In his weekly, President Obama is addressing the crisis at the pump…that is rising gas prices. Is it directly connected to what’s going on in Libya and the oil producing states over there? No one’s really saying. Have the oil giants implemented some crisis management on the consumer?

On Thursday, my Attorney General also launched a task force with just one job: rooting out cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, including any illegal activity by traders and speculators. We’re going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain. And another step we need to take is to finally end the $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies we give to the oil and gas companies each year. That’s $4 billion of your money going to these companies when they’re making record profits and you’re paying near record prices at the pump. It has to stop.

This week’s message goes back to a campaign issue that’s been on the table for the Obama administration since taking office — clean renewable energy. Eventually the oil well will run dry, but that doesn’t seem to worry deficit hatchet swingers in the Congress who aren’t convinced investment in clean renewable energy technology is worth the time and money as off shore drilling (and years of clean up – i.e. BP oil spill and others that haven’t made the front pages).

Aren’t we tired of generations of lip service to “looking out for the future,” and “helping the children and grandchildren”? By now someone should’ve figured out, your 15 minutes are up when you reach 21. And if you don’t vote? You fall into another lost generation and it’s time to start again on the next generation. If anyone’s invested in the future, it’s the people who desire to live and thrive in it. Clean air would be a big help.

Last week Energy Action Coalition: The Hub of the Youth Climate Movement held their Power Shift Conference in Washington, DC. More than 10,000 people participated. Van Jones who resigned from his post as White House Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation, was the keynote speaker. Van Jones flipped the words to “Shift the Power.”

For some reason the press and Jones’ own admirers in the blogosphere decided to stick to one remark in this 20 minute speech “DC is stuck on stupid.” Perhaps DC isn’t the only one who’s stuck.

Being an engaged citizen can be just as time consuming and demanding as being a politician.

If you have a friend who should be an A+ student, getting C’s and D’s,
you’d put on peer pressure to achieve higher.
If you are a hero, for ensuring your friend gets an A,
aren’t you a bigger hero for helping your other friend get an A on his presidency?

— Van Jones