Government is for grown-ups

On the outskirts of Bloomington, the city is planning to build a collection of 12 single-family homes. What is notable about this planned development is that, aside from trying to create affordable housing for people who plan to be here for a while, the city is planning to build them using eco-friendly methods. The homes will utilize a design that maximizes solar energy for heat and will be built partially out of recycled materials.\nBloomington has a long history of environmental consciousness. You can see this reflected both in community actions, positive and negative, as well as the conscientiousness shown by local governmental officials. \nBloomington is not alone in its concern about the continuing welfare of the environment. Communities from Portland, Ore., to New York have taken greater eco-friendly steps in the past decade. \nHowever, this concern, acknowledged at the local level, is something our national leaders are choosing to blithely ignore.\nA nationwide poll conducted in May 2005 by the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies shows both a deep concern for the environment and a great reservation about how things are going. Sixty-eight percent of poll respondents said the federal government should do more to protect the environment. Half of the poll respondents said they felt very strongly about this.\nThe same poll revealed that the greatest area of concern was American dependence on foreign oil. When asked what they think should be done about this issue, 90 percent of poll respondents said they supported mandating higher Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. CAFE standards have not changed for 20 years and are measured so inaccurately as to be worthless numbers anyway. According to one Consumer Reports study, the average car in the 2003 fleet tended to be about 30 percent less fuel efficient than what the federal government measured it to be.\nBloomington's environmental policy is a good start. Building more eco-friendly homes is something all municipalities should do. Building homes to make the best use of solar energy is not only smart -- it'll lower your heating bill in the winter -- it also reduces our need to dig up and burn coal. Likewise, utilizing recycled materials only makes sense -- it saves space in landfills and spares parts of our forests. However, these steps alone cannot solve our environmental problems. The federal government needs to take action as well.\nUnfortunately, instead of looking toward conservation and the reduction of consumption, the current government proposes ineffectual stop-gags. Rather than trying to stretch out the oil supply we have, they propose we try to burn it all up now so we can temporarily decrease our dependence on imported oil. That is not a solution; it's just passing the buck. It's completely irresponsible.\nPress your government to act like a grown-up. Write your representatives, senators and local government officials. Do your part as well -- walk instead of drive, open your curtains to let the heat in and keep that thermostat low. If we don't start getting our act together, we're going to find ourselves up that proverbial creek when the gas runs out.