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Can’t Eat Paper
It pleases me to no end to note that friend and former coworker Floating Eyeball has resurrected his blog. One of the first posts on his newly revived site concerns our former employer, and the vast mountain of cash it will soon be in charge of dispersing:
Warren Buffet’s $31 billion contribution to the Gates Foundation’s existing purse means that they have to spend $3 billion per year to avoid tax penalties. That means $250 million per month. Or ~$8.3 million per day.
The mighty Eyeball ominously notes that, in the NYT article he links to, no mention is made of any of this new money being spent on libraries. Since libraries were the direct focus of the Foundation program for which we both toiled, this is a matter of no small concern.
To be honest, though, while the librarian in me is offended at the lack of focus on libraries, the pessimist in me is worried that we’ve got far bigger problems facing us these days. Frankly, I’d love to see Bill Jr. dump all $31 billion of Buffett’s contribution into research on and construction of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and alternative fuel power production facilities all over the developing world. Wealthy countries like the US have the money to switch over our national electrical and transport grids to sources other than fossil fuels (whether our oil-addicted politicos have the will to do so is, of course, another matter entirely.) But as the developing world becomes more industrialized and populations increase (ironically, in no small part due to the laudable donations to global health by organizations like the Gates Foundation) their demand for fossil fuels will increase dramatically. It’s in our best interest to give them the means to meet their energy needs without further increasing the drain on an already rapidly-depleting resource.
If we start thinking about this stuff now – and if folks like Gates and Buffett start spending their fortunes accordingly – then in a few years, after the oil runs out, we’ll have the luxury of wondering whether or not our local library is adequately funded…instead of burning its books to keep warm.
