“Energy Independence” seems to be a euphuism for let’s kill the planet in the name of patriotism. The two latest examples of this madness are the renewed push for the XL pipeline and the President’s appointment for energy secretary. As you may have heard and/or read, the State Department has just released its environmental review of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The report is, in a word, FUBAR (okay you can tell I am a sailor). According to the National Resources Defense Council (NDRC), producing tar sands oil generates three times as much greenhouse gas pollution as regular crude oil production. Building the Keystone XL would be the same as putting at least five million new cars on the road. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and other deadly weather events, our government should not be whitewashing the very real and disastrous effects of climate-wrecking projects like the Keystone XL. Please join me in appealing to the President to reject the State Department’s flawed report. Ask him to send them back to the drawing board.
All you need to do is take this link to the NRDC message sender:
You may have read or heard this week that President Obama has nominated MIT’s Ernest Moniz, a known supporter of Fracking, as his pick for Energy Secretary. This is scary, in my view. I say this because hydraulic fracturing, or “Fracking,” is an abominable process of drilling for oil and natural gas, where millions of gallons of water and toxic Fracking fluids — a mixture of nearly 600 chemicals, water and sand — are pumped into a well to create pressure that cracks open rocks deep underground, releasing the oil and gas. These toxic chemicals can leach into our groundwater and make people sick.
Many people who live near Fracking wells are able to light their water on fire. If you have not yet seen the documentary, Gasland, please get the DVD and watch it. Scary! Many officials (including President Obama and Ernest Moniz), and of course energy executives, are treating Fracking as the path to our renewable energy future, despite the fact that Fracking hurts our climate and destroys our planet. If we’re going to move toward a true clean and independent energy future, Fracking cannot be part of the mix. Please join me and tell your congress people to hold Moniz accountable for his position onFracking. Here is a link to a Food and Water Watch petition: http://tinyurl.com/at979x7
Better yet, tell them they would do better to reject his appointment in favor of someone who has the interest of our planet as a priority. All this madness in the name of Energy Independence is frightening when you think about it. Unless reason gets hold of our political processes, we will continue to kill the plantet by mining the dirtiest of fuels (tar sands oil) and/or using the most poisonous of processes (Fracking)for what? The false benefit of getting more “cheap” fossil fuel, which when burned contributes to climate change and global warming. I say false benefit because what we pay in dollars for this gas and oil does not take into account its social costs, which will be paid by our heirs in spades (sea level raising, more drastic weather, more pollution, poisoned drinking water, etc).
I cannot think of a more destructive double whammy –mine and destroy, then burn and destroy more. The alternative is to forego the destructive mining of fossile fuels and instead invest in renewable energy sources. Gathering energy from the sun, wind and tide does not have to ruin the environment. And when you use this kind of energy, you don’t burn and emit more carbon. This will result in true energy independence – using sources of energy that do not wreck the planet when you gather or use them.
This kind of freedom is not offered by the present way mining and burning fossil fuels. Please get the word out to ban Fracking now, and trash the idea of the XL pipeline. Also, please get started with a project to get some solar panels on the roof of your home and/or business.