We live in a beach community, although our house is a good two miles from the ocean. Still, we are called Redondo Beach, a fishing village and beach resort town rolled into one.
One of the nice things about living here is the ocean breezes. No need for air-conditioning, as it never really gets that hot, and whatever heat there is becomes a little less so as the breezes gently waft through any open window.
Except it's now crazy hot out and even with all the windows open, it's still crazy hot out.
Please, would someone take our President and walk him around in this heat and explain to him that fossil fuels brought us to this state. Would someone gently take him by the hand and explain to him that the massive flooding in his government buildings is his to fix, if he chooses. Would someone respectfully escort him past the century-old elm tree that was felled by the storms, explaining to him that the fate of the planet rests in his hands.
I know that the President is a human being, and I know that he has feelings, that he cares about his family. I know that he'll want his daughters to be cared for in a pleasant environment, where they can walk outside, among trees. If we can find a way to explain to him that he is responsible for his daughters' future, maybe he'll choose to fix things.
Or, at the least, maybe he'll convince his friends in the Energy lobby to lower their profit margins enough for me to be able to afford the costs of installing air-conditioning.
The Gift
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[Christmas, 1965 or thereabout]
The boy was very young; perhaps 7 or 8 years old. He loved everything about
Christmas - the lights, the music, Santa ...
4 months ago
11 Comments:
>If we can find a way to explain to him that he is responsible for his daughters' future, maybe he'll choose to fix things.
Excellent thought, but "we" (the people) will never be able to break through the wall of "yes" men and women that the prez surrounds himself with.
Those "yes" people knew their boss wanted a reason to start a war, so they "found" evidence of WMD (even if in reality there were none). They gave the boss what he wanted (and he got his war).
Those same "yes" people know what their boss wants, so they tell him that global warming is a myth and our dependence on to fossil fuels is not a problem. So, I am very doubtfull that he will ever fix things.
In fact, with respect to pollution, the worst is yet to come. The polution from oil/gas is nothing compared to the pollution from burning coal. And long after we have squeezed the last drop of oil from the ground, we will still have huge reserves of coal which will then become our major energy source (yes, we may have electric cars by then, but the electricity will be generated by burning coal). And burning coal for energy is very dirty and not only causes air pollution, but also environmental destruction and water pollution (mountain tops are literally blown off to get to the coal while the debris is dumped into the valleys which then leaches acid and heavy metals into streams and rivers). The safety record of coal mining also leaves a lot to be desired.
See this site for a review of a book that better describes the dangers ahead when oil runs out and we start burning much more coal:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/22/features/bookfri.php
You are right ... we need a leader who will choose to fix things ... someone who would rather use our country's funds to develop an alternative to fossil fuels as an energy source (rather than use our funds to fight a war to secure more oil). Otherwise, the weather forecast will be easy to predict: Hot :(
---allen
Here's the complete URL for the book review I mentioned in the previous post:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06
/22/features/bookfri.php
The book is:
"Big Coal
The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future"
By Jeff Goodell
I wonder if I'll get a comment notification when the identity is set to "Other"?
Allen,
First, thanks for being a loyal reader.
Second, yeah, I know, I hear you, I get it. My post was facetious, a fantasy. Like Randy Newman's song "Mr. President, Have Pity On The Working Man".
Third, unfortunately, blogger (my blog's host) won't notify me when there is an Anonymous comment. So if I haven't responded, it is because I didn't know you commented. Feel free to ding me when you've left a comment, and meanwhile I will continue hunting down a solution.
I'm going to serenade President Bush myself with a rousing version of Nelly's classic ditty, "It's Getting Hot In Here". That should persuade him of the need for affordably priced utilities.
"It's gettin hot in here, so take off all your clothes......"
That made me think of Pink's "Dear Mr. President", which I think is terrific.
Stu,
I'll try posting as "other" to see if you get a notification.
I watched "dear mr. prez" ... very good, but a sad commentary on our country's lack of true leadership.
Today I watched videos of the flooding back east. Scary. But if nothing is done to stop global warming, and the polar ice caps start to melt, the resulting flooding of all coastal areas will be much worse than the current flooding in the east (but not to worry, we have FEMA to help).
I want to refer to you as "Disco Stu", every time I see your name.
I really enjoyed looking at your site, I found it very helpful indeed, keep up the good work.
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