Tell Me Something Good
In 1974, Chaka Khan and Rufus recorded a Stevie Wonder song, "Tell Me Something Good." Stevie would have had a big hit with the music, but he gave the piece to them to record. The record would reach number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rufus won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975.
By today's standards of social unrest, turmoil, and climate destabilization — the world in 1974 was still somewhat in "normal" mode. Despite the OPEC oil embargo of 1973 that sent shock waves through the USA, the country hunkered down and made the best of it. Then in 1974, Nixon resigned, leaving in disgrace, and the government and country made the best of it and moved on. A bright spot of hope from that era would appear in 1979 when Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House. Carter’s objective was to have 20% of the nation's power being generated by renewables by 2ooo. Ronald Regan had the panels taken down and took away tax incentives for renewable energy. In 2022 roughly 8% of power in the US is generated by renewable energy sources. A missed opportunity to deal with carbon emissions. Fast forward to 2022.
In July 2022, in hotter than hell Texas, a line of two hundred livestock trailers are lined up in a pasture in Emory, a small town in East Texas. Soon, all the cows, sheep, goats, and horses from the area will be loaded up and sent to auction. The farmers and ranchers can't afford to feed them due to the prolonged drought. Their grazing pastures burned up from the prolonged intense heat and no rain. In the past, hay would be trucked in from Western states. But in 2022, those Western states are in exceptional drought. They have no hay to sell to Texas. These animals in Texas will be auctioned off primarily to slaughterhouses.
This harsh climate reality of 2022 will land hard on Biden's Build Back Better American dream. Inflation, shortages, and price increases are making people rethink their votes. The January 6th Committee continues investigating the events leading up to the coup. Yet so many people in the USA are only focused on the price of gas. In 1973, gas is rationed in the US. Cars lined up at gas stations and waited for hours. Gas stations ran out of gas. OPEC was at war with the US. The price of gas went from a quarter to fifty cents. People complained but still kept their place in line. Eventually, life returned to "normal."
The "new" normal of 2022 doesn’t feel normal at all. It is like unending chapters from a dystopian novel. Each chapter is a little worse than the previous one. While many contemporary writers point out the problems, readers ask "why don't you propose solutions instead of just writing about the problems." It is a valid point to a degree, but what is misunderstood about today's systemic problems is that it took decades to get us here. Wishful thinking is the expectation that we can easily unwind complicated circumstances into something that resembles a solution. In the meantime, another shooting — more killed in an endless chain of gun violence creates fear and uncertainty in a country that no longer looks or feels normal.
To compound the issues, you now have the US Supreme Court bending laws to fit their biased perspective. The operative word is "biased." From Amy Comey Bryant's whacko Catholic cult to the Clarence Thomas worldview that is a cross between "The Hand Maids Tale" and "Lord of the Flies," you realize that this court will continue to hand down decisions that undermine democracy, while giving cover and support to anti-environmental regulations.
You have corporate interests fighting all attempts to regulate emissions. These wealthy and powerful enterprises have enough money to create disinformation, and chaos to get the other side to stop what they are doing. Rules and regulations mean less profit. Even though these corporations know that what they are doing is helping to destabilize the climate — they don't care.
Understanding the root causes of the issues will require the proper application of math and science to help us dig out of this mess. In the 20th Century, we had the Space Age; in the 21st Century, we need an Earth Age!
What is needed is a call to arms for all technical people who now work for shit companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google, to take up a new calling to help save the planet. Can you become devoted to protecting the earth instead of increasing your net worth? FDR's New Deal created agencies that worked to save the USA from the greed and corruption that plunged the country into the darkest economic abyss ever seen in modern times. It took the will of an entire nation to slowly crawl out of the economic and psychological hole that greed created. The USA was finally transformed by the common enemies of WWII. The Great Depression sucked the heart and soul out of the land but WWII would be the psychological element to set the country into a bonded, unified whole to fight a global war. Even though WWII was a simpler time, the call to fight pure evil would provide a unification of spirit that would have otherwise been impossible.
In the 21st Century, how does anything happen in a country that is so divided? First, there needs to be a call to arms from Republicans and Democrats. Impossible, you say? Maybe, but put Liz Chaney and another woman of her character and grit into the mix, and let them get to work. Biden can act like a dotting grandfather, nod his head and bless the whole thing. Come up with creative solutions that get things done by Executive Order — but do it quickly.
Start with energy; put solar panels on all homes with enough sunlight to take households off the grid. These solar installations will use the new hybrid inverters that keep the homes powered even when the power goes off. These systems also power the batteries to keep the power on at night. Suddenly, demand for electricity drops, and reliance on coal-fired plants is reduced.
Next, we must commit to replacing gas cars with hybrid cars/trucks. The idea that everyone suddenly goes electric is again wishful thinking. Baby steps, not giant leaps, will make a big difference in this effort. You want to know how we pay for all of these efforts don't you!
First, our billionaires are going to make a significant contribution. Instead of building rockets, we ask them to use their resources to fund solar for homeowners. In addition, their companies will provide hybrid cars to fleet operators (car rental), Uber, and Lyft. The government will assist car financing companies in enabling people to finance hybrids at subsidized rates.
Many places in the USA are in trouble due to the climate crisis. The drought has drained Lake Mead. Emory, Texas sends their animals to slaughter. Summer 2022 is not close to being done. The heat dome continues its expansion across the USA, Mexico, and Canada. Hurricane season is now underway, but the only activity is in the Pacific. Monster storms are waiting to form.
What is needed is a national effort to work on this problem. We created it. We need to own it. We need to act. We need the best and brightest to step up and work on this — otherwise, tomorrow will look like the dystopian landscape from the movies. The USA leads the world in greenhouse emissions. Time to change this ugly reality, but only the concerted efforts of the entire country can make this possible. We need to at least try! Now!
