Letter to Schumer is posted
Posted by Yankee on August 4, 2005 - 9:05am
My letter to Senator Schumer is posted at Peak Oil NYC. Thanks for your input, and let me know if you have any comments. I'll send it off in the mail tomorrow. (And please forgive my brown-nosing opening sentence. Super G thought I needed it to get a staffer to even look past the first line.)
Please feel free to use this letter to contact Schumer, or your own senator. If you want to know which senators did not want the amendment tabled, look here for the ones who voted "Nay".
I realize that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a small issue, and perhaps we shouldn't be spending too much time on it. However, it gives us a way to get a foot in the door. By starting with specific legislation, we gain credibility and can then direct our senators' attention to the issues that are more important. I will admit that in my letter I did not hit the peak oil angle very hard. I used the phrase "oil depletion" rather than peak oil. But if you think there's another way to go about it without sounding nutty, then by all means, revise my letter and send it off to your own elected officials.
Technorati Tags: peak oil, oil, Charles Schumer, Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Please feel free to use this letter to contact Schumer, or your own senator. If you want to know which senators did not want the amendment tabled, look here for the ones who voted "Nay".
I realize that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a small issue, and perhaps we shouldn't be spending too much time on it. However, it gives us a way to get a foot in the door. By starting with specific legislation, we gain credibility and can then direct our senators' attention to the issues that are more important. I will admit that in my letter I did not hit the peak oil angle very hard. I used the phrase "oil depletion" rather than peak oil. But if you think there's another way to go about it without sounding nutty, then by all means, revise my letter and send it off to your own elected officials.
Technorati Tags: peak oil, oil, Charles Schumer, Strategic Petroleum Reserve
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Oil depletion is a good (Defcon 5) way to talk about the idea the oil is not renewable - which pretty much everyone agrees on. One step higher is "Oil Supply Gap" emphasizing that the reasons prices are being driven higher every year for the past 4 years is the fact that demand is outstripping supply and price is being used to destroy demand growth.
I think your approach is dead-on. We can only focus on some of the small battles to help people see the bigger picture right now. We will need some type of major event to capture the public's attention for a major policy shift. But we need to lay the seeds now!
Great letter --clear, well-reasoned, respectful, direct, and on the money.
I had no idea your last name was Doodle. ; )
Tha's a good letter, Ianqui. And you didn't even use the word pandering. That was admirable restraint on your part.
Oh, but I did, Dave:
"The SPR is an emergency reserve to be used only in times of extreme crisis, such as war or natural disaster. By depleting it simply to pander to your constituents, you would potentially leave the US vulnerable should we need petroleum in a time of emergency."
(Somehow the paragraph line breaks don't show up...I think that would make it easier to read. Peakguy, can that be fixed?)
JLA--It's not obvious, so you may not have known that my handle is actually pronounced "Yankee". Naturally, Doodle is my last name. :)
naw...as someone who's worked as one of those staffers, that's a perfect letter...and one of the few that will actually make it to level two staffers/aides. Very very nicely done Ianqui.
(you would probably not be surprised to hear how much crap comes in that those staffers have to sort through, btw...)
Fixed the paragraphs and the CNN link. Thanks for alerting me.
Also, just thinking of word meanings here - Schumer's proposed use of the Reserve is anything but Strategic - it is totally tactical. It's like using up all your candles just because your last electric bill was a little high last month. What happens when the black-out comes?
Re: Oh, but I did, Dave
I searched for "pandering" not thinking of other forms of the the verb. So much for the restraint I mentioned! Just over the top. 8)
Essentially a part line vote. Republicans supported Bush's policy. Most Democrats voted against it. Why? Because it's Bush's policy.
Heard the tail end of a report on NPR this morning on a green car congress or some whatnot. They were urging Detroit automakers to address face-on their part in dealing with the problems global warming and oil depletion. First time I heard (vs. read) the term "oil depletion", and I was struck by the effectiveness of the phrase.
Uncle Toby - go to www.greencarcongress.com - If they can fix the car to not use oil or get mpg up to 100-200, then we have a part of the solution.
I had no idea your last name was Doodle. ; )
Beat me to it! That's funny.
Great letter by the way - I plan on doing the same. Schumer is my congressman as well.