From The Window Seat

Where's my Hover Car?

If I recall correctly, the first visit outside of Washington that Carol Browner took as EPA Administrator under Bill Clinton was to Detroit to meet with the Big Three automakers. It was fascinating to tour the factory, see an actual crash test dummy at work, and get a sneak peak at some new lines under development.

The reason for that trip was traightforward. The new Administration needed to extend an olive branch to House Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell who hailed from Michigan and demonstrate to the equally powerful auto industry that although we were environmentalists, we also intended to work with business to find "common sense" solutions.

This week Browner, now the Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, took a shorter but still important symbolic trip down the street to the DC Convention Center for the Washington Auto Show - again to express Obama Administration support for the auto industry. While the fate of the sector has rapidly declined in sixteen years, even on its knees, the auto industry remains an important symbol of the American spirit - much like the flag and apple pie.   

Imagine 16 years into the future.  Will the auto industry as we know it today still hold such a place of power in our hearts and minds, and in Washington?  I would suggest yes, and no. Yes, because autos are an integral part of American business and personal life.  We depend on them for work, play and to stay connected to family and friends. 

But the number of manufacturers and the type of product as we know it today is bound to be significantly different. While the economic crash of the industry over the last few years is sad, perhaps the demand for a reinvention will mean we will finally get a Hover car in our life time afterall.

Nature or Nurture?

I'm fascinated, though not surprised, by a recent study out of the United Kingdom that shows that children undertaking activities in nature appear to improve symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder by 30 percent.   The stat is reported in "Ad Busters" magazine by Paul Cooper.

The problem, as Cooper sees it, is that kids are spending less time entertaining themselves in the great outdoors. Cell phones, text messaging, video games and on-line chatting are taking the place of building forts and exploring secret gardens. As a heavy user of on-line technologies myself, I'm a bit sheepish about criticizing those sedentary activities. But must it be one or the other?

This past weekend my husband and I went hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We got a ton of exercise hiking, saw beautiful waterfalls, dozens of deer, and even a bear. AND..I'm blogging about it. See, it isn't an "either - or" equation. 

 

I resemble that remark

“Even some of Washington's fiercest opponents of oil drilling are thinking anew, and the politics of domestic energy production seem to be shifting,” according to the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal.  I am afraid I resemble that remark.

When I first went to Capitol Hill in the mid 1980s, one of my first assignments was to circulate a “Dear Colleague” for signature by all Members of the Florida Congressional delegation opposing offshore oil drilling off the Florida Gulf Coast. I was excited about the assignment and thought it was cool how united the Democrat and Republican offices were on this issue.

Twenty-five years later, I came home today and told my husband I think I’m becoming more conservative. Let’s face it – our country is at tremendous risk of being held hostage not by terrorist, but by those who supply the energy we depend on to function as a nation.

 I don’t regret my support for the oil drilling bans all those years ago, but I do regret we didn’t get all those “Dear Colleague” signatories to use their collective political muscle to promote  alternative solutions for domestic energy production.  I hope it isn’t too late.