A good friend of mine from high school just sent me an email that was one sentence. "What do you think of T. Boone Pickens energy plan?" I've known him since he was 14, we rode the bus together but I don't remember him. He knows I can't keep my mouth shut about stuff like this.
So I replied with this:
I think that decreasing our overall dependence on oil is extremely important. Alternative technology is here and it can provide jobs and help our economy and mitigate the impacts of climate change. There are alternatives to all products that we have that use petroleum but industry has more money to sell their stuff and to pay off our politicians. I think we are on the verge of collaps as a species and a planet. Humans are increasingly unable to reproduce because of chemical poisoning and the next generation is going to be even worse off. Girls are born with all of their eggs and then covered in chemicals by the products they buy, the food they ingest, and the contaminated places they play - these acute exposures are deforming their eggs for life, which means that eventually we will not be able to reproduce as a species. We need policies that are found on the precautionary principle so that we stop destroying our bodies and our planet, instead of waiting to see how harmful things are. I think we need to invest our economy in these safer alternatives now. I'm not a huge fan of natural gas, we don't have time to be taking small steps. We need large scale change today. And I don't mean we need to increase our fucking recycling. Thinking of conservation in the terms of recycling is doing more harm than good. We need to reduce our overall consumption. Stop buying shit and start looking at the entire life cycle of things we purchase. What happens at the plant to both the people who make the product and the land surrounding the facility? Is there PVC in it? Is there chemical off-gassing when it is your home? Are you increasingly getting new allergies? Is it a one time use product? Do you throw it away? Where does the trash go to? How does it breakdown in the earth? Are the additives chemicals (because some chemicals that make up products are brushed off by simply touching it and are in reality simply additive compounds) coming off on your hands, your parents hands, your pets, your children, in the landfills? Are there chemicals in the products that can seep into the water system? After we throw our products away are we then drinking the chemicals that were used to produce it?
I think energy plans need to be looked at as the brother to chemical regulation. Coal fired energy facilities are not only increasing our green house gases and melting our ice caps but they are poisoning our children and destroying communities. When the next Katrina hits how many medical incinerators will be busted up and poison every community around it? What will happen to superfund sites and schools that are built on top of hazardous waste dumps? We must acknowledge that we exist in a eco-system and that everything we do effects everything else that exists. Increased jelly fish population in the oceans, decreased bee populations are all related to the things we purchase, the one time use paper towels, the easy to use but completely unnecessary plastic water bottles. We are quickly passing the point where you carry around a safe fish list in your pocket and take the recycling to the curb each week.
ummm . . i can go into physical impacts of particular chemicals if you want but i need to finish some other stuff before i leave for the day.
did that help?
and have you seen this website?
http://courthouseconfessions.blogspot.com/
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Earlier in the day I apologized to an ex-boyfriend about my childish behavior when I was 26 . . . out of nowhere. What's going on with me? Maybe it's the new yoga routine I started, I think it's making me say too much.
I plan to remain silent for the rest of the day,
Renee Claire
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