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Solar - - Unlimited - - Clean - - Free - - Energy
- Reduce the Cost of Energy -
- - to less than what you pay now to heat your home and drive your car, etc.
- - without pollution !
- Save Our Environment and Reduce Cancer and other Diseases.
- Clean up our air and water.
- Be able to consume crops, and animals eating the crops grown in this environment
- without concern of contracting the diseases and cancers caused by
the pollution absorbed by the crops.
- Reduce Acid Rain and be able to eat the fish from our lakes, streams, etc.
- Minimize the destruction of land from ugly power lines and pipelines.
- Improve Foreign Relations - Minimize involvement contention, conflict and loss of life in the Middle East.
- Reduce our dependence on oil, Iraqi oil, OPEC, etc.
- Reduce our interest and involvement in the affairs of other countries.
- Reduce the reasons for others to mistrust and dislike us.
- Minimize the possibility of supporting terrorists (through the purchase of foreign
oil.)
If President Bush (and the US government) would QUIT SUBSIDIZING THE OIL COMPANIES, (and the other costly polluting fossil fuel and nuclear technologies)
and give just similar support to the
CLEAN RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGIES, we would quickly realize the
tremendous benefits above. We should not be needing foreign oil.
The only reason we should have to be involved in any other country should
be to assist their struggling poor or oppressed people.
The world need not have reason to question our motives.
If we did only good to help the poor and oppressed and the world had no (real) reason to question our motives, the likelihood of terrorism would certainly be reduced considerably.
If our current infrastructure was harnessing the
renewables instead of the fossil fuels and nuclear energies, we would not be subject to the Middle East, have a healthy environment and be paying less
for our energy as well.
Everyone that would like to see the above come to pass is invited to make use
of the following letters (or any version of them) and encourage our leaders to develop
and support policy to make these changes - shift support from the costly polluting fuels to the clean abundant renewables:
All Senators, Representatives and President Bush can be easily emailed through the
following web site. Their physical addresses and telephone numbers are also provided - to more quickly, and
even more meaningfully register an opinion or request:
 congress.org
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Sample Letter 1:
Dear Senator / Congressman / President Bush:
What are we going to do - wait until the situation is in crisis when gasoline is $5 per gallon (and the economy has imploded) before we make a real and concerted effort to (among other things) develop our Alternative / Renewable Energy sources? !
How long will this administration / our government / our leaders continue to lead us down a DEAD-END PATH? There is a finite amount of oil which the whole world is, and will be more viciously fighting over as time goes on.
With a small part of what oil is costing us we could convert to the Renewable Energies for at least the electric needs of the U.S. very quick, and then the power for transportation (where more technology development is needed) which would provide massive benefits like the following:
Reduce or eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, which would also reduce the demand for, and thus the price of oil.
Reduce our desperation to control the oil rich countries, which would ease tensions in the world and the likelihood of war(s) and loss of so many of our best people, not to mention the dollar cost of these conflicts.
Reduce the amount of money finding its way into the hands of terrorists. Where else does their money come from? All of which would reduce the threat of terrorism.
Reduce pollution clean up our environment, which will reduce health problems and health care costs, plus increase productivity.
With Alternative Energies we would be less dependent on the grid reducing the possibility of blackouts, industry & economic downtime and high maintenance costs, and be less vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Probably the greatest benefit would be in the improvement of the trade deficit. The first country to mass produce economical renewable energy technology will be able to sell it to the rest of the world which would add greatly to the exports and improve the balance of trade, economic strength, prosperity, world leadership and security extremely meaningful today and for the future (economy) we are looking at.
There should be much more money / support going towards the Renewable Energies in the form of tax credits, production credits, grants, subsidies, etc., which could easily be recouped from taxes on the polluters. The oil companies (and any entity) producing energy from the finite, polluting fossil fuels should be taxed NOT subsidized! Also vehicle registration fees should be based on the fuel economy rating of the vehicle with an increased rate for every 5 mpg drop (from 30mpg). The absurdly over-sized SUVs are so much more polluting, inefficient and wasteful, and ARE SO MUCH MORE OF A DANGER to the practical, intelligent and considerate drivers on the road, that THEY SHOULD BE PAYING SOMETHING (extra) FOR THIS!
Gasoline is still relatively cheap and a temporary (emergency) tax (of perhaps 50 cents / gallon) could be added for a couple of years to promote conservation and aid in the development of the Renewable Energies.
There is so much more we could be doing to improve things and prepare for and/or avoid the coming crisis. If efforts were heading in the right direction we could soon make a huge difference in the degree of peace, health and happiness in the world.
Currently the laws, rules, regulations, monetary and tax policies, subsidies, etc. are leading us towards many problems, even massive disasters and you as our leaders are and will be the most responsible.
Thank you,
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Sample Letter 2:
Dear Senator / Congressman / President Bush:
I believe we are well past the time that we should have been making a serious effort to develop the Clean, Renewable Energy Technologies and minimizing our use of, and
dependence on oil and the other polluting, costly forms of energy. But I am noticing that our government (this administration) is still subsidizing and is
even expected to increase its support to the gluttonous oil companies, while
offering minimal support to the (Non-Polluting) Renewable Energy Industry.
How much more secure and better off could we be, and how many of our conflicts in the world would be eliminated if we were not dependent on foreign oil?! We could be producing most of the energy we need from the abundant, clean resources of the sun, wind, geothermal, etc. We have the know-how and the means, we just need our leaders to make the decision - to put the support behind the effort to make the conversion.
The "green" - clean, renewable technologies just need
a little help getting noticed and into mass production. The technology exists
to generate energy from the sun, wind, and geothermal, resources at costs comparable to,
and even less than from the burning of fossil fuels, particularly if we account for the
cost of the pollution and other problems connected with fossil fuels. They cost
us so much more than what we see and pay for up front
because of the damaging pollution and other related problems (political / international
conflicts, national security, global warming, etc.).
So it would only make sense to provide considerable tax incentives / credits
to the producers and users of the pollution-free fuels, AND have a penalty / tax
on the production and use of the polluting fuels - NOT SUBSIDIZE THEM! Revenue
from this tax could be applied to pollution clean up and to help develop and convert to
the green energy technologies - which overall would make these technologies much
lower cost than what we are paying for the filthy fossil fuels. It is really
short sighted and irresponsible to not be doing more to make this conversion.
Because the use of fossil fuels (and nuclear power) pollute and cost society, there
should be a penalty (NOT A REWARD!) associated with them. Whereas the clean renewable energies have
so many benefits accompanying them that there should be considerable tax credits associated with them. The
more oil is subsidized, the more its costs is kept low artificially, and the less
motivation there is to make the conversion to the more beneficial renewable
resources. Making any effort to keep oil cheap is inane - exactly
the opposite of what we should be doing.
If the resources that have been, and still are "spent" (wasted) on fossil fuel and
nuclear power technologies were instead "invested" in the green energy technologies,
we could quickly make the conversion, realize great benefits, cost savings and achieve
energy independence.
How could we be expected to believe that this administration has a conscience if they
allow and even promote the current situation (by subsidizing the oil companies)?
Please help us, yourself and our children and develop and support legislation to bring
about some of these changes - to direct more support to where we would realize the
greatest benefits.
Thank you very much.
_______________________________________________________
The current energy bill is even reducing support to the RE industry.
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=23074
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Message from Robert Redford
Dear NRDC Member,
Over the next few weeks, President Bush and his congressional allies will try once again to ram their disastrous energy bill through the U.S. Senate.
They
fell only two votes short in November and they've vowed to make passage of
the
bill their top priority now that Congress has returned from recess.
This bill may be the worst piece of legislation you and I will see in our
lifetimes. It would pick your pocket, despoil your natural heritage,
endanger
your family's health and smother your hope for a more secure energy
future. We
ignore this bill at our own peril.
Let me tell you our simple plan for thwarting this shameless attack on our
environment and pocketbooks. If millions of Americans each took one minute
to protest this bill, it would cause every senator who is tempted to vote for
it
to think twice about doing so.
You can make this happen within the next few hours by doing two things:
First, go to http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
and send your two senators an email or fax, telling them to vote against
this
pro-polluter energy bill.
Then, forward this/my email to at least four of your
friends, family members or colleagues.
I am emailing this message to 550,000 NRDC Members and activists. If each
one
forwards this message to just four more people, we will generate a
national
tidal wave of opposition before this day is over.
And that won't be a moment too soon. This disgraceful bill would pick our
pockets to hand out billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to the oil,
coal
and nuclear industries. That's their long-awaited reward for making
big-time
contributions to the Bush-Cheney campaign. They profit while the rest of
us pay
the price -- in tax dollars and environmental degradation.
This bill gives the energy giants a free pass to drill their way through
our
last wild places, burn more dirty coal, build a new generation of risky
nuclear
power plants and dramatically increase air pollution that would sicken the
vulnerable -- especially children and seniors -- for decades to come.
It would establish oil and gas development as the dominant use of our
federal
public lands, open national parks to the construction of electricity
transmission lines, exempt polluters from core provisions of our clean air
and
water laws and waive liability for the producers of the toxic gasoline
additive
MTBE -- even though it has contaminated at least 1,500 public water
supplies in
all 50 American states.
You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more backward-looking, wasteful
and
self-defeating energy "plan" than this one. At a time when the federal
deficit
is soaring and we're going to war in the Persian Gulf oilfields, the White
House wants to stick us with the tab for prolonging our destructive
dependence
on fossil fuels, foreign oil and dangerous nuclear technology.
This is not a national energy policy. This is corporate welfare, pure and
simple. Estimates of the bill's corporate tax breaks range from $23
billion to
well over $100 billion with loan guarantees included. No surprise there.
Big
energy companies cooked up this raid on the federal treasury during
hundreds of
secret meetings with Vice President Cheney's energy task force and their
allies
on Capitol Hill.
It's one thing to gouge taxpayers. But to claim this rip-off is in the
national
interest, as the White House would have us believe, is a slap in the face
to
every working American.
Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of voters -- of both
parties --
understand that we simply must reduce our out-of-control appetite for
fossil
fuels if we ever are to secure energy independence. That means turning
American
rooftops into the Persian Gulf of solar energy. It means producing cars
that
get 40 miles per gallon. It means constructing efficient buildings that
use
half the energy of the average American office without sacrificing
comfort.
Making this transformation to a super-efficient, low-pollution economy
would
save consumers upwards of a trillion dollars, spare our last wild places
from
destruction, improve our health, slow global warming and reduce our
dependence
on undemocratic regimes overseas. It's a no-brainer to anyone living
outside
the White House.
But unless millions of Americans speak out right now, the enactment of the
president's energy bill will doom us to an apocalyptic future of blighted
wilderness, poisonous air pollution, devastating climate change and
endless
wars over fossil fuels.
Please make your voice heard. Go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
and tell your senators to obey the will of the American people, *not* the
dictates of giant energy corporations! Call on Congress to create a
sustainable
and affordable energy path.
And please be sure to forward this message to at least four other people.
Believe me, millions of Americans are just waiting for a simple way to
stop
this madness and lend their support to a sane and hopeful energy future.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Redford
Board of Trustees
Natural Resources Defense Council
. . .
Note: If you have any questions about this message, please write to us at membership@nrdc.org
Other News / Reference Articles Here.
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For other actions and quick links to congress, check here:
www.badenergy.org (4/8/04)
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