Please click on the following link: http://lmrk.org/issues/oil-and-chemical-spills/overflight-of-leaking-taylor-wells.html
The article and photos speak for themselves. Water safety is so important to every facet of life on this planet. Good people and organizations like Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Waterkeeper Alliance fight for preservation of our precious water sources, and they need our help enlightening corporations to the damage their actions cause to our resources.
Anyone who knows me knows that I faithfully watch MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” news program every weekday morning. The show’s guest list frequently includes people making a difference in the fight to save our oceans, a cause dear to my heart. It was a pleasure, then, to watch Kyra Sedwick’s Morning Joe segment on March 27. Until then, I was completely unaware of her involvement in the crusade against plastic pollution in our waterways.
Ms. Sedgwick is concerned about the chemicals that leach into our water supply from discarded single-use plastic bottles, bags, utensils and what-have-you that end up in the trash or in our water sources. Did you know that this plastic will outlast our grandchildren’s lifetimes? And that plastic waste is the main component in the trash soup that swirls in the middle of our oceans?
It not hard to see that this pollution threatens wildlife (e.g., those plastic soda can carriers) and enters our food chain through the fish that inhabit affected waters. For more detail, please check out this recent Huffington Post blog entry written by environmental lawyer Lisa Kaas Boyle. Frightening stuff.
Today’s edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal contains an Associated Press article describing the uphill battle that wild horse advocates face when going up against ranching interests and the Bureau of Land Management. Their efforts to stand up for the plight of those beautiful creatures meet resistance from what the advocates assert is a citizens advisory council heavily biased in favor of cattle ranchers. Here’s a link to the article, written by Scott Sonner: “Wild horse allies: BLM officials stacked against them”.
Once more, the U.S. government elects to solve a problem with wanton disrespect for the rights of others, in this case the horses and burros native to the land in question. Didn’t the government treat Native Americans in much the same way?
Has your area been hit by a cash mob? If not, plans for one may be brewing; the cash mob phenomenon is rapidly spreading across the United States and Canada. My city has been “hit”, twice, in the past couple of months, and I must admit to loving the concept and the execution.
It’s a simple concept: Organizers select a local business to hit and advertise the time, date and location on social network websites. Participants descend on the business at the predetermined time to shop; minimum purchases of at least $10 to $20 dollars per person are encouraged. This isn’t small change; cash mobs generate enough sales to allow shop owners to pay down debt and invest in more inventory and improvements to their stores.
Isn’t this a great way to support locally owned businesses?
Perhaps the unfortunate demise of chains like Borders Books has opened the proverbial window of opportunity for independent bookstores to step in to fill the void. One such store, Battenkill Books in Cambridge, New York, should serve as a model for all mom and pop’s looking for a way to adapt and remain relevant in a world torn between traditional paper and digital books.
I first heard of Battenkill Books from the writer Jon Katz, a vocal supporter of independent bookstores and libraries. Mr. Katz frequently mentions Battenkill in his popular blog and actively participates in store events. He’s not shy about requesting that his readers order copies of his books through its website, and as incentive he’s spent countless hours personalizing each book. Sales this past holiday season were phenomenal, and the mother and daughter who run Battenkill plan to sign up other authors for similar promotions.
To be sure, Battenkill has embraced the digital age by offering ebooks alongside the paper variety. This store has found a way to adapt to the changing marketplace, and one can only hope that it enjoys much future success. One doesn’t have to be a big-box chain to offer the same quality product. Doesn’t it feel more satisfying to buy from one’s neighbor than support a corporate headquarters located who-knows-where?
The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently ran an article exposing so-called “humane” methods that government contractors used in a recent wild horse roundup in the Butte Valley northwest of Ely, Nevada. The article broke my heart.
In an August 16, 2001 roundup, Utah-based Sun J. Livestock, Inc., among other things, used helicopters in extended, close up chases, whipped and kicked some horses in the head, dragged them by ropes and electrically shocked them as part of the capture and loading process. Now, what part of this activity could anyone brand “humane”? Who does this stuff? Why is any roundup necessary?
Ranchers claim that wild horses and burros damage grasslands used by cattle and wildlife. However, as the singer Carole King pointed out in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, cattle tend to gather and graze around water sources, whereas horses roam and feed at large. I can’t speak for the effects on wildlife, but given Ms. King’s statement, how do wild horses and burros threaten the cattle food source? I don’t see it. Is the government looking to make some money from the sale of wild horses to slaughterhouses and meat processors?
To be fair, I must interject here that Bureau director Bob Abbey is implementing procedures to track, review and improve animal treatment methods during roundups, including additional training for contractors and agency personnel. But is this enough? Would these practices have continued indefinitely were it not for the videotapes members of the Wild Horse Freedom Federation and other activists shot exposing inhumane roundup practices at gathers conducted during July and August, 2011?
Neither wild nor domesticated equines deserve such harsh treatment at the hands of the human race that they have faithfully served for centuries. Roundups must stop.
The Waterkeepers Alliance website recently published a link to a New York Times op-ed describing the challenges facing the nearly 40-year-old Clean Water Act. I cannot believe that anyone would fail to recognize the importance of clean water to people, animals and the environment! Economic progress, my Aunt Fanny. Businesses are just looking for ways to increase profits by circumventing the law — or revising it to suit their purposes.
Over the decades, these corporate “good citizens” have attempted to weaken the Act’s jurisdiction over wetlands and shorelines to allow for industrial and residential development in these areas and pressure Congress ever harder these days in the name of economic growth. Do they not comprehend how valuable and how precious a resource water is, particularly in light of our Western states’ struggle to maintain adequate water supplies to meet their needs?
We in the East, especially the Great Lakes region, where I live, need to appreciate and safeguard the quality of the fresh water resource with which we have been blessed. I urge everyone to support the Waterkeepers Alliance in their mission to ensure water security for all and for generations to come and to remind Congress of its duty to enforce the Clean Water Act, not tear it apart.
What are you doing November 26? Holiday shopping? Instead of patronizing big box stores and mega-malls, please consider paying a visit to your small local merchants. They are the backbone of our economy, friends and neighbors trying to make a living and a difference in their communities. They also provide jobs. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses created 65 percent of the country’s net new jobs over the past 20 years. The dollars you spend inevitably find their way back into your village, town or city through employee payrolls or when small merchants themselves shop, pay their taxes or reinvest in their businesses. It’s a win-win scenario, don’t you think?
If you are fortunate enough to live in or near a walkable neighborhood, picture yourself enjoying the sights and sounds of the holiday season as you meander from shop to shop, perhaps stopping at a coffee shop for a quick cup of whatever warms you (or cools you, depending on your location). Small businesses preserve their neighborhoods’ unique sense of place, a sense of place that no mall or big box store can claim. Those of you who live in a rural or suburban area, is there such a neighborhood in a nearby community? Try it, instead of automatically turning your car into the nearest WalMart parking lot.
I didn’t know much about them other than their name until I decided to follow the actor Edward James Olmos on Twitter. He’s a big supporter of the group and proudly tweets their accomplishments, so I decided to check them out. Having grown up on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, I’ve taken water for granted pretty much my entire life. Until now. Now that I know (from reading the group’s website) that the Great Lakes contain 95 percent of the United States’ and 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water supply. it’s not hard to understand why preserving their integrity is so vital to our survival.
Waterkeepers operate all over the globe, not just in the Great Lakes region. They defend our rights to safe, clear water by turning in polluters, watching over unresponsive governmental agencies and advocating water usage rights for all in partnership with local and global environmental and public health organizations. The Alliance has grown from a small band of fishing enthusiasts who joined together in 1966 to clean up the Hudson River to a community of approximately 200 Waterkeeper programs spread throughout six continents.
Great Lakes Waterkeepers work on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border to raise awareness of the need to maintain the integrity of the Great Lakes watershed to ensure safe drinking water and a safe environment for fishermen and other outdoor enthusiasts. Why not check them out here and see for yourself?
