Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is later than we think. The following areas outline specific immediate and longer-term steps we can take together to bring a twenty-first century direction to our country:
1. FINANCIAL SYSTEM:
a. - Promote with the SEC and FASB a more accurate valuation process to replace the deflation-inducing effects of the current “mark-to-market” practices which yield no more accurate values of real estate on the downside then the former valuation standards yielded on the upside
b. - Restore the uptick rule on the floor of all major US-based exchanges, including the NASDAQ, NYSE, CBOE, CME, and NYMEX
c. - Tie remaining capital infusions to money-center banks to lending performance – i.e. Treasury providing 20% additional capital to a bank’s balance sheet must be met with a 20% increase in lending WITHIN 90 DAYS OR THE FUNDS COME BACK TO TREASURY
d. - Direct TARP funds to the Sheila Bair anti-foreclosure plan as laid out by Ms. Bair in congressional testimony Thursday November 20
2. ENERGY:
a. – Replace the current weak CAFÉ standards with the following provisions:
- ALL gasoline-powered vehicles will be produced as 100% flex-fuel compatible (i.e. alcohol-resistant fuel lines, seals, gaskets and flex-fuel chips) beginning March 1, 2009
- 20% of fleet must be natural gas capable or plug-in hybrid by September 1, 2009
- Average fleet mileage at 35 mpg by January 1, 2010
- Relaxed federal crash standards for new “Category II” vehicles – authorized and licensed (yes, by the states) for non-freeway use under 50mph only
b. – Legalize alternative energy:
- Prohibit current contractual restrictions placed on gas station owners by major oil companies in an attempt to prevent dealers from offering alternative fuels including biodiesel, ethanol, recycled oils, etc.
- Expand bicycle lane requirements for new federally-supported roadway construction including underpasses and overpasses for dedicated bicycle transit, requirements for expanded bicycle parking in office buildings, and mandatory sentencing for bicycle-automobile traffic convictions
- Legalize access to biodiesel fuels in all 50 states
- Legalize safe, standards-based retrofit of existing vehicles to natural gas, flex fuels, etc.
- Legalize “Category II” vehicle class for in-town transport (see above) – examples include all-electric vehicles, three-wheel scooters, electric bicycles and motorcycles, etc. (Current federal safety crash standards applied to these vehicles are designed for an earlier age that assumed heavier, 20th century vehicles only)
- Legalize use of alternative, fuel-saving materials in automotive technology, i.e. carbon fiber, aluminum, fiberglass, etc. – again a review of federal safety standards is in order
- Legalize use of “caissons” on certain portions of the interstate highway system: long-haul truck/trailer combinations designed specifically with more than three trailers
- Legalize establishment of new rail rights-of-way and more aggressive eminent domain approaches of the type used in Europe and Australia for dedicated passenger rail facilities and infrastructure that no longer comingles freight and passenger operations on the same track
- Legalize development, processing and sale of agricultural Jetropha and other non-food based oil seeds as fuels
- Legalize construction of new freight railway corridors in conjunction with a federally-facilitated network of logistics and distribution hubs to benefit otherwise depressed communities and regions
- Legalize fuel-saving measures achievable by port authorities using existing technology and methods through adjustment of work rules, access measures, and outdated safety requirements
- Legalize residential and commercial real estate use of solar panels, geothermal wells, solar water heating systems, greywater/”purple pipe” systems, cistern and catchment systems, insulation, thermal window systems, battery energy storage systems, and energy switching technology. Action should be taken to permit use of all of each of these technologies nationally in all new construction and existing properties by federal action to prohibit all existing restrictions via zoning and other current impediments in place today on the part of state, county, and municipal authorities and extending to attempts to limit or prohibit alternative energy measures on the part of homeowners associations
- Legalize use of non-coal coal in conventional coal-fired powerplants - i.e. newearth: http://www.newearth1.net/
- Legalize fast-track permitting of nuclear generating plants nationwide
c. - Fund 21st-century energy:
- Immediate gasoline tax of 30 cents per gallon February 1, 2009 going to 50 cents per gallon January 1 2010. Conventional diesel fuels: 20 cents and 40 cents respectively
- Immediate tax under bilateral air transport agreements on non-US airline flights arriving or departing US airports not using alternative fuels. Similar program for dry bulk ships, and container ships arriving at US ports
- Incremental, annually-increasing federal taxes applied extensively to burning of fossil fuels where alternative energies are available, as in coal-fired powerplants and petroleum-fired powerplants which can be converted to non-food
- Institute recovery fees for environmentally-damaging fuels production to shoulder the full burden of mountaintop removal, chemical destruction of air, land and water, health and safety costs on communities, and projected post-exploitation cleanup measures (there are several independent entities including our experienced and trusted accounting firms that can provide an entirely apolitical estimate of these costs)
3. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- Establish March-class airbase in SW Al-Anbar province west of An Nukhayb, on a 99-year lease from the Iraqi government. Establish Iraqi training base in conjunction with the facilities, and gain parliamentary approval under a comprehensive package to include mutually preferential sourcing of oil and LNG, US-provided federal troops training and federal law enforcement and anti-insurgent training, and Iraqi participation in economic and mutual defense programs
Sincerely,
- David Moon
1 comment:
Good plan: I would also include the lifting of restrictions on home energy production that can sell surplus energy back to the grid. (These rules are generally at the state level, and vary quite a bit.) Support the development of home-manufactured bio-diesel and ethanol. Support the use of methane as a power source (and thereby dispose of it as a greenhouse gas). There is some development of it here in Iowa, which is good, because we are a major producer of pig poo.
And why don't we encourage health clubs to hook their exercise machine to generators?
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