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07 March 2008
This Week from Washington - March 6
Podcast on U.S. society and foreign policy issues
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This week -- green energy in America, corporate social responsibility, Iran’s nuclear program and the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
More and more states in America are pursuing a green energy future. Recently, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty promoted the clean energy theme to the National Governors Association at their annual meeting. This week, he’s in Washington, D.C., for the International Renewable Energy Conference, where he’ll give a keynote address.
Pawlenty considers energy and its environmental impact among the most important issues facing our country and the world. Perhaps more important, he shares the view with many in the American business sector that green energy can create economic benefits, more jobs and more economic activity. These are so-called green-collar jobs -- resulting from a new industry developing and accelerating in the United States.
In America, many initiatives are taken at the state and local level, independent of the federal government in Washington, D.C. States are so-called laboratories of democracy, where new things are tried. Different states have different strategies, depending on their own needs and resources.
The Minnesota governor thinks the potential of green technology is at least as big as the IT revolution of the 1990s. Businesses are increasingly interested in this emerging industry and are waiting for a favorable policy environment to make long-term plans. The U.S. government’s aim at the International Renewable Conference is to sign up more countries to achieve renewable energy goals. A massive trade show with the latest technologies will provide ideas to international delegates searching for solutions.
An American entrepreneur and shoemaker is giving his products to poor, barefoot children in Argentina and South Africa. Blake Mycoskie visited Argentina several years ago as a contestant on the American television series The Amazing Race. He was struck by the poverty he saw there -- especially the number of shoeless children.
As a result, in 2006 he joined with Argentine polo player Alejo Nitti and founded TOMS Shoes. The company’s mission is to match every pair of shoes purchased by customers in Los Angeles, New York, London or online with a pair donated to a child in need.
TOMS Shoes is based on a corporate culture of strong social responsibility. Voluntary work brings American and Argentine citizens together, and generates not only benefits for those most in need, but also greater mutual understanding.
In October 2006, TOMS donated 10,000 pairs of shoes to children in the Buenos Aires area and in Misiones province in Argentina. The company received the 2007 People's Design Award from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York for fostering a business model based on socially responsible and innovative entrepreneurship.
With a near-unanimous vote, the United Nations Security Council imposed a third set of economic sanctions on Iran. Senior U.S. officials said the move illustrates that the council will take action when a nation violates its international obligations. The action took place March 3 after Iran refused to suspend uranium enrichment and did not respond to questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The measure was unanimously backed by the Security Council's five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and passed the council in a 14-0 vote, with Indonesia abstaining. The latest sanctions, co-sponsored by Britain and France, impose new restrictions on trade in goods with civilian and military uses.
Meanwhile, in Vienna, Austria, the U.N. called on Iran to explain new intelligence from many international sources suggesting that Iranian efforts to manufacture nuclear weapons may have continued past 2003. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran halted operations at that time in response to growing international pressure.
The Iranian government claims that its nuclear enrichment activities are designed to develop civil nuclear power. The United States, along with the rest of the Security Council's permanent members, has offered Iran support for the development of peaceful civil nuclear power.
Arizona Senator John McCain clinched the Republican presidential nomination after American voters in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont voted in primaries on March 4. McCain’s last rival, Governor Mike Huckabee, ended his bid after the final votes were counted.
McCain’s campaign suffered during the summer of 2007. With his numbers sinking in the polls and his funds running out, many political experts said McCain’s campaign was hopeless. But now, with the Republican nomination secure, McCain can turn his focus to the upcoming general election in November. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, still locked in competition for the Democratic Party’s nomination, congratulated McCain on his victory.
This podcast is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other Internet sites or opinions expressed should not be considered an endorsement of other content and views.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
