Friedman of the Week Dept: Save the Planet, Vote Smart
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 10.21.07
Since the Times took down its fence two weeks ago we have wanted to print every word Thomas L. Friedman has said; he is on a roll.
People often ask: I want to get greener, what should I do? New light bulbs? A hybrid? A solar roof? Well, all of those things are helpful. But actually, the greenest thing you can do is this: Choose the right leaders. It is so much more important to change your leaders than change your light bulbs.Read it all to show how leadership in New York City works, and how it could in Washington. ::New York Times
Also in the Times: The Future is Drying Up: The West is the fastest-growing part of the country. It’s also the driest. And climate change could be making matters much, much worse.::The Perfect Drought
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
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He is right. Vote for politicians who will support securing the border and throwing out the illegal aliens. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a million less illegals in Atlanta would do a lot to avert the sever water shortage they are experiencing.
And you'd better believe that when your lawn is brown because you are observing the laws to not water it, low riders around the city will be cleaned regularly, and the cops will not do a thing to them.
Friedman is a jackass, sorry. While obviously politicians who are on the same ecological page would be a huge step forward, we really are going to have to change the way we live. We can't sit back and just hope the politicians will get around to fixing it for us.
Friedman is a prize buffoon. Like a stopped clock, he may be right twice a day, but he is wrong 98% of the time.
This is the same guy for whom the infamous "Friedman Unit" is named -- who bought the Bush administration's line on the Iraq war hook, line and sinker -- then trotted out his favorite phrase ("the next six months will be crucial") every six months for several years.
He is also a blindly uncritical booster of NAFTA-style development policy, constantly touting a handful of success stories for "third world" citizens while ignoring the gross harm done by (and lack of effectiveness of) such policies.
opoponax, heres why leader selection matters:
Leaders make laws. Laws determine what you can and cannot do. Laws prevented Al Gore from putting solar panels on his house. Laws prevent you and me from driving carbon neutral cars.
In Europe where they still have a real Democracy, the people can select a low carbon car: cars that don't spew CO2. They have about a hundred choices. We have only one partial low carbon choice: the Prius.
Who made the law that electric vehicles in this country have to be prevented from passing 25 mph? Political leaders, paid for by the Oil lobby.
This is a BOTH-AND problem.
Friedman is BOTH an ass AND right on this particular point.
His flat world and globalization writing has been tremendously destructive. Not to mention is Iraq/Islamaphobia cheerleading.
There is a vast difference between simple and simplistic, and he tends to indiscriminately oversimplify in order to fit facts into his preselected tropes.
In fact, his focus on 'leaders' is problematic. Better that we have superb representatives of the polity. 'Leading' is what you do to an ox with a rope through its nose. Yes, we expect the people we elect, or who otherwise rise to positions of influence and power, should exhibit qualities of leadership. But the country has been asking for energy security, pollution reduction, proper stewardship of natural resources, meaningful jobs, and a sustainable world for our children for a long while now, without much response from the 'leaders'.
If Friedman is turning over a new leaf and coming to his senses, well hurrah for him. That would be nice, as he is one of the 'leaders' he is referring to. And the more truth that someone with a berth on the NYT op-ed page speaks, and less he sucks up to the powerful and the connected and regurgitates conventional wisdom, that is only to be encouraged. Myself, I will wait and see.
Here's what the cartoonist Tom Tomorrow has to say about Friedman:
http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=22439
If he's turned over a new leaf, then great. But this is the flat world guy who has tirelessly beat the drum for globalization and lopsided free trade agreements. Embrace with care!
Translation:
Can't use your own money to support your values? Make others support them at gunpoint!