Sherry Allen – 6/9/10

This page was last updated on June 9, 2010.

Let’s reduce our carbon footprints; Sherry Allen; Beaver County Times; June 9, 2010.

Ms. Allen wrote three previous letters I didn’t critique. One (“Conserving water for future,” 1/13/08) asked us to conserve water (primarily by not eating meat) and another (“Say ‘no’ to push polling,” 2/10/08) complained about alleged telephone “push polls” by Republicans, and the third was (“Plant a garden to offset oil usage,” 8/1/08). In one letter I did critique, Ms. Allen gushed about a book she found “that has hundreds of ideas on how to save our planet.” In a partisan letter, Ms. Allen concluded with “Let’s endeavor to walk together peacefully.” In one letter, Ms. Allen related a story of disaffected Republicans voting for Mr. Obama. In another letter, Ms. Allen tried to compare abortion and war in an effort to promote Barack Obama over John McCain. Other letters from Ms. Allen were entitled “Let’s be proactive on the environment,” “Arena a valuable community asset,” “Time to get behind health-care reform,” “A state budget we can all live with,” “Keep pushing for a public option,” “Election ruling terrible for nation,” “Practicing small acts of kindness,” “It’s how we act after events that matters,” and “Use freedom of speech wisely.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Many people I’ve talked to feel sick about the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

“The loss of lives, livelihoods, wildlife and environment is so tragic.

“Most of us have been holding our breath through the painful suspense in the days following this accident.

“My mother’s godchild, who works for the Coast Guard, was one of those in charge of the cleanup of the Valdez spill. Hopefully, she’ll postpone retirement - we could benefit from her experience and expertise.

“Sadly, we’ve all contributed to this problem because of our need for gasoline for our cars, homes and food.

“A TV program called ‘Wasted’ tracks carbon footprints of the average American family. It has discovered most families are using three times too much. If everyone were so wasteful, we’d need five planets to sustain our lifestyles.”

[RWC] Ms. Allen was a bit less than forthcoming. “Wa$ted!” is a series on the Planet Green channel. The few shows I watched on this channel indicate PG is simply a mouthpiece for the environmental left. For example, here’s a tease for a “Wa$ted!” episode: “Never afraid to take on new and exciting challenges, Wa$ted! host, Annabelle Gurwitch, arms herself with the facts and goes under fire to meet the Space Family. These hunters and Zoo keepers maintain that global warming is for attention seekers and that the world will never run out of electricity. Anyone detecting a clash?”

The comment that “most families are using three times too much” reminded me of a comment made by President Obama earlier this year. Mr. Obama said, “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.” Who determines what is “too much” family energy use and what is “enough money?”

“Most of us can’t help clean up this oil spill, but let’s find a way today to reduce our energy usage.”

[RWC] When Ms. Allen was concerned about the Bradys Run Park Indoor Ice Arena closing early in spring 2009, she appeared unconcerned about the arena’s carbon footprint. I also noted Ms. Allen didn’t tell us what she and her family were doing “to reduce our energy usage.” I don’t know Ms. Allen so it’s possible she puts her money where her mouth is. On the other hand, Ms. Allen could follow the Al Gore model of “do as I say, not as I do.”

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t advocate wasting energy, or anything else for that matter. My position is we should use energy efficiently, but using energy efficiently doesn’t necessarily mean using less energy.

“Equally important is taking care of our community through small acts of kindness.

“So start breathing again, and remember that empathetic listening is often the best gift we can give.”

[RWC] ???