Sat 1 June 2013
Letter # 91
Dear President Obama,
This is japanese paper from a notebook I bought there in 1976. It’s intended for writing vertically, but rotated 90 degrees it works for us “round eyes” too. Writing in notebooks, keeping track of things, these are activities we humans have pursued for thousands of years. But what will the next even 200 years on planet Earth look like? If we don’t quickly curb carbon emissions it could look very very UGLY. Global warming is the most urgent problem this generation faces. If the climate spins out of control under our watch, we will be vilified by future generations.
We know the scientists are right. Please act NOW. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Japan Visitor
Sunday 2 June 2013
Letter # 92
Dear President Obama,
Here is a lovely strawberry envelope for today’s letter. June is the month for fresh strawberries. I buy some organic and some regular produce, but I only buy organic strawberries because I don’t think we should be using methyl bromide. It is terrible for the workers and their families, and it can’t be great for the environment, Wow! that Keystone XL pipeline isn’t good for the environment either! Please say NO to Keystone XL so that 200 years from now lots of people will be thriving on our planet and enjoying strawberries!
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Strawberry-eater
Monday 3 June 2013
Letter # 93
Dear President Obama,
I walked the 5-mile AIDS walk in Boston yesterday with some friends. It was really hot – 92 F or so and we wore hats and drank lots of water. It has gone from 55 to 90 degrees in 4 days here, and I have read that these abrupt temperature swings are linked to the jet stream getting stalled – something we will probably see lots more of. http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/spring-delayed-europe-shivers/
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/and-the-weatherman-says-theres-more-to-come/
It was great to see a wide assortment of people walking to combat AIDS, including middle school kids and younger. The US has improved the social justice landscape quite a bit in the last 30 or 40 years, and that is to be applauded. But there is much less awareness of the urgency of curbing carbon emissions. We really need to get moving very quickly. Please say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline and show the country your leadership on trying to slow the warming planet. The time for action is NOW.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Walking to Combat AIDS
Tuesday 4 June 2013
Letter # 94
Dear President Obama,
The US Chamber of Commerce put their name on a full page NY Times ad in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline yesterday.
Shame on them for taking sides. [Since the text is hard to read, I transcribe it here: ]
The Keystone XL pipeline will provide 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada and US sources to American refineries. That’s 800,000 barrels a day that we won’t need to import from countries that don’t always share our values. The Keystone XL pipeline could put thousands of Americans to work and generate millions in investments and revenues. The choice is clear. Tell President Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline today.
The $150,000 (or more?) for the ad came from big oil interests hiding behind a fairly new organization www.energyxxi.org. If you click the link you get a sales pitch for the pipeline and are asked to write a letter to you.
I am encouraged by this. It means the oil interests feel compelled to spend money to try and get ordinary citizens to write letters for their environmental disaster. The good guys – my side – don’t need to spend ad money for MANY citizens, like myself, to write you many letters against the pipeline. That means we’re winning the letter campaign! And we’re doing it with grass roots organizing and facts. So please pay attention. Please try to limit the impact of climate change. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline. We don’t want dirty tar sands and pet-coke.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Concerned Enough to Keep Writing
Wednesday 5 June 2013
Letter # 95
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday was Tiananmen Square Day. I remember it well – 1989. And I remember the concert soon after at Stanford where Joan Baez sang a song she had written about the massacre. And now you are strolling around Annenberg’s estate with the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/us/politics/an-expansive-setting-for-obamas-talks-with-chinas-leader.html
I wonder if global warming and green house gases will even be mentioned. Probably not. But the fact is that the current energy policies of both the US and China are unsustainable. We are soon to face a global climate crisis – and we will all need to pull together. I’m not sure we are capable of that much cooperation, but I hope we are. In the meantime we each need to do what we can. You can stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Please stop it NOW. We don’t want Canada’s dirty tar sands and we don’t want their filthy pet-coke. They can keep their own messes. Please please NO to KXL.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Honoring the Tiananmen Square Dead
Thursday 6 June 2013
Dear President Obama,
Thank you for your 29 May letter in response to my dozens of letters. The courtesy of a reply is always appreciated.
It is a pity, however, that the letter is such a scripted political statement. It is a bland middle-of-the-road set-piece intended to offend no one. But the urgency of climate change is so great that offending no one is no longer a defensible position. I also take grave exception to your statement that our natural gas reserves “can last nearly 100 years … can power our cars … in a cleaner way.” We cannot afford the environmental and climate disasters of continuing to burn those reserves for even 20 years. We need to change our energy habits radically and quickly. The science is clear. We cannot just continue with business as usual. Please do not pander to the business-as-usual oil executives. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline. It is the moral thing to do. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Saddened by Bland Letter
Friday 7 June 2013
Letter # 97
Dear President Obama,
Germany is flooding again. In 2002 they said it was a 100-year flood (once in a hundred years) – but 11 years later we have another of similar size.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/floods-sweep-through-central-europe
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/06/05/world/europe/20130605FLOODS.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/world/europe/officials-urge-evacuations-in-german-floods.html
It is caused by lots of moist air and a strong low pressure system. In other articles meteorologists talk about the jet stream bending, about weather stalling over certain areas instead of just passing across. These stalled weather patterns are becoming much more common. They cause large floods, longer droughts, more severe weather of all kinds. We have caused these disruptions by pumping so much carbon into the atmosphere. We are in for a rough ride. We need to take proper heed of these clear and ominous weather-disruption events. We need to quickly stop the flow of greenhouse gases.
You are a world leader. Leaders get out in front and see problems before others have noticed. Please show your leadership and say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan J. Rinlger, For the times, they are a-changin
Saturday 8 June 2013
Letter # 98
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday there was an article in the NY Times reporting that farm subsidies for irrigation equipment have led to MORE water use and contribute to the depletion of ground water aquifers. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/us/irrigation-subsidies-leading-to-more-water-use.html
The population of the US has doubled in 50 years and water use has tripled. 80% of water use in the US is for farm irrigation. We currently grow farm surpluses to the peril of our aquifers. Our farm subsidies and agricultural management have enriched Monsanto, ADM, Cargill. They need to be overhauled to protect our water, our climate, our beautiful and bountiful country. I am glad these issues have become newsworthy, but saddened at how much climate damage it has taken. And how much more will it take?
Environmental damage is incredibly difficult to reverse. Water is not just for those who grab it first. Greenhouse gases jurt us all, even if we can’t see the effect in 10 minutes. Please stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Please show the leadership on climate and environmental degradation.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Favor Farm Bill REFORM
Sunday 9 June, 2013
Letter # 99
Dear President Obama,
Another great article about pet-coke in Friday’s NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/business/huge-petroleum-coke-pile-making-way-back-to-canada.html (for first article – see my letter # 78). Well, some of the pet-coke from Detroit has been shipped to Nova Scotia and is being used to make electricity by Nova Scotia power because “it saves our customers money.” So if you make dirty pet-coke cheap enough, virtually giving it away, and you can find a place with insufficient pollution standards, you can find someone to burn it. But even then the “WATERFRONT PILE CONTINUES TO GROW.” We do not need and do not want Canada’s Tar Sands oil and Pet-coke garbage. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline. Say NO today.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Pet-Coke Opponent
Monday 10 June, 2013
Letter # 100
Dear President Obama,
I was happy to read a week ago about an experimental 20 kw floating wind turbine launched off the coast of Maine. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/business/energy-environment/a-floating-wind-tower-is-launched-in-maine.html
Winds offshore are stronger and steadier, so they can produce more power, but fixed concrete towers are very expensive, and impractical in deep water. Floating turbines bob around and so some complicated engineering is required to capture the wind’s energy despite lateral motion. It’s sort of like trying to hula-hoop and hop at the same time …. or something. My imagery may be silly, but you get the idea. So congratulations to the engineers on this project and to the DOE for funding it. We need lots of new technologies like these to make GREEN energy. But just as important as starting new GREEN energy projects, is STOPPING new dirty energy development. Please say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline. We need to leave the Tar Sands in the ground. Don’t encourage Canada by building the pipeline.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Once a Hula-hooper
