Responding to ISIS

In the past several years, ISIS has grown to be a formidable foe to the Middle East and the West. The terror organization completely disregards international law and human life as seen through its vicious conquest of large swaths of Iraq and Syria to fulfill its hopes of creating a worldwide caliphate under the name “Islamic State”. Despite this troubling news, the U.S.’s and West’s response to ISIS has been quite limited in scope. Through a U.S. led coalition of Western and Middle Eastern countries, there have been over 16,000 airstrikes launched into Iraq and Syria within the last six months. However, less than 1% of the territory conquered by ISIS has been returned to Iraq, making one lesson clear: the US strategy to deal with ISIS is failing.
 
Instead the US and the West must pursue a drastically different approach, one that would ensure the complete elimination of ISIS and effectively address terrorism within the region. In particular, the U.S. must intensify air strikes instead of restraining them. In fact, “between August 8, 2014, and October 23, 2014—76 days—the United States conducted only 632 airstrikes and dropped only 1,700 munitions in Iraq and Syria.” Clearly, these nearsighted attempts have failed completely.  

Furthermore, President Obama must lift the prohibition on U.S. soldiers on the ground because an air campaign is not enough to eliminate ISIS. Through a ground campaign, soldiers can communicate with allied soldiers and create strategies to quickly stake out and eliminate ISIS positions. Moreover, the U.S. should train peshmarga, Sunni tribes, the Free Syrian Army, and ISF to decrease alienation between the Sunnis and Shiites. These efforts are necessary when many Sunnis have been allying with ISIS because of the frequent abuse suffered under Shiite militia. 

Ultimately, the U.S. must combine the assistance of all non-“extremist” groups, Sunni and Shiite, to work toward creating a post-conflict Iraq and Syria. In Syria, the international community must work to establish a post-Assad administration that is approved by the various sects in Syria. Furthermore, in Iraq, the U.S. must push toward autonomy for Kurds and Sunnis so that they are able to govern themselves independently free from Shiite rule.  

Although these solutions may sound ambitious, they are precautionary measures that can prevent the rise of another devastating terror group. Certainly, long-term plans should be laid out for this region than none at all.

Reforming Public Pensions

States in America currently face a $4 trillion unfunded pension liability crisis. Years of unfunded promises and actions from legislators to public sector workers have left a troubling scenario for the fiscal state of state governments. In response, states are raising taxes or cutting services while refusing to acknowledge the issue of public pensions. An effective solution to the public pension crisis is to cut government services, the size of government, slash current pensions, and ensure that public sector workers, rather than taxpayers, contribute the largest portions to their public pensions.

           

However, unions are certainly unwilling to compromise on this issue because many feel that they are being attacked by “Wall Street” and the “rich”; blanket accusations that do not address their role in the crises. Members of these public sector unions are “guaranteed a certain level of payout based on a formula.” Pension funds invest government and employer contributed funds; those funds then make a prediction about the system’s overall rate of return. However, in their current state when these investments do poorly, unfunded obligations go up and politicians either increase taxes to cover those costs, or deal with these issues later.

            

In the case of California, the “Board of Regents of the University of California (UC) voted 14–7 to raise tuition by as much as 5 percent a year unless the state legislature provides it with at least $100 million more a year. This, after tuitions, already doubled over the past decade.” What drove these tuition increases? Well, this resulted from unfunded pension liabilities and rising healthcare costs for public workers.

           

During the 1990s, the university had a surplus budget and refused to make more annual payments to its pension fund. Instead, it relied on optimistic predictions for the rate of returns for their investments. Consequently, the system is now underfunded with assets just covering only 0.3 percent of the predicted costs of these obligations. Younger workers are forced to bear the brunt of these expenses because they must pay greater contributions to a public pension system while facing the risk of their government defaulting on their debt obligations.  

Clearly, state governments must overlook the interests of public-sector unions and realize that taxpayers are the ones who cover public costs. Ultimately, a reduction of government services, slashing pensions, and requiring greater public worker contributions into their pensions will solve this crisis.

Empty Parking Lots and Solar Panels

FedEx Field, Washington D.C.

Rutgers University

28 Acres

“America is a nation of pavement”, says Chris Mooney writingfor the Washington Post. 35-50% of American cities surfaces are pavement. 40% of that is parking lot. There is actually a way to use these parking lots to generate energy. It’s called solar carports and it’s literally just installing solar panels as shades so cars park beneath a barrier of solar panels.

At Rutgers University, 28 acres of parking space can generate enough energy to power 1,000 homes. Solar carports can absorb heat that would normally get absorbed by the concrete, heating the surrounding area. It can also keep your car cool as your shopping so you don’t return to a roasting car. Using empty space that would normally go unused to generate solar energy seems like a great idea doesn’t it? Then why isn’t everyone doing it? 

As always it’s the $$$, the cost.

Right now in the U.S., the solar energy market remains relatively niche. Because carports are expensive, many companies rely on state incentives and grants to install carports. The California Solar Initiative has helped California to be the number 1 market for carports. In other areas of the U.S., companies such as Staples and Dow Jones & Co. have hopped on the wagon. 

Lincoln Financial Field

The Washington Redskins’ FedEx Field have installed gigantic solar panels covering over 800 parking spaces that generate 20% of the stadium’s power. In Philadelphia, the Lincoln Financial Field became the first stadium in the U.S. to have capability to generate all of its 

own electricity.

Solar carports sound like a no brainer for the environment, but right now businesses just don't see it a worthwhile investment.