GREEN IS LOOKING BETTER EVERY DAY

It has been stated that the American people vote not with their hearts and minds, but with their wallets. If this is the case, I am looking forward to seeing some fresh faces in Congress this November. Some greener faces.

Here's some food for thought where your wallet is concerned:

On the day Bush was inaugurated, 1/20/2001, the average price of gasoline was $1.66/gallon. Remember when we thought THAT was outrageous? (I don't either, but I'm sure I was bitching about it) Yesterday I filled up at $3.66/gallon. I'm also having a hard time finding a fucking loaf of bread for under $2. When the price of gas goes up, the price of EVERYTHING goes up. The raise you thought you were getting? Sorry - that money had to be moved over to pay for the sudden jump in transportation costs.

Unfortunately, the invasion of an oil-rich nation (that had no WMDs, no ties to terrorism, and posed no immediate threat to our safety) did not help bring the cost of gas down any. In a country whose economic welfare is tethered to the availability of oil, a spike in prices like this simply can't be good for business. In just 6 years, the cost of getting from here to there has more than doubled. And that's all we do in this country - we get from here to there. And from there to here. And sometimes from somewhere to nowhere and back. We are movers. Drivers. Commuters. Travelers. Round, round, get around, we get around.

And nobody walks anywhere anymore (just look at our waistlines). We can't! We all live in the suburbs. What percentage of the American workforce lives within walking distance of work? We are a historical anomoly. Since man first started earning a wage for a hard day's work he has slept no further than a short hike to work. To the farm. To the mine. To the factory. To the shop.

This is a radical change in the way societies live, work, and function - a change afforded us by the availability of cheap oil. And now that we're all so spread out, oil suddenly isn't so cheap anymore. Sadly, we have no choice pay it or move. Gotta get to work, right? Gotta get to the doctor. Gotta get to the store. Gotta visit the family.

Remember the controversial Bush tax cut we got several years ago? The one where the government sent us all checks in the mail? I think I have officially given all of it, and then some, back to the oil companies - who are posting record profits quarter after financial quarter, by the way. Conservative economic advisors in closed-door meetings with oil execs call that "ooze-down economics."

Green is the color of the future, my friends, and the sooner we get there, the better off we'll be. All of us, and in more ways than one. To sustain our modern lifestyles, marked by the freedom to live and work wherever we choose, a luxury to which we have grown so accustomed, we need to find more cost-efficient ways of getting around. Period. And they are right before our eyes. The electric-hybrid car. Solar power. Ethanol. Hydrogen fuel. And many others in development. Other industrialized nations are way ahead of us in exploring breakthrough technologies, but we lag far behind thanks to the self-sustaining oil lobby and the short-sighted interests of those we have trusted to make smart decisions on our behalf. But they have betrayed us, and for this we must rise up and take back the power to shape our collective destiny.

Go ahead and vote with your wallet. In this case, it's also better for your lungs.

We can do this if we can get the politicians married to big oil OUT OF OFFICE. Maybe it's 10% of them. Maybe it's half. Maybe it's all of them. But we have the power to make it happen. Turn off the televised ads pitching the same horseshit this fall and look up the truth on your own. It's out there.

No, it's not going to be easy being green...but it will be a lot cheaper and healthier in the long run.