“Story of Stuff” phenom Annie Leonard is out this morning with a terrific new video just in time for the “Supercommittee” debate over the federal budget deficit.
Leonard is ticked off that the deficit is being used to argue that good schools, a clean energy economy, good healthcare and the whole American Dream promised by politicians is no longer possible. Pushing back with her own budget analysis,
“The Story of Broke”
argues that “we aren’t broke,” we are just still spending far too much on “the dinosaur economy,” subsidizing Big Oil and petrochemicals, cheap mining on federal lands, the risk of a nuclear meltdown. and tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations with the most lobbyists.
Pointing out what could be done with dino-subsidies, Leonard makes it clear that subsidies for new green jobs in renewable energy—along with zero-waste production, conversion away from petrochemicals to bio-based materials, and higher recycling rates—could create lots of jobs and help restore the tax base for education, Medicare and other vital public services.
For another caffeinated dose of Annie Leonard’s inspiration—and Free Range Graphic’s tart illustrations of her argument—check it out
here