The Realist Idealist

My father has been an employee of General Motors since he graduated from Evansville University in southern Indiana in 1974.  A lot has happened since then in the energy industry, in the auto industry, and in my family.
I wrote a couple weeks ago about “my energy history,” and how closely tied my family - and [...]

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From Wall St. to the Clinton Global Initiative to the UN Summit, I’ve watched with all of you this week as unprecedented economic and political events unfold in the United States and around the world.
Thankfully, in the midst of these very uncertain times, something beautiful is happening tomorrow. Action. And I don’t mean another bailout [...]

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(I first posted this on It’s Getting Hot in Here and Power Vote while at Clinton Global Initiative in New York.
At today’s Clinton Global Initiative, Al Gore said for the first time in public that we are at a point in our world’s history, and in need of such immediate action, that if you are [...]

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One of the things that I used to say to college student leaders during trainings for Break Away was the number one rule of anything you do - be it schedule volunteer work, manage a meeting, or fund raise - is “follow up.” The second rule: “follow up.”
When it comes to making good things [...]

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Gas prices won’t be going down for a while. But at least we as consumers can ease the pain by voting with our consumer dollars, and patronizing oil companies that are devoting at least a small share of their revenue to sustainable practices.
HIP Investor has rigorously evaluated and rated the top ten oil companies (HIP [...]

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Anyone who saw my twitter feed last night could likely recognize how frustrated I was with the democratic debate on ABC between Obama and Clinton (through mostly not-worth-reading sarcasm).
Today my friend Adam Green at MoveOn.org sent this email to their members, and though I don’t support all petitions, their suggested petition is the only kind [...]

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I just learned about this unusual day - PARK(ing) Day - that takes place annually in San Fracisco as a project of the Rebar Group.
(thanks, Meg!)
Pretty awesome. A great example of thinking a bit (or far) outside the box and making something (actually) happen around it.
http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parking/index.html

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Another great 5 Minutes of Caring this morning from CoolPeopleCare:

“Tomorrow is World Water Day, and while it’s a time to realize the dire need for clean water around the world, it’s also a time to take a look at our own consumption. Do you know how much water is in that coffee [...]

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One of my favorite organizations of the last six months is Avaaz.org - who I learned of through one of their staff, Ben Wikler, based here in DC.  They are essentially the MoveOn.org for international issues.
So far this week Avaaz has amassed over 450,000 signatures in a petition to Chinese president Hu Jintao that [...]

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My favorite blog for the last several months is 5 Minutes of Caring on CoolPeopleCare.org.  It’s often the most useful thing I get all day.
That is to say, it’s almost always something I can actually do.  And on top of that, it’s fun!

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