And so it begins....

I have been toying with the idea of creating a blog for my work purposes for quite some time. I debated between the positivity of getting my thoughts across to at least a few new people, and the negativity of having to write yet another new thing every day. Yesterday's post-holiday "catch up" finally drove me to the edge of positivity, and here I am today, writing my first "Go Green" blog post. After hours of frustration with a few of my family members, I decided I had had enough. If conservative America refused to listen to me, then perhaps a few members of my family could take the time to read my thoughts on the political economy, and maybe even come to understand a glimpse of what I have been working on.

Allow me to explain. I am an American. Nothing interesting in terms of nationality or ethnicity, just a good ol' fashioned American. Although I grew up mainly on the East Coast, my father's relocation to the Southwestern part of the US had a pretty large influence on my life. After spending years traipsing through the long, cold winters of Southwestern Pennsylvania, an escape to the desert was everything my sun-hungry soul had been looking for. Wide-open spaces, expansive skies, and a sun you could actually feel on your face...it was the America I had never seen, but had always been looking for. The pure awesomeness of the nature in the Southwest was so daunting, that it left quite an impression on me. I couldn't believe there was so much to do outside. Forget about paying for wilderness adventures, in the Southwest people just took them. It seemed to me that everyone went camping, fishing, hiking, kayaking, and even skiing all of the time. As a sworn city kid, I was actually quite surprised that I enjoyed myself so much exploring the great outdoors. I suppose it was here that the first seeds of sustainability began to sink in....

I didn't become an environmentalist right away. In fact, the day I realized I was somewhat of a "tree-hugger" came totally by surprise to me. Although I majored in Politics and Economics, and had considered myself somewhat moderate (yet registered liberal) I knew that when it came down to it, I really was much more conservative than even I wanted to admit. After a few internships in Politics, I had switched my affiliation to the Republican party, and for me the most pressing of issues was the war in Iraq, the crashing economy, and the increasing amount of jobless Americans. The environment never made it onto my top-ten list of concerns.

I believe it was my commencement of a Master's course that caused the light-bulb to turn on in my head, when I realized the connection between the environment and well, everything. My course was intense, focusing on International Politics, and, for me, the Global Political Economy. After weeks of studying war after war, and conflict after conflict, it seemed that every modern conflict had one connection: oil. The war in Iraq, the war in Kuwait, the American debt to China, blah blah blah, everything seemed to come back to the inability of Americans to move away from oil, and away from conflict. After arguing with one of my teachers for the umpteenth time about the American presence in Afghanistan, I finally admitted my frustration and questioned how we would ever get out of the lull my nation seemed to be in. I realized we had to go green. Not just because I liked to hike, or because I think koala bears are adorable, but because I was sick of hearing my post-graduate friends discussing the job opportunities with the dread similar to the drafting of Vietnam. For me, America had to get back on top. The economy has to resurrect itself. And here was the lightbulb: If the US was a bit greener, we would have less concerns about the Middle-East. Smaller concerns about the Middle-East, smaller budgets needed for Military spending. More money for schools, more money for jobs. More jobs= more people spending money= greater American economy.

And so I went green.

I'm not here to lecture people on what they should or shouldn't do in terms of their personal life. But I am here to share a few tid-bits that have made me lean towards becoming more environmentally concerned, and more sustainably active. Hope I'm not a bore.