Friday 21 June 2013
Letter # 111
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday I went on a tour of a single stream recycling center with conveyors and magnets and air currents to separate the metals and different types of plastics. It’s pretty good technology and really fun to watch, but the sad part is that there is not much market for recycled materials. Some like the PET plastic have an active market, but mixed paper isn’t worth much – nor are the plastics labeled 3 through 7. We ship most of it off to Asia. We really are drowning in packaging: plastic bags, plastic clam shell cases, plastic meat trays, plastic cups – and the amount of all these petroleum-based plastics that get recycled varies from town to town, state to state, and a great deal still ends up in landfills. Plastic packaging is everywhere because it is cheap. But it is not really cheap if we use oil to make it, and oil to transport it across the world before it can be reused. We need to be using less oil, not more. We need to stop making plastic that is used for a very short time and thrown out. We need to be more careful about greenhouse gas emissions. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Please stop it now.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Recycler
Saturday 22 June 2013
Letter # 112
Dear President Obama,
It is the solstice, longest day of the year – we’re halfway through another year and there’s been NO progress made against climate change in the US. Please stop dawdling! Time’s a wasting. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline today. It’s the moral imperative of the moment.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Love the Summer Solstice
Sunday 23 June 2013
Letter # 113
Dear President Obama,
I return today to an article 3 weeks ago about two competing groups that certify “green” products. One is the SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) funded by the logging industry and the other is the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) a more global group with ties to environmental advocacy groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/us/complaints-abound-in-green-certification-industry.html
To its credit, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is trying to crack down on false “green” claims and has new guidelines to follow. But this highlights what an important marketing tool a “green” label is! The underlying truth here is that people do not want to trash the environment or change the planet’s climate to the detriment of future generations. We need you and the US government to help us achieve these goals. Wipe out false advertising and Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline. We do not need that dirty tar sands oil.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Despise Green-washing
Monday 24 June 2013
Letter # 114
Dear President Obama,
You have recently increased the “price” of the “Social Cost of Carbon.” This is a laudable effort to account for the health costs, mitigation costs, and so forth of each additional ton of CO2 in the atmosphere. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/us/politics/new-effort-to-quantify-social-cost-of-pollution.html
But those in the oil industry who have a vested interest in business (and profit) as usual, maintain that the future impacts of climate change are unknown so it is too soon to quantify them. It’s a bit like saying I’ll wait until I find out just how hot that dragon’s breath is before deciding how far to run! Climate change is an urgent new challenge for humanity and we cannot afford to wait any longer. The climate brakes must be put on! We must quickly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Stop it today!
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Impatient for Climate Action
Tuesday 25 June 2013
Letter # 115
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday I attended my first meeting of the Cambridge City Council and I spoke in favor of a citizens zoning petition. For new buildings 25000 sq ft and more, the petition requires that the building be “net-zero” GHG emissions. The building can achieve this goal by various means, one of which is to purchase renewable energy from a local provider, such as the soon to be built Cape Wind wind farm off Cape Cod. This is decried by some developers as draconian, but it is not much more expensive now, and in future decades will be much cheaper. The price of fossil fuels will increase and the price of renewables will decrease. This is smart forward-looking development that is practiced in Europe and elsewhere. It was called “bold” last night but that is only because the US is so far behind in green building. We need to attack this carbon problem on many fronts. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline as a first good step towards a greener planet.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Net-Zero Emissions Advocate
Wednesday 26 June 2013
Letter # 116
Dear President Obama,
Thank you for speaking out about the perils of climate change yesterday and outlining steps you will take. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/obamas-global-warming-action-plan/
I certainly hope that you “will have the courage to act before it is too late.” Your pledge to reduce GHG emissions by 17% by 2020 is probably too little too late. This is a very urgent world problem and the US must take leadership. Thank you for mentioning the Keystone XL pipeline, even though your remarks have been praised by both opponents and supporters of the pipeline. What we need now is an end of talk, and a beginning of action. Please cancel the Keystone XL pipeline NOW. Michael Brune is correct, the pipeline would significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. Please act NOW before it is too late.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Encourage you to Courageous Action
Thursday 27 June 2013
Letter # 117
Dear President Obama,
I enjoyed the article today about Canada trying to clean up the various aspects of producing oil from tar sands. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/business/energy-environment/oil-industry-in-canada-bolsters-efforts-for-cleaner-production.html
But apparently the best case projection is that carbon emissions could be cut by 30% over the next 20 years. That’s not nearly enough. They admit themselves that if their production increases as they would like, overall emissions from tar sands will increase. Pumping that amount of carbon into the air just to make oil, that will pump more carbon into the air when it is burned, is morally untenable. I hope that articles like this make it very clear why Tar Sands need to be left in the grould. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline. It is way too polluting for any responsible leader to condone. We need to put the brakes on carbon emissions very quickly. Please do your part. Say NO to KXL.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Tar Sands Too Dirty to Clean
Friday 28 June 2013
Letter # 118
Dear President Obama,
I can’t believe I’ve written you so many letters and failed to mention Susan Freinkel’s excellent book: Plastic: A Toxic Love Story (2011). I’ve learned so many details from her and she writes clearly and engagingly. I can’t recommend her book more highly for perspective on our complex relationship with plastics. From her I learned that the building blocks of plastics are petro-chemicals, by-products of petroleum refinery. We refine a lot of oil, make a lot of chemical by-products and combine these chemicals into abundant, cheap, convenient items made of different plastics. But now we have found that petroleum products incur huge costs to our planet, its environment and its climate.
Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW. We don’t need it. We need less oil not more.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Susan Freinkel Reader
Saturday 29 June 2013
Letter # 119
Dear President Obama,
The Verizon phone/internet repairmen came for the third time this week and finally fixed my internet problem today. Men in bucket trucks have spent hours fiddling with equipment up telephone poles for me and presumably my neighbors with similar problems. We live in an age when we expect inter-connection by phone and computer at all times. But oddly there is little spillover to actions of interconnection, to understanding that we must work together as the population rises and we must all protect the climate and environment. A major way that individuals connect to the larger world is through their government leaders. So it is imperative that if the little guy doesn’t always see the connection, the leaders must consider the needs of us all on this planet. As leader of one of the largest and wealthiest countries, it is your duty to act NOW on climate change. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Remember we are all Interconnected
Sunday 30 June 2013
Letter # 120
Dear President Obama,
Odilon Redon, Bouquet de fleurs des champs, vers 1912
pastel, 57 x 35 cm, Musee d’Orsay, Paris
This is probably my favorite pastel drawing, so lively and yet so delicate. They keep it in a low-light room at the Musée d’Orsay to protect the gorgeous colors. The last time I visited, it was in storage because they were restoring galleries. I hope I get to see it again soon. No postcard does it justice. So much has changed in the world in the 100 years since Redon drew these flowers. I certainly hope we will be thriving 100 years from now, but that will depend on how quickly we respond to the threat of global warming. Please make sure beauty is in our grandchildrens’ future. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Odilon Redon Admirer
