Following on from my post the other day trying to do my little bit to promote:
the Forward On Climate rally in Washington DC on 17Feb2013…
Stepping Towards Sustainable Solutions pointed me to:
an open letter to the President Of The United States (POTUS) calling for bold climate action…
Friend Nature pointed me to:
the Sierra Club Foundation’s form letter which offers the facility to send POTUS your own personalised message. (Note: The form requires entry of a zip code and matching State, so if, like me, you don’t have either, I suggest using ‘12345’ as the zip and ‘NY’ as the state — because it works, and otherwise I will have wasted your time…)
So, if you can’t go to Washington DC on 17Feb2013, you can instead send the POTUS your own message and/or co-sign the open letter.
Below, I’ve included the letter I wrote. It’s All Mi Own Werk©®pat. pend™, but, please, feel free to steal any of the words; you can even use them in the same order, if you think that will help…
Dear Mr President,
I am a British Citizen living in the UK, so it can be argued that US politics is none of my concern. But I am also a resident of the Earth, and I do not wish to see the planet that is my home become a wasteland.
A while ago, I vowed never to fly again — a measure to reduce my own carbon footprint — yet, even so, I am considering flying to be in Washington DC on 17Feb2013 to attend the Forward on Climate rally. The reason I would risk being accused of hypocrisy by doing so is that I view this event as a last gasp effort to get action to stop the insanity.
It may well already be too late; recent reports now coming in reveal the disastrous manner in which we have underestimated how badly our activities are damaging the biosphere, the only home to life we know. Tipping points are being passed that, for all our technological wizardry, for all our smarts, we will be powerless to tackle — making all talk of ‘adaptation’ moot.
As the rock group ‘Yes’ says: “Without hope, you cannot start the day”. Though I know you are concerned about the state of the economy, there is no surer way to ensure its complete downfall than if the people have no reason to get out of bed in the morning because they can only see a future that is bleak, barren, and dead.
We humans, rightly or wrongly, have assumed the mantle of stewardship of this planet Earth. I urge you, please, Mr President, to take strong action, now, to protect our planet. Nobody else can do it. Other nations will follow your lead; but you must lead.
I thank you for listening.
Wibble 
Excellent sentiments and choice of rock band (not a song I had previously heard). However, I think it a shame you did not include a link to my post with the Close to the Edge video:
http://lackofenvironment.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/yes-we-are-close-to-the-edge/
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Oh, you blatant self-promoter, you ;) I would have, had I realised it was there. Now I know; thank you for the link. (One day, I really am going to get a round tuit, and write that post I’ve been thinking about doing, trying to explain how blogging — in my view, at least — ain’t linear like wot traditional media is.)
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The Tar sands are a scar upon our Earth and Mans History… we seem to destroy more than we build… I wish you well in your visit and hope that some one listens somewhere… because time is running out.. We each of us have to do what we think is right to make a difference in this world…
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Absolutely!
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Hey, if you decide to go let me know!!! I’m carpooling down with some friends. I’ll buy you a beer!
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I was torn…
Decided a while back never to fly again (CFRM: carbon footprint reduction measure); want to show solidarity with ForwardOnClimate in Washington DC on 17Feb2013; don’t want to be a hypocrite.
Agonised.
Slept on it.
Came up with a compromise: donate what the flight would have cost me, so I can help support those who can be there. Will be with you in spirit!
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Signing petitions, writing letters, making phone calls and pissing off my friends talking about this stuff. I love your avatar! Keep the faith.
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What a load of crap, John ;)
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Letters to Obama. Sheesh. That’s where the real crap is. You folks just never accept that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Huh? What’s so hard to get?
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I hear you. But the alternative is, what, give up?
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No. The alternative is a conspiracy. A good one! :-)
Remember… when going against a force much much stronger than you… erm… does “guerrillla” ring a bell?
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“… when going against a force much stronger than me…”
Ah, yes:
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Ha! Good mornin’ to you too! :-D
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So is it more insane or less insane to prepare for the inevitable consequences of what will happen if drastic and immediate action is not undertaken on climate change?
I haven’t totally given up hope of a collective solution – but I am damned if I am going to tie my hopes to the rest of the collective and sink with the ship, so to speak. Who is “you folks”?
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Here folks. :-)
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Might want to give this a read:
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It’s hard, nay impossible, to separate truth from lies when there’s so much noise. The fact that BBC news is all over itself whittering on about ‘contaminated’ (sic) meat that’s essentially harmless*, while it continues to ignore what’s happening to our world, makes conspiracy theories such as this highly credible. As a wargamer of many years, I’m well aware of the principle of divide and conquer.
One passage from that article rang very true with me:
* The mislabelling of horse as beef should only come as a surprise to those who believe that Bleep’s facial cream (with added zest and vitamins) can make you look younger.
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I wouldn’t call it conspiracy theory. There are no secrets revealed or alleged, it’s all readily available information. She presents a different way of looking at the facts – without “eyes wide shut”. I loved the strawberry fields reference, where nothing is real, and living is easy with eyes closed. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time.
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It’s a theory involving a conspiracy. As with so many things, it depends upon how you look at it.
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Politicians, once elected, hardly listen to their own electorate — but we need to keep banging the cymbals. Every squeak adds up.
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I just hope that the meeting in Washington DC today will have an impact (while fearing that it won’t).
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