Sustainable Living, Unsustainable Political Actions

According to the NYT article "U.S. Plans $800 Billion in Lending to Ease Crisis" ---" Federal Reserve and the Treasury announced $800 billion in new lending programs on Tuesday, sending a message that they would print as much money as needed to revive the nation’s crippled banking system. The gargantuan efforts — one to finance loans for consumers, and a bigger one to push down home mortgage rates — were the latest but probably not the last of the federal government’s initiatives to absorb the shocks that began with losses on subprime mortgages and have spread to every corner of the economy. In the last year, the government has assumed about $7.8 trillion in direct and indirect financial obligations. That is equal to about half the size of the nation’s entire economy and far eclipses the $700 billion that Congress authorized for the Treasury’s financial rescue plan." (emphasis mine).

Today, Jay Womack, ASLA, LEED AP, a Director of Sustainable Design at Wight & Company, a nationally recognized A/E firm based in Darien, IL., talked to my students about rain water and how we deal with it. He is a very engaging speaker, creates a compelling case, and is exciting to listen to. Sustainable living, as Jay said, is a life style issue. Amazing to see the amount of money going into the financial mess, but more money should be given to projects that promote sustainable living.