Green Options

CNN highlights the Billionaires for Wealthcare enthusiastically singing the praises of a public option, as they entertained unsuspecting attendees at a health insurance conference in Washington DC last week. Wolf Blitzer and Jeanne Moos discuss the increasingly popular use of guerilla musical theatre across the nation. Cleverly orchestrated performances and mini-musicals seem to have become much more popular with folks now than rabid screaming teabaggers.

The brave Billionaires for Wealthcare are back in fine voice. This group of talented guerrilla performance artists graciously entertained attendees at a conference of health insurance industry workers with a seemingly spontaneous performance of a clever operatic anthem about our desperate need for a public option.

At the annual conference of America’s Health Insurance Plans, (the corporate lobbying group that recently released a threatening report about how any inclusion

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First Lady Michelle Obama talks straightforwardly about women and why we all so urgently need health care reform in this five minute short that was just released by the White House. At the moment I know that I am existing in something of a self-absorbed cancer bubble of my own, but I actually found this quite moving and powerful.

Last week Florida Congressman Alan Grayson accurately and succinctly explained the Republican Health Care “Plan”: Don’t get sick. And if you do get sick, just please die quickly. His passionately honest retort against our nation’s “no-mongers” has spread across the country faster than a California wildfire.

Brave New Films has just created this short video which clearly exposes the utter hypocrisy and obdurate cruelty of Republican

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Billionaires for Wealth Care have created this rousing anthem to satirically support our nation’s for-profit health care industries. The group was counter-protesting at last week’s teabagger anti-health care reform 9/12 rally in Washington D.C. (which was funded by major health insurance corporations). The Billionaires were dressed in top hats, tuxedos and evening gowns, and carried placards like: “Fight Socialism—End Medicare Now!” and “Let Them Eat Advil!”.

According to the Billionaires’ website they are:

A grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists, talk-show hosts, and others profiting off of our broken health care system. We are not a political, religious or even particularly well-organized group. We’re simple folk, thrilled profiteers pouring out of our corner offices to dance on the grave of “Change.” We’ll do whatever it takes to ensure another decade where your pain is our gain. After all, when it comes to health care, if we ain’t broke, why fix it?

Green business practices are not limited to factories and buildings anymore. According to Yahoo Finance, soem insurance companies are offering clients who drive green cars or live in green homes a break on their premiums. Still others are offering to rebuild a green home that is lost due to fire or other catastrophes “greener” than it was before.

A recent survey of drivers found that 2,150 tons of CO2 are generated by UK motorists warming up their cars in the morning, creating the equivalent CO2 emissions of three 747 flights from London to New York each day.

“Everyone is now familiar with simple energy saving tips like switching off a tap, turning off lights and recycling but it seems many people’s green intentions go out the window when they are faced with a cold start in the morning. Our research has shown that an estimated 2,150 tonnes of CO2 and 21,450MW  of electricity will be wasted each cold morning across the UK.” - Lucy Bailey, ibuyeco spokesperson

Climate change must be factored into all new planning to safeguard coastal developments against sea level rise, the State of Victoria in Australia has decided.

[image via Mae Noelle]

Homeowners using sustainable building materials or installing alternative energy sources now have an insurance option that will cover these green upgrades in case of a disaster. Fireman’s Fund offers this “green” homeowners insurance in select states. Georgia signed on to the program in July, joining 23 others.

Coverage isn’t limited to folks with green additions on their homes. If an event results in “total loss,” the coverage will replace the damage with products that meet LEED standards! Additionally, it covers the cost of any necessary demolition and the pricey hauling of debris to a recycling facility rather than a junk yard.

States have been able to sign on since June, and Illinois was the first place that green coverage was available. Coverage is now available in:

Findings from a new report examining insurance companies’ responses to climate change were released at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors last week. The study found that an increasing number of companies are implementing initiatives to reduce the risk of climate change’s impacts and reduce the emissions that cause the problem.

"From Risk to Opportunity 2007: Insurer Responses to Climate Change" was commissioned by Ceres, a U.S. group of investors and clean

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