Good morning Mr President,
Rarely has war been simply impossible to partake. Germany and then Japan made WWII impossible for the USA to avoid.
Our collective response to the threat to humanity that Germany and Japan forced us to respond elicited one of the most comprehensive and amazing human endeavors in recorded history. From Gold Star moms, to victory gardens, to women building tanks, to countless acts of ultimate sacrifice the USA responded and prevailed.
Mr President, you find yourself in a situation that is far, far more daunting and threatening to not just the USA but to every living species on this planet.
A confluence of factors has resulted in an insatiable demand for fossil fuels coupled with totally unsustainable consequences to the biosphere upon which life on this planet depends.
‘Global warming’ is a misnomer. The vast and uncontrolled expansion of CO2 (and other damaging emitted gases) is not threatening the existence of the planet – they are threatening the existence of life on this planet. Earth is the only place in the currently known universe that supports life.
Mr President, you find yourself confronting the realities of the need to shift immediately from hydrocarbon sources of energy and the need to improve the quality of life of not just Americans but every person on this planet.
How do you confront such a challenge?
You need to approach that challenge with the diligence, passion, and call for total commitment of every American that FDR inspired.
From acts as simple as asking every American with an automobile to log the time they spend driving in the next week and then doing everything they can to cut that time in half in all following weeks, to acts as demanding as specifically redirecting the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan to building highly efficient, renewable sources of energy and energy distribution throughout the USA, you, Mr President, need to demonstrate that you understand the enormity of the challenges and have the capacity to inspire all Americans (and most of the other humans on this planet) to CHANGE.
As horrible as the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is, it is far less horrible than what will happen to America and humanity if you do not act.
Please call a special session of Congress this week. Address Congress and the American public and call them to attention and service in totally changing our policy and practices regarding energy, dependence on hydrocarbons, lack of conservation of non-renewable resources and lack of empathy for one another and for future generations that our behavior over the past half century represents.
Of course the corporatist media and almost all Republicans will strive to thwart your efforts. But, Mr President, in case you haven’t noticed, most Americans are fully aware of their scams, their avarice and their total disregard for anything other than “me.” Stop waiting for them to be anything but obstructionist; stop deluding yourself that they will come to the table with any agenda other than crushing you and serving their oligarch masters.
You face a far greater challenge than Lincoln, than FDR, than Kennedy, Mr President. You face the reality that access to energy – not nuclear, not hydrocarbon-based of any form, but renewable from the sun, from the wind, from tides – is what defines either a future of increased enlightenment and quality of life or, if you do not lead effectively, will render humanity and most other living species on this planet extinct – soon.
Thank you