Go Lean Commentary
The Americans “got it bad!” They appear to be willing to ignore facts and deny science to continue their environmental unsound way of life, their eco-system. While Americans may have the right to their own opinions, they do not have the right to their own facts.
This is the summary from the below AUDIO PODCAST, that even the weather scientists, the meteorologists, are pressured to ignore the science or not sound the warning. This is their rationale for their non-stance:
- The political climate is too heated.
- Corporate ownership of TV stations don’t want to deal with Climate Change.
This is a bad model … for the rest of the world. According to the PODCAST, other countries – i.e. France – are not yielding to this American pressure; they recognize the need to sound a more accurate alarm. Listen to the PODCAST here/now (or read the transcript in the Appendix below):
AUDIO: Why Are Meteorologists Reluctant To Talk About Climate Change? http://cpa.ds.npr.org/wunc/audio/2015/10/NDD1029.mp3Dave DeWitt reports on what North Carolina TV meteorologists think of climate change, and how one of them became a “convert.”
North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC 91.5 – Posted Sunday October 29, 2015; retrieved November 5, 2015
http://wunc.org/post/meteorolgists-view-climate-change#stream/0
This silencing of the truth is troubling … for the Caribbean and the rest of the world. People turn to weather forecasters to forecast the weather. They need to be respected for announcing the truth: short-term, mid-term and long-term.
Theirs is a weighty responsibility!
This is remindful of the charge to the Watchman in the Holy Scriptures, in the Bible Book of Ezekiel (Chapter 33 verses 2 – 7); see here:
2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them, “‘Suppose that I bring a sword upon a land, and all the people of that land take a man and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the horn and warns the people. 4 If someone hears the sound of the horn but does not heed the warning and a sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the horn, but he did not heed the warning. His blood will be upon himself. If he had heeded the warning, his life would have been saved.
6 “‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and he does not blow the horn and the people receive no warning and a sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that person will die for his own error, but I will ask his blood back from the watchman.’
7 “As for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman …
(New World Translation)
Yes, there are climate change deniers. It is a pity that these ones may hold positions of power and authority so as to subdue the proclamation of appropriate warnings.
This Climate Change is an important issue! It is conveyed in the book Go Lean … Caribbean as if a crisis. But the book goes on to declare that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”, calling for the establishment of a regional administration to monitor, mitigate and manage the threats of Climate Change. The Go Lean book posits that the Caribbean region is at the frontline of the battleground of Climate Change, that we do not have the luxury of denying the facts. (As this commentary is written, there is a tropical storm – Kate – threatening danger for the Bahamas). We need to commission a “watchman” to give fair warning of the imminent danger. The same as conveyed in the foregoing scriptural reference: blood is at stake for this issue of Climate Change: there is the need to save life-and-limb due to increased occurrences of devastating hurricanes, flooding, forest fires, droughts, rising sea levels, and even alterations in fish stock.
What could be the motivation for the denial of the warnings of the actuality of climate change? Only one factor: Profit.
This issue has previously been detailed in the following blog/commentaries:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4673 | Merchants of Doubt … to Preserve Profits |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465 | Book Review: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’ |
This commentary therefore asserts that the Caribbean needs to not follow the American leadership in this regards; that we must forge our own future, seeing how pervasive the Crony-Capitalism elements are in the American eco-system. This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The prime directives of this agency are described as:
- Optimize the economic engines of the Caribbean to elevate the regional economy to grow to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
- Establish a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
- Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The Go Lean roadmap calls for the CU to serve as the regional administration to optimize economy, homeland security and governance engines for the Caribbean, especially in flight of Climate Change battleground frontline status. This is the first pronouncement (Page 11) of the opening Declaration of Interdependence:
i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.
The Go Lean roadmap fully details the reality of Climate Change in the region. There are many aspect of Caribbean life that will be affected; that have already been affected. These issues have also been repeatedly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016 | ‘Hotter than July’ – Reality in the Caribbean |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2276 | Climate Change May Affect Food Supply Within a Decade |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2119 | Cooling Effect – Oceans and the Climate |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1883 | Climate Change May Bring More Kidney Stones |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1817 | Caribbean grapples with intense new cycles of flooding & drought |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1516 | Floods in Minnesota, Drought in California – Why Not Share? |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=926 | Conservative heavyweights have solar industry in their sights |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915 | Go ‘Green’ … Caribbean |
This Go Lean book declares that we must adopt the community ethos (the appropriate attitude/spirit), to forge change in our region; then details the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to better impact the region’s resources and eco-systems, in considering the preparations and responses for Climate Change. The following is a sample list:
| Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices / Incentives | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens | Page 23 |
| Community Ethos – Lean Operations | Page 24 |
| Community Ethos – Cooperatives | Page 24 |
| Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations | Page 25 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future | Page 26 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing | Page 35 |
| Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good | Page 37 |
| Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-States into a Single Market | Page 45 |
| Strategy – Vision – Foster Local Economic Engines for Basic Needs | Page 45 |
| Strategy – Mission – Prepare for Natural Disasters | Page 45 |
| Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change | Page 57 |
| Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union | Page 63 |
| Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy | Page 64 |
| Separation of Powers – Emergency Management | Page 76 |
| Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration | Page 79 |
| Separation of Powers – Meteorological & Geological Service | Page 79 |
| Implementation – Assemble Regional Organs into a Single Market Economy | Page 96 |
| Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change | Page 101 |
| Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Unified Command & Control | Page 103 |
| Implementation – Ways to Deliver | Page 109 |
| Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid | Page 115 |
| Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization | Page 119 |
| Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region | Page 127 |
| Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better | Page 131 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy | Page 151 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs | Page 152 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance | Page 168 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract | Page 170 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives | Page 176 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters | Page 184 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications | Page 186 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management | Page 196 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Fisheries | Page 210 |
| Appendix – History of Puerto Rican Migration to US & Effects of Hurricanes | Page 303 |
| Appendix – US Virgin Islands Economic Timeline with Hurricane Impacts | Page 305 |
The foregoing AUDIO PODCAST sounds the alarm of the threats of Climate Change on the planet and declares that the Caribbean may not want to depend on American Media reporting of the Climate Change threats. But, we have encountered this issue before in our interaction with the American eco-system – we have previously discussed how the European Weather Forecasting Models may be better suited for the Caribbean Greater Good, because of the lesser Crony-Capitalistic influences, and lesser corporate ownership of media companies.
The Caribbean is on the frontlines of this battle! This is not just a preference for us, this may be life-and-death. We have no option to exit from any of these discussions; whether we want to or not.
Change must come to our region as more devastating effects of Climate Change are imminent. The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that this “Agent of Change” is too big for just any one member-state to tackle alone, that there must be a regional solution. This multi-state technocratic administration of the CU is presented as that solution.
The people and institutions of the region are hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap, and heed the warnings from this Caribbean “Watchman”. Too much is at stake – the blood of the people. Despite the threats of Climate Change, we can still make the Caribbean a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂
Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!
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APPENDIX – Transcript: A Meteorolgist’s View On Climate Change
By: Dave DeWitt
Broadcast meteorologists on local television have one job. It’s simple to express but difficult to do well. Predict the future, a few days at a time.
To be an effective forecaster, a broadcast meteorologist has to be a scientist. And because it’s TV, she or he also has to be likable and trustworthy.
Greg Fishel of WRAL is all of those things. He also used to be a global warming denier. Now, he admits he was wrong.
“I don’t see being wrong as being a scarlet letter,” Fishel says. “I think all of us have experiences in our life where we are wrong and we realize it was a good thing and we learn something from it.”
Fishel changed his mind about climate change after putting aside his politics and examining the science. Now, he’s an equally passionate convert, and recently expressed it again on Facebook.
Fishel is in a unique position among his colleagues in the weather forecasting business. He was one of the first broadcast meteorologists to push for certification in his profession. He’s also wildly popular and has worked for arguably the most successful family-owned local TV station in the country since 1981.
And that matters in the so-called climate change “debate.”
“Any time you have someone of high stature, high standing in the market, with a lot of credibility, it does speak volumes and it shows how important that the topic is,” says Sean Sublette, a former TV meteorologist in Roanoke who currently works forClimate Central in Princeton, New Jersey.
Not all broadcast meteorologists are in the same position—or think the same way.
WUNC Radio surveyed TV meteorologists in North Carolina. About three-quarters of those who responded agree or strongly agree that the planet is warming due to human activity. But fewer than half agreed it was part of their job to inform viewers about climate change.
Several expressed that the political debate was too heated or that corporate ownership of stations didn’t want to deal with the controversy.
Sublette says those results are not surprising.
“I know some that are very interested in the science, and I know some that are just not,” says Sublette. “They are just not as interested in talking about it, for whatever reason they may have.”
One of Climate Central’s missions is to provide research and graphics that local TV meteorologists can use in broadcasts.
Even with the help, it can be very difficult to get climate information into a forecast. Lee Ringer at Time Warner Cable News does “Weather On The Ones,” so, six weathercasts an hour.
“And even though it seems like a lot of time, it’s limited what we can talk about,” Ringer says. “So our traditional weathercasts are really just going to be limited to the forecast for today and up through the next week.”
Ringer does do climate change stories online. And he says he has another important, if unseen role.
“I’m the scientist here at the station, along with our other team of meteorologists,” he says. “So we’re the folks a lot of our news reporters come to when there’s some type of science story, whether it’s directly related to the weather, whether it’s related to the environment, or related to meteorology.”
At WRAL, Fishel has taken that role as station scientist to a higher level. Earlier this year, he traveled to Alaska and Colorado to produce special climate change reportsand has brought leading scientists to town for discussions.
The other night, he says he got a call from a longtime friend and die-hard conservative. That friend said he is re-thinking his position on climate change because of Fishel’s reporting and social media outreach.
“If I had done this six months after I moved here and I was 22 years old and wet behind the ears, then people would have said ‘get that liberal out of here’,” says Fishel, laughing. “So it gets back to the whole thing, if there was ever a time when I could engage in this discussion, I feel like this is it.”
Fishel says he’ll keep engaging in that discussion—on-air and online—in the hope he can lead the conversation for viewers and fellow weather professionals.