Edmond Oklahoma Short Sales Increasing

March 8th, 2010

Edmond Oklahoma increasing in homes in default

I have been working in Edmond Oklahoma real estate as a short sale specialist. Edmond seemed to be a market that at first was not only defying national trends on troubled housing, but also the general problems in the greater Oklahoma City ares. That seems to be changing. We recently signed on to a national reporting service that analyzes homes on a hyper local way. Just in the last month they have sent us information on over 1000 homes in Edmond that are in default 60 to 90 days days. Default by definition is when a payment on a home loan is at least 30 days late. When it gets 60 to 90 days it becomes chronic to a lender and is close to the time a legal notice is sent to the owner that foreclosure is near. This number represents double what it was a year ago. This could be ominous for Edmond in 2010 and 2011 if these homes convert to a foreclosure. If we were to have at least 10% of our homes selling inforeclosure this would create a depreciating market. Currently we have a market holding on to its values but just barely. It is important that homeowners in default initiate a short sale with a qualified realtor. Not only will this help save their credit rating, it will also help to keep the market stable. If you are in this situation please call us soon. We can advise you on your options including the possibility of refinance or loan modification. You can also go to our short sale site at www.avoidforeclosureoklahoma.com for more answers. If you are in Edmond Oklahoma or any area of Oklahoma City we can help. You can also email me at joe@joepryor.com.

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Short-Sale Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

March 8th, 2010

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.

This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.

“We want to streamline and standardize the short sale process to make it much easier on the borrower and much easier on the lender,” said Seth Wheeler, a Treasury senior adviser.

The problem is highlighted by a routine case in Phoenix. Chris Paul, a real estate agent, has a house he is trying to sell on behalf of its owner, who owes $150,000. Mr. Paul has an offer for $48,000, but the bank holding the mortgage says it wants at least $90,000. The frustrated owner is now contemplating foreclosure.

To bring the various parties to the table — the homeowner, the lender that services the loan, the investor that owns the loan, the bank that owns the second mortgage on the property — the government intends to spread its cash around.

Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in “relocation assistance.”

Should the incentives prove successful, the short sales program could have multiple benefits. For the investment pools that own many home loans, there is the prospect of getting more money with a sale than with a foreclosure.

For the borrowers, there is the likelihood of suffering less damage to credit ratings. And as part of the transaction, they will get the lender’s assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance.

For communities, the plan will mean fewer empty foreclosed houses waiting to be sold by banks. By some estimates, as many as half of all foreclosed properties are ransacked by either the former owners or vandals, which depresses the value of the property further and pulls down the value of neighboring homes.

If short sales are about to have their moment, it has been a long time coming. At the beginning of the foreclosure crisis, lenders shunned short sales. They were not equipped to deal with the labor-intensive process and were suspicious of it.

The lenders’ thinking, said the economist Thomas Lawler, went like this: “I lend someone $200,000 to buy a house. Then he says, ‘Look, I have someone willing to pay $150,000 for it; otherwise I think I’m going to default.’ Do I really believe the borrower can’t pay it back? And is $150,000 a reasonable offer for the property?”

Short sales are “tailor-made for fraud,” said Mr. Lawler, a former executive at the mortgage finance company Fannie Mae.

Last year, short sales started to increase, although they remain relatively uncommon. Fannie Mae said preforeclosure deals on loans in its portfolio more than tripled in 2009, to 36,968. But real estate agents say many lenders still seem to disapprove of short sales.

Under the new federal program, a lender will use real estate agents to determine the value of a home and thus the minimum to accept. This figure will not be shared with the owner, but if an offer comes in that is equal to or higher than this amount, the lender must take it.

Mr. Paul, the Phoenix agent, was skeptical. “In a perfect world, this would work,” he said. “But because estimates of value are inherently subjective, it won’t. The banks don’t want to sell at a discount.”

via nytimes.com

The article mentions the $75 Billion already allocated for workouts that the Federal Government insititued previosuly. While I applaud this and the administrations desire to make short sales streamlined, uniform, and have new incentives, as a real estate short sale specialist I know that if I take the 5 hardest hit states, there has been a $2 Trillion loss of equity. For instance 70% of Nevadans owe more that the value of their home. While Oklahoma is not in that shape, this problem exist in every major city and beyond. I wish I had an answer, and i wish some genius in Washington DC could come up with one also.

Posted via web from Joe Pryor’s posterous

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Oklahoma City Short Sales and Investors

March 7th, 2010

Oklahoma City is not awash in distressed homes that need a short sale workout, but we still have the numbers climbing of those who are trying to avoid foreclosure. Luckily for our distressed homeowners, Oklahoma is a judical state, so we have months to get the home sold. While Oklahoma is not a place to find properties that are fire sale priced since our market is still good, you can still find instant equity in a home purchase, and if you are an investor you can get these homes and have an excellent internal rate of return . When you can hold onto a property for around 7 years, and have annual returns of 20% to 30%, a terrific rental pool, and prices as low as $40,000 for a fixed up house that is appreciating you know you have come to the right place.

I have specialized in investment property for 16 of my 20 years in real estate. I have an outstanding team that locates properties for you, has expertise in short sale workouts, includes knowledgable mortgage officers, fix up repair specialit, and one of the best property management company I have ever worked with. You can buy with confidence.

An example of a great short sale deal is a home in Mustang  built in 2005 with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, andstudy, a 2 car garage, backs to a greenbelt, ha s asprinkler and is across the street from a golf course. It is available at $117,500 and would rent for $1200 a month. We are currently working on a package of properties that a local and large investment group wants to nstart selling and these will start at $40,000, go to $100,000, and most will already have a renter. For more information you can call me at 405-590-2135, or use the email me function on this web site.

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AT&T Invested Nearly $650 Million in Oklahoma Wireless and Wireline Network Over the Past Three… — OKLAHOMA CITY, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ –

March 4th, 2010

AT&T Invested Nearly $650 Million in Oklahoma Wireless and Wireline Network Over the Past Three Years

 

Network Projects Aimed At Enhancing Mobile Broadband Service Across the State

OKLAHOMA CITY, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AT&T* today announced that AT&T’s total capital investment in its Oklahoma wireless and wireline networks was nearly $650 million from 2007 through 2009. Since 1996, AT&T has invested more than $2.8 billion in its wired and wireless services in Oklahoma.

In 2009 alone, AT&T added more than 30 new cell sites in Oklahoma, upgraded four cities to 3G and expanded 3G capacity in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. In addition, AT&T plans to continue to enhance mobile broadband service in 2010 with the construction of more new cell sites and the upgrade of additional cell sites to 3G.

The planned wireless network enhancement strategy is part of AT&T’s 2010 wireline and wireless capital investment, which is expected to be in the $18 billion to $19 billion range companywide, an increase of between 5 and 10 percent over 2009. This planned amount also includes an increase of about $2 billion in capital expenditures for wireless and backhaul related to AT&T’s wireless network. This planned level of investment is framed by the expectation that regulatory and legislative decisions relating to the telecom sector will continue to be sensitive to investment.

“Investment in the state’s broadband networks is critical to keeping Oklahoma competitive and providing our citizens with the best technology,” said Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge. “Expanding and enhancing the mobile broadband network extends the benefits of broadband access to many consumers who are relying more and more on wireless technology to access the Internet.”

“The enhanced coverage and improved wireless service created by these investments are vitally important to our state’s economic development efforts,” said state Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee. “More than ever before, Oklahomans look to wireless communications to stay in touch with family, friends and business colleagues.”

“These investments in smart networks are enabling the innovation of today and tomorrow that will enhance economic growth and stimulate jobs,” said Bryan Gonterman, president, AT&T Oklahoma. “We commend the work of our elected officials who are creating a positive economic environment that provides opportunities for companies to continue to invest aggressively in Oklahoma.”

Internet usage growth has brought tremendous benefits for consumers, but requires tremendous investments in infrastructure. This significant investment in infrastructure and jobs is possible due to policy that enables companies to compete and offer the innovative services that consumers are increasingly demanding. AT&T has been working with policy makers to support a national broadband plan that enables broadband adoption and ensures broadband access to every American by 2014.

Wireless data traffic on the AT&T network has grown more than 5,000 percent over the past three years, largely attributed to today’s advanced smartphones that are generating dramatically increasing volumes of network traffic. In fact, roughly 40 percent of AT&T’s postpaid customer base uses a smartphone today, representing twice the number of smartphone customers than any other U.S. provider.

“We’re seeing advanced smartphones driving up to 10 times the amount of usage of other devices on average,” said Steve Gray, AT&T’s Vice President and General Manager for the Oklahoma and Arkansas region. “Despite these unprecedented increases in wireless data traffic, AT&T’s network investments and upgrades have enabled us to continue to deliver the nation’s fastest 3G network.”  

AT&T recently completed a software upgrade at 3G cell sites nationwide that prepares the nation’s fastest 3G network for even faster speeds. The deployment of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology is the first of multiple initiatives in AT&T’s network enhancement strategy designed to provide customers with an enhanced mobile broadband experience, both today and well into the future. 

Faster 3G speeds are scheduled to become available this year and in 2011 as AT&T combines the new technology with our second initiative to dramatically increase the number of high-speed backhaul connections to cell sites, primarily with fiber-optic connections, adding capacity from cell sites to the AT&T backbone network.

The backhaul upgrades are also a key step in the evolution toward next-generation LTE mobile broadband technology. AT&T is designing its new backhaul deployments to accommodate both faster 3G and future LTE deployments. AT&T currently plans to begin trials of LTE technology this year, and to begin LTE deployment in 2011, matching industry time lines for broader availability of compelling devices and supporting network equipment.

AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most open and widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T offers 3G data roaming in more than 115 countries, as well as voice calling in more than 220 countries. The technology also provides customers the ability to talk and surf the Internet at the same time.

AT&T is also an industry leader in Wi-Fi with the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network, which complements its wired broadband and wireless 3G networks, offering Wi-Fi connectivity in more than 20,000 U.S. hotspots — including retail stores and restaurants from coast-to-coast. A full list of AT&T Wi-Fi locations is available at www.attwifi.com.

AT&T operates 33 AT&T-owned retail locations in Oklahoma. AT&T’s products and services are also available at a number of other authorized dealers and national retail locations.  

For more information about AT&T’s wireless coverage in Oklahoma, or anywhere in the United States, consumers can go to http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/. The online tool can measure the quality of coverage based on a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Largest Wi-Fi network claim based on non-municipal company and owned and operated hotspots. A Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for additional services, details and locations.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse(SM) and AT&T | DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T’s Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing and advertising sales. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATTNews. Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at www.facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.

© 2010 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. 3G service not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

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http://www.att.com

via prnewswire.com

As an iPhone user this is good news. AT&T has sold so many iPhone in its exclusive arrangement, that the system has been overloaded. When i am in cities like Houston or San francisco you really notice it. With the coming iPad the system will be strained even more.

Posted via web from Joe Pryor’s posterous

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Oklahoma City Pre-Foreclosures are going faster

March 1st, 2010

My team does a significant number of real estate short sales   in the greater Oklahoma City area. Unfortunately more people are falling behind on theri payments, and many times they wait too late to negotiate a workout with the mortgage company. Short sales that have the lender getting less than the payoff, and the homeowner not having any expense is a difficult undertaking that should be only handles by an experienced short sale Realtor. The mortgage companies have been so overwhelmed with the workload nationally that some of our Oklahoma City clients have had anywhere from 4 months to a year to finalize this transaction. Often the owner tries to do a loan modification but until the mortgage companies decide to reduce principle balances, this will be a tiny percentage of workout solutions, and often just prolong the inevitable.

Which leads me to the good news. Even the hardest lenders to deal with like Bank of America are getting better. The Federal Government has been pressuring the lenders to streamline the process, put more people on staff, and finish more short sales that we are starting to see 4 months go down to two months. Soon, a voluntary program will be instituted at the request of the government that will give lender bonuses to lenders who meet certain guidelines. Statisticaaly it has been reported that we are now closing more preforeclosures nationally than foreclosures so the system is now starting to work. A foreclosure has a devastating affect on you credit score and even your ability to get any type of loan. If you are now 60 days late or more, you should call us for a consultation about your options. You can pursue a short sale at the same time as trying to get a loan modification.

Formore information about how those in the Oklahoma City area can get answers about a home loan in distress, go to www.avoidforeclosureoklahoma.com for more answers/

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Preforeclosure Sales now surpass Foreclosure sales

February 23rd, 2010

Oklahoma City residential real estate has been spared the worst of national housing trends, but it is certainly is not immunt to the coming storm of foreclosures. Since Oklahoma City is a judicial state, it takes sometimes a year or more to go through the foreclosure process. As someone who heads up a team of short sale specialist this gives me ample opportunity to get people out of foreclosure that has a musch more devastating affect on their credit rating. For people in Oklahoma City, this can mean that the credit rating can even keep you from getting a car loan, previously one of the easiet loans to obtain.

When I was blogging last year about distressed property, those in wither foreclosure or default, the number of American homeowners were 1 in 8 inbdistress. new statistics put that now at 1 in 6. Clearly the probelm is now worse than before. Hpwever, banks are more involved and motivated to do a preforeclosure workout. They need to. The number of homeowners 90 days late or more, those at the greatest risk have doubled in two years.

Yes I know what Oklahoma City area homeowners are saying. Isn’t this concentrated in five states, and that is a yes. Oklahoma City is no Las Vegas, but i read the sheriff sale list every two weeks, and it keeps getting longer. It is not consolation to you that these 5 states are worse if you are the one in trouble. This is why you should not wait to act. Even if you are only 60 days late, you need to know your options. We have a site specifically designed to give you answers. If you go to www.avoidforeclosureoklahoma.com, you will get answers to your most commonly asked questions. For more detail you can call us and we will talk to you about solutions. Call Joe Pryor at 405-590-2135, or Charlene Humphreys at 405-206-0764. We are avaialble to help you in your decisions. 

Tomorrow I will blog about what mortgage companies are now doing to speed the process along.

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Median Price Per Sqft for Single Family Properties in OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118

February 23rd, 2010

 

 

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via Median Price Per Sqft for Single Family Properties in OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118.

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Mustang Oklahoma Short Sale bargain

February 22nd, 2010

7536 Embassy Mustang, Oklahoma

Mustang, Oklahoma is along the west corridor of Oklahoma City, and an area that has seen the greatest growth of new housing. Since a rising tide carries all boats, new housing has helped the price of exisitng homes rise. Just when you thought that a home might be out of reach in price to buy reasonably, we listed 7536 Embassy  at $50 per square foot. This 1500 SF (mol) home is listed at $75,000. It has a brick and frame exterior, a recently replaced roof, a newer central heat and air system, and a large backyard with a6 foot wood privacy fence in excellent condition that encloses the back yard. What that means is that the most expensive upgrades have been done. I do believe that the carpet needs relacing, and some small plumbing repairs are in order, but I will be happy to send you all the homes like this available in Mustang to compare. One other short sale in the neighborhood is smaller and listed quite a bit higher. To get a feel for the house you can look at the slideshow on the site at www.joepryor.com.

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Tissue maker has Oklahoma City plans

February 18th, 2010

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David Stanley Ford

Tissue maker has Oklahoma City plans
Georgia-based company is reworking former Lucent Technologies site for June opening

BY DEBBIE BLOSSOM The Oklahoman    Comments Comment on this article

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Published: February 18, 2010

A Georgia-based company that makes private-label tissue products will open a new plant in Oklahoma City in June, the company%u2019s first facility in the Southwest.

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Employment

Cellu Tissue is currently accepting applications for employment and will continue to hire until June when operations begin. Interested applicants can send resumes to careers@cellutissue.com or fax them to (920) 721-9834. Information about the company%u2019s expansion into Oklahoma City and a listing of some open positions can be found at jobs@newsok.com. The plant is looking to fill positions for lead converting operators and lead industrial, electrical and maintenance mechanics.

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 Cellu Tissue Holdings Inc., which went public in January, is at work retrofitting a 325,000-square-foot building at the former Lucent Technologies site at 50 N Council Road.

The converting plant will make napkins, paper towels, bath and facial tissue from large rolls of paper. Cellu Tissue%u2019s products are sold nationally in retail stores.

The company did not provide information on the number of jobs it will bring to the community.

“The addition of our new Oklahoma City converting facility is perfectly aligned with Cellu Tissue%u2019s key growth strategy and ensuring we deliver to our valued customers the broadest range of converted private label tissue products that they require on time and complete,%u201D Russell Taylor, Cellu Tissue%u2019s president and chief executive officer, said in a company statement.

Oklahoma City officials said the company conducted a national search before choosing Oklahoma City and finalizing that decision in December.

The long-term lease was negotiated by Gerald Gamble of Gerald L. Gamble Co., who spent weeks showing Cellu Tissue officials buildings here and as far away as Little Rock.

“They liked Oklahoma,%u201D Gamble said, and the availability of a high-quality building just four blocks from Interstate 40.

The plant will be in a freestanding building constructed 10 years ago that has heavy industrial flooring, high ceilings and dozens of dock doors, he said.

The former distribution site is undergoing a multi-million dollar remodeling to include manufacturing operations.

The leased space is owned by 7725 Reno #2 LLC, which is managed by Terryl Zerby.

“It%u2019s wonderful to bring a manufacturer from out of town into Oklahoma City,%u201D Gamble said.

“I%u2019m glad Oklahoma City got the plant,%u201D he said.

Oklahoma City officials said the cost of doing business in Oklahoma and the central location were major factors in the company%u2019s move here.

“Oklahoma City has one of the most progressive business climates in the nation, and I%u2019m glad Cellu Tissue recognized what we could bring to the project,%u201D said Robin Roberts Krieger, vice president of economic development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.

“We are thrilled that they chose Oklahoma City, and the fact that they are bringing new jobs as well as bringing new life to the former Lucent facility is outstanding,%u201D she said.

Cellu Tissue is not receiving any incentives to locate in Oklahoma City, the chamber said.

The company is headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., and has manufacturing locations in Wisconsin, Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, New York, Connecticut and the Canadian province of Ontario.

Information about Cellu Tissue Holdings Inc. is available online at www.cellutissue.com.

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David Stanley Ford

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Your Source for Quality Bulk Tissue and Wadding Products.
www.paperpaktissue.com
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It’s about time the old Lucent plant was reoccupied. With 325,000 SF it sounds like a significant number of jobs created.

Posted via web from Joe Pryor’s posterous

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Op-Ed Columnist – Global Weirding Is Here

February 17th, 2010

Of the festivals of nonsense that periodically overtake American politics, surely the silliest is the argument that because Washington is having a particularly snowy winter it proves that climate change is a hoax and, therefore, we need not bother with all this girly-man stuff like renewable energy, solar panels and carbon taxes. Just drill, baby, drill.

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Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman

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Times Topics: Global Warming

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When you see lawmakers like Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina tweeting that %u201Cit is going to keep snowing until Al Gore cries %u2018uncle,%u2019 %u201D or news that the grandchildren of Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma are building an igloo next to the Capitol with a big sign that says %u201CAl Gore%u2019s New Home,%u201D you really wonder if we can have a serious discussion about the climate-energy issue anymore.

The climate-science community is not blameless. It knew it was up against formidable forces %u2014 from the oil and coal companies that finance the studies skeptical of climate change to conservatives who hate anything that will lead to more government regulations to the Chamber of Commerce that will resist any energy taxes. Therefore, climate experts can%u2019t leave themselves vulnerable by citing non-peer-reviewed research or failing to respond to legitimate questions, some of which happened with both the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Although there remains a mountain of research from multiple institutions about the reality of climate change, the public has grown uneasy. What%u2019s real? In my view, the climate-science community should convene its top experts %u2014 from places like NASA, America%u2019s national laboratories, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, the California Institute of Technology and the U.K. Met Office Hadley Centre %u2014 and produce a simple 50-page report. They could call it %u201CWhat We Know,%u201D summarizing everything we already know about climate change in language that a sixth grader could understand, with unimpeachable peer-reviewed footnotes.

At the same time, they should add a summary of all the errors and wild exaggerations made by the climate skeptics %u2014 and where they get their funding. It is time the climate scientists stopped just playing defense. The physicist Joseph Romm, a leading climate writer, is posting on his Web site, climateprogress.org, his own listing of the best scientific papers on every aspect of climate change for anyone who wants a quick summary now.

Here are the points I like to stress:

1) Avoid the term %u201Cglobal warming.%u201D I prefer the term %u201Cglobal weirding,%u201D because that is what actually happens as global temperatures rise and the climate changes. The weather gets weird. The hots are expected to get hotter, the wets wetter, the dries drier and the most violent storms more numerous.

The fact that it has snowed like crazy in Washington %u2014 while it has rained at the Winter Olympics in Canada, while Australia is having a record 13-year drought %u2014 is right in line with what every major study on climate change predicts: The weather will get weird; some areas will get more precipitation than ever; others will become drier than ever.

2) Historically, we know that the climate has warmed and cooled slowly, going from Ice Ages to warming periods, driven, in part, by changes in the earth%u2019s orbit and hence the amount of sunlight different parts of the earth get. What the current debate is about is whether humans %u2014 by emitting so much carbon and thickening the greenhouse-gas blanket around the earth so that it traps more heat %u2014 are now rapidly exacerbating nature%u2019s natural warming cycles to a degree that could lead to dangerous disruptions.

3) Those who favor taking action are saying: %u201CBecause the warming that humans are doing is irreversible and potentially catastrophic, let%u2019s buy some insurance %u2014 by investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and mass transit %u2014 because this insurance will also actually make us richer and more secure.%u201D We will import less oil, invent and export more clean-tech products, send fewer dollars overseas to buy oil and, most importantly, diminish the dollars that are sustaining the worst petro-dictators in the world who indirectly fund terrorists and the schools that nurture them.

4) Even if climate change proves less catastrophic than some fear, in a world that is forecast to grow from 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion people between now and 2050, more and more of whom will live like Americans, demand for renewable energy and clean water is going to soar. It is obviously going to be the next great global industry.

China, of course, understands that, which is why it is investing heavily in clean-tech, efficiency and high-speed rail. It sees the future trends and is betting on them. Indeed, I suspect China is quietly laughing at us right now. And Iran, Russia, Venezuela and the whole OPEC gang are high-fiving each other. Nothing better serves their interests than to see Americans becoming confused about climate change, and, therefore, less inclined to move toward clean-tech and, therefore, more certain to remain addicted to oil. Yes, sir, it is morning in Saudi Arabia.

Maureen Dowd is off today.

Sign in to RecommendNext Article in Opinion (1 of 26) A version of this article appeared in print on February 17, 2010, on page A23 of the New York edition.
via nytimes.com

Of the non-scientist who are concerned the most about climate change, Thomas Friedman is for me the most authoritative and reasoned voice on the subject. My fear is that we are going to go from foreign depedence on oil, to foreign dependence on clean energy technology. As long as we have paid for mouthpieces for the oil and coal industry like Jim Inhofe we will not progress. The even scarier thought is that he actually believes the garbage he spouts.

Posted via web from Joe Pryor’s posterous

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