Fri 31 Jan 2014
Letter # 301
Dear President Obama,
The monarch butterflies’ numbers have again precipitously declined.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/us/monarch-butterflies-falter-under-extreme-weather.html
This winter in Mexico they inhabit only 1.65 acres. Last winter it was about 3.2 acres, which was a record low from previous years, and in 1996 the covered 45 acres. Their numbers have dropped 97 percent in 17 years! They are victims of Roundup-managed monoculture that has wiped out milk weed, the misguided government ethanol program, and weather disruptions in spring: too hot one year, too cold the next. All three are caused by human FOLLY, either greed or carbon pollution. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW. Carbon pollution is going to wipe out the monarchs with climate instability and will have disastrous effect on human populations too. We must cut out carbon emissions. Learn from the monarchs before it is too late – and before they are GONE.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Monarch Butterfly Lover
Sat 1 Feb 2014
Letter # 302
Dear President Obama,
I am appalled at the State Dept. for their report on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
To say that the pipeline would not substantially worsen carbon pollution because without it the oil would still be pumped at the same rate is an unconscionable lie. If your kid says to you they are spending a fortune on a faster sports car, but they won’t drive any faster, you don’t believe it. If a company says they’re spending a fortune on a pipeline that won’t make them richer, you shouldn’t believe it either. So just say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline.
When the world comes to its senses and the price of fossil fuels is too high, we can still use the railroads to transport other goods. That pipeline could only transport oil. Call their bluff. If the pipeline won’t make a difference, say NO to it. They say they don’t need it. So say they can’t build it!
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, State Dept. Report not too Smart
Sat 1 Feb 2014
Letter # 303 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
I was so upset about the State Dept report on the Keystone XL Pipeline, that I wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry just now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/us/pipeline-opponents-hopes-now-rest-largely-on-kerry.html
Here is my letter:
Secretary John Kerry
US State Dept.
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Kerry,
I have written President Obama over 300 letters against the Keystone XL Pipeline since last March. Attached is today’s letter on the recent State Dept. report. I urge you to read some of my other letters posted at:
imaginevividly.com
Please recommend that the President DENY the pipeline permit. Carbon pollution is a global crisis with huge humanitarian implications. The poor and at-risk will suffer first from climate instability, wars over scarce resources, and the ensuing chaos. We must quickly stop carbon emissions. The quicker we stop, the less damage to the planet. There is only one intelligent and moral recommendation. Please say NO to the KXL pipeline. The immediate effect will not be huge, but a long train has a long braking distance. Let’s start putting on the brakes.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler
Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Thank you.
Susan Ringler
Wrote to John Kerry too
Sunday 2 Feb 2014
Letter # 304
Dear President Obama,
David Bonior is right.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/opinion/obamas-free-trade-conundrum.html
You can’t have it both ways. Fast-track for the TPP trade pact means some cheaper imported goods, but will greatly exacerbate income inequality in the US. It’s about gutting the middle class so big corporations can be more profitable. Harry Reid is right! I commend his staunch opposition to Fast-track trade pact approval.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/business/reid-pushes-back-on-fast-track-trade-authority.html
Shame on you. You say income inequality is your signature issue! Then act that was and quit pushing TPP. Why don’t you focus on clean energy? Lots of jobs can be created there and in retro-fitting for energy efficiency. Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline! It will only creast a few temporary construction jobs and cause lots of environmental damage. Your role as President is to Reason soundly and make good choices that benefit all Americans. Stop being blind-sided by smooth-talking lobbyists. TPP and KXL both need to be stopped. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Admire Harry Reid
Monday 3 Feb 2014
Letter # 305
Dear President Obama,
I heard Herbie Hancock speak today – he is the Norton Professor of Humanities at Harvard this year.
I was surprised at his eloquence and saddened to hear that he is the first Afro-American to be Norton Professor.
I was also thrilled that he mentioned climate change as one of the big problems in the world along with racism and violence. He spoke of the collaborative nature of jazz and its basis in generosity. He encouraged us to work together more. And so in his honor, I ask you to please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline because it is disastrous for the climate and future generations. This is the maiden voyage of Planet Earth and our only voyage. We won’t get a second chance. So let’s not mess up the planet irreversibly. I’ll listen to Hancock’s album Maiden Voyage tonight, and hope you do too. And I hope the beauty inspires you to act urgently to avert the worst of climate change. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Herbie Hancock Fan
Tues. 4 Feb 2014
Letter # 306
Dear President Obama,
I went to a NO on KXL Vigil last night in Harvard Square.
There were at least 80 people there. There were 17 other vigils across Mass. the same evening. We won’t give up! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW. I hope people send you lots of photos and videos of their activism. We sang and stomped our feet to stay warm. Please Please! It is sooo important to cut carbon emissions NOW.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Harvard Square Activist
Tues. 4 Feb 2014
Letter # 307 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
It was heartening to read the 25 January NYTimes article that the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline has brought many small donations of time and money to environmental groups such as 350.org.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/us/keystone-xl-pipeline-fight-lifts-environmental-movement.html
I am thrilled to be one of the 250,000 new 350.org members since 2011. I am also thrilled that our ranks of activists are described as “deployable and passionate.” But make no mistake, it is not the pipeline that has fueled this upswelling of environmentalists, it is the colossal climate damage. We yell about KXL to get your attention and media attention. But we well know the breadth of the problems, from coal, from fracking, from “cheap” gas. We are the tip of a huge iceberg. For every activist there are dozens who are less visible and vocal. Climate crisis is the most important problem facing the world TODAY. If we destroy our balanced climate, nothing else matters much. Our convictions run deep. We will fight on. So please join us sooner rather than later. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Deployable and Passionate
Wed. 5 Feb 2014
Letter # 308
Dear President Obama,
The oil drillers in North Dakota have made their own task force that has decided they should increase the percent of gas they capture from 70 % this year to 85 % in 2016 and “almost all” by 2020.
Gee! I’m not impressed! They are making so much money and flaring off so much gas that goes directly into the atmosphere, that they think they can do better!! It is unconscionable that they flare gas. The Bakken fields waste more gas than almost all the other US oil fields COMBINED. Here is one reason OIL is not cheap! We are ruining the planet. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline immediately and charge oil companies for every ton of carbon emissions they create in extracting fossil fuels. We don’t have any more time. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, North Dakota Task Force Too Weak
Thurs 6 Feb 2014
Letter # 309
Dear President Obama,
I write today in honor of Dr. Abbas Khan, 32 years, who was tortured and killed in a Syrian government prison.
His crime was treating Syrians in rebel-held areas. Dr. Khan was raised in Britain, he was a Sunni Muslim, one of his sisters was a Shiite Muslim. His parents were self-made Indian immigrants to Britain who urged their children not to forget their modest roots. This family shows no evidence of terrorist tendencies. As his brother says: “in Syria we were too British, in Britain we were too Indian.” This is a tragic story of someone giving back to society and being killed for it. One official told his mother that with an Indian passport he may not have been killed! How barbaric the world still is. As climate disruption continues, these barbaric wars will only increase – causing vast human suffering. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today, right now! Quickly lessening carbon emissions will lessen wars over scarce resources. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Honoring Dr. Abbas Khan
Mon 10 Feb 2014
Letter # 310
Dear President Obama,
I write to you from Paris where my friends and I ask you to please try to keep the planet healthy for the next 300 years. So many beautiful buildings and art works here are older than that, and I am worried, very worried, that human life will be much worse and much reduced. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Stop it today. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, J’aime Paris.
I love President Obama, Rita Dorban from Belgium
