Archive for the ‘Environmental Politics’ Category

Tonight September 11th there will be a town hall meeting in Salt Lake City , Utah to discuss America’s dependence on foreign oil and the need for an Energy Plan now. If you can make the meeting go, if you cannot watch the Webcast.

Town Hall Meeting

Time: September 11, 2008 at 5pm
Location: Salt Palace Convention Center
Street: 100 S. West Temple - Room 255
City/Town: Salt Lake City
Event Type: Town, Hall, Meeting
Organized By: Pickens Plan

WEBCAST - Town Hall meeting with T. Boone Pickens - Salt Lake City, UT

Time: September 11, 2008 at 5pm
Location: http://www.pickensplan.com/webcast/
Website or Map: http://www.pickensplan.com/…
Event Type: WEBCAST
Organized By: Pickens Plan

bibi

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T. Boone Pickens sounds like he could be a country singer, he’s even got a little bit of a twang, but he’s singing the “we are addicted to foreign oil blues…”

If you’ve never heard of T. Boone Pickens, he is a billionaire who made his money in oil, mergers and acquisitions of oil companies and is often referred to as a corporate raider and greenmailer. He is also known as an activist in the political arena as well as an animal rights champion and a philanthropist in the humanitarian and education causes.

According to his bio on Wikipedia, Pickens has been talking about alternative energy sources to oil since 1997, when he “began touting natural gas as the best vehicular fuel alternative because it’s a domestic resource”, pushing for Nuclear Energy and other Alternative Energies such as wind power. Now this is also around the time that he formed a corporation now called Clean Energy that owns and operates natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border.

That being said, his personal reasons for coming up with this plan may seem partially self-serving, and only he knows the answer to that. It’s not a bad plan, maybe not a perfect plan but it is a plan, we went through  a similar thing back in the 70’s, let 30 years lapse without a plan and here we are again. I believe a plan is better than no plan, anything to get the oil monkey off our back, out of pockets and out of our air.

Check it out for yourself go to his website and see what you think, get involved if you want…Pickens Plan

bibi

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The price of oil is at an all time high of $105 a barrel. Opec’s decision not to increase production has not helped along with the steady decline of the U.S. dollar. The price oil is about 75% higher than it was a year ago. If that is not enough impetus to move in the direction of alternative energies, I don’t know what is.

We are being held hostage to our own addiction to oil, it is our drug of choice. Let’s at least admit that. We send billions of dollars to foreign nations to purchase oil, money that could otherwise be put to work right here. While the middle east is experiencing an economic boom due mostly to high oil prices, the U.S. and Europe are facing recession. Didn’t the same thing happen back in the 70’s. I was a kid but I remember the lines, do you? By not addressing our dependence on oil, the story repeats itself and here we are again in the same place we were almost 40 years ago. We didn’t fix the problem then , and the problem is still not fixed. What are we waiting for? Can we muster the vision that the last generation didn’t have?

The House of Representatives has passed bill H.R.5351 adding $18 billion dollars in new taxes on the biggest Oil companies over a 10 year period, which comes to $1.8 billion dollars a year. Sounds like a lot of money, but lets not forget the oil companies earned $123 billion just last year. The purpose of the extra taxes is to put them to work on renewable energy industries, keeping jobs and the money here helping the economy. The bill also gives credits for more efficient homes and Plug-in Gas/Electric Hybrid cars. Read More.

Unfortunately it now has to pass the Senate and then Bush is already expected to Veto it. A similar bill passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate.

How about we give it a push, let’s let the Senate and the president know how we feel about our dependency on foreign oil.

E-mail your Senator… Your Senator Here

alternative energy h.r.5351 oil prices

bibi

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As I was stumbling around the net yesterday, I came upon the story about the arson on the Street of Dreams development. It really made me sick. Sick to think that someone can be so engulfed in their own thoughts and beliefs that they would think that doing what they did is acceptable and will further their cause somehow. Do they not realize that they did more harm than good to the environmental cause. They might have made happy the few extremist crazy enough to do the same, but the average person who believes in protecting their environment will condemn their actions.

Violence gets you more violence, that’s all. If a person or group believes so fiercely in their cause enough to commit violence to get their point across, then let them claim their actions. By hiding in anonymity only shows how much of a coward they are and how little their cause deserves to be examined.

Every instance of violence diminishes the importance of the cause that they are trying to bring to light, in the eyes the average observer. Instead of trying to force your views down the throats of others, invite them for a drink, sit them down and talk to them. Convince people that your way is best. Change the laws, vote the law makers out, do protests, petitions, referendums, get the word out, go online, go on TV. But if violence is all you know, then expect no more sympathy than Osama bin laden gets. A terrorist is a terrorist. Do the rest of us environmentalists a favor, and stay home.

environmental terrorist extremists street of dreams

bibi

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Will your Candidate be Green enough? Do you know how they stand on the issues? Here’s a peek…

John McCain

• Believes that climate change is real and that greenhouse gases are damaging the environment, but even if the science cannot prove it, doing nothing is not an option.
• Introduced Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 .
• Committed to using Nuclear Power, conservation, and new technologies.
• Would sign a Global treaty but has to include both India and China.

Hillary Clinton

• Would develop new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, focusing on global deforestation.
• New mission for Department of Energy would be to move in the direction of energy independence towards solar, wind, bio-fuels, hydro-power, geothermal, and other renewable sources.
• Market based cap and trade system to reduce carbon pollution, including efficiency and fuel economy standards, to lower the U.S. contribution to Global Warming below the 1990 levels by 80%.
• Opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Fund new research by taking away subsidies from the Oil Companies and putting that money to work in the Alternative Energy Field.
• Believes turning the focus on Green Building and Alternative Energy could create millions of jobs for the American Economy that could not easily be outsourced.

Mike Huckabee

• Whether or not Humans have caused Global Warming or not, believes it is our responsibility to leave the planet in better condition for future generations.
• Would pursue all areas of alternative energy including Wind, Solar, Clean Coal, and Bio-diesel.
• Would put limits on Greenhouse gas emissions.
• Supports drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Supports increasing offshore drilling.
• Would create a profitable market for alternative energy by making the government the biggest user.

Barak Obama

• Would implement an economy wide cap and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Proposes a new International Global Warming Partnership.
• Plans to introduce a National Low Carbon Standards (LCFS), to speed up the introduction of low-carbon non-petroleum fuels.
• Create a new Technology Transfer Program within the Dept. of Energy, who’s mission would be to export climate-friendly technologies to developing countries.
• Incentives to maintain forests globally and manage them sustainably.
• Domestic incentives that reward forest owners, farmers and ranchers for planting trees, restore grasslands and undertake farming practices that capture carbon dioxide.
• Believes the cap on emissions would create a market for Clean Technologies.
• Reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

Source: CNN.com: Elections 2008

candidate stance on environmental issues environmental issues political candidates

bibi

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