Saturday 1 March 2014
Letter # 331
Dear President Obama,
In November an article appeared in the NY Times on worldwide carbon emissions. The headline states “Slowdown in Carbon Emissions Worldwide” but this isn’t true! Carbon emissions ROSE in 2012 compared with 2011. They just rose more slowly than in previous years. We can’t keep doing this. If Planet Earth is a car hurtling towards of cliff of climate disaster, we still have our foot on the throttle and are speeding up! We are in denial. Life is good. Who cares. We’ll put the brakes on later. Thank you to the Global Carbon Project for tracking worldwide emissions and providing an excellent web tool for working with the data http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/
http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/?q=emissions
The United States did slightly reduce its emissions for the year, as did Europe. But since we have put most of the carbon in the atmosphere in the last 150 years, we need to do more. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Please show you want to seriously tackle carbon emissions because it is the only moral choice.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Fan of Global Carbon Project
Sunday 2 March 2014
Letter # 332
Dear President Obama,
Blue Huipil – San Juan Cotzal, Guatemala
I started writing you these letters one year ago on March 3, 2013. Today I honor my mother Evelyn Dressner Ringler – it is her birthday and she would be 99 today. What will the world be like when I am 99? I fear that Mother Earth will be less fertile and less bountiful than today. Climate is a complex set of interactions that we don’t fully understand. But it does seem very clear that we have made rapid unprecedented changes to the amount of GH gases in the atmosphere in the last 40 years, and that we are beginning to see more and more frequent and abrupt weather changes. These are very troubling developments that deserve our immediate actions! Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline today! It is folly to wait any longer to make urgent changes. Mothers everywhere will thank you. And in a consistent and nurturing way, mothers everywhere will continue to ask you to please stop KXL until you do!
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Honoring Mothers Everywhere
Monday 3 March 2014
Letter # 333
Dear President Obama,
Here it is a year later and I am still writing you letters asking you to STOP the Keystone XL pipeline because I am really worried about worldwide carbon emissions and what they will do to our climate. Thank you to the Royal Society and the US Nat’l Academy of Science for their recent report on climate change.
http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/climate-evidence-causes/
CO2 fluctuated in the atmosphere at between 200 and 300 pp million for the last 800,000 years – through 6 known ice ages. But then the industrial revolution came and we started burning a lot of fossil fuels and rapidly increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. From 1750 to 1979 CO2 went from 278 ppm to 332 ppm – higher than it had ever been before in 800,000 years. As we came out of the last ice age, the world warmed 4 to 5 degrees C over a period of 7000 years. But CO2 has increased from 1979 to 2014 from 332 ppm to 397 ppm. At this rate we will experience 4 to 5 degrees C of warming by 2100 or so! That is global warming at 10 times the speed of the fastest known change (Royal Society report, p. 9). That is truly alarming! We are making huge changes to our plant recklessly. Please please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Do it today.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Read Royal Society Report
Monday 3 March 2014
Letter # 334 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
I write to you again today to tell you about a wonderful habitat restoration project that Paul Zweng has undertaken on 1400 acres on Oahu http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/garden/back-to-paradise.html
He is a man of energy and action who cares deeply about nature and is working in a very positive way within his local sphere of influence. We all need to do what we can, and as President you can stop the Keystone XL Pipeline – so please do it TODAY! I enclose my letter to Mr. Zweng and hope you find inspiration in his work. Rapid climate change is a very serious problem that requires decisive actions at the highest levels NOW! Please act quickly to stop the KXL and do whatever else you can to move the US quickly away from fossil fuels.
Thank you,
Susan Ringler, Admire Paul Zweng
Dear Mr. Zweng,
I read with interest the NY Times article on your Ohulehule Forest Conservancy and your efforts to restore native plants there. When I decided to write to you, I googled to find an address and found your recent EI Report. I really enjoyed skimming the section on plants found on the property – a hidden gem. But you wonder why I am writing.
I am very concerned about global carbon emissions and the climate disruptions we are headed for. In the past year I have written President Obama over 300 letters asking him to please STOP the Keystone XL pipeline as a small practical step to cut down on fossil fuel use. I ask you to please support the fight to minimize climate change and to please use your voice and actions in some way to make Americans more aware about how dangerous the rising carbon emissions are. I have posted about 100 of my letters on the web at: https://imaginevividly.com/Climate_Action_Letters.php
so that people can read them. I thank you for your energy and work at restoring your local habitat and hope you can find some way to support climate protection more globally. Thanks again for what you do, and may it bring much joy. I’ll write to President Obama about your work.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Love the Dirt
Tuesday 4 March 2014
Letter # 335
Dear President Obama,
I am worried that the Crimea will land in war again. Russia is holding war games and rattling sabers. Will it try to take back the Crimean peninsula from the Ukraine?
I hope not. Ukraine is going through turmoil. Let’s hope they transition to a new government with as little bloodshed as possible. And please don’t let this distract you from the problem of climate change. All other problems are less important. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. We need to cut sharply back on carbon emissions. We cannot afford to destabilize the winds, currents, and all the repeating seasonal weather patterns of the planet! This is a very dangerous situation for humanity. It is up to the more stable, richer countries to take the lead on climate. Please get out in front!
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Worried about Ukraine
Wed 5 March 2014
Letter # 336
Dear President Obama,
I’m flying to London tonight to take part in my sister’s wedding. Otherwise I would demonstrate against the KXL here in downtown Boston.
I hope lots of people go to show you that we really care about the climate and really want you to STOP the Keystone XL pipeline. I’ll be there in spirit. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Love Westminster Abbey
Thursday 13 March 2014
Letter # 336 (should be 337)
Dear President Obama,
Hello from London. I’m here in Scotland and England seeing friends. The Scots are going to vote in September on whether they want to separate from England. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/world/europe/scot-oil-and-gas-an-issue-in-vote-on-independence.html
It is probably not a good idea. Smaller units don’t work as well as medium-sized ones these days. Unfortunately, a lot of people are going to just vote their emotions and so the separatists may win. It is important for us to use our emotions properly – good for human relations, but not so good for decision-making. So please decide to stop the Keystone XL pipeline because it is not a reasonable path forward. We, instead, need to reduce our use of fossil fuels and concentrate on renewable energy. So think about the whole planet and what is best for that – not just your own backyard.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Make Rational Decisions
Thursday 13 March 2014
Letter # 337 (should be 338) (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
John D. Fergusson, The Red Dress (1950)
Fergusson Gallery, Perth, Scotland
I saw this painting in Perth, Scotland. Fergusson was from there and lived in Paris many years and was influenced by Cezanne and others. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Traveling reminds me that we are all connected. We share this beautiful planet! Look how lovely the garden is, and how relaxed the woman in the red dress. She had no idea that fossil fuels were bad for the planet. But WE DO! Please stop KXL as a first small step.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Love Scotland
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Letter # 338 (should be 339)
Dear President Obama,
Well Russia has taken over the Crimean peninsula and Putin is wildly popular in Russia this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/ukraine.html
The pro-Russian Ukrainian government collapsed a month ago (21 Feb) and the new government was decidedly pro-Europe. Ukraine was looking to join the EU. Russia had already lost the Baltics to the EU, and it was not going to let the Ukraine “go west.” But how do you attach Crimea to Russia? And what does it mean for the rest of Ukraine? Does Gazprom stop supplying gas to Ukraine? Do goods for Crimea now go by sea into Kerch? Do the 2 million Crimeans get a better life? And during all this upheaval the state of the world’s carbon budget goes unheeded. We humans are so much better at short-term crisis-management than long-term change that I wonder whether we will get serious about climate change in time to avoid quite horrendous climate disasters. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline! Please do it now! Those who tell you we have decades to address the issues are wrong. We need sharp carbon reductions NOW.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Don’t Get Distracted by Crimea
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Letter # 339 (should be 340) (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
Another cold day yesterday – temperatures didn’t rise above freezing. It’s a bit better today but still cold for the season. A weather chart today showed how snowy this winter has been for the Midwest and East Coast.
Philadelphia has had TRIPLE their average snowfall and Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Washington DC and New York have all had DOUBLE the usual amount. This data clearly shows we are in the throes of climate disruption. As the disruptions increase they will impact agriculture more and more and other businesses as well. Say goodbye to nice steady seasonal weather patterns and say hello to lots more sudden and severe weather shifts. Increased carbon pollution is causing Planet Earth to warm, but not in a slow steady manageable way! Mark my words – we are going to see 2 or 3 major weather disasters in different parts of the world simultaneously! Let’s hope we can cut carbon pollution to avoid some of the worst human disasters. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline NOW. Please get serious about climate change NOW! We cannot afford to wait. A tiny rise in average global temperature sounds manageable, but not when each locality has wild swings.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Bracing for Climate Disruption.
