I get e-mail newsletters from some groups who petitition for government action and sometimes I'll add my name to the cause if I agree with it.
The other day I sent in a petition to the 2 Arizona senators John McCain III (the one who ran for president)and Jon Kyl urging them to pass a comprehensive clean energy plan (I may be Canadian, but I pay Arizona taxes so they better listen to what I have to say).
I filled out my name and info and was about to submit, but then for some reason hesitated. My eyes were drawn down to the part of the petition that you can personalize and for some reason I decided to write a few of my thoughts down.
note: I've recently read magazine articles in
The Atlantic (
Here Comes the Neighborhood)
and
Time (
All Aboard) about
the environmental and economic benefits in building light-rail networks connecting suburbs to urban centres and utilizing high-speed trains for potential daily commuters.
Here is a bit of that petition:
Dear [Decision Maker],
For the past three months oil has gushed into our Gulf, yet the Senate has not taken up a comprehensive energy bill that will hold polluters accountable and create a clean, sustainable energy plan that breaks our addiction to oil and other dirty fuels.
Among the things I want to see the Senate deal with immediately:
-- Develop and support a comprehensive clean energy policy at home -- wind, solar, geothermal and other sustainable energy that we can use this decade. Provide incentives and mandates for increased production of clean, safe energy.
-- Hold polluters fully accountable and require them to meet reasonable targets to reduce their greenhouse gas pollution -- or be penalized.
-- Ensure companies pay their fair share of cleaning up their acts and not just lay it off on customers. Revenues generated from making polluters pay should be invested in clean energy and efficiency, and returned to consumers through rebates and incentives to be energy efficient.
-- Prioritize energy efficiency. The cheapest form of energy is energy that's not used. Incentives for weatherization, strong building energy codes and appliance standards improve our standard of living while cutting costs for consumers and reducing the need for more power plants.
*-- Create jobs and Connect the country. The development of a high-speed rail network connecting the major economic centres of the country would:
A) Reduce the high carbon emissions of the current transportation sector (I'll get a little shut-eye on my bed for the overnight train from Seattle to New York City),
B) Create jobs statewide in constructing (will the next John Henry please stand-up) and designing (will the next Frank Lloyd Wright please stand-up) the rail infrastructure, and all the new private businesses running the rail-system afterwards (future commuter: "I'm gonna ride Southwest 'train'lines, bags ride free with them),
C) Create a new transportation industry with entirely domestic profits (Unless the Russian billionaire who now owns the New Jersey Nets wants to stretch his pockets a little further),
D) Hawaii can work on a superlongoceanspanning-bridge or a sweet under-ocean tunnel connecting it to California (I don't even know if those are possible).
E) Raise property values in areas near stops (Phoenix AZ, Las Vegas NV, anywhereUSA),
F) 0%, the chances of any emergency landings in the Hudson River due to Migrating Canadian Geese(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28678669/)
G) 100%, the chances Steven Seagal (the only person known to have ever knocked-down Chuck Norris) would thwart any terrorist plot against the train system.
-Resume: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
-plot: Casey Ryback (The throat-chopping master) is traveling with his niece on a train, which is hijacked by terrorists.
The terrorists need a moving headquarters, so they can take over a satellite capable of vaporizing anything in its path (you know Osama Bin Laden has one of these lying in the back closet of his cave).
The government can't stop them from destroying Washington and also rupturing a nuclear reactor, killing millions.
Casey Ryback uses his Navy-Seal training, primarily the throat-chop, to take out all of the terrorists in an action-packed ride.
H) It's win, win, win for The Economy, The Global Warming Crisis, and Joe The Average Railroad Worker.
*My personalized message
The Gulf oil-spill nightmare is a national tragedy, but it also can be a catalyst for changing how America develops and uses energy. For too long Washington has ignored our growing problem of dependence on foreign oil and dirty energy production. The time has come to take up and pass a comprehensive energy bill now and I urge you as my Senator to do all you can to make that happen.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
