Take A swing At Global Warming.

       Not-withstanding House Speaker John Boehner's opinions on Global Warming, science is quite obviously convinced that people like you and me are, in large part, to blame for the increasing severity of that Global Warming. In other words, every time you jump in the car, or in my case, strain to bend over enough to get into the car and then strain to straighten up enough to drive it, we spew more of those gases that are doing the polluting.
       If you turn on the lights, heat, air-conditioning, TV or any of the other stuff we do and desperately need, we put more of those gases into the air, causing more global warming. When you cook a meal, go to the movies, grocery shopping or pretty nearly any activity you can think of, we put more stuff into the air.
       Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think we should be chastised, nor do I think we should curtail all these activities, although most of us could do with a little less groceries, a little less TV and turn our couches into items of curiosity.
       The thing is though, we really can't do without many of the activities we know are to blame for the pollution. In the winter we really do need some heat, in the summer, lots of folks really do need air-conditioning and we all really do need food to sustain ourselves. Because of the way our society has dispersed around the country, we really do need cars.
       So what we need is cars and trucks that use less fuel and houses that use less energy, or at least use less energy that comes from fossil fuels. Here's where people like Speaker Boehner have a valid point; we are nowhere near the point where we can depend on clean energy. And are unlikely to reach that point within anyone's lifetime.
       But centralized solar or wind energy isn't the answer. I think the answer is in converting as many residences as possible to individual solar or even wind power with centralized energy as backup, is not only possible, it's doable. That's technology we already have. All we need is to begin to financially support the conversion. I say 'all' as though that was a small item. The costs would be very high, but the benefits would be far-reaching.
       Here's what it would mean: far lower energy bills for everyone, thousands of jobs in manufacturing and installation, even a stronger push for electric cars and less pollution.
       The difficulty would be in getting the Boehners to go along, get the fossil fuel industries to go along and a very large minority of the public to go along.