freckles make me strong.

gaywrites:

You know how people joke that gay weddings will save the economy? That’s becoming less of a joke every day. 

The Williams Institute released a report Friday showing that legalizing marriage equality in Washington would add $88 million to the state’s economy in the first three years. The numbers are based on calculations of average wedding expenditures and consider the amount of money that would potentially be spent on wedding arrangements and tourism. 

Why aren’t more people paying attention to this? For those who don’t see equality as a good enough reason, doesn’t this kind of seal the deal? 

After receiving pledges totaling more than its goal of $100 million by a year-end deadline, the Ecuadorian government last week announced that it would move forward with the so-called Yasuni ITT Initiative, an innovative plan to leave untapped more than 900 million barrels of crude oil beneath a pristine Amazonian nature reserve, in exchange for annual international donations.

An interesting approach to preserving the rain forest and its tribes by getting international monetary support. Too often the arguments against deforestation are over simplified, not taking into account the dependency on oil revenue. Finally there is a proposal that offers the developing country something in return for the very real economic sacrifice they are making.