Beca
Apparently, we all have more money than brains!!!
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2004
I have posted a copy of the email I sent to everyone in my email address book. But, since many of you are my friends here, too. I wanted to post it here as well. I hope I do not offend anyone by posting this here, but I just wanted to share a very powerful experience. And....thanks for reading!!
Hi,
I have copied everyone in my email address book on this email. I realize some of you are my greatest friends, and some of you may be just "friends of friends" or even people I have purchased something via ebay from over the years.
I apologize if I am bothering some of you, but please take a moment and reflect that I have NEVER sent out "spam" emails or "junk" emails of any kind...we are all too busy for that.
So, why am I writing? Today, in preparation for a massive garage sale, I flew my 4yr old daughter down to her "Nana's" for a week. When I returned, at the insistence of my husband, we located one of the FEW theatres in the Dallas area showing "An Inconvenient Truth"....the film about global warming. It is the most powerful film I have seen.....EVER.
I am asking everyone....especially those who wish to ensure that their children have a viable world to live in...one without a never ending onslaught of natural disasters, to PLEASE take an hour and a half out of your life and see this film. And then, after seeing the film...please log onto climatecrisis.net and learn what you can do to reduce your "carbon footprint".
The earth is sick, and the tipping point is quickly approaching. The global changes we have seen since the 1970's are unprecedented in the 650,000 years of "ice data" collected by scientists in the Antarctic. And, the changes are coming from us. Some of the changes we could make to reduce global emissions are EASY ones. Suggestions that come to my mind are as follows:
1)You can go to your local home improvement store and purchase low voltage flourescent lights to replace traditional bulbs in your home. Estimates show that if every home in America just replaced ONE light with one of these bulbs, it would be the equivalent of taking one MILLION cars off the road....and, you won't even notice the difference. This is just one of MANY suggestions we can do to make our world a healthier (and, possibly just "liveable") place for our children.
2) Write to your congressman/woman to ask them to ensure that America signs the Kyoto accord to control carbon emissions. America is one of only two industrialized nations in the WORLD who refuses to sign this agreement. Why? Car manufacturing lobbyists, oil lobbyists, and others claim it would "ruin" our economy. The truth of the matter is, the most successful car manufacturers in the US are the foreign makers who produce high-efficiency hybrids (not the SUV or truck hybrids who still produce embarassing results). Have any of you looked into purchasing a Prius? The wait for one of these vehicles is usually over a year!! It is ridiculous that Americans cannot easily get their hands on one of these vehicles, but gas-guzzlers come to us as "great bargains". This is, and should be a bi-partisan issue. There is, right now a McCain-Lieberman proposal to reduce carbon emissions. Please take a moment to write your congressman/woman and let them know how important it is for that bill to pass.
3) Contact your local energy provider and inquire about what percentage of their production comes from "renewable resources". Many providers allow you to sign up to have your home run entirely on these resources. The more people request and use these resources, the more renewable power generation facilities will be built, and even more resources will be allocated by these companies to make these production facilities more efficient.
4) Find a company to do an "energy audit" of your home. Make sure windows and doors seal correctly, and that your attics are vented properly. When it comes time to replace your air conditioners, go for at least a 14 SEER rating, and opt for a system that runs on Puron rather than Freon. Find a company in your area who puts "spray-on insulating foam" around the ductwork that delivers cold/hot air to your home. The federal government now says that insulation in homes should be rated to an R38, but the ductwork in your home is only rated to an R6. This means that the air from your air conditioner is significantly warmed before it reaches the interior of your home. 30% of an air conditioner's efficiency is lost in the attic before it reaches a room in your home.
5) Insulate your hot water heater(s) and consider installing a heat transfer coil in the drain of your plumbing system to recapture some of the heat used to heat your hot water.
6) Turn off lights in rooms when you are not using them, and do not leave the tv on when no one is actively watching it.
7) See if your electric provider has a "time of use" plan available, and sign up for it. This will not only save you money, but also will reduce the load on the power grid during peak times, allowing more efficient planning and distribution of energy.
8) Make a commitment to yourself to drive less. Plan your trips in such a manner to conserve fuel. Carpool with your neighbor or friend when you need to go grocery shopping. Walk or bike when you can.
9) Make a promise to yourself (and your children) that your family's next vehicle will be an "alternative technology" vehicle. Start researching technologies and planning for any "added" expense now. This will not only reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, but will greatly help to repair the damage we have inflicted on our environment.
10) Put your money where your mouth (or heart) is...invest in companies who are researching and developing alternative, sustainable, and renewable technologies. These don't have to be "fringe", "high-risk" companies. Companies such as BP and duPont are actively trying to find solutions to our global problems.
11) If this email has moved you at all....PLEASE pass it on to everyone in your address book. Our government has known of global warming and its effects on our planet since the early 1970's, and yet they have taken very little action. Even though the US has refused to sign the Kyoto accord, eight states have promised to abide by the agreement, and in addition, mayors of cities in almost every state have commited to reduce the environmental impact of emissions by city governments. However, we have a LONG way to go...America is the number one emitter of carbon emissions...both per person, and in total of any other nation in the world. We are about double that of any other industrialized nation. And yet, our government has been the LEAST responsive to change.
Finally, I will close with a excerpt of Roger Ebert's review of "An Inconvenient Truth". I have included this because of the statistics he provided. Please read them....they are staggering. But, the most powerful statement for me came at the end, and is definitely worth repeating..."I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."
Finally, thank you for taking the time to read this email. I love my daughter with a force stronger than I could ever have imagined possible...and I am sure each of you feels exactly the same way about your children. PLEASE help save this beautiful planet for them. It's like the old saying, "You have not inherited this planet from your parents, you are keeping it for your children." If this is true, we have been neglectful in our duties...it's time to start thinking of them.
Beca
----------------------------
Here an excerpt from his review:
These facts are stated by Al Gore in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Forget he ever ran for office. Consider him a concerned man speaking out on the approaching crisis. "There is no controversy about these facts," he says in the film. "Out of 925 recent articles in peer-review scientific journals about global warming, there was no disagreement. Zero."
He stands on a stage before a vast screen, in front of an audience. The documentary is based on a speech he has been developing for six years, and is supported by dramatic visuals. He shows the famous photograph "Earthrise," taken from space by the first American astronauts. Then he shows a series of later space photographs, clearly indicating that glaciers and lakes are shrinking, snows are melting, shorelines are retreating.
He provides statistics: The 10 warmest years in history were in the last 14 years. Last year South America experienced its first hurricane. Japan and the Pacific are setting records for typhoons. Hurricane Katrina passed over Florida, doubled back over the Gulf, picked up strength from unusually warm Gulf waters, and went from Category 3 to Category 5. There are changes in the Gulf Stream and the jet stream. Cores of polar ice show that carbon dioxide is much, much higher than ever before in a quarter of a million years. It was once thought that such things went in cycles. Gore stands in front of a graph showing the ups and downs of carbon dioxide over the centuries. Yes, there is a cyclical pattern. Then, in recent years, the graph turns up and keeps going up, higher and higher, off the chart.
The primary man-made cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. We are taking energy stored over hundreds of millions of years in the form of coal, gas and oil, and releasing it suddenly. This causes global warming, and there is a pass-along effect. Since glaciers and snow reflect sunlight but sea water absorbs it, the more the ice melts, the more of the sun's energy is retained by the sea.
Gore says that although there is "100 percent agreement" among scientists, a database search of newspaper and magazine articles shows that 57 percent question the fact of global warming, while 43 percent support it. These figures are the result, he says, of a disinformation campaign started in the 1990s by the energy industries to "reposition global warming as a debate." It is the same strategy used for years by the defenders of tobacco. My father was a Luckys smoker who died of lung cancer in 1960, and 20 years later it was still "debatable" that there was a link between smoking and lung cancer. Now we are talking about the death of the future, starting in the lives of those now living.
"The world won't 'end' overnight in 10 years," Gore says. "But a point will have been passed, and there will be an irreversible slide into destruction."
In England, Sir James Lovelock, the scientist who proposed the Gaia hypothesis (that the planet functions like a living organism), has published a new book saying that in 100 years mankind will be reduced to "a few breeding couples at the Poles." Gore thinks "that's too pessimistic. We can turn this around just as we reversed the hole in the ozone layer. But it takes action right now, and politicians in every nation must have the courage to do what is necessary. It is not a political issue. It is a moral issue."
When I said I was going to a press screening of "An Inconvenient Truth," a friend said, "Al Gore talking about the environment! Bor...ing!" This is not a boring film. The director, Davis Guggenheim, uses words, images and Gore's concise litany of facts to build a film that is fascinating and relentless. In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.
If you would like to read Roger Ebert's full review, it can be found here.
Hi,
I have copied everyone in my email address book on this email. I realize some of you are my greatest friends, and some of you may be just "friends of friends" or even people I have purchased something via ebay from over the years.
I apologize if I am bothering some of you, but please take a moment and reflect that I have NEVER sent out "spam" emails or "junk" emails of any kind...we are all too busy for that.
So, why am I writing? Today, in preparation for a massive garage sale, I flew my 4yr old daughter down to her "Nana's" for a week. When I returned, at the insistence of my husband, we located one of the FEW theatres in the Dallas area showing "An Inconvenient Truth"....the film about global warming. It is the most powerful film I have seen.....EVER.
I am asking everyone....especially those who wish to ensure that their children have a viable world to live in...one without a never ending onslaught of natural disasters, to PLEASE take an hour and a half out of your life and see this film. And then, after seeing the film...please log onto climatecrisis.net and learn what you can do to reduce your "carbon footprint".
The earth is sick, and the tipping point is quickly approaching. The global changes we have seen since the 1970's are unprecedented in the 650,000 years of "ice data" collected by scientists in the Antarctic. And, the changes are coming from us. Some of the changes we could make to reduce global emissions are EASY ones. Suggestions that come to my mind are as follows:
1)You can go to your local home improvement store and purchase low voltage flourescent lights to replace traditional bulbs in your home. Estimates show that if every home in America just replaced ONE light with one of these bulbs, it would be the equivalent of taking one MILLION cars off the road....and, you won't even notice the difference. This is just one of MANY suggestions we can do to make our world a healthier (and, possibly just "liveable") place for our children.
2) Write to your congressman/woman to ask them to ensure that America signs the Kyoto accord to control carbon emissions. America is one of only two industrialized nations in the WORLD who refuses to sign this agreement. Why? Car manufacturing lobbyists, oil lobbyists, and others claim it would "ruin" our economy. The truth of the matter is, the most successful car manufacturers in the US are the foreign makers who produce high-efficiency hybrids (not the SUV or truck hybrids who still produce embarassing results). Have any of you looked into purchasing a Prius? The wait for one of these vehicles is usually over a year!! It is ridiculous that Americans cannot easily get their hands on one of these vehicles, but gas-guzzlers come to us as "great bargains". This is, and should be a bi-partisan issue. There is, right now a McCain-Lieberman proposal to reduce carbon emissions. Please take a moment to write your congressman/woman and let them know how important it is for that bill to pass.
3) Contact your local energy provider and inquire about what percentage of their production comes from "renewable resources". Many providers allow you to sign up to have your home run entirely on these resources. The more people request and use these resources, the more renewable power generation facilities will be built, and even more resources will be allocated by these companies to make these production facilities more efficient.
4) Find a company to do an "energy audit" of your home. Make sure windows and doors seal correctly, and that your attics are vented properly. When it comes time to replace your air conditioners, go for at least a 14 SEER rating, and opt for a system that runs on Puron rather than Freon. Find a company in your area who puts "spray-on insulating foam" around the ductwork that delivers cold/hot air to your home. The federal government now says that insulation in homes should be rated to an R38, but the ductwork in your home is only rated to an R6. This means that the air from your air conditioner is significantly warmed before it reaches the interior of your home. 30% of an air conditioner's efficiency is lost in the attic before it reaches a room in your home.
5) Insulate your hot water heater(s) and consider installing a heat transfer coil in the drain of your plumbing system to recapture some of the heat used to heat your hot water.
6) Turn off lights in rooms when you are not using them, and do not leave the tv on when no one is actively watching it.
7) See if your electric provider has a "time of use" plan available, and sign up for it. This will not only save you money, but also will reduce the load on the power grid during peak times, allowing more efficient planning and distribution of energy.
8) Make a commitment to yourself to drive less. Plan your trips in such a manner to conserve fuel. Carpool with your neighbor or friend when you need to go grocery shopping. Walk or bike when you can.
9) Make a promise to yourself (and your children) that your family's next vehicle will be an "alternative technology" vehicle. Start researching technologies and planning for any "added" expense now. This will not only reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, but will greatly help to repair the damage we have inflicted on our environment.
10) Put your money where your mouth (or heart) is...invest in companies who are researching and developing alternative, sustainable, and renewable technologies. These don't have to be "fringe", "high-risk" companies. Companies such as BP and duPont are actively trying to find solutions to our global problems.
11) If this email has moved you at all....PLEASE pass it on to everyone in your address book. Our government has known of global warming and its effects on our planet since the early 1970's, and yet they have taken very little action. Even though the US has refused to sign the Kyoto accord, eight states have promised to abide by the agreement, and in addition, mayors of cities in almost every state have commited to reduce the environmental impact of emissions by city governments. However, we have a LONG way to go...America is the number one emitter of carbon emissions...both per person, and in total of any other nation in the world. We are about double that of any other industrialized nation. And yet, our government has been the LEAST responsive to change.
Finally, I will close with a excerpt of Roger Ebert's review of "An Inconvenient Truth". I have included this because of the statistics he provided. Please read them....they are staggering. But, the most powerful statement for me came at the end, and is definitely worth repeating..."I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."
Finally, thank you for taking the time to read this email. I love my daughter with a force stronger than I could ever have imagined possible...and I am sure each of you feels exactly the same way about your children. PLEASE help save this beautiful planet for them. It's like the old saying, "You have not inherited this planet from your parents, you are keeping it for your children." If this is true, we have been neglectful in our duties...it's time to start thinking of them.
Beca
----------------------------
Here an excerpt from his review:
These facts are stated by Al Gore in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Forget he ever ran for office. Consider him a concerned man speaking out on the approaching crisis. "There is no controversy about these facts," he says in the film. "Out of 925 recent articles in peer-review scientific journals about global warming, there was no disagreement. Zero."
He stands on a stage before a vast screen, in front of an audience. The documentary is based on a speech he has been developing for six years, and is supported by dramatic visuals. He shows the famous photograph "Earthrise," taken from space by the first American astronauts. Then he shows a series of later space photographs, clearly indicating that glaciers and lakes are shrinking, snows are melting, shorelines are retreating.
He provides statistics: The 10 warmest years in history were in the last 14 years. Last year South America experienced its first hurricane. Japan and the Pacific are setting records for typhoons. Hurricane Katrina passed over Florida, doubled back over the Gulf, picked up strength from unusually warm Gulf waters, and went from Category 3 to Category 5. There are changes in the Gulf Stream and the jet stream. Cores of polar ice show that carbon dioxide is much, much higher than ever before in a quarter of a million years. It was once thought that such things went in cycles. Gore stands in front of a graph showing the ups and downs of carbon dioxide over the centuries. Yes, there is a cyclical pattern. Then, in recent years, the graph turns up and keeps going up, higher and higher, off the chart.
The primary man-made cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. We are taking energy stored over hundreds of millions of years in the form of coal, gas and oil, and releasing it suddenly. This causes global warming, and there is a pass-along effect. Since glaciers and snow reflect sunlight but sea water absorbs it, the more the ice melts, the more of the sun's energy is retained by the sea.
Gore says that although there is "100 percent agreement" among scientists, a database search of newspaper and magazine articles shows that 57 percent question the fact of global warming, while 43 percent support it. These figures are the result, he says, of a disinformation campaign started in the 1990s by the energy industries to "reposition global warming as a debate." It is the same strategy used for years by the defenders of tobacco. My father was a Luckys smoker who died of lung cancer in 1960, and 20 years later it was still "debatable" that there was a link between smoking and lung cancer. Now we are talking about the death of the future, starting in the lives of those now living.
"The world won't 'end' overnight in 10 years," Gore says. "But a point will have been passed, and there will be an irreversible slide into destruction."
In England, Sir James Lovelock, the scientist who proposed the Gaia hypothesis (that the planet functions like a living organism), has published a new book saying that in 100 years mankind will be reduced to "a few breeding couples at the Poles." Gore thinks "that's too pessimistic. We can turn this around just as we reversed the hole in the ozone layer. But it takes action right now, and politicians in every nation must have the courage to do what is necessary. It is not a political issue. It is a moral issue."
When I said I was going to a press screening of "An Inconvenient Truth," a friend said, "Al Gore talking about the environment! Bor...ing!" This is not a boring film. The director, Davis Guggenheim, uses words, images and Gore's concise litany of facts to build a film that is fascinating and relentless. In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.
If you would like to read Roger Ebert's full review, it can be found here.
But beyond that, the movie brings a feeling of history: Virtually everyone who sees this movie will be moved to do something about global warming -- and everyone should see this movie. I applaud this movie.!!!
