Tuesday 27 May 2014
Letter # 391
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday I joined 10 or 12 others handing out leaflets and buttons for “Divest Harvard” outside a 50th Reunion event. https://www.facebook.com/divestharvard/
These people are about 72 years old and many have signed the alumni petition asking Harvard to Divest from Big Oil because of the damage of carbon pollution. We leafleters were a cross-section of the Harvard community including current students, alums, and faculty.
It is heartening to see that older people with a longer perspective, and yet commensurately shorter risk period, gravitate to our cause. As with the Keystone XL Pipeline, there is little practical effect when Harvard divests – theirs is a large and diverse portfolio. But all the more reason to ask them to do it! I ask people if they would be angry if Harvard divested from Big Oil. If they say NO, then I say they should join us and sign the petition! And so I say the same to you. Would you be angry if the Keystone XL Pipeline never got built? If not, then you should deny the permit for it. Please stop the KXL. Do it today. Your personal gain will be huge. Your credibility as Climate Protector will be exponentially enhanced.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Leafleter for Climate Protection
Sat 31 May 2014
Letter # 392
Dear President Obama,
This morning I joined 10 other people at a community-organized De-Paving Party. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlTG0Y_zknc
http://www.somervilleclimateaction.org/
In 90 minutes we broke up and collected about 100 sq. ft. of asphalt from the side yard of a local house. The owner is going to put down pavers with holes for the driveway area – so grass can grow up – but strong enough to hold a car – and the rest will be a garden! What satisfying physical labor it was! Whoopie! Let’s green the earth. Let the rain soak in. And the asphalt will be melted down to pave roads where it is needed. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. We need to green the earth little by little. You can pick up your pen and stop that dirty oil we don’t need.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, De-Paver
Mon 2 June 2014
Letter #393
Dear President Obama,
Thank you for the new EPA rules to limit carbon emissions from existing power plants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/us/politics/key-details-of-epa-carbon-emissions-proposal.html
They are a sensible and modest move in the right direction. It is only sad that you will receive so much opprobrium from elements of congress and the oil industry for these steps. Many Americans don’t have much respect for science and critical thinking and the politicians they elect have similar lackings. Such are the times we live in, and it does not bode well for the climate and our children.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/opinion/nearing-a-climate-legacy.html
Journalists Gillis and Fountain are kind when they suggest these new rules could reclaim for the US “the mantle of international leadership in battling climate change.”
But these rules are too little too late for that!
Europe has led by example for decades. A better plan is Bold ACTION! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Send a clear message that we MUST quickly reduce our use of fossil fuels. That is the way to reclaim that “mantle.” It may not make friends in congress. But the world will thank you. I thank you in advance.
Susan Ringler, Hooray for the EPA Power Plant Rules
Wed 4 June 2014
Letter #394
Dear President Obama,
Eduardo Porter is correct in characterizing the new EPA rules as “A Paltry Start In Curbing Global Warming.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/business/economy/a-paltry-start-in-curbing-global-warming.html
Because 2005 was an emissions peak, and because of shale gas, we’ve already reduced our emissions from power plants by 16%. We can do much better than this and we MUST do much better. The new rules make “just enough progress to shuffle along.” This is not leadership! Faced with a hostile congress, the government picks a target they think they can make and that could hold up after years in the courts. But the Earth doesn’t care about political expediency and we carry on damaging the climate with our emissions. We need much bigger cuts to carbon emissions, we need much bolder proposals from our President! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline TODAY and show you really do comprehend the full danger of our climate situation. Now is not the time for baby steps! “Baby steps will not take the world where we need to go.”
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Baby Steps Not Enough!
Sat 7 June 2014
Letter # 395
Dear President Obama,
Two big memorials were held this week: in Hong Kong a vigil remembering those killed in Tiananmen Sq. 25 years ago
and in Normandy and the USA, a celebration of the D-Day heroes 70 years ago.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/world/europe/obama-honors-moment-of-liberation-in-normandy.html
I bring these two events together to honor that piece of the human psyche that takes on great risk against great odds for the greater good.
Humans can do a lot once they set their minds to it, and so I say let’s tackle climate change in a BIG way. Let’s not wait around for every last shred of proof. Let’s change our energy sources NOW. Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline immediately! I can think of no better way to honor the fallen heroes of 25 and 70 years ago than to work very hard to assure that young people all over the world 75 years from now have a climate where they can flourish.
On the 50th Tiananmen anniversary, and the 100th D-Day anniversary will they despise us for not having done MORE about carbon emissions SOONER? I fear that will happen. But I urge you to take BOLD ACTION now. Please delay no longer. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Working for the Greater Good
Sun 8 June 2014
Letter # 396
Dear President Obama,
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting, and scientists have recently declared that the melt is irreversible. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/20/science/the-melting-isnt-glacial.html
https://sqonline.ucsd.edu/2014/06/the-state-of-the-western-antarctic-ice-sheet/
So that means sea level rise is 100% certain! How much more evidence do we need to convince people that climate change is a VERY serious problem? This is all happening much faster than expected. The faster we cut our carbon emissions, the better! We can’t stop the Big Melt in the Antarctic, but we can slow it down. We have got to stop using fossil fuels. We need way more money on research in renewable and non-carbon energy. Our climate and the health of the planet are too important to ignore.
Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today and show how important cutting carbon is to you. Please be cautious, be sensible, be conservative. Cut carbon emissions now! It’s the only way.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Dismayed West Antarctic is Melting
Tues 10 June 2014
Letter # 397
Dear President Obama,
Golden Gate Bridge Deck
I send you this wonderful photo of the Golden Gate Bridge because it embodies movement, great leaps forward, although it is a still photograph. Let’s hope your new EPA rules for power plants are like this first section of bridge decking. Look at this photo again – see the dynamic energy of a project well-started on a solid foundation!
Let’s put reducing carbon emissions on a timetable like that of building a bridge. What can we do in 2-4 years? What section can we build next? Who will oversee the project?
Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today – as a first small step towards a carbon-free future for our planet. This is a big project and we need a strong leader to galvanize Americans to action. Please be that leader. Bridge builders are bold, practical, and work to a schedule. You have the skills. Please use them to combat climate change.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Admire Bridge Builders
Wed 11 June 2014
Letter # 398
Dear President Obama,
I read with interest the recent obituary of Maxine Greene, although I had never heard of her before. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/nyregion/maxine-greene-teacher-and-educational-theorist-dies-at-96.html
She was an educator who argued persuasively that the arts play a key role in education because they have “the power to challenge expectations.” She saw an intimate link between creative thinking, robust imagining, and flourishing democracy. Reading about her reminded me of how important it is to “imagine vividly” (letter #3) and that we all need to be encouraged to “engage with the world not just as it is, but as it might otherwise be.” So please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline and start vividly imagining a world based on renewable energy, a world with a warmer but manageable climate.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Honoring Arts Educator Maxine Greene
Wed 11 June 2014
Letter # 399 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
Hooray for Patagonia! I was so pleased to read that the Chilean government has rejected an $8 billion plan (HidroAysen Plan) to dam the Baker and Pascua rivers for huge hydro-electric plants. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/world/americas/chile-patagonia-dams-rejected.html
Although Chile is strapped for energy, most Chileans opposed the dams, and their government listened. What a wonderful day for environmentalists the world over!
I am so pleased Patagonia will not be dug up for this huge project. We need to be smarter about energy projects. Transporting electricity long distances is wasteful. It is better for Chile to use smaller wind and solar projects closer to their cities. I thank the many people who fought for this outcome. In honor of them, please STOP the Keystone XL Pipeline. We don’t need to dig up this filthy oil, transport it thousands of miles in a pipeline only to load it on ships to sell in Asia! That is NOT how to solve our climate crisis.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Hooray for Patagonia
Thurs 12 June 2014
Letter # 400
Dear President Obama,
Wow! 400 letters! I sure hope someone is reading them. In the whole conversation about reducing carbon emissions to keep our planet healthy and flourishing, hardly anyone mentions that one big impediment to progress away from fossil fuels and towards renewables is: NO ONE OWNS THE SUN AND WIND, THEY ARE FREE. When “Big Oil and Gas” become “Big Energy” companies, their profits are going to come from delivering energy and optimizing energy. This is a lot less profitable business model than they now have. So they want to slow down the transition.
Government, however, has much to gain from free renewable energy. So governments everywhere should be investing heavily in renewables so that they become – in our tilted economic system, affordable, practical, and therefore are quickly adopted. It’s just common sense. Let the breeze blow and the sun shine and let’s figure out how to harness them efficiently. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline to start shutting off the oil tap.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, The Sun and Wind are FREE
