Quote of the Day: Barry Lehrman on A Green Lining to Our Financial Cloud
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.12.08
Image from My other car is a bright green city
Barry Lehrman, Architect and editor of the website Archinect writes an editorial that starts with a hilarious typo about how we cannot "maintain the Gordon Gecko greed and wonton consumption of the last 30 years."- but I love wonton! However he recovers to note:
"If we can rebuild our financial institutions and economy to care about the triple bottom line and the well-being of our world - the $700b will have been well spent.
If we can rebuild our government to serve the people and not wealth - the $700b will have been well spent.
If we can spark innovation and pay for basic science research to create a new green economy - the $700b will have been well spent.
If we can replace and repair our neglected infrastructure with state-of-the-art green pipes and systems - the $700b will have been well spent.
If we can teach our children, parents, and peers that the conservation of energy and resources is the simplest step to pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps - then the $700b will have been well spent.
If we take this moment to do right, to care about those without, to share our love and happiness, to appreciate life a little more – then there is hope." ::Archinect
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Hi,
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment - it would be great to see the government investment and involvement in banks globally realigned to a more 'green' focus, but nobody's actually spending $700bn.
In the US, the government will be buying assets and shares of banks that are currently valued very low because nobody's really sure what they're worth, and doesn't trust that they're going to be worth nothing... Most of these will be worth plenty (90% or so), but nobody's sure at the moment which are which and everyone's running scared. So they're sold at a price far below their real value to the government, which gets the banks back trusting each other.
In a couple of years, when everything's blown over, the government will sell them back to the banks, probably at a lot more than they're worth now.
When that happens, there'll be money going spare - and that will definitely be worth investing in new, modern, green infrastructure.
Based on the conditional statements he made, I guess he's warning us in advance that the $700b will not have been well spent. In fact, it's probably counter-productive as it will perpetuate all of the things that led to the crash in the first place.
It's a good thing they won't actually have to cut checks for that money, since that would probably require another tree plantation or two, and an army of clerks. What do I care about another $700b, anyway? It's my kids' grandkids who'll be paying for it. And they'd better keep up with my Social Security, too, dagnabbit.
we love you treekiller!!! I just wanted to be a tk groupie
energy conservation/ green energy generation/ is the real green way out of an economic crisis