by Matthew J. Geiger

Created on: May 01, 2008   Last Updated: May 02, 2008

As global leaders, the burdens of the world rest upon the shoulders of all US citizens whether or not we can readily affect change. While we face the challenges of a faltering economy and the legacy of unresponsive governance, clearly exemplified in the Iraq debacle and the lack of attention to environmental issues until recently, any missteps, which hurt Americans, will cause devastation across the globe. Meanwhile, the international community expects America and other industrialized nations to contribute heavily to efforts aimed at solving world issues with great expense to a new generation that is facing fewer and fewer financial opportunities. The challenge to solve the myriad of social and economic issues facing the world today is greater than ever, and so, the social investments, which we make with the limited resources and time we have left, must provide high yields that affect a broad range of those issues.

With the cost of living sharply on the rise and the loss of financial security for many Americans, the number of people in need continues to increase while charities struggle to maintain services due to weakening stocks of resources as well as the inability of donors to meet demand. Moreover, every time the government intervenes, the debt is shifted to the people and later generations with the hope that the economy will improve because our government, like the majority of Americans, has no savings. On the other hand, there continues to be support from communities while the government is also in a helping phase, so this is the time to find social investments that will alleviate the poor and rebuild local economies without over burdening future generations.

Northwestern Pennsylvania is a region of America that was hit hard from the decline in manufacturing by massive outsourcing while sprawl drives the need for increased consumption as leaders try to rebuild local economies. As local communities slowly rebuild with broader economic failures in the Nation's markets taxing the residents and the local economies, talented and well-educated individuals migrate out of the area to find greater opportunity. Meanwhile, the "snow belt" runs through the middle of the region with the local climate allowing for some of the greatest seasonal temperature swings in the Nation. As such, energy prices are a heavy burden as powerful winter storms gain energy from warming oceans while longer periods of warmer temperatures during the winter take away the insulating value

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