Monday, February 24, 2014

Keystone XL - Stop the Pipeline

Friends, Right now we are in the middle of the last public comment period for Keystone XL -- one of the very last steps before President Obama makes his decision on the pipeline, and the final opportunity to give your input (in an official way). This is one of those things where numbers really count, and a flood of comments would show the President that there’s a huge risk, politically and scientifically, to approving the pipeline. The last time the State Department was accepting comments, we submitted over 1 million as a movement. I think we can top that this time around -- click here to submit your comment against the pipeline: act.350.org/letter/kxl-feis/ Here are the three major messages we need to be getting across to President Obama right now: First, he has all the evidence he needs to stop the pipeline. It’s simple: building an 830,000 barrel-per-day pipeline of the world’s dirtiest oil will have an impact on the climate. No amount of spin can change the underlying economic reality that Keystone XL will allow big oil to dig up, refine and burn more tar sands than they could with any other available options. We take the President at his word when he said that he would reject the pipeline if it has a significant impact on the climate, and now the evidence is in: it does. Second, any effort to build the pipeline would be deeply compromised by big oil’s corruption of the process. ERM, one of the main contractors behind the State Department’s report, is a dues paying member of the American Petroleum Institute, big oil’s main lobbying group, and counts TransCanada as one of their clients. This is like the fox guarding the henhouse, only it’s our climate that needs defending. Third, we can either have Keystone XL, or a safe and livable climate -- ‘all of the above’ is not an option. We are past the point of building fossil fuel infrastructure and hoping for the best -- Keystone XL isn’t compatible with even the President’s weak climate goals. After 6 years of supporting more fossil fuel projects while saying he’s committed to climate science, President Obama needs to finally decide if he wants to be a climate champion, or be remembered as the pipeline president. This is the last chance to formally comment on the pipeline before it goes to the President’s desk for a decision. We’ll keep making ourselves heard in many other ways too -- but I think sending a strong message in this forum is critical to showing the President that the science is serious, and that we’re serious too. Here’s where to go to submit: act.350.org/letter/kxl-feis/ Let’s send this message loud and clear, May

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Tonight - Free the Mind - Ryder Film Showing

Wednesday, Feb 12 at 7:00 pm at the Back Door (21+) Can you rewire your brain just by taking a breath . . . ? The Ryder Film Series is hosting four screenings of Free The Mind, a documentary exploring how Dr. Richard Davidson uses meditation practices of Tibetan Monks to help children with anxiety and ADHD, as well as war veterans suffering from PTSD. Can Professor Richard Davidson make a difference? Can he free these people from their troubled existences and help them lead ordinary lives? The new film, Free the Mind, follows three test subjects – one school-aged boy and two veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – on a daring journey into the deepest recesses of the human mind. We are hoping you could help spread the word about Free the Mind by forwarding this email to anyone who might be interested. We would also like to offer 4 complimentary tickets to the film. Learn more about Free The Mind at www.TheRyder.com