Sunday 3 March 2013
Letter # 1
Dear President Obama,
I read yesterday in the New York Times that the EIR for the Keystone XL pipeline presents no « environmental barrier » to the building of the pipeline. But that’s not a reason to build it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/us/us-report-sees-no-environmental-bar-to-keystone-pipeline.html
I urge you to take some advice from Charles W. Eliot, who, in 1908, urged the Harvard graduating class to : « observe keenly, reason soundly, imagine vividly. »  Observing keenly in our modern age means paying attention to the important data.
1. Tar sands oil produces more greenhouse gases than conventional oil.
2. Construction jobs are short-lived.
3. We need to very quickly start de-creasing our carbon emissions, or we will not pass on a robust and healthy planet to our children.
Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is the right thing to do.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Ph.D.
Monday 4 March 2013
Letter # 2
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday I recommended the 1908 advice of Charles W. Eliot: « observe keenly, reason soundly, imagine vividly. »
When you reason soundly about what a US President can do in 8 years, it is clear that your moment is NOW. You can take the important step of stopping the Keystone XL pipeline and be remembered in history as a courageous leader, or you can allow the pipeline and be remembered as a president with lots of potential but disappointing follow-through.
The choice is yours. Please have the courage to follow your convictions and start this country on a path to rapid decrease of carbon emissions.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, a loyal fan
Tuesday 5 March 2013
Dear President Obama,
Today I ask you to reflect on the third nugget of advice from Ch. Eliot:Â imagine vividly.
In this day of technological advancement, when machines can observe so much, and using algorithms, can come to reasonable conclusions, it is essential that great leaders take the time to imagine vividly. It is our imagination that leads us to empathy and most importantly our imagination that allows us to wonder if maybe we are wrong and things might be worse than they appear.
I urge you to imagine that we may have reached a climate tipping point – the consequences of which could be so dire that the planet will sustain far fewer humans – acidification of the oceans, die off of plankton …
I would much rather make serious reductions to our carbon emissions NOW, than wait for more data. There is little harm in putting the brakes on carbon emissions now, and much potential good. Fossil fuels are a big commodity now where fortunes have been made. But oil needs to go the way of whalebone corsets or beaver hats. Let’s move forward boldly away from fossil fuels.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Imaginator
Wednesday 6 March 2013
Dear President Obama,
I marched in Washington on Feb 17th against the Keystone Pipeline. It was my first time marching in Washington and I’m glad I made the journey. I wrote a few haiku about the day – here are 3 of them:
35 Thousand
In windy march on White House
No XL Pipeline
Young and old on street
Hawk overhead surveys us.
We are connected.
Keep it in the ground
Brown lady with classy shoes
Waves her sign and smiles.
Please honor the people who marched and those who marched with them in spirit. Please cancel the Keystone Pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Haiku poet
Thursday 7 March 2013
Dear President Obama,
On Tuesday, Joe Nocera wrote an op-ed piece in the NY Times criticizing James Hansen’s recent activism with 350.org as « misguided. »
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/opinion/nocera-a-scientists-misguided-crusade.html
But I was raised to respect my elders and I can have nothing but respect for James Hansen getting arrested at 71 for a cause in which he deeply believes. Hansen spent decades as a careful scientist. He could be playing golf or duck hunting at 71, but instead he still works at NASA and has become an activist. Nocera is dismayed that Hansen has grown more RADICAL. Grow is the operative word here – may we all be still growing at 71. Hansen’s work is the bedrock of climate science today. He had grown radical after years of moderation have failed to goad us into sufficient decreases in carbon emissions. Old heroes are my favorites: Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, James Hansen. They don’t lie down. They maintain the courage of their convictions. Maybe we should listen to them more – respecting their wisdom.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Respectful reader
Friday 8 March 2013
Letter #6
Dear President Obama,
It’s snowing again today. My backyard is transformed into a white wonderland. I like the excuse to sit in my warm kitchen and cogitate on big ideas. I wish I had a larger voice, a greater stature, a weightier heft. I’d use them to convince people that we really need to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions, that climate change is going to harm millions of people and we can limit the harm. But why do I care enough to write these letters ? It just seems we could easily cut back, get by with a little less. We could go slower with burning all this oil and enjoy the complexity and beauty of the world we live in. But the big voices today are all saying they need MORE – more fuel, more factories, more goods produced and consumed. Why do we call them « goods ? » Why not « bads » or just « things ? » Why do so many people with plenty think more stuff will make them happier ? When has a bigger house or car or boat brought lasting happiness ? I still want a bigger voice. I’d use that voice for caution and going slow and not hurtling recklessly towards large climate shifts.
Your voice is bigger than mine. Please use it well.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, One small voice
Sat 9 March 2013
Dear President Obama,
Maybe someone on your staff should consider getting a binder for these letters. I intend to send you quite a few – maybe as many as 350 if my stamina endures.
I write to you in long hand as a sign of respect. Years ago, as a student in Paris, I was about to type a thank you note to a professor when a French friend stopped me, saying that typed letters were for business and personal communication should always be hand-written. So out of respect, I pick up a pen.
This letter writing may well be a fool’s errand, but if I persist long enough I at least will be helping sustain the post office and demonstrating to my family and friends the depth of my concern. I think it is important for advanced civilizations to have a postal service – so I’ll support ours.
So once again I urge you to deny the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline – with the stroke of a pen – any pen – or any pens – just please do it.
Thank you
Susan J. Ringler, scribe
Sunday 10 March 2013
Letter # 8
Dear President Obama,
The scariest thing about global warming is that the earth will continue to warm for about 20 years after we stop increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. We are very far from stopping. We are not even significantly reducing the amount of annual CO2 emissions on a global scale.
It is time for the United States to show leadership in reducing carbon emissions. You can show that leadership right now by denying the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. We need to burn less oil, not more. We need to quickly develop renewables. The time for change is NOW, You can be the leader to start us on this new path, or you can do nothing, say you’re not sure, say your hands are tied and be just another short-sighted leader who took the easy way out.
There’s a clear moral imperative here. Can you hear its call?
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Carbon Reduction Advocate
Monday 11 March 2013
Letter # 9
Dear President Obama,
The French say « On fait ce qu’on peut. » – you do what you can. That is the reason why I am so insistent on asking you to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline – because you CAN.  Of course I would like a carbon tax, I would like more renewables, I would like a more robust public transportation system. But in the current political landscape, they seem unlikely to succeed. The Pipeline, however, is something you can do – just you – you can cancel it, you can deny the permit. It won’t stop the Tar Sands development completely, they’re in Canada, out of your control. But it will slow that development down, and send an important message that the US President doesn’t think 2013 is the right time for another oil pipeline. So please, do what you can.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Francophone
Thursday 12 March, 2013
Letter # 10
Dear President Obama,
The NY Times editorial yesterday could not have said it better : « When to Say No » is a well-written, compelling piece of journalism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/opinion/when-to-say-no-to-the-keystone-xl.html?_r=0
I’m a big fan of newspapers – the NY Times, the Guardian, Le Monde. I worry that with dwindling subscribers the world’s great newspapers will have to cut back on their international reporters. We will lose great depth and breadth of reporting. A picture may be worth 1000 words for emotional content, but to parse, explain, differentiate our complex world there is nothing like print journalism.
So hats off to the NY Times and remember that when you make the right decision and say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline, millions of Americans and millions upon millions around the world will support you.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Newspaper Subscriber
