Synopsis
The Evolution of a Revolution represents a compilation of articles written by Lance Simmens over a four year period tracking the historic election of President Barack Obama in 2008 through the reelection of 2012. The articles reflect snapshots of events and issues during the first Obama administration as they were unfolding. Simmens captures the excitement and promise of a hope and change agenda after eight years of aimless meandering by the George W. Bush administrations, particularly with respect to domestic policy. The book tracks the unprecedented level of obstructionism that accompanied the evolution of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party and is sympathetic to the policy and political paralysis facing the President as he attempts to chart a new course for the country, particularly on the economic and health care fronts. Although Simmens makes no bones about his Democratic Party bona fides, which span a career of nearly 40 years in senior level policy, political, and governmental positions, one can readily detect an increasing exasperation with the policy positions and negotiating style of the new Administration, particularly with respect to its developing position with respect to environmental and energy policies. Simmens, a professor of public policy, outlines key concepts of effective governance and a progressive policy agenda throughout his writings, focusing on the role of statesmanship versus leadership, the absence of long-term thinking and planning sacrificed to the exigency of short-term political benefits, and the corruption of the political system by the inordinate influence of campaign contributions and special interests. Not only does this work diagnose the problems which lead to the current level of dysfunction, but Simmens also offers some concrete ideas for remedying the affliction. Interwoven among the pieces he has written over a four and half year period are suggestions for how to address the shortcomings. He offers six distinct remedies: 1. Reinstitute and highlight the value of public service. 2. Define the difference between statesmanship and leadership. 3. Showcase the fact that just because our government is currently not working, it can. 4. Commit to the importance of long-term versus short-term thinking. 5. Return to a system that places the public interest above special interests. 6. Address the corruptive influence of money in our political system. This book is a must read for serious students of public policy and ordinary citizens frustrated and angry at the state of public discourse and policy formulation and implementation at all levels of government. Simultaneously tracking two revolutions at once: namely, the progressive policy revolution outlined in Obama s rise to the Presidency and the Tea Party revolution to thwart a progressive path, Simmens attempts to not only diagnose structural problems of governance and politics, but offers prescriptions for ameliorating the sorry state of affairs that currently has paralyzed our system of representative democracy.
About the Author
Lance Simmens has been involved in senior levels of public policy making for the past 36 years. He is the California State Director of Gasland Grassroots, an organization devoted to community outreach and education on the dangers of fracking and the promotion of Gasland 2, an HBO documentary by Josh Fox following up on the 2010 Academy Award-nominated film Gasland. He is an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Santa Monica College. Prior to that he served as Communications Director for the California High Speed Rail Authority and from 2003 to 2008 he served as Special Assistant to Pennsylvania Governer Edward G. Rendell. In this capacity he headed the Governor's Task Forces on Wind and Solar Energy Development and became intimately familiar with the adverse impacts of fracking in communities across Pennsylvania. During his years in Pennsylvania he immersed himself in community issues surrounding the development of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and became an opponent of unfettered exploration throughout the state. He has spent considerable time working with individuals and communities affected by water and air contamination and successfully argued for construction of a $12 million pipeline connecting families in Dimock, PA to a municipal water supply, an issue prominently featured in Gasland 2. During the Clinton Administration he was tapped by former Vice-President Gore to help establish and serve as Deputy Director of the Federal Government's first Office of Sustainable Development in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, formulating and implementing sustainable fisheries initiatives in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and Gulf of Mexico. His leadership of a multi-agency team of individuals to manage innovative sustainable initiatives earned him a Gold Medal Award, the highest award of achievement in the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was one of the first Climate Change Leaders trained by Al Gore and the Climate Project in 2006. He has delivered over 100 lectures and presentations on climate change around the world. He is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post and has publishied over 300 articles in his career. The Evolution of a Revolution is his first novel.
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