Global Warming

Putting the scope of this issue in a few words: We have everything to lose If we don’t act soon to aggressively reduce Carbon emissions!

Currently, the air we breathe has a carbon concentration of about 400 parts per million (ppm). That concentration has been rising exponentially. As a result of this concentration, the planet and its oceans has seen a growing rise in temperature. “Global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) over the last 115 years (1901–2016). This period is now the warmest in the history of modern civilization…it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the

observed warming since the mid-20th century. Thousands of studies conducted by researchers around the world have documented changes in surface, atmospheric, and oceanic temperatures; melting glaciers; diminishing snow cover; shrinking sea ice; rising sea levels; ocean acidification…” (source: U.S. Global Change Research Program)

We have seen the impact in Ventura County. We have seen more heat waves, resulting in drought conditions and wildfires. Annual average temperatures are expected to rise exponentially under all plausible future climate scenarios. Without major reductions in emissions, the increase in annual average global temperature relative to preindustrial times could reach 9°F (5°C) or more by the end of this century. Uncontrolled global warming will produce disastrous impact on our infrastructure, economy, water supplies, and agriculture production.

The entire world of nations needs to work toward the goals set by the international Paris Climate accord. The main goal is to keep the temperature rise at or below 1.5^° C through 2050. With significant reductions in emissions, that goal can be achieved.  Significant reduction in emissions can be achieved by working toward total dependency on renewable energy. In addition, we could reduce carbon in other ways such as carbon capture, sequestration and a carbon tax. These efforts will also create green jobs for our communities.

The most important role for U.S. government in the coming years is to again provide leadership in the way of regulation and economic stimulus to re-invigorate a new sense of urgency to resolve this critical issue.

 Education Reform

If national and international student achievement scores are an indication (and they certainly are), the U.S. educational system is stagnant at best. In the latest (2018) Program for Student International Assessment (PISA), the U.S. ranks 37^th in the world in mathematics. This number is virtually unchanged from 2015. Nationwide, the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports test scores in mathematics are down from the previous year. In California, the state results published in October 2019 by California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), the scores across all grade levels showed that about 40% of students failed to meet standards.

The CAASPP published results for each school district in the state. The results show the average scores for grades (3-8) in Oxnard, Santa Paula, Hueneme indicate that about 50% of students failed to meet standards in mathematics. For grade 11, about 47% of students in Ventura County as a whole failed to meet standards in math. The state Superintendent of Education, Tony Thurmond expressed concern “that a persistent percentage of students of color are not meeting standards in several grades and showing declining scores from last year.” These results show an inequity in education. These inequities in education translate directly to unequal opportunities to succeed in the workforce. We need to prioritize closing this achievement gap.

Why is math such an important indicator for the future of our children? I was a math teacher for seventeen years. I think the intrinsic value of studying math is that it helps us develop our reasoning skills - or rational thought. As we develop this skill, we make better (more rational) decisions of all kinds that will guide us through life. In my opinion, achievement in math can be an indicator of better decision making and success in higher education.

Of course, the problem of improving math achievement scores is complex. However, the basis for solutions must involve student motivation. From my experience as a student and teacher in the classroom, students must find a compelling interest to excel in math. That interest or motive can come from creative ways of presenting material by teachers. It can come from parental encouragement. It can come from an internal sense of necessity to succeed. While there are various ways to motivate learning, what is clearly needed is a commitment by all involved to make the needed changes to improve achievement.

Whatever the underlying reasons for our poor achievement scores in mathematics and other educational areas, clearly the future of our children and our nation depends on bringing resources and ideas to this issue with urgency. We cannot allow stagnation or complacency with our educational system to continue. The future of our nation depends on how well our children are educated.

Campaign Issue: Excessive Government Secrecy

“A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and the people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power, which knowledge gives.” James Madison, ‘Father of the U.S. Constitution’

For some time now, we Americans have lost touch with our government, in part because of excessive secrecy. We know some secrets are necessary. For example, we wouldn’t want anyone except the President to know the nuclear codes (I can’t believe I just wrote that with Trump as President). We can think of many other secrets that need to be kept. At the same time, we understand that secrets equate to power because knowledge is power. And power can corrupt, as we well know by now. That power can be used or misused depending on the agendas of power brokers. Those are individuals who have access to power that use and abuse power to achieve some outcome in their favor, not necessarily for the greater good.

For example, let’s look at the “Military Industrial Complex,” as President Eisenhower labeled it. For a long, long time military spending has been, by far, the greatest budget item. The current budget calls for about $619 billion for Defense spending. This expense, adjusted for inflation, is the largest since WWII.  The budget deficit, money we have to borrow to pay for our budget, will be one trillion dollars next year and expected to increase after that. So, defense spending accounts for a big chunk of the reason we are in deep debt. The DOD also accounts for the greatest number of secrets held by government. And, because of that fact alone, the power of Defense spending weighs heavily in the politics of government and our economy. As a result, there are many and complex implications of military secrecy.

As a Vietnam era veteran, I remember well that war and the release of the Pentagon Papers that spoke directly to the abuse of secrecy in the conduct of that war. If it were not for the public outcry over the abuses described in that public disclosure, who knows how much longer that war would have lasted. One of the lessons: major U.S. policy decisions, such as war, are initiated under the cloak of secrecy before they are open for public discussion. That lesson can also be applied to economic, industrial, and political secrets.

Under the Trump regime, implementation of policy decisions in agencies like HHS with their lies and secrecy surrounding the detention of immigrants, abuse of secrecy has gotten worse.  In addition, it is evident that nearly every other agency has attempted to either hide their polices and activities or act without notice or concern of public oversight.

I support a return to the policies implemented by President Obama. His policy, as stated in a memorandum to the heads of Executive departments and agencies on January 21, 2009 states in part: “In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike…The Freedom The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.”

The more we lose ground on the issue of excessive secrecy in government, the harder it is for the people’s voice to be heard and corruption to take hold.