My Public Comment to State Dept. on the XL Pipeline

The Keystone XL project is wicked for many reasons: an ecological gash across North America, a commitment to dirty carbon energy for 100 years, displacing Indigenous peoples, allowing ahistorical industrial madness by dissociative corporations, and insuring the destruction of Mother Earth and human civilization by a Runaway Climate Crisis.

I accuse the XL Pipeline project of being "AHISTORICAL". It is outside the sweep of history, it is disconnected from the ecological realities of 2011, it is disconnected from current science, history and rationality. The XL Pipeline would go thru the Ogalla Aquifer, at a time when fresh water is becoming scarce. We are living during a Climate Apocolpyse, when the newspaper everyday reports evidence of the rapid change of our planetary ecosystem due to carbon pollution, and yet the XL Pipeline would produce 3 times more CO2 than regular crude oil.

I accuse the State Department and the US Government more broadly of negligence of duty to protect the citizenry from Climate Collapse.

I bear witness to the "revolving door" between government and business, and encourage the State Department to stop allowing former employees to be employed by Big Business in endeavors that undermine our country's safety and sovereignty. The State Department should investigate the corrupt relationship documented here at Democracy Now:

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/6/naomi_klein_keystone_xl_oil_pipeline .

The XL Pipeline is like a mad fantasy of 19th century industrialists, with 21st century technology, but without the 21st century's understanding of Ecology, Climate Science, and Indigenous History.

The XL Pipeline will endanger our country by being a terrorist target atop our largest aquifer. It will endanger our country by creating a strip of ecological damage down the center of the North American continent.

There are Indigenous People's living amidst the Tar Sands project. They get run over by big trucks, get cancer from poisoned water, watch their lives erode amidst ecological devastation. The First Peoples have suffered so much. Our Planet's very survival depends on learning their wisdom about respecting Mother Earth. During the Tar Sands Action this summer, I made this short film that brings forward their voices:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYU9IF-mVE

If the XL Pipeline is approved, we will mobilize to support a candidate for President that is a true Climate Champion. The Obama Administration's lack of action on the Climate Crisis is unacceptable. We don't have four more years to wait for action. If the Obama Administration is at all serious about addressing the Climate Crisis, the XL Pipelines should be cancelled right away.

I was arrested at the White House protesting the XL Pipeline because I understand the Climate Science. If we don't mobilize to stop this problem, we are NO PLACE. Everything valuable and beautiful in this small planet will be ruined because we will have ruined our sky. If you feel I'm being poetic or rash, I encourage you to study the climate science much more closely. The Climate Science is very clear: more carbon, more heat = disrupting a tightly wound atmospheric system = floods, hurricanes, ecocide.

Please, people, get on board. Provide some leadership and help save the planet before it's too late.

sincerely,

Theo Talcott

Manchester, Vermont

Last day for public comment is Oct 7th: at http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/CommentFset?OpenFrameSet

Advancing VT Climate Legislation and Climate Leaders

Vermont has a historic opportunity to lead America in responding to the Climate Crisis. Governor Peter Shumlin spoke as a true Climate Champion during the 350.org's Moving Planet rally in Montpellier on Sept. 24th. How can Vermont's vibrant Climate Movement support legislators in creating aggressive and effective Climate legislation?

We need to start playing "The Inside Game". Climate activists have gotten used to being "voices in the wilderness" and lonely Cassandras. That was before "The Wakeup Call" of Hurricane Irene swept away covered bridges and excuses for inaction. Our political leaders are agreeing with us now, and so the Climate Movement enters a new phase. We can make ourselves useful and help 'getter dun' in the legislatures.

After Shumlin's speech, I found myself asking "by what miracle did we wind up with a Climate Champion governor?" And then I asked, "what does the governor do again? How much power does he actually have? What could the Vermont state legislature really do?"

This are the right questions because State Government is smaller and has less tricks it could pull off. Like Washington DC, Montpellier is a place where people talk about budgets and we shouldn't delude ourselves with magical thinking that somehow our elected leaders can flip a switch and Solve the Climate Crisis. The problem is REALLY BIG. Probably bigger than the Federal Government could deal with, even if it wasn't being run by oil companies. Bigger than the United Nations, whose best effort so far, the Kyoto Protocol, hasn't even caused the overall levels of Carbon going into the atmosphere to decrease.

Still... State Governments are useful as "Labratories of Democracy". We can work up solutions in the tiny state lab, and then scale them up for the nation and planet. So let's imagine Vermont passing aggressive climate legislation that helps governments of the world begin to effectively and legitimately respond to the Climate Crisis.

Like...

1. Developing methods for collecting Carbon Taxes. We need to put a price on Carbon. Taxes on Carbon should drive down the amount emitted. Think of it as Sin Taxes for the 21st Century. The political climate in Washington is so knee-jerk anti-tax in rhetoric that leadership on Carbon Taxes needs to come from the states. We could do a real service to the nation by getting the ball rolling and figuring out how to do it. We don't' have to reinvent the wheel. Other countries are already experimenting with carbon taxes, especially those smart northern european ones. Carbon Taxes might replace income taxes. How about a penny per gallon gasoline tax and the money raised buys solar panels to go on the schools?

2. Vermont should "sign the Kyoto Protocol." The United States has not signed the only meaningful international treaty on Climate created by the United Nations. Instead, every year the US goes to the 'Conference of Parties" (who actually have signed the treaty), and roadblock progress. In Copenhagen and then Cancun, the US has a track record of self-absorbed obstructionism. The Climate Movement should force the US to sign the Kyoto Protocol, and take up a LEGALLY-BINDING commitment to cut national levels of Carbon.

This isn't to say that Kyoto is perfect. (Overall, carbon levels have continued to go up since it was begun.) But it's the start. We need even stronger, fiercer globally concerted laws and action to avert the worst that the Climate Crisis could bring us. The US should at least get on-board with the relatively weak Kyoto "Commitments to reduce carbon levels."

Vermont could symbolically sign Kyoto (it's really a treaty that the US has to sign) and agree to take on the Commitments to reduce carbon levels. Vermont can start abiding by the Kyoto Protocol and hopefully US will someday do the same. Vermont can befriend the international Climate Negotiations and introduce our country to this useful ally. Vermont should send delegates to next round of international negotiations, in Decemeber, in Durbin, South Africa, with the intention to getting Vermont to abide by the Kyoto Protocol.

3. Vermont could get serious about creating 'complete streets' and promote bike lanes and public transportation. "Green Island" in Bellows Falls could get start support. And so on.

What Climate Legislation do you want to see?

I'd like to propose a few actions to help the Climate Movement to get political.

A) Let's have forum/symposium soon that brings together legislators and Climate Activists to discuss what is possible. Let's host a "Forum on Potential Climate Legislation for Vermont" will chew on our real options.

B) Let's create a Citizen & Politician Climate Alliance. Citizens and Public Servants can work together for Climate Justice. Citizens offer: work on campaigns, funding, advice, education to politicians, etc. Politicians get dedicated volunteers, some street cred, and help promoting legislation to the general public. "Cooperation and reciprocal good will are necessary for any important work" said spiritual teacher Mirra Alfassa. How can we cooperate with good will with the Climate Champions who are in power? We don't want to be "precious" about our outsider activism. Perhaps hipper to be in the streets with signs and slogans, but more truly useful to engage with the political process and really affect meaningful change.

C) Encourage Climate Activists to run for public office. We try to move from beseeching those in power to BEING THOSE IN POWER. We need to elect 10,o00 Climate Champions. Will you run for Senator?

The goal of the Climate Movement is to save the planet from Runaway Climate Change. We need to start using the tool of Government for this purpose. The Political Class is waking up to the Climate Crisis, at least the smart ones, like Clinton, Bloomberg, and Shumlin. Let us find ways to be in support of our elected allies who understand the "fierce urgency of now" of the Climate Crisis.