Furnace Efficiency Gets Meager Increase

The Bush Administration released new efficiency standards for home furnaces and boilers. After 6 years of development on the new national standard, the Department of Energy will increase furnace efficiency from 78% to 80%. In addition, this modest increase will not take effect for another 8 years, in 2015.
CS Monitor Article

Obama in the International Context

Here's an Op-Ed piece from the New York Times that looks at Obama's presidency in the greater context of the international world and America's changing role in it. It also references The Atlantic article from the previous post. The author, Roger Cohen, has a long career in international journalism dating back to the 1970's and has also co-written a biography of General Norman Schwartzkopf.
New York Times Op-Ed

The Bridge

Tonight is the eve of many elections across America. It also signals that 1 year from right now, we will be electing our next president. America continues to be polarized and divided on many issues, and the issues at stake are coming to a critical mass of dangerous proportions. The specifics of these issues and nuances of the candidate's policies can really become irrelevant to the larger picture of what is going on. This article from The Atlantic provides a step back from the divisive politics of today and looks at America in the context of what has truly defined it for the past 40 years: the baby boomer generation. The divisions of today's America are rooted in the 1960's, and the events that divided that generation have defined modern culture and politics today. The need for a bridge over these divisions cries out for a voice that simply can not come from the entrenched values and symbols of the baby boomers. The voice needs to come from someone who transcends the two sides that have been created and does not represent a continuation of the internal struggle America has faced the past 40 years.
This voice could be Barack Obama.

This is a long article, but is an extremely compelling take on where our country is right now. I encourage you to read all of it. Maybe not today, but someday... soon...

The Atlantic Article

thanks to brandon "the screen" pass