A Green White House

I am sorry I didn't post again before the March 1st deadline, I am afraid that my own deadlines caught up to me. Additionally, the stock market crash on tuesday lost me quite a bit of money, and forced me to think over my investment strategy. (Small plug: I know this is an energy and utilities career blog, however, one of the best things that college kids can do to start making money is to learn how to invest. You need to save up a few thousand to start, but then you can open up an account at one of the online brokerages, like Ameritrade or Etrade - and they charge you about $10 a trade. It makes sense for people our age to be investing in riskier things, such as stocks, so I suggest everyone take a look at it. Additionally, long term investing is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure future financial stability.)

However, I promise to make it up to you all by posting future internship opportunities on here - and don't you worry, there are plenty more out there. First though, a little news story from my home town of Washington, DC. It seems as though Nancy Pelosi is attempting to make the White House and, more generally, the entire capitol, a bit more green. She has asked her "chief administrative officer," a man named Daniel Beard, to complete the preliminary sketch of this plan by the end of April. She will be appealing to some of the new green building standards as the white house gets improved. Green architecture is a rapidly growing field, and if I had the slightest bit of artistic talent I would launch myself right in there as fast as possible. As it is, I content myself by reading about it, and imagining the cool, eco-friendly house that I plan to build when I "grow up." (I confess, in tenth grade I desperately wanted to live in a hay bale house. And before you scoff, look them up, because they are the coolest things ever.) Before I get distracted, lets think about the politics behind the "greening the capital" move though, because Nancy is not merely interested in getting energy efficient copier machines, and organic coffee. Currently, environmentalists are divided about whether it will be better to push environmental legislation through now - legislation which will have to be "dummed down" in order for Bush and other Republicans to swallow it. Or, is it better to wait for the 2008 elections and a president who, presumably, will be more environmentally inclined than Bush -and therefore willing to pass tougher legislation? If democrats such as Nancy decide to wait, they will want to appease the public in the meantime by passing green, but unimportant legislation. Don't get me wrong, I am excited the capital will be more eco-friendly in the future, but lets not forget that it is part of a political maneuver.

Wow, how time flies on a saturday. Especially when you wake up at 2pm, which I may have done. . .

Have a great weekend,
Emily