I’ve spent the morning going through entries on the change.gov blog, and it’s been very interesting. I watched a couple of Obama’s weekly addresses (also available on podcast!), but the videos I really enjoyed were those of meetings with AAPI, Latino, youth, LGBT, and women in small business groups, and incoming cabinet members’ responses to the public’s comments on the website.
I read the change.gov blog and watch the videos to keep informed, but I didn’t expect to also learn quite so much from these particular videos. Steven Chu’s comments (linked above in the words “cabinet members”) were especially fun; he reminds me of countless professors I had who seemed dry at first but quickly won me over with their smarts and engagement with their subject. I’m so delighted to see such a knowledgeable scientist advising the president on climate change. As I said to Erik, if someone like Chu had been in the cabinet earlier, Al Gore might never have had to become an environmental advocate! However… I have to admit I’m a little worried about Chu’s use of agricultural examples when speaking of significant innovations in science. He mentioned the “green revolution” of the 1960s, which did indeed feed many people, but also led us down the road toward industrial farming. The fertilizers and techniques that the green revolution pioneered have helped us grow more crops, but they’ve also hurt the environment, decreased biodiversity, put small farms and traditional organic growing methods out of fashion (if not out of business completely), and sickened workers. So while I applaud Obama’s and Chu’s focus on science when it comes to acknowledging and addressing global warming, I’m concerned about it where it comes to food issues — and the fact that Obama appointed Tom Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary isn’t tremendously reassuring.
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 