Letter of Thanks to Senators Mikulski and Cardin

I just felt the need to express my thanks to Senators Mikulski, Cardin, and all the others who respond in a personal way to all the emails and petitions I'm sure they are bombarded with every day. Form letters they may be, but each one expresses the Senators' thoughts on the subject at hand, explains their personal stance, and cites which legislature they oppose or support. Letters like these let us know that our elected representatives really are listening to what we are saying, and have our interests in mind. And if they don't agree with us, it explains why. So kudos to you, Senators.

And let this be a lesson to you Mr. Roscoe Bartlett of District 6, and the NEVER ENDING slew of identical form letters that say NOTHING other than a basic brush off of 'sorry I can't answer your email, I get tons of email everyday' and 'I can only help you if you live in my district'. Well I DO live in your district, Mr. Bartlett, as you would know if whoever screens your mail ever bothered to actually read it, although if I have any say in the matter it won't be your district for any longer than necessary. I've gotten better form letters from the President of the United States, whom I well know did not read my letter! It is disgraceful and unacceptable behavior to ignore the voice of your constituents in this way. For shame, Mr. Bartlett. For shame.

Huge Oil spill on Mississippi River

Ah F*ck.
That and a dozen other cusswords are about the first things that came out of my mouth when I saw this article.

Huge Oil Spill shuts Mississippi River

This is one of those times when I'm not going to bother to be polite and censor myself. For all you dumbshits who want to drill off the coast and in ANWR or anywhere else that is protected and not already under an unused or underused oil lease, look at this and consider the goddamn consequences. Yeah, sure, the environmental impact of drilling in ANWR will be contained within 2000 sq miles. MY ASS. The oil has to get OUT of ANWR doesn't it? Anywhere that oil goes from there is a potential disaster area! And don't give me any crap about how this was heating oil not motor oil or gasoline, its all the same thing when you get down to the bottom line.
After the devastation and pollution caused by Hurricane Katrina this is the very last thing the Mississippi River region needs. Gaia help us clean up this f*cking mess.

How Do You Spell Relief?

Email from the Center for American Progress Action Fund:

We need real energy solutions that address the real needs of the American people. Add your voice to our campaign to lower gas prices now and lower carbon emissions for the future. Don't let conservatives get away with filling the airwaves with lies that distract us from our goals. Don't let them put the needs of Big Oil ahead of the needs of American families.

When it comes to lowering gas prices now, the president and conservatives say we should drill for oil on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). They tell us that the way to lower oil prices now and reduce oil consumption is to sell our future to big oil companies with leases that won't have a significant impact on our needs until 2030. In other words,

President Bush spells relief: SELL OUR FUTURE

But we take a more realistic approach to lowering prices now.


We spell it: SELL OUR OIL


We need relief NOW! Under eight years of the Big Oil presidency, oil prices have gone up by more than 500 percent. But we can lower oil prices in 20 days by selling a small portion of our strategic oil reserves and reduce our oil consumption in the future by using the profits from the sale to invest in low carbon energy solutions, without affecting our energy security.


When the price of oil goes up who makes more money? Yeah, that's right, the president's Big Oil friends... So who do you trust to help bring down the price of oil? Do you trust those selling FANTASY or those selling REALITY?


So let's help Congress push President Bush to implement REAL ENERGY SOLUTIONS.

Write Congress today about releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves and using the profits to invest in creating a low carbon economy.


Take Action Now

Together we can solve all of our energy needs. This is the first step in our campaign for Real Energy Solutions, so keep your eyes open for more!

Thanks,
Alan and the CAPAF/I Am Progress Advocacy Team

You can read more about this plan on their website.
I think it sounds like a much better idea than drilling in ANWR and using that for funding (yeah, cause I'm sure they will right?) don't you?

'Green' lawns, not green?

Here is a fascinating article I found on WorldChanging.com which I discovered through the Sierra Club magazine. Its about how the American ideal of that perfect, crabgrass-free lawn is more unsustainable than first apparent.

Kill Your Lawn!

Personally, I lived in Arizona for many years and we never had any grass, and I never wanted any grass. I come from a family of farmers, gardeners, and landscapers, and both my Grandfather and my Mother managed golf courses at some point in their lives. I used to go to work with my mom on the golf course in AZ, and it was a little appalling to see all that water pouring out of sprinklers onto green green grass, when there was a dry river bed not 100 yards away. Here in Maryland, much of what I remember as crops and dairy farms as a kid is now part of a huge network of sod farms that covers Frederick and Montgomery counties. I have to wonder what good growing all that grass does for anyone, except the guy (Coughahem, Chuck Wade) who is selling all that sod. And the guys he pays to mow it, maybe.
Anyway, my mom's house in AZ is all native plants that were growing there before the house was built (you can't remove some of them anyway, because they are protected. Go Saguaros!) and a couple of really nice fruit trees, oranges, apricots, and a large garden. Of course in AZ, growing food requires actual watering more than it would here in MD, but still, its better than 2.5 acres of useless grass! I live in a townhouse and have a postage stamp sized lawn that never requires watering due to our geographic location, and I wouldn't water it anyway, even if it all shriveled up and died. I really would like a veggie garden, but the topography of my postage stamp would require a lot of leveling and terracing to make that work, and then there'd be no where for the dog to do her business. So I'll just stick with my low maintenance lawn care for now.

Grey Wolves Re-listed!

A federal judge granted an injunction that will temporarily place Grey Wolves back on the endangered species list until research proves whether they need it or not.
This means planned hunts for the fall are now off! Unfortunately, I can sense a rise in poaching coming...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2008/07/work-in-progres.html

Continuing attack on Alaska

First it was the aerial gunning, and the continuing pressure to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Now the Bush administration is attacking Alaska's Tongass National Forest with plans to increase logging in areas of old growth on Kuiu and Admiralty islands, home of grizzly bears, bald eagles, and the rare coastal Marten of the Tongass, as well as the elusive Alexander Archipelago wolf.
The plan calls for up to a five time increase in the amount of logging in these areas, with new logging roads being forged into roadless areas, disrupting and destroying the habitat of animals like the Coastal Marten which can only live in very dense forests.
You can make a stand against this destructive plan by going to Defenders of Wildlife's Action Center and clicking on the link to "Speak out against logging that threatens Martens and other wildlife."

My letter to Senator Bartlette

Senator Bartlette,
I was alarmed to learn that you will be supporting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest and most amazing such refuges in our country. In a recent email you defended your decision by saying that 'bandaid fixes would not be fair to our children.' What I think would be unfair to our children is to see such important national treasures as ANWR desecrated by fossil fuel addiction and corporate greed. Using ANWR as the piggy bank for federal funding of cleaner energy research is not right-minded thinking. The only way to ensure energy conservation is to not horde it by stockpiling oil purged from our wild places. I, for one, do not believe that increased oil production will have any effect on oil prices. In fact, one of your fellow Representatives has said that 'oil prices must remain high in order to cut demand.'Is anyone in Congress on the same page?
2000 of 19 million acres is still too much to give up. I urge you to reconsider your stance on H.R. 6107.
Respectfully,
Deborah Byrd