Friday 20 Feb 2015
Letter #501
Dear President Obama,
Bitter bitter cold here in Boston. 16 days straight below 32 degrees and much of that WELL below. 19 degrees in Atlanta GA, Denver has had 60s to 70s for much of this month, but it is now raining and will turn to snow and drop to 25 degrees today. Istanbul got 24 inches of snow in 2 days this week and the city ground to a stand still.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/world/in-turkey-even-snow-can-be-tainted-by-politics.html
They rarely get more than a dusting of snow! The wind patterns across the globe are disrupted. Yes, any particular weather event does not prove climate change, but the relentless setting of new records demonstrates a frightening level of DISRUPTION. We are in for staggering economic losses, and heart-wrenching human misery. Please put the brakes on our carbon emissions FAST and HARD. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today. We don’t want that dirty oil. It needs to stay in the ground. Don’t enable its use! Climate scientists tell us that the planet will continue to warm for 20 years AFTER we stop raising the amount of carbon in the atmosphere! 20 years! And we’ve wasted the last 20 years. We can’t afford to waste any more time. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Blizzard Hits Istanbul
Sunday 22 Feb 2015
Letter #502
Dear President Obama,
I am so pleased to read that criminal charges have been filed against Duke Energy for their huge Coal Ash leak last year (see letter #342).
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/21/us/duke-energy-is-charged-in-huge-coal-ash-leak.html
They run their business with complete disregard for environmental laws and the health of Americans. It is only a shame that the federal charges are only a misdemeanor, and can be settled with a fine. We need to shut down the coal industry quickly, starting with the dirtiest practices. We need to ditch fossil fuels and move quickly to renewables. Time is really running out for us to avoid the worst extremes of climate change. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline TODAY! Please show some backbone against Big Oil and all the fossil fuel producers. The situation is urgent and the business practices of Duke Energy demonstrate clearly that these are rogue industries intent on the greatest short-term profit at ANY COST! Strong measures most be taken to rein them in. So please stop the KXL as a first small step. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Duke Energy Must Pay
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Letter # 503
Dear President Obama,
Thank you, thank you for VETOING the bill trying to force you to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/opinion/mr-obamas-easy-call-on-keystone-bill.html
Their move was childish and probably made you angry. It was sort of like children trying to force their parents into buying them dangerous toys or even worse. The decision is yours. They cannot take it from you and their political theatre just makes them look stupid. Now please end the matter once and for all and reject the Keystone XL Pipeline. Just pick up your pen and do it!
We must all take a stance against fossil fuel and for the fragile and intricate climate under which humans have thrived for so long. The build-up of carbon in our atmosphere is incredibly alarming and we must quickly find other energy sources so we can leave the fossil fuels in the ground. Thank you for your veto. It gives me hope for our future. Thank you thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Grateful Activist (thanks for Veto)
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Letter # 504
Dear President Obama,
Remember my letter #25 to you about gas drilling under Loppersum Holland? That was March 2013, almost 2 years ago. Last week a new government study was published finding the Dutch government AND the oil companies ignored safety concerns, placing “financial and energy security concerns ahead of safety.”
A 2012 earthquake and a population of 150,000 in the gas field area forced the new study and government attention. In the US population is less dense near gas fields, so public outcry is more muted. But the fact is the only way to achieve financial and energy security is to leave fossil fuels IN THE GROUND! Please Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today. Learn a lesson from LOPPERSUM. Fossil fuels are dangerous to residents near wells and to every one of us on the planet. Our climate is disrupted and will only get much worse. We need to wake up now. We need to quickly ramp up production of renewable energy. It is the only responsible and safe alternative. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Learn from Loppersum
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Letter # 505 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
Pakistan is falling apart, even more than usual. A sobering article 2 weeks ago reports on a devastating water crisis which the Water Minister refuses to call a DROUGHT, preferring to speak of “water stress.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/world/asia/pakistan-braces-for-major-water-shortages.html
Particularly telling is the ERRATIC pattern of rainfall. “The frequency of monsoon rains has decreased, but their intensity has increased.” Severe climate DISRUPTION is destabilizing an already fragile country. Pakistan is a poorly-run home for almost 200 million people and no stranger to extremist groups. Agriculture is a mainstay of the economy, but as cities have swelled, the poor are less and less able to feed themselves. Electricity is at best intermittent. Chaos is just waiting to erupt. You can’t fix many of Pakistan’s ills, but you CAN take an emphatic stance against climate change. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline TODAY! We need to stop using fossil fuels URGENTLY and RAPIDLY. There are too many warning signs to ignore. Please stop this madness. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Rains Failing Pakistan
Thursday 26 February 2015
Letter # 506
Dear President Obama,
WmMorris, Anenome 1890
I send you this beautiful floral design in honor of the people of southern Algeria who have been peacefully demonstrating against proposed shale gas fracking in their country.
This is truly a grass-roots movement built on common sense. Why does Total want to use methods in Algeria that they are banned from using in Europe? Why frack in a desert where there is almost no water (fracking uses huge amounts of water)? Why do simple people understand the dangers of climate change better than most elected officials and their minions? Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is the only MORAL option. We have pumped far too much carbon into the atmosphere. We must leave the remaining fossil fuel IN THE GROUND. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Admire Algerian Fracking Foes
Friday 27 February 2015
Letter # 507
Dear President Obama,
In your 26 Feb 2015 letter* regarding the FCC decision to protect net neutrality, you affirm:
“I ran for office because I believed that nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change. That’s the backbone of our democracy – and you’ve proven that this timeless principle is alive and well in our digital age.
So to all the people who participated in the conversation, I have a simple message: Thank you.”
* found on Facebook
There are millions of voices calling for change in our energy supplies, telling you that climate change is the biggest world challenge of the century, far bigger than net neutrality. So PLEASE let nothing stand in the way of these voices! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline right now! Please add your powerful voice calling urgently to stop carbon pollution. We cannot afford any more delay. We must keep fossil fuels in the ground.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, We are Millions of Voices Calling for Change
Sat 28 February 2015
Letter # 508
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday I signed a Greenpeace-sponsered online petition against arctic drilling for offshore oil. I added this comment:
“Please withdraw your support for offshore Arctic drilling. There is new evidence that it simply cannot be done safely.
Royal Dutch Shell recently announced its formal intention to drill for oil in the remote Chukchi Sea in the Alaskan Arctic in 2015, depending on OUR government’s response. That is YOU.
In the past you have supported drilling for oil in the region, but the mounting CLIMATE CRISIS makes the case against arctic drilling UNDENIABLE.
We don’t need the oil. It’s too expensive. The environmental cost is too high. And most importantly, Arctic oil MUST STAY IN THE GROUND if we are to keep temperatures from rising to dangerous levels. Please deny Shell the necessary permits and permissions it needs to drill in 2015.“
Please also stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. These issues are intimately related and urgent. We must develop renewable energy and quickly ratchet-down our use of fossil fuels.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, No Arctic Drilling
Sun 1 March 2015
Letter # 509
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday I went to a rally in downtown Boston to Save Cape Wind – a wind farm proposed 14 years ago off Cape Cod that would be the FIRST US off-shore wind farm.
Europe has dozens of off-shore wind farms and more under construction. We desperately need off-shore wind farms. Bill Koch has mounted 26 lawsuits against Cape Wind – all of which have failed – because he doesn’t want to look at wind turbines way out on the horizon and he has billions (petro-money) to throw at his annoyance (see my letter #209). He has delayed the project so long it is foundering. This makes me ANGRY. Government is not standing in the way of Cape Wind. The site was chosen by government agencies as the best suited, and all sorts of permits have been granted. But the government isn’t helping sufficiently either! This project provides electricity where there is not enough. It will provide good long-term jobs to New Bedford that NEEDS them. It starts off-shore wind energy as an industry. It is renewable energy. Our democracy is badly broken when one man can stop all this! So please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline and show that you and your government are committed to fighting carbon pollution. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Rallying to Save Cape Wind
Sun 1 March 2015
Letter # 510 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
I was really struck recently by an article reporting that Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be personally concerned about global warming.
Hey! Smart people! Many have relatives outside the US and so have a more global perspective. They see that poor people everywhere are hit hardest by pollution and climate disruption. They also work outside a lot and have closer ties to farming and gardening. They notice climate disruption more and think more about small subsistence farmers all over the world. I really hope they VOTE in record numbers in 2016. Because a big increase in Hispanic voting will certainly benefit Democrats more than Republicans. If all the poor and disenfranchised and young would vote in this country, our democracy would work a lot better. So Please STOP the Keystone XL Pipeline! Do it for Hispanic voters. Do it so more Hispanics VOTE! Do it for poor people everywhere. Do it for people of color everywhere. You know who gets hurt first. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Hispanics Know Climate Change is Real
