Eloquent Thoughts

I'm working on two research papers, both of which have the potential to be very good, and I was just thinking today, "I just need to not procrastinate like crazy so that I get a reasonable product instead of a giant pile of crap."

Main Interests

Today someone asked me what my main focus is for my career, and I momentarily forgot.  It occurred to me I need to have a more rehearsed answer for when people ask me this so here goes.

I have several main interests, and they are:

1.) carbon footprinting of banking and financial sector.
2.) decision making, data management, and information systems,
3.) social entrepreneurship

Where the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill of 2009 went wrong?

In the first term of the Obama administration, a big healthcare bill was passed while the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, otherwise known as ACES, sputtered out.

I read an article in my Energy Policy class by Theda Skocpol that had an interesting hypothesis about why the climate change bill didn't pass.
Naming the Problem: What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight against Global Warming

According to the article, it's not because there's only enough political capital for one policy (see page 19) nor is it because there was not enough support from the White House (see page 18).  Instead, one major difference between the campaigns for ACES and Obamacare is that the proponents for the climate bill focused more on insider bargaining and media ads while a coalition outside the beltway was formed for healthcare known as HCAN (see pages 42 - 46).  The new coalition engaged interest groups outside of the beltway and influenced law-making.  HCAN formed the bridge between the Democratic DC insiders and the progressives further to the left outside DC ("liberal elite" + "hippies").  In contrast, efforts by cap and trade proponents are characterized by one-way communications from DC to the public (see page 47).

Fava Beans Look So Pretty

Fava beans are in season!  I boiled beets and fava beans in the same water, and it was pretty.

unlikely-look-a-likes

It occurred to me that Michael Cera looks kinda like Chinese comedian Feng Gong.