human wellness

I just happened upon a very cool website.

AMERICAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The American Human Development Project is a nonpartisan, non-profit initiative established to introduce to the United States a well-honed international approach and tool for measuring human well-being: the human development approach and the human development index. The project’s mission is to stimulate fact-based public debate about and political attention to human development issues in the United States and to empower people with an instrument to hold elected officials accountable for progress on issues we all care about: health, education and income.

so, that is what is about. One of the reasons this site is really interesting is because of their interactive map, down to the congressional districts, of well being in this country. There is also a little quiz where you can measure your own well being and compare to the rest of their data. Don’t want to brag too much…. but let’s just say I’M VERY WELL, thank you!!!

Here are some findings from this year’s report:

- The U.S. infant mortality rate is on par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia,
and Poland.

- By the end of fourth grade, African American and Latino children, and chil-
dren of all races who are living in poverty, are two years behind their more
affluent, predominantly white peers in reading and math. They have fallen
three years behind by eighth grade, and four years behind by twelfth grade.

- Research shows that investment in intensive early childhood education
pays high dividends in educational attainment and reduction of social
problems, including crime, that correlate to high dropout rates.

- Fifteen percent of American children—10.7 million girls and boys—live in
families with monthly incomes of less than $1,500 per month.
- The United States is far behind other developed countries in its support to
working families, particularly in terms of family leave, sick leave, and child
care.

HERE is the link to the interactive map. Peruse the rest of the site, take the test… it is all pretty interesting

this is where the rubber meets the road

It is the end of the year. The United States has seen many changes, one of which being the political philosophy. Another being that more and more people understand and want to combat climate change. We have told the rest of the world that we are committed to change by the election of Barack Obama and his subsequent appointments of environmentally friendly staff.

However, this is also the time when the rubber has hit the road and the rest of the world wants to see how we are really going to act. It was easy for this country to go green as fuel prices rose, but what happens when the economy is suffering and oil prices have gone down?

The Guardian UK posted an interesting article that is a sort of “year in review” about climate change. One thing that stood out about this year is increase in malnutrition due to food shortages.

The problem, said the analysts, was a mix of climate change and extreme weather leading to poor harvests in major grain-growing countries such as Australia. But the blame was also laid on the many millions of acres of maize, wheat and other crops planted in the US and elsewhere in 2007 to provide biofuels for cars rather than food for people. Catastrophe loomed, said the UN.

Climate change is disproportionately hard on the poor: water shortages, weather extremes, lack of food make it hard for the lower classes to adapt to their conditions. And the article illustrates how poorer nations have reacted to the food crisis and the affect on poorer communities.

So here we are. The brink of major change is upon us to save the world. This author has fears:

Whether the world weans itself off oil and fossil fuels will probably determine global sustainability over the next 20 years. Low oil prices traditionally push energy efficiency off the policy agenda. Economic recessions have punctured green economic bubbles in the past. When times are tight, the wisdom goes, no one invests in new or risky technologies, and countries stick to cheap and dirty energy.

The article is a good read and you can find it HERE.

this is nice

So I put out a post about poverty and our responsibility, and as if the universe heard me…. Treehugger posted THIS.

“Poverty isn’t a simple problem, and there are no simple solutions for it, but that hasn’t stopped a handful of the world’s smartest green thinkers from postulating on how to end poverty. While the bad news might be that poverty still exists, the good news is that these four theories, from four remarkable thinkers, all foresee a future without (or with much less) poverty and with a clean, green environment.

Read on to get details on ideas from Wangari Maathai, Bill Clinton, Van Jones, and Paul Hawken.”