economy

As the economy sinks ever deeper into a rerun of the 1930s depression, it's worth considering the effects of the crisis on our health. Are stockbrokers jumping out of windows on Wall Street? No - but they typically don't, even in the worst of times. This enduring urban legend is apparently based on just two people who jumped to their deaths after the crash in 1929; there have been no confirmed cases since then. Are suicides in general increasing as a result of unemployment?

It's no surprise that financial disaster has pushed environmental problems out of the news of late. But it's too bad that they can't get together somehow; the two areas of crisis, and the needed solutions, have a lot in common. The common thread is that both involve risks of rare, catastrophic events. In both cases, the prudent response is to focus on insurance against worst-case risks, rather than cost-benefit analysis of the most likely outcomes. The stock market and other financial markets are in the throes of the worst crisis since the 1930s.

My favorite quote from the recent campaign was the statement in Obama's acceptance speech at the convention in Denver. Speaking about the United States, he said, "We are better than these last eight years." Nowhere is this more accurate than in our anti-environmental policies of recent years.

On November 4, from the White House to state houses and the unsung offices of Soil & Water Conservation and Public Utility Districts, American voters elected what is likely an unprecedented number of pro-environment candidates.