Photo by roxannejomitchell

All you young people, I want you to know what I’m going to be asking–I’m going to be asking for all of you to serve this country [silence], serve in the military [a lonely whoo!], serve in the Peace Corps [silence], serve in the homeless shelters [silence], serve, in some capacity, for your community [silence], and in return, we will guarantee that every single one of you can afford a college education. [crowd roars].

The need for young people to serve their country is among Senator Barack Obama’s least articulated issues, and yet it seemed to be the most necessary. The above transcription differed from his prepared notes, which simply outlined his commitment to young people who serve.

Faced with the roaring crowd of college and high school students, he deviated from his notes to speak to them in a manner that was almost pleading. The crowd seemed dumbfounded by a promise that requires action on their part.

It is a strange coincidence that Republican President George Bush and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama find a common ground on the issue of community service. After all, Obama is planning to sweeten the college tuition pot with $4,000 per year, per student, in exchange for 100 hours of community service. This after Bush’s 2002 call to double the enrollment of the Peace Corps has fallen on largely deaf ears.

In both instances, it remains to be seen whether the American student—really, every American under 30—is truly ready to answer the call. In a weakening American economy, do we want our youth to work only for financial incentive?

Photo by Army.mil

Strangely absent from both Obama’s and Bush’s statements is any reference to AmeriCorps, the domestic community service initiative that provides approximately $4,000 in tuition vouchers in exchange for 10 months of service. AmeriCorps positions also include a nominal stipend and—in some instances—housing. The interest on student loans is also paid during an AmeriCorps volunteer’s service.

The Peace Corps offers even better benefits in return for an international tour. A $6,000 cash award follows the 2-year commitment. Students may also see 15% of Perkins Loans canceled in a year, or as much as 70% canceled by three and four years of service. This comes in addition to a living stipend “…that enables [volunteers] to live in a manner similar to the local people in their community.”

The U.S. Army pledges an enlistment bonus ranging from $25,000 for all jobs, to over $51,000 for certain specialties on a 3-year enlistment. This is in addition to tuition reimbursement, a steady paycheck, and housing stipend for those with a spouse and/or children.

Photo by DavidAll06

Our government leaders’ policies seem to imply that the problem lies with a lack of incentive, but current initiatives suggest otherwise. Sign-on bonuses, tuition reimbursement and monthly stipends are all tangible rewards built into the myriad of youth-oriented federal service programs. Are our leaders fighting an uphill battle with apathetic youth, or are they simply fighting the wrong battle?

Military and Peace Corps enrollment continues to dwindle in spite of increased incentives. Since its inception under Democratic President John F. Kennedy, the Peace Corps has seen a drop from approximately 16,000 members annually to just half that number.

Military recruiters have been struggling to not only bring in new recruits, but to keep the ones who have already signed up. Even organizations such as volunteer fire departments all over the United States are suffering from rapidly declining numbers. Food banks, such as the Rio Grande Valley, can barely muster donations much less the labor needed to package and deliver them.

The growing number of youth who are speaking out suggests that a desire for cash, coupled with youthful naivete, is what is causing this rift. Young men like James “Corey” Glass, a former California National Guardsman who abandoned his unit in Iraq and sought asylum in Canada, speak of an innocence crushed by the half-truths of the government.

“I signed up to defend people and do humanitarian work, like filling sandbags if there’s a hurricane,” said Glass in a May 21, 2008 media conference. “I had no conception that I would be deployed to fight on foreign shores.”

With many non-military organizations available to “defend people and fill sandbags,” Glass’s comments seem disingenuous at best. Such antics convey the image of youth who only serve as much as their expectations will allow.

Are the youth truly turning away from community service? Not if you listen to the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that says volunteering among college students has grown more than 20% between 2002 and 2007. This seems to be in stark contrast to the falling rates seen across federal programs.

What’s most telling is that the study finds a growing trend of “episodic” volunteering, where students are participating in different projects for less than two weeks at a time. This may suggest something bigger—that today’s youth may not even be looking for financial gain, but rather for an opportunity to make a difference.

But demanding a short term emotional benefit may turn out to be more selfish than demanding compensation. Many programs have suffered from a lack of long-term dedicated volunteers who bring skills and expertise not found in short-term volunteers.

Volunteer programs such as Casa Do Caminho, demand six months from their volunteers. Anything less, and the expenses incurred by the organization–which only include simple housing, a ride from the airport, and meals–fail to outweigh the gains.

Photo by greenjobsnow

While both presidential candidates have well-argued plans to tap energy resources from coal to switchgrass, neither seem to have a plan to tap the renewable resources of youth. It’s clear that this generation wants to make as big a difference as any generation prior, yet all of our leaders want to relegate these efforts to a simple bid to get college loans forgiven.

As Obama asks the youth of the greater La Crosse area to serve, I’m left feeling embarrassed. The people with the courage to serve without incentive seem to be a dwindling minority in a time where we need them to be the majority.

It’s clear from their silence that the youth will not hear the call to service coming from even the most personable of federal legislators. The next generation needs to hear that call from those who have served—those who have recently given their time to the Peace Corps, the armed forces, and to volunteer organizations at home and abroad. They need young leaders to demonstrate just how much of a reward virtue can be.

No president can single-handedly repair the damage that has been done to our national interests, foreign and domestic. We need articulate young people to bring critical thinking to pockets of dangerously narrow-minded ideologies. And in a struggling economy, we need them do it with an incentive that goes beyond money.

What this crisis has taught us is that at the end of the day, there is no real separation between Main Street and Wall Street. There is only the road we’re traveling on as Americans - and we will rise or fall on that journey as one nation, as one people.

Can we afford to sit lazily in the back, staring out the window? Or are we going to pitch in for gas or offer to take a shift at the wheel?

Photo by Taras Kalapun

Since 2000, McCain has accepted nearly three times the donations from the coal industry as Obama and Biden combined ($51,850 for McCain versus $17,100 and $3,000 for Obama and Biden, respectively).

And yet even as Obama raises the progressive voice on a number of issues, he has proclaimed the virtues of “clean” coal as widely and vociferously as McCain.

During the campaign for the Democratic nomination, Obama enthusiastically boosted coal during stops in West Virginia and Kentucky. A mailer distributed ahead of the Kentucky primary read, “Barack Obama believes in clean Kentucky coal.”

In a speech given in my home state of West-By-God-Virginia, Obama pledged to create “up to 5 million new green jobs … including new clean coal jobs” if elected. And recently, Representative Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) opined that “Senator Obama truly is a friend of the coal industry.” (And Boucher ought to know – since 2000 he’s accepted $549,894 from big coal.

That the Democrats are in bed with the coal lobby will come as no surprise to anyone who attended the Democratic National Convention. The “clean” coal lobby sponsored events at the DNC and was widely advertised there. Obama even gave “clean” coal a shout-out during his acceptance speech.

And the recent bi-partisan economic bailout plan contains significant underwritten guarantees for “clean” coal money: about $2.5 billion in loan guarantees to provide for construction of so-called clean coal technologies.

Photo by BK59

Clean coal is a farce.

Trouble is, there’s no such thing as “clean” coal. It’s a marketing myth promoted by the big coal companies in order to rake in more public subsidies. Here’s why “clean coal” is a farce and should be opposed at every turn:

Coal, which makes up 50% of our energy use in the US today, is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country and on the planet, as well as one of the largest sources of air and water pollution worldwide. This makes coal the dirtiest form of energy on the planet.

Climate warrior and Nobel Laureate Al Gore sees the construction of new coal-fired power plants as the biggest threat to our climate, and has even called for civil disobedience “to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration.”

But although Gore says that carbon capture on coal plants meets his definition of clean energy, most experts and even “clean” coal proponents in industry predict that wide-scale carbon sequestration is at least a decade away. In fact, not one single plant in the US today has carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. And there is not even one large-scale (300+ MW) coal plant with CCS anywhere in the world today.

Photo by Jen SFO-BCN

Coal plants are dirty and expensive.

The economic feasibility of coal plants is suspect - building new coal plants is expensive and getting more so every day: the estimated costs of building new coal-fired plants have increased nearly threefold since 2006 (from approximately $1250/kW to $3000-$3500/kW).

As energy columnist Joseph Romm points out, a recent study by the California Public Utility Commission “puts the cost of coal gasification with carbon capture and storage at a staggering 16.9 cents per kWh.”

Compare this with the current US average retail price of electricity of 9.5 cents per kWh. Romm surmises, “energy efficiency along with lots of low-carbon generation sources beat [coal with CCS] easily now or will very soon.”

Romm also points out that making even a modest dent in global CO2 emissions using CCS would “require a flow of CO2 into the ground equal to the current flow of oil out of the ground,” a staggering amount that, from an engineering point of view, doesn’t pass the laugh test.

When a new coal plant is proposed, it’s 8-12 years before it goes into operation. In comparison, it takes two years to build a massive wind farm, two-and-a-half years to build a large solar facility, and only a couple of weeks to put solar panels on home and business rooftops.

With all the talk about coal-fired power plants, it’s easy to forget where the coal comes from. The environmental and economic ruin that attend mountain top removal mining operations have plagued Appalachia for decades. One local non-profit, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, reports “Mountaintop removal mining is turning Eastern Kentucky into a despicable latrine….”

Hundreds of mountains have been leveled, leaving ecological devastation (links to lots of photos here), poverty and unemployment in their wake.

Photo by ojbyrne

Egregious Stupidity

There’s something egregiously stupid about destroying a multitude of renewable resources – i.e. food, fiber and fuels which can be obtained sustainably from a forest, not to mention the manifold beneficial effects of biodiversity, watershed health, microclimate regulation, erosion control, and natural CO2 sequestration forests offer – in order to extract a heavily polluting, rapidly exhausted, and non-renewable resource.

This desecration of God’s Creation is perennially justified by the argument that “coal mining creates jobs” and is “good for the economy.” However, Grist Magazine has reported that the number of jobs created in Kentucky by coal has dropped by 60 percent in the last 15 years.

As noted by the non-profit Appalachian Voices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics since the 1950’s the number of miners employed in West Virginia dropped from around 145,000 to just over 16,000 although during that time period coal production has greatly increased. Nationwide, coal jobs have dropped 80 percent in the past half-century, even as our coal production has increased.

Coal mining has been going on in Appalachia for a long time now. Yet Appalachia has long been and remains today one of the poorest, if not the poorest region in the nation. So it seems appropriate to ask, “Just when is coal mining going to start being good for the economies of places like West Virginia, southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky?”

With the bi-partisan support for so-called “clean” coal, no matter who moves into the White House next January, progressive environmental activists will have our work cut out for us if we are going to create a sustainable and clean-energy future based on wind, solar, renewables, increased efficiency, and - most importantly - demand reduction through economic re-localization.

Editor’s Note:

Be sure to read the author’s previous essays for BraveNewTraveler.com: The Crisis Of Too Much Energy and How Local Self-Reliance Will Overthrow The System.

Photo by jonrawlinson

10. Address the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

According to the 2008 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic, an estimated 1.5 million Africans lost their lives to AIDS in 2007.

The international community must listen to people like Stephen Lewis, former special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who, in his most recent book, Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa, demands a call to action on a number of issues, including sexual education, generic drug production to make medicine inexpensive, and a commitment of resources to assist in social welfare of child orphans.

www.avert.org

9. Improve Food Security

World Food Day is October 16, and the Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates there will be over 923 million malnourished people around the globe. The international community must act to ensure local food production to reach communities in need.

Bill Gates just announced that he will work with the World Food Program (WFP) to promote local farming in less developed regions, noting, “Developing new ways for WFP to purchase food locally represents a major step toward sustainable change that could eventually benefit millions of poor rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions.”

It is not just a matter of planting crops or sending food aid into these areas; more work must also be done to encourage an African solution to address the soaring costs of food that have hit both farmers and consumers.

www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/

8. Protect Internally Displaced People (IDP) & Respond to Human Rights Conflicts

Thousands of people are fleeing from genocide in Darfur, Sudan. SaveDarfur.org states that “one-third of the troops are deployed, critical gaps exist in equipment and logistical support, and the force has been repeatedly attacked.”

In addition, the “Sudanese government systematically obstructs full deployment with total impunity.” The international community must call for the “Full Strength” of the African Union (AU)/United Nations peace-keeping mission, plus renew funding for refugee camps to protect exposed citizens from further violence.

www.savedarfur.org

photo by angela7dreams

7. Rehabilitate Children Soldiers

The 2007 Hot Docs International Documentary Film Audience Award in Toronto was War Dance, an epic tale of children soldiers recovering by using dancing and education in Uganda.

The website of the U.N special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict states, “Children are uniquely vulnerable to military recruitment and manipulation into violence because they are innocent and impressionable. They are forced or enticed to join armed groups.” Basic rights and freedoms of children must be protected by ensuring African countries sign on to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

www.wardancethemovie.com

6. Fight Corruption

Kofi Annan stated: “Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government’s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign investment and aid.”

The international community needs to use December 9th, Anti Corruption Day, to listen to Transparency International and their call for African countries to focus on the core elements of fighting corruption: access to information, increased visibility of spending, a corruption-free judiciary, and working on stronger communication in education.

www.transparency.org

5. Improve Educational Equality

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has brought attention to the issue of education by creating “Education for All by 2015.” This mandate articulates key concerns regarding “the needs for basic education of all children, youth and adults by offering them a fair chance to receive quality teaching and to acquire skills that are crucial for developing their full potential.”

The international community must strive towards achieving this goal and being innovative in their strategy.

It must embrace “outside the box” thinking such as programs created by Nicolas Negroponte and the One Laptop Per Child program that delivers educational programs faster and cheaper than traditional textbook publishing.

photo by futureatlas.com

4. Expand Information Communication Technologies (ICT)

The International Telephone Union (ITU) 2007 “Connect Africa” conference that took place in Kigali, Rwanda, committed $55 billion USD to Information Communication technologies (ICT) by 2012. Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs stated: “I am confident that with the entrepreneurial spirit of the African private sector working with their international partners, the support of the international community and the commitment from governments, universal connectivity in Africa is no longer a utopian dream.”

It is crucial for the international community to push forward with mobile phone and broadband communications. They must encourage governments to have dialogues and begin to work together on cross-boundary projects that will have a direct impact on electronic communications for people, governments, and businesses across the African continent.

www.itu.int

3. Protect the Environment

The African continent is losing the battle of sustaining local watersheds and ecosystems due to rising green house gas emissions, desertification, and rampant urbanization. The U.N. Habitat Secretary states that “unplanned urbanization in Africa has led to unnecessary depletion, wastage and pollution of water resources.”

The international community must encourage African countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol for the transferring of environmental technologies. They should also follow the lead of organizations such as the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and its “Climate Change Adaption in Africa” program. It allows for environmental education plus local solutions to be created by people who live in these communities.

photo by mknobil

2. Promote Fair Trade & Cancel Debt

Bono, Bob Geldof, and Peter Gabriel raised awareness of poverty across many African nations. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), The World Bank (WB) and other financial institutions must correct the absurd “credit crunch” that African nations faced due to Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP).

This is important for countries to move their economies forward. They must see African countries as viable trading partners, continue to forgive the most outrageous loans, and not scourge their natural resources. Fair trade principles must be introduced to ensure that people on the ground are getting fair value for their labor and the money they need to survive.

www.data.org

1. Address Gender Inequality

In June 2008, the new director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Inés Alberdi, turned her attention to Africa. She announced that “UNIFEM will build on initiatives that it is currently undertaking and step up its advocacy and support to enhance African women’s economic security and rights.”

Gender equality encompasses many areas, including violence against women, denying political and economical rights to women, plus responding to traditional medical practices that are harmful to women. The international community must encourage African countries to sign on to the “Say No to Violence Against Women” campaign.

www.unifem.org/campaigns/vaw/

Community Connection

Grassroots organizations active in Africa include Dynamic Hands Youth International (Ghana), the Oyugis Self Help Project (Kenya) and Beyond Sport (Zambia).

For an in-depth look at a unique volunteer opportunity in Africa, check out Wrangling Rhinos In Mkhaya, Swaziland.

Photo by Gustavo Muleey

In late September, Congress passed the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008. The new and extended tax credits associated with this bill have meant the go-ahead for solar plants such as the one being built by companies New Solar Ventures and Solar Torx in Deming, New Mexico and the Solana plant funded by Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company in Arizona which will be the largest solar plant in the world. Together, these two plants will be capable of producing over 580 megawatts of electricity.

Traditionally, most solar power plants have used PV technology to generate electricity, but these new projects will utilize new and more efficient ways of harnessing energy. Rather than simply capturing the sun’s rays through PV cells on a larger scale, companies such as Ausra are using solar thermal technology to create industrial amounts of electricity. Solar thermal plants use large mirrors to reflect and focus sunlight onto a central tower, where water is heated to boiling point. The resulting steam drives a massive turbine, creating electricity.

Photo by Valerie Everett

The three largest solar power plants in the world are currently being built in the Mojave Desert, and when operational in 2011, will be able to collectively produce over 1500 megawatts of electricity. While this amount is modest in comparison with fossil fuel power stations, plants like these are a vital step towards energy independence,

The AUSRA project not only looks set to be one of the largest solar plants in the world, but also one of the most cost-efficient. That gave two ‘green’ reasons for venture capitalists such as Vinod Khosla to invest in the project.

Khosla’s company has a history of investing in cutting edge research into renewable energy, but this is the largest investment made to a single project. Khosla’s $25 million investment in the plant shows a confidence that solar power is here to stay. The company claims it will be able to match the price of electricity generated from fossil fuels within 1 - 3 years. (Current solar plants produce energy which is roughly 3 times the price of electricity from oil or coal burning plants.)

A low energy price is not the only ambitious claim that the company has made. In an interview with VentureBeat in 2007, Khosla and Executive Vice-President of Ausra, John O’Donnell, boasted an ambitious plan that would enable their technology to produce enough electricity to provide power for the entire US.

Photo by afloresm

With the US Congress extending its tax credit program for solar power for another 8 years (and only 1 year for wind power), and more efficient solar thermal plants being built across the world, it looks like solar power may well be the light at the end of the energy-crisis tunnel.