What Can I Say?

This week the first African-American (and bi-racial person for that matter) was sworn in as president of the United States of America.  He is a man who has promised an open government that makes decisions based on science and reason.  To move our country towards the future and to stop clinging to an outdated past.  To move towards green energy and away from black oil. If he does 10% of what he has promised, he will be a 'philospher king.'  I am so damn proud. What more can I say?

If you missed his innaugral address, you can watch it here: Whitehouse.gov

Is Green Building Our Han Solo?

I know you've all seen Star Wars, right?  I'm not talking about the sequels or prequels.  I'm talking about the original Star Wars, Episode 4.  Do you remember the climax when Han Solo (greatest movie character ever) swoops in from out of nowhere at the last second to save Luke Skywalker's butt (lamest character ever)?  Han was their ace-in-hole, their deus ex machina, their ringer.

Right now, the American economy is in bad shape.  It's like we've got Darth Vader, Boba Fett, O.J. Simpson, and Dick Cheney all after us at the same time.  We need a miracle!  Do we have a ringer?

Maybe we do.  Maybe it's Green Building:  "How the Recession Means More Green Building (and Why That's Good for the Economy" from the Green Building Elements blog.

Facts:

1. Obama wants to "weatherize one million homes annually"
2. Obama wants to "launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient"
3. The technology, expertise, and labor required to do #1 & 2 are readily available
4. Democrats control large majorities in both houses of Congress, making it likely that funding for #1 &2 will be appropriated shortly after Obama's inauguration

We in the construction industry felt the recession sooner than about anybody else.  We might feel the recovery sooner than anybody else as well.  Is any other industry in such a prime position to make an immediate impact on the economy and our environment?

Wait, I'm not Green.

"So, are you like, going green or something?"  That's what I was asked the other day by a friend who was checking out our blog for the first time.  The phrasing of it struck me as funny.  It kind of indicated that she thought of Green as a personal lifestyle choice, like say, becoming a vegetarian.  "So, you're going vegetarian?  Does that mean you have to eat that tofurkey stuff?"  

This lifestyle-type question caught me off-guard, because lately I've been thinking about Green more at the macro-economic level.  More as a gamechanging global initiative.  With Barack Obama, T. Boone Pickens, and many others talking about making huge, wide-ranging, multi-billion-dollar investments in Green-related projects, it's hard not to be fixated on the big stage.

But in focusing so much on the high-level stuff, am I neglecting to face the reality of my not-so-sustainable lifestyle?  Here's a snapshot of my life in terms of my carbon footprint:

1. I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, which is really spread-out and has virtually no mass-transit (all freeways, see photo to the right)
   
2. My wife and I live in a 1720 square foot townhome
3. I drive a Toyota FJ Cruiser that only gets about 18 mpg
   
4. I live about 13 miles from work; I sometimes carpool w/ the wife
5. We buy most of our "stuff" from Wal-Mart, Target, or other importers
   
6. We like to travel a lot

So, I obviously have some work to do if I wanna "go green."  My worst guilty pleasure is my FJ.  It's an "eco-foul" no doubt.  But I love it!  I don't really want to swap it for a Prius, and can't really afford to take the hit on the trade-in value.  But in a place like DFW, I really shouldn't own an SUV.  There are just too many miles to drive, too many gallons of dirty fossil fuels to burn.  But it's an off-roading beast!

Most of you probably have a guilty pleasure or an eco-foul of your own, right?  What is it?  Come on, you can admit it.  Is it your gigantic, oversized suburban home?  Your 45 minute commute each way to work?  Your obsession with turning the A.C. down to 60 degrees the moment you walk into your hotel room?  Swimming pool?  If you're a true red-blooded American, you have something wasteful to share, so let's hear it...