public schools unbound from the stultifying grip of teachers' unions. We can tax fossil fuels so that solar and wind become more economical and commit seriously to nuclear power. We can impose sensible regulatory mechanisms and enthusiastically promote free markets and free trade. We can grow the armed forces to fight all necessary wars but also forgo pork-barrel weapons systems...