American Revolution, 21st century style
Last Saturday I watched Van Jones stoke that rebellious spirit with a motivated audience - 3,000 socially active delegates at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly. We can't drill and burn our way to energy independence, said the 40ish leader who has led a green movement in Oakland, Calif. and is co-founder of the ColorOfChange.org e-advocacy movement.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - On the eve of Independence Day No. 232, millions of Americans are probably feeling as anxious as those 56 white men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Back then the tyrant was England, the mother country who taxed her colonies without allowing the peoples' input and amassed standing armies in order to intimidate them.
Today the tyrant is big oil. The price for automobile gas shot past $4 a gallon. The conventional wisdom for months was consumers had no choice but to pay whatever the producers decide to charge.
Yet based on several network news reports this week, 21st century consumers are rebelling, like those founding brothers in 1776. U.S. car sales this month reported double-digit losses. Furthermore, vehicle gas consumption is down for the first time in a long time. Additionally, families are selling or leaving their cars at home and renting cars by the hour in order to grocery shop and run other errands.
