|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
|
Why Hillary Clinton Has Always Been a Republican In the first of a series of profiles, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair chart the formative years of Hillary Clinton. Watch her as she zigzags from Nixon campaigner and vote-fraud investigator in 1960 to Goldwater Girl and President of Young Republicans at Wellesley to her internship for Gerald Ford and campaigner for Nelson Rockefeller. Witness her reaction to the student protests at Yale and the demonstrations at Grant Park during the Democratic Convention in 1968. Learn how she and Bill vowed to "remake" the Democratic Party--using the Nixon model HRC learned about as a member of the House impeachment staff. And much more! Plus: David Price on anthropologist Andre Gunder Frank, the FBI and the Bureaucratic Exile of a Critical Mind.
|
|
Today's Stories July 5, 2007 Andy
Worthington July 4, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Vijay
Prashad Carl
G. Estabrook Ron
Jacobs David
R. Dow Claudia
Johnson William
S. Lind Gregory
Afghani Paul
Edwards D.
K. Wilson Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Thomas
Jefferson Cindy
Sheehan Website
of the Day
Bill
Quigley Gary
Leupp Lynda
Brayer Richard
Thieme Helen
Redmond David
Swanson Jacob
Hornberger Ayesha
Ijaz Khan Franklin
Lamb Ray
McGovern Kevin
Zeese Dave
Lindorff Website
of the Day
Andy
Worthington Nina
Serrano Jack
Hirschman Paul
Craig Roberts Bill
Williams Anthony
Papa Sonja
Karkar Louay
Safi Anthony
Gregory Monica
Benderman Website
of the Day
June 30 / July 1, 2007 John
Ross Alan
Farago Peter
Quinn Christopher
Brauchli Robert
Fisk Uri
Avnery Judith
Siers-Poisson Saul
Landau Abbas
Zaidi Ron
Jacobs Ralph
Nader Donald
Worster Mike
Whitney Jacob
Hill Kenneth
Couesbouc Missy
Beattie Mohammad
Kamaali Ramzy
Baroud Leonard
Peltier Phyllis
Pollack Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 29, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Brian
Cloughley Patrick
Cockburn Gilad
Atzmon Dave
Lindorff Jennifer
Matsui / Kevin
Zeese Daniel
Klimek David
Michael Green John
Chuckman Website
of the Day
June 28, 2007 Bill
Quigley Vijay
Prashad Margaret
Kimberley Winslow
T. Wheeler Philip
Rizk D.
K. Wilson Bill
Williams Mahmoud
El-Yousseph Richard
Rhames Paul
Krassner Website
of the Day
Marjorie
Cohn Dr.
Susan Rosenthal, MD Alan
Farago Carla
Blank Matthew
Abraham Sunsara
Taylor Russell
D. Hoffman Robert
Weissman Sen.
Russ Feingold Paul
Buchheit Website
of the Day
June 26, 2007 Jonathan
Cook Ralph
Nader Corporate
Crime Reporter Ron
Jacobs Martha
Rosenberg John
Chuckman Denny
Haldeman Anthony
DiMaggio Stephen
Fleischman William
S. Lind Website
of the Day
Paul
Craig Roberts Jennifer
Loewenstein Bob
Anderson Robert
Pollin Patrick
Cockburn Eva
Liddell Dan
Bacher Larry
Atkins Mark
Brenner James
Rothenberg Website
of the Day June 23 / 24, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeff
Taylor Oren
Ben-Dor Gary
Leupp Robert
Fisk David
Rosen Russell
Mokhiber Alison
Weir Robert
Fantina D.
K. Wilson Nicole
Colson Stephen
Soldz, Steven Reisner and Brad Olson Dave
Lindorff Benjamin
Dangl Michael
Dickinson Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 22, 2007 Andy
Worthington Sherwood
Ross Eliana
Monteforte Robert
Weissman Richard
Rhames Christopher
Brauchli Ramzy
Baroud Ehud
Krinis, David Shulman and Neve Gordon David
Michael Green Kathryn
Webber Website
of the Day
June 21, 2007 Peter
Linebaugh Natsu
Saito Ron
Jacobs Saree
Makdisi John
Stauber Scott
Liebertz Tom
Clifford Robert
Jensen Michael
J. Smith Jeb
Sprague Website
of the Day
Omar
Barghouti Andy
Worthington Margaret
Kimberley Robert
Weissman Russell
D. Hoffman Rannie
Amiri Stephen
Lendman Dave
Lindorff David
Swanson Anne
Dachel Website
of the Day
June 19, 2007 Ralph
Nader Dr.
Shepherd Bliss Bill
and Kathleen Christison Jeff
Leys Dave
Zirin Chris
Floyd Ben
Terrall Anthony
Papa VIPS Linda Flores Website
of the Day
John
Ross Paul
Craig Roberts Martha
Rosenberg Norman
Solomon Don
Santina Isabella
Kenfield James
Brooks Eva
Liddell Sam
Husseini Akiva
Eldar Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn John
Halle Robert
Fisk Andy
Worthington Uri
Avnery Fred
Gardner Saul
Landau P.
Sainath Missy
Comley Beattie Alan
Gregory Walter
Brasch Website
of the Weekend
June 15, 2007 Alan
Farago Andy
Worthington Michael
Simmons Franklin
Lamb Gary
Leupp John
Ross Website
of the Day
June 14, 2007 Michael
Donnelly
Faisal
Kutty Harry
Browne Charles
Jonkel Steven
Higgs Bruce
Dixon Bruce
K. Gagnon
Website
of the Day June 13, 2007 Glen Ford Marjorie Cohn Bill Christison Charles Jonkel Silvia Cattori Richard Gott Firmin DeBrabander William S. Lind Keith Rosenthal Website of the Day June 12, 2007 Jeffrey St.
Clair Paul Craig
Roberts P. Sainath Ralph Nader Omar Waraich Dave Lindorff Harvey Wasserman Malini Johar
Schueller Ramzy Baroud Website of
the Day
June 11, 2007 Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Uri Avnery Norman Solomon Eva Liddell Rannie Amiri Rachel Voss Christopher
Brauchli D. K. Wilson Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn George Ciccariello-Maher Saul Landau Robert Fisk Brian Cloughley Ron Jacobs Ward Boston Conn Hallinan Leonard Peltier Lawrence Davidson John Ross Kate Allan Fred Gardner Stephen Fleischman Monica Benderman Geoff Bailey Missy Beattie Patrick Dyer Tim Lengerich James Irani
Gary Leupp Michael Tillery Michael Simmons Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
June 8, 2007 Serge Halimi Patrick Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair
Paul Craig Roberts William Blum Joshua Frank Lance Selfa Dave Lindorff Lawrence Ferlinghetti Website of the Day
Marjorie Cohn Soldz, Reisner
and Olson: Soldz, Reisner
Paul Craig Roberts Bill Quigley Silvia Cattori Carl G. Estabrook Ellen Taylor Corporate Crime
Reporter Brenda Norrell D. K. Wilson Kevin Zeese Website of
the Day
Alain Gresh Gary Leupp Steven Sherman Bruce Dixon Corporate Crime Reporter Brian M. Downing Ron Jacobs George Bisharat Nicole Colson Bruce K. Gagnon Website of the Day
June 5, 2007 Michael Neumann Jonathan Cook David Vest Robert Fantina Hoffman, Parsneau and Chowdhury John V. Walsh Richard Cretan Adam Engel William S. Lind Myles Hoenig Jim Minick Website of
the Day
Nizar Latif Diana Johnstone Gregory Wilpert Paul Watson Susan Rosenthal,
MD Richard Ward Eva Liddell Zahi Khouri Evelyn Pringle China Hand Karyn Strickler Website of the Day
June 2 / 3, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Marc Levy Martin Smith Diana Johnstone John Ross Uri Avnery Sunsara Taylor Richard Neville P. Sainath Missy Comley
Beattie Nisrine Abiad Rannie Amiri Margot Pepper Eric Stewart Ralph Nader Dan Bacher Shaun Harkin Richard Rhames Frederick Hudson Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
Dave Marsh Saul Landau David Phinney Robert Jensen Stanley Heller Yifat Susskind Robert Weissman Paul Buchheit William S.
Lind Sherwood Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
Robert Bryce Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp Kathy Kelly Marjorie Cohn Chris Kutalik
Corporate Crime Reporter Dave Lindorff Website of the Day
May 30, 2007 James Ridgeway Franklin Lamb Terrence E. Paupp Uri Avnery Alan Maass Rock and Rap
Confidential Ralph Nader Nirmal Ghosh Jean Daniels Tom Barry Website of the Day
Stephen Soldz Eliza Ernshire Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Evelyn Pringle Mike Whitney David Swanson John Holt Cynthia McKinney Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day
Bill Quigley Col. Dan Smith Cindy Sheehan Dr. Susan Block Jeeni Criscenzo Douglas Valentine Website of the Day 
Subscribe Online
|
July 5, 2007 The Twisted Logic of Eco-SprawlWhen Building Green Ain't So GreenBy DON FITZ Look at the web site for the next green builder you see on TV or in the daily paper. Does the site show plans for a home with trees and no parking garage? Or, is it another house plan that tells you how many cars the garage will hold and says nothing about trees? Many green architects and builders are doing their best to create environmentally friendly homes. But most have a narrow focus on eco-techniques. They rarely understand that current construction is actually making environmental problems worse. Politicians who promote green building are not helping. Their bandwagon jumping indicates they are not seriously concerned with global warming. US building practices in the early 21st century will probably increase CO2 emissions rather than reduce them. Wasted energy in homes deserves far more than the shallow attention it is receiving. An estimated 43% of US energy goes to buildings. [1] The average US homes devotes 51% of its energy to heating and 4% to cooling. [2] Over 90% of energy is produced in nasty ways (coal, oil, gas and nukes) that attack human health, lay waste to ecosystems, and release greenhouse gases. Here's 10 ways that the green building fad is not improving the environment. 1. It ain't green to ignore perfectly good homes. Many (if not most) US municipalities have a law prohibiting more than three unrelated people from living in the same house. The single most important green building practice would be to eliminate those laws. Producing a ton of cement results in the creation of a ton of CO2. New homes take a lot of cement, which means emitting a lot of CO2. What's the point of building new homes and apartments when so many homes have empty space from grown children moving out or from a spouse dying? It wasn't that many decades ago that Americans dealt with issues of isolation and finances by renting out empty space. Or some people got a bigger house for the purpose of renting rooms. Now, that could get you a citation. This is just one way our grandparents were environmentally friendly without thinking about it. During a recent eco-house tour, I asked if it had an attic fan, and the builder replied that, no, it would not be energy efficient to circulate hot air through the house. I explained that you should use an attic fan to pull cool air through the downstairs early in the morning and close the windows so it stays 65 to 75 degrees throughout the day. He looked at me like he wasn't' quite sure if such a strange idea would work. There's something terribly
wrong with "green" building practices that have no
memory of traditions like renting bedroom space, designing cross-ventilation,
and using fans instead of costly gadgets. 2. It ain't green to build massive homes. Alex Wilson wrote that the size of US homes more than doubled between the 1950s and 2003. [3]. At the same time, the number of people living in homes decreased, meaning that the average space per person had grown three-fold by the beginning of this century. Wilson shows that eco-practices don't solve the size problem. Poorly insulated homes of 1500 square feet use less energy than well insulated homes of 3000 square feet. Economies of scale do not make larger homes more efficient per square foot. Bigger homes use proportionally more lumber and other materials due to higher walls and they lose efficiency from longer runs for ducts and pipes. Stan Cox discovered that many home owners associations actually require this huge waste by dictating minimum square footage for homes and garages with space for two or more cars. [4]. One reason for increased space is that middle class American buy (or receive as presents) more and more crap that they use one or zero times and then store until they die and their relatives clean out their home. There is considerable psychological research showing that increasing the quantity of possessions only leads to big increases in happiness when it helps move people out of poverty After that, there is diminishing returns, with large increases in possessions doing nothing for life satisfaction. [5] It's similar with quantity
of living space per person. Most Americans grew up in a home
where boys shared one room and girls shared another. The trend
towards a private bedroom for every child probably has no effect
on happiness while harming kids' ability to share. Excessive
space in homes damages the environment and encourages the anti-social
value of lavish greed. 3. It ain't green to encourage urban sprawl. Builders love to advertise that a home can be designed green for any income range in any location. Really? This thinking reflects a profound disconnect between designing homes and planning urban areas. How can a home possibly be green if its location requires long distance commuting for work, school, shopping and recreation? To its credit, LEED (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design) standards give credit if
a new home is built on an existing lot, which encourages use
of vacant urban space. This is a positive band aide, as band
aides go. But aren't we long past recognizing the huge environmental
destructiveness of replacing farms and parks with pavement?
Wouldn't a government seriously concerned with global warming
figure out a way to halt it? 4. It ain't green to build as if space for homes has nothing to do with transportation. Detroit and St. Louis are some of the worst examples of US cities which have huge vacant areas in the center which are surrounded by vast suburbs. This damages the ability to have an efficient mass transportation system, which requires high density to (a) make sure bus and train cars are full and (b) enable people to walk and bike for most trips. Oblivious to issues of density, green builders typically advertise how many cars fit into their eco-friendly garages. The vision of neighborhoods without cars, without driveways and without parking spaces does not make it into many design plans.
5. It ain't green to ignore advantages of multi-family homes. A few green apartments, condos, co-ops and co-housing units are being constructed. They should be commended. Multi-family homes are clearly the best way to mesh green building with green transportation. They cut land space usage by at least a half more for taller buildings. This creates more density and/or more green space. Since many people rarely venture into their yards, multi-family homes are likely to have smaller average yard space, but space that is actually used rather than merely serving to sprawl people apart. Multi-family homes are much more efficient, both during construction and use. There is more sharing of mechanical systems, less building material used, and less heat loss because there is less surface area. Architect Bryan Bowan estimates that just sharing walls "can reduce energy consumption by 20-30%." [6] However, some of the most notorious public housing projects were touted as building up to preserve green spaces. It is just as important to ensure that the amount of space per person is not too low as it is to prevent it from going too high. One approach would be requiring condos, apartments, co-housing and co-ops to make 20-30% of their units available to low income families and making sure federal dollars finance it.
6. It ain't green to pretend that there is no advantage to building underground. Sometimes it is necessary to build a single family home especially if there is an empty lot too small for a multi-family unit. But why not take advantage of the more constant temperatures underground? If you've ever been in a cave, you know they are naturally "air conditioned" in the summer and naturally warmed in the winter. Rob Roy uses the groundbreaking ideas of architect Malcolm Wells to describe how to construct "earth-sheltered" homes. By building a house 6 to 8 feet below grade level (for a single story home, a few feet more for two stories), Roy says it "is like moving 1000 miles to the south." In northern New York, where he lives, earth temperature varies from 40 degrees to 60 degrees. [7] When I walk around St. Louis,
I see new homes going up which universally ignore the benefits
of building partially underground. By far, the most typical
design for both single-family and multi-family homes is to build
the garage as part of the basement. The most earth-comforted
member of the family is the family car. 7. It ain't green to not know what the word "green" means. You might think that every green builder realizes that "green" means plants and that trees would be an inherent part of the design. Not so. If you tour a green building, notice if the tour guide points out where some trees are placed for summer shading and other trees are placed to break the chilling winds of winter. This actually happens for some green homes; but as the fad catches on, most builders focus on the latest energy efficiency gadgets. Like attic fans and cross ventilation, the traditional knowledge of trees seems to be fading from architectural memory. Earth-sheltered homes take
"green" to a higher level by growing plants in dirt
on the roof. Though earth by itself is not a good insulator,
plants do insulate. And earth holds snow, which is a very good
insulator. In the summer, rooftop plants offer shade and moisture
evaporation cools the roof. The dirt helps protect the home
from fire and noise. 8. It ain't green to protect the environment with one hand while destroying it with the other. Virtually everyone involved in green building promotes it as the new growth industry. Huh? There will be huge single-family houses built on expansive lots with energy efficient devices which are constructed and transported using fossil fuels. And there will be more each year to help fuel the gross domestic product (GDP) and serve as an extravagant growth model for the rest of the world. If this is how you protect the environment, how would you destroy it? When you tour a green home, see if there is a sign next to the washing machine connection which says "Since clothes dryers are the greatest energy hogs and clothes lines work just as well, there is no space for a dryer." You might look a long time for that sign. Green homes tend to encourage the owner to use as many electricity-based appliances as possible. Though individual gadgets in green homes are more energy efficient, they are part of an overall dynamic which increases the use of electricity each year. 9. It ain't green to build homes that will not outlast our grandchildren. The biggest problem with building a green home is that it is a new building. At a recent Green Party forum, I asked if anyone lived in an old home. A few people said they live in a 100- or 110-year-old home. A refugee from the Green Party of Germany then pointed out that an "old" home in Europe was 300, 400 or 500 years old. Buildings in the US have a life expectancy of 50 years. [8] The Sierra Club wants to reduce energy consumption by 60-80% by 2050. [9] The fact that current construction assumes that homes will last an average of 50 years means that when 2050 is reached, it will be about time to begin replacing the energy efficient homes that are currently being constructed. That's not energy efficient. One green home I toured had casement windows which were guaranteed for 10 years. 10 years? If the manufacturer cannot guarantee that windows will endure, how many other parts of the home are designed to fall apart and require energy and resources for replacement? (Maybe we're supposed to appreciate that replacing the planned obsolescence will be done with great energy efficiency.) 10. Voluntary green ain't green. No one who wants to reduce highway deaths advocates that drinking while driving should be voluntary or that everyone should choose whether they drive on the left or right side of the road. The most pathetic aspect of the environmental movement is people parading their lifestyle choices as if individual decisions could ever make the GDP go down instead of up. If politicians actually believed that there were crises in peak oil and global warming they would spend less time getting their picture in the paper every time a green home is built. Instead, they would be drafting legislation requiring not only energy efficient devices but a whole range of changes in the way space is used for living and transportation.
The first step in deep green building would be rejecting the absurd idea that you can do it one home at a time. The architects and builders I have met seem to be sincere people who are trying to do the best they can. But most jump to expensive green gadgets or efficiency systems before looking for low-tech solutions. A more basic problem is seeing the issue as home design rather than city redesign. Urban structure hamstrings the creation of truly green homes. The clearest example is transportation. The absence of efficient mass transportation compels the construction of garages and driveways. It makes no sense to build homes without garages if there is no way to get around without a car. Cars destroy neighborhoods, which should be the building blocks of city living. Urban space should have workplaces, stores, schools, parks and churches located so that most can be reached by bicycling or walking and all can be reached by train or bus. A good goal would be for the average city person to complete 80% of trips by walking or bicycling and 80% of the remaining trips should be reachable by train or bus. This would mean that cars would only be necessary for 4% of trips. (If the figures for most trips were 90% and 90%, cars would only be necessary for 1% of trips.) If people could get to where they needed to go without a car, they would be vastly more interested in living in a co-op or co-housing unit which had no individual parking spaces and relied on motor pool vehicles that could be reserved for that 4% (or 1%) of trips. The rebirth of neighborhoods based on the drastic reduction in use of cars would fundamentally alter the way homes are designed. In order to make most trips accessible by walking or bicycling, urban space requires the high density of multi-family homes. People need enough space to be comfortable, but they do not need the gargantuan space of current suburban homes. Society needs to minimize energy utilized in the construction of homes, living in them, and getting around from home to other places. Integrating ideas of ecology and neighborhood development would mean using the following principles in deep green housing: existing homes should maximize traditional practices such as renting rooms to boarders, attic fans and trees for heating/cooling; parking spaces should be reduced by 95% and replaced with parks or new homes or buildings; new homes should be multi-family or earth-sheltered single-family; and, no new building plan should be approved until its design documents that it should last 300 to 500 years. The very last step of deep green building would be utilizing the many types of eco-stuff that have been introduced in recent years. Just a few of what are available include heating/cooling systems that use 50% less energy; geothermal systems that utilize temperatures beneath a home; insulating glass; solar panels; solatubes that can provide light to basements from the second floor; and earth building with natural materials or salvage materials. The problem is when the eco-gadget tail wags the urban dog. Thinking of green homes as nothing but a sum of eco-gadgets leads to viewing cities as nothing but a sum of eco-homes. The inability to design green neighborhoods means eco-homes actually help perpetuate urban sprawl. The "shallow green" approach to buildings may look like it is a step in the right direction, but it is not. By failing to come to grips with the economics of growth, current green building practices are increasing the efficiency of components of houses at the same time they contribute to the overall expansion of energy usage, thereby increasing toxic wastes and greenhouse gas emissions. Building practices that ain't green have a gadget fetish that is blind to the big picture. Deep green building would focus on low-tech and no-tech solutions. Deep green building would integrate transportation into home design. Deep green building would aim to improve living space while decreasing the gross domestic product, a concept which is anathema to shallow green economics. Don Fitz is editor of Synthesis/Regeneration:
A Magazine of Green Social Thought, which is sent to members
of The Greens/Green Party USA. He would like to receive data
estimating the total percentage of energy savings on multi-family
homes compared to single-family homes of the same size. He can
be contacted at fitzdon@aol.com Notes 1. Brown, M., Stovall, T., & Hughes, P. Potential carbon emissions reductions in the buildings sector, in Kutscher, C.F. (Ed.) Tackling climate change in the U.S. American Solar Energy Society, 2007. 51-68. 2. Heinberg, R. The party's over. New Society Publishers, 2003, 148. The rest of home energy goes to water heating, lights and appliances. 3. Wilson, A. Small is beautiful: US house size, resource use, and the environment. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2005,Vol 9, Nos 1-2, 277-287. 4. Cox, S. The property cops: Homeowner associations ban eco-friendly practices, April 26, 2007. http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/51001/ 5 Jackson, T. Live better by consuming less? Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2005,Vol 9, Nos 1-2, 19-36. 6. Bowan, B. e-mail of June 6, 2007 7. Roy, R. Earth-sheltered homes. Mother Earth News, October/November 2006, No. 218 8. Swisher, J.N. Potential carbon emissions reductions from energy efficiency by 2030, in Kutscher, 39-49. 9. Sierra Club, Renewable energy experts unveil report. Sierra club press release, January 31, 2007. Contact Josh Dorner, josh.dorner@sierraclub.org
|
CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy  Click Here to Buy! How the Press Failed The Gang's All Here: Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Rupert Murdoch, Bill O'Reilly...End Times Leaves No Reputation Unstained!  Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal  Click Here to Order!  Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair           The Occupation by Patrick Cockburn   Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont               CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed        Bruce Springsteen On Tour By Dave Marsh                   |
