Sean Meriwether's Blog: The Green Economist, page 13

Nine New Terrifying Words

NY Dispatch Day 114: Ronald Reagan is infamous for his nine most terrifying words, “I’m here from the government and I’m here to help.” This should be ironic considering he was head of the government for eight years. This snarky political jab gives short shrift to all the services the government provides that we take for granted. Tip of the iceberg: infrastructure, schools, social safety net programs, regulations that protect consumers from predatory lenders and negligent manufacturers, food and...

A Victory for the Sioux

NY Dispatch Day 113: Staring in April, 2016, thousands of environmentalists, American war veterans, and concerned citizens joined First Nation People at Standing Rock to help prevent the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The goal of the protesters was to stop the granting of an easement that would allow the pipeline to be routed under Lake Oahe, which feeds the Missouri River and is adjacent to the already endangered Ogallala Aquifer. The pipeline threatened the only water supply of the ...

The 5th of July

NY Dispatch Day 112: My social bubble has gotten a bit smaller. With my husband in Colombia until at least early September when they will reopen for commercial air traffic, a number of friends who prefer to remain in self-quarantine, and the remainder away for some or all of the summer, I am finding ways to occupy myself outdoors, safely. Yesterday I tackled Breakneck Ridge in the Hudson Valley, a strenuous hike that climbs 1,442 feet, part of it straight up a cliff face, but affords breathtakin...

Voter Fraud is a Fraud

NY Dispatch Day 111: The number of new COVID-19 cases in the US has breached 55,000 a day and may be double that by the time we head to the polls in what will be the most contentious and expensive election in our history. We should not have to choose between our health and our civic duty. After the disastrous handling of recent state elections in the US, with hours-long waits and malfunctioning machines, we had better prepare for what may be a huge turnout this November. One of the safest ways t...

Save Our LGBTQ+ Safe Spaces

NY Dispatch Day 110: Once upon a time in the days before the internet and smartphones—yes, there really was such a time—people use to go to places to meet each other. You may know this 4th dimension as meatspace. For LGBTQ+ people these spaces were critical, they provided safe harbors where we could be ourselves with our community. We gathered as singles, couples, or groups of friends to drink, dance, buy books, shop, eat; we could be together even when we were on our own. Possibilities seemed e...

Change Horses Midstream

NY Dispatch Day 109: 

Dear Republicans,

Let me let you in on a little secret. You have a legal way out of the firestorm you created. You are not required to nominate 45 to be the front man of your party for the 2020 elections. Yes, you decided there was no need for a primary, I mean, who would dare run against your supreme leader? But even you, yes you with your head in the sand avoiding any sense of accountability, you must at least sense that the tide has changed and he is the toxic waste that...

O Canada!

NY Dispatch Day 108: Last night my aunt and I were commiserating over the never-ending flood of bad news. A flood of Biblical proportions. A Noah’s Ark flood of bad news. It has been impossible to escape, especially as we remain under house arrest. I have been guilty of documenting these unsettling events as they happen. It is time to turn off the news and take a mental detour to… Canada. Happy Canada Day.

My first trip to Canada was in high school when my best friend, Lou, and I drove up to Tor...

A Faustian Bargain Comes Due

NY Dispatch Day 107: Hard to believe it has taken almost 4 years, but the scorched earth approach of the current administration may be running out of ammunition. The latest revelation that 45 was notified in 2019 about Russia placing a bounty on the heads of American soldiers in Afghanistan, which he either didn’t care about or the message was withheld from him because the “adults in the room” were afraid how he might react, may be the final straw for the flag-waving, pro-troops Republicans. As ...

June Brings Another SCOTUS Surprise

NY Dispatch Day 106: The Supreme Court has delivered yet another surprise 5-4 decision that strikes down a Louisiana law. It intended to restrict access to abortion clinics by requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. This case was almost identical to one the Court decided against 4 years ago. Chief Justice John Roberts may have aligned himself with the liberals because of the precedent set by the prior case; he stated it had not been decided correctly, but it stands as...

The Power of Pink Dollars

NY Dispatch Day 104: A legitimate critique of Pride month is that we are inundated with businesses chasing “pink dollars” for the month of June, embossing the Pride flag on their corporate logos and branded merch, but then they forget about us the rest of the year, the same way that the Democrats only court African Americans during election years. According to LGBT Capital in 2019 our global community had an estimated $3.7 trillion in spending power. Even if that is an estimate, when you calcula...