Labor Day, Oakland, CA -- This Labor Day, Time To Get Smarter is launching a Petition to President Obama and Congress calling for putting millions of people back to work in green jobs and making millions of regular jobs, workplaces and homes continually greener --- all leading to a greener, cleaner, safer, healthier, more competitive and sustainable America. Time To Get Smarter says let's make that happen by implementing economy-wide pricing that tells the ecological truth.

With economy-wide pricing that tells the ecological truth, pollution, health, climate disruption, disposal and clean up costs to society and the environment in the long run would be included in the cost of all products, services and production methods. The game changing result --- products, services and production methods that are overall cleaner, safer and truly less expensive to everyone would increasingly underprice, outcompete and replace their more polluting and dangerous counterparts, leading to a continually greener and cleaner America! How exactly will that happen?

1. First, we must recognize that America's largest unacknowledged tax and irresponsible experiment on society and our children is the massive, pervasive, greenhouse gas, chemical, radioactive and heavy metal pollution and poisoning of our air, water, soil, food, bodies and everyday products. Then, we need to make this tax visible with True Cost-Pollution Prevention (TCPP) taxes on pollution/poisoning. The result --- reducing pollution, poisoning and ones TCPP taxes becomes more profitable than continuing to pollute and poison!

2. Second, we rebate 25% of these TCPP taxes back to each adult resident through monthly automatic bank deposits to cushion them from initially higher prices and help them buy cleaner, safer goods, vehicles and services. (Note that costs will drop over time for heating, cooling, garbage, guarding overseas oil supplies and healthcare because of healthier air, water, food, jobs and workplaces)

3. Third, we use the lion's share of the remaining 75% to create a green job boom and accelerate the cycle of Ever Cleaner and Safer by a) helping millions of low to average income homeowners, renters, businesses and farmers pay for Deep Greening their homes, businesses and farms with solar panels, wind turbines, better insulation, non-toxic carpets etc. b) by helping millions of unemployed and low/average income citizens, coal miners, oil workers and others in especially effected areas and industries get training and start their own green businesses offering these same and other green services, c) by helping low to average homeowners, renters, businesses and farmers buy hybrid and/or electric cars, trucks, scooters, motorcycles and bicycles powered by these same solar panels and wind turbines, and d) by helping public transit districts lower fares and expand services with new rural, suburban, and urban lines and clean-powered hybrid and electric vehicles and systems. (See their follow-up petition.)

Bottom line, pricing that tells the truth is not only long term realistic and morally and economically honest and responsible, it's also fiscally conservative -- a dollar of pollution prevention is cheaper than a hundred dollars of cure or clean-up €“ and it's common sense -- better safe than sorry -- because there might not be an effective cure or clean-up at any cost.

And the results€¦Ever Cleaner and Safer continually underprices, outcompetes and replaces Dirtier and More Dangerous, millions of people go back to work and America's economy becomes increasingly cleaner, safer, healthier, more sustainable and more competitive in the next global growth industries of clean energy, clean tech and green chemistry.

As Time To Get Smarter's founder, Tom Kahan, notes, "The climate and energy bills in Congress have stalled, which is a blessing in disguise because the more support/money a bill got from Big Business As Usual, the less change it called for. In fact, the more "popular" cap and trade bills completely disregarded world climate science consensus that by 2020 we need to reduce carbon 25-40 % below 1990 --- not 4-5% as their bills did."

Tom goes on to say, "Now, at this historic crossroad in The Human Race for a Healthy Planet, as we begin this crucial decade, it's up to us ordinary citizens, We, the People of these United States, to take the lead and insist and pressure the powers that be that, for the sake of all our children, America can and must heed the science and quickly transform our entire economy so it's clean, safe, healthy and sustainable."

This small, non-partisan activist group invites everyone and every group to help spread the word about this petition and The Human Race for a Healthy Planet. Current allies include Pesticide Action Network North America, Organic Consumers Association, Better World Club and Earth Policy Institute. All others are invited to join as well.

Tom Kahan says there were many inspirations and influences that led to this petition. The first was falling in love with Nature while camping with his father throughout California. Then, as the son of a Holocaust survivor and a history buff, he not only grew up with a keen awareness that millions can die from commonly accepted ideas completely unhinged from reality but he also learned that no country, economic system or civilization is too big to fail. Most recently, he was inspired by a quote from Oystein Dahle, a former Exxon VP on this very subject:

"Socialism collapsed because it did not allow the market to tell the economic truth. Capitalism may collapse because it does not allow the market to tell the ecological truth."

He says he then realized that economy-wide pricing that told the ecological truth, if effectively implemented, could forestall this potentially fatal market failure of our current capitalist model: privatization of profit and socialization of cost. He also saw that there didn't appear to be any American organization, petition, politician or legislation with an actual plan that both heeded the science and was aimed at quickly reducing and eliminating the full range of pollution and poisoning we face. With his daughter turning 21, he realized this would be what he devoted the rest of his life to. Ultimately, Tom says it comes down to trying to protect our children and their future, loving our neighbors, our earth and mobilizing to save civilization.

Contact Info: Leanne Grossman, 415-225-9800
media@TimeToGetSmarter.org

Website : Time to Get Smarter