Wed 8 Jan 2014
Letter #271
Dear President Obama,
I was happy to see the NY times long editorial supporting Edward Snowden on 2 January. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/opinion/edward-snowden-whistle-blower.html
He is certainly a hero of 2013 and deserves much better treatment for his important actions. My only sadness at reading the piece is that climate change does not figure as prominently as a problem we urgently need to address. The thing of it is, that if we really mess up the weather patterns and destabilize the tradewinds and ocean currents, the impact on world food supplies could be catastrophic, and by the time the definitive scientific conclusions are in, there will be little left to do to rectify things. We need brisk preventive action NOW. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline! Please stop it today. Your bold action against climate change can dramatically advance the speedy reduction of carbon emissions. If we don’t reduce carbon emissions quickly enough, our efforts at social economic justice will be in vain. Step back. Look at the big picture. Get it right!
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Putting it in Perspective
Wed 8 Jan 2014
Letter #272 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
In 2001, twenty-two ethnic Uighurs were captured in Afghanistan and sent to Guantanamo prison. By 2013 the US had decided they were not terrorists, but could not send them home because the Chinese would probably kill them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/01/us/us-frees-last-of-uighur-detainees-from-guantanamo.html It is shameful that only a few days ago (31 Dec) the last 3 of these prisoners were released – these to Slovakia – and so now they are all somewhat free. Because China is so powerful, few countries wanted to accept them. They have been scattered to the winds: 5 to Albania, 4 to Bermuda, 6 to Palau, 2 to Switzerland, 2 to El Salvador and now the final 3 to Slovakia. What language do they speak in these new homes far from the Central Asian Steppes? Much of their conflict with the Chinese has been over natural resources and their nomadic way of life. The Chinese want Xinjiang for its minerals, don’t care about the environment or its indigenous peoples. And so in honor of these Uighurs, I ask you to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Do what you can to protect land for those who live lightly on it – and take a stance against the awful environmental damage of tarsands mining. The world’s “progress” in the last 100 years has been at great environmental cost- and if we don’t quickly curb carbon emissions, the climate results will be catastrophic.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Respect for Uighurs
Thurs 9 Jan 2014
Letter #273
Dear President Obama,
I read recently about the more than 1200 abandoned drilling wells in Wyoming that need to be plugged – with thousands more likely to be soon added to the list.
Wyoming was too lenient with the drillers, got only $75,000 from each company up front, regardless of how many wells they drilled, and expected to collect a clean-up fee as each well was closed. But the companies have just been walking away and declaring bankruptcy – leaving the state to clean up the messes. This is another example of energy companies NOT paying for long term damage they cause. We cannot continue to let this happen. Not only are wells messy, but fossil fuels cause enormous damage to the climate. We must wean ourselves from fossil fuels quickly or the planet will be damaged inalterably. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Stop it NOW. Please show you understand the grave climate danger we face. I feel sorry for the damage in Wyoming and hope its citizens voice their concerns to their government, as I voice mine to you.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Deplore Abandoned Gas Wells
Fri 10 Jan 2014
Letter #274
Dear President Obama,
Late December brought yet another article about wind power companies scrambling to begin projects in 2013 so they can qualify for the 2.3 cents per kwh tax credit. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/business/energy-environment/wind-power-developers-race-clock-to-secure-subsidy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Without this tax credit, wind farms cannot compete with “cheap natural gas.” Wind farms are the future. Fossil fuels are the past. Natural gas is not cheap when you count the cost of universal carbon emissions. When will enough people in government recognize the carbon emissions problem for the urgent crisis it is? Only then will markets be regulated to ensure the long-term health of Planet Earth. We cannot continue to let short term greed endanger the welfare of future generations everywhere. The whole discussion of power costs is skewed. Let’s tax carbon emissions – then clean wind wouldn’t need a “subsidy.” Please please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline – we need to dramatically change the energy dialogue – one way to do this is for you President Obama to demonstrate your commitment to quickly reduce carbon emissions. Please do it now.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Need More Wind Power
Sat 11 Jan 2014
Letter #275
Dear President Obama,
I write today about efforts by SGB a biofuels company to hybridize jatropha to produce ten times as many seeds per plant – so that its oil can be turned into low-carbon jet fuel. SGB plans to plant over 200,000 acres of jatropha in Brazil, India, and other warm climates – eventually.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/business/energy-environment/start-up-makes-gains-turning-jatropha-bush-into-biofuel.html?pagewanted=all
But what bio-diverse ecosystem will they replace with their monoculture? What unforseen unintended consequences will they incur? The plans seem imbued with equal parts hubris and colonialism – the rich are going to plant huge swaths of land in poor areas with a crop they can export for use by the rich – sounds like just another resource-grab. If we are going to succeed in reducing our global carbon use, we need to respect each other and the planet’s biodiversity. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Stop it today. You can send a powerful message that you understand the urgency of the climate problem – and that we need to be responsible in our use of the planet’s resources. We can’t just engineer our way out of this crisis.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Against Large Scale Monoculture
Sat 11 Jan 2014
Letter #276 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
I write again today about jatropha seeds and the way genetic mapping technology has allowed SGB to speed up the development of high-seed yielding hybrids of this plant. The article is mostly focused on the amazing things scientific advances help us to achieve.
But in order to cross-breed these plants for the desired traits, scientists went to Central America where the amount of genetic variation they could collect was “absolutely spectacular.” Without this wasteful plethora of natural genetic variation, without these messy untended ecosystems, none of the hybridization work could have been achieved. Again, we need to be mindful of how our climate allows for so much biodiversity and is so welcoming of human development. Our climate is reaching a tipping point where it will be less nurturing – Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Stop it NOW. We urgently need to reduce carbon emissions to maintain our climate that let’s so many thrive.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Value Spectacular Bio-diversity
Sun 12 Jan 2014
Letter #277
Dear President Obama,
I write to you today about Eduardo Porter’s column about how a consumption-based measurement of carbon emissions is probably more fair than a production-based measure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/business/economy/what-if-consumers-not-producers-paid-for-emissions.html?pagewanted=all
That’s because the US and Europe consume lots of products that are produced in China and other developing countries. Mr. Porter is correct, but the real problem is that no one seems to sense the urgency of the carbon build up and so we just carry on with our own local agendas. I hope that 2014 will bring some breakthroughs in understanding by key world leaders that we need to address carbon emissions urgently. I hope you are one of those world leaders! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW as a small step to cutting carbon emissions in the US. Please do it now so that 2014 can be the year we turned this problem around.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Let’s Measure Carbon Consumption
Fri 17 Jan 2014
Letter #278
Dear President Obama,
I’m finding it more difficult to write every day. I feel like I have made every argument over and over again. Today Justin Gillis wrote a large article about the new IPCC draft document – the third segment of their report focussing on national actions and policies.
We – different countries – are doing a little, but worldwide fossil fuel use is growing. Governments are “still spending far more money to subsidize fossil fuels than to shift to cleaner energy.” He speaks of “severe economic disruption” and “vast ecological and economic damage” and “an increasingly dire situation.” Which of these words don’t you understand? It is pointless to try to level income inequality if we don’t stop carbon emissions from rising. The poor here and all over the world will suffer most. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW! It is the only moral option. Someone has to get out there and lead. Someone has to slow fossil fuel use down. You can be that someone and history will thank you.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Let’s Avoid Severe Economic Disruption
Fri 17 Jan 2014
Letter #279 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
People respond emotionally to pictures, which is why so many people get their news on TV. I was struck by how boring the pictures for the Gillis article today were. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/science/earth/un-says-lag-in-confronting-climate-woes-will-be-costly.html?_r=0
A Vietnamese man on a motorcycle passing train cars of coal. So what? That’s one of the big problems with climate change, it is hard to convey the severity of the problem we face. How do you take pictures of a gradual irreversible process? So let me just repeat, the planet will continue to warm for 20 years after we stop increasing the carbon we emit. It’s as if we are on a train with an incredibly slow braking system. Don’t be fooled by the happy talk of the oil lobbyists – they are wrong in their long-term plans. But by the time that becomes clear to most people, it may be too late. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today. You can do it and you should. It will send a clear message that Obama sees a future in clean energy.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Pictures Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Sat 18 Jan 2014
Letter #280
Dear President Obama,
I wrote yesterday about the recent draft IPCC report that tells us starkly that we are not doing enough to curb carbon emissions. In this context, I refer you to a 17 Dec article about a recent Energy Info Agency report http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/executive_summary.cfm
projecting a surge in oil production in the US, lower prices at the pump, and that coal will still provide 32% of our electricity generation in 2040. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/business/international/global-coal-use-predicted-to-keep-growing.html?
If this happens, the planet will only be able to sustain a much smaller population. We are on the cusp of a very different energy landscape. Reports like this that just talk happily about US energy independence do a disservice to us all. They ignore the basic, science of climate change and no federal money should underwrite such reports. The EIA is yet another huge government subsidy for the fossil fuel industry. Cut their budget and put more into renewable energy subsidies. And please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Do it today. Don’t let Big Oil ruin life for our children and grandchildren.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Surging Oil Production is Bad for Us NOT Good!
