The mid-term election was certainly a shining example of Democracy in all its imperfect beauty.  The will of the people was clearly apparent.  A President and his war were clearly rejected.  The American political conversation moved back to the middle.  The founding fathers vision of a government of checks and balances has been taken up by the electorate.  Change, discourse, consensus, compromise, bi-partisanship and a clear desire to chart a new course was the message of the electorate.

It feels like a door on a time and mind set has closed and a new one has opened.  The six years since …

Last week the British Government released the Stern Report on Global Warming. As those of you who read about it know, the report suggested that, without immediate and aggressive spending, global warming will reduce worldwide productivity on the scale of the Great Depression. The report, commissioned by the British government is the most comprehensive study to date of the economic impact of global warming. The quick summary is that failure to act could cost up to 20% of lost income worldwide on an annual basis. Aggressive and immediate action to solve the problem would cost 1% …

Since the oil embargo of 1974, there has always been news coverage of OPEC meetings.  Usually it is about raising prices or cutting production.  These stories are usually accompanied by pictures of smiling or laughing men.  Until recently these articles usually caused a negative reaction in me, as they represented the fact that a small group of countries, blessed with large petroleum reserves, were manipulating prices and controlling the energy policy — and foreign policy — of countries around the world, particularly the United States.

There were some recent articles about the last OPEC meeting with headlines stating that OPEC producers …