Confession of fossil fuel use

Many who read this know I gave up having a personal automobile about 40 years ago for environmental justice reasons.  I have sympathized with others, in particular those without access to public transportation, who try to minimize their fossil fuel use.

It pained me a great deal to ride with my parents to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and more so when I rented a car to drive to Indianapolis to combine work at Riley Hospital for Children and bringing Carrie back to visit her Uncle Brandon.  Although Greyhound buses do run between those places, the schedule and conditions were just too arduous to deal with and put Carrie through this time.  The trip takes over a day, with multiple stops at all hours of the night, in terminals and conditions that are not great.

On the other hand, Burlington Trailways, which I use between Iowa and Indianapolis, shows how mass transit can work well.  The routes are direct with very short layovers, the scheduled times are good, the buses clean and comfortable, with electricity and (sometimes) Wi-Fi.  Unfortunately they don’t run to Florida.

Recently I was asked to fly to Ghana to help with a housing building project.  I would really have like to do so, but refused because of the excessive environmental damage done by flying.  The organizer did try “that plane will be flying whether you are on it or not” rationalization.  My response is that if more of us refuse to fly, those planes will NOT be flying.

But I recognize those are both arbitrary choices  The reason I chose to drive the rental care was because I felt the family situation was important enough to do so.  I immediately realize how many times I’ve heard others say the same thing.  I can only say I’m sorry for the damage I did, and will work harder to do less so in the future.

I will also say, as I always do, that Mother Earth is being wounded every time we do this damage, no matter how good our excuses are.  It is very questionable whether the human race can survive even if we stopped all fossil fuel use today.  But if there is the slightest chance, we have to make dramatic changes in our lives, and convince everyone else to do so, too.

I think our only hope is by means of a spiritual awakening.  The water protectors have shown the way.  That’s why I’ve called for people  to become spiritual warriors.

Warrior
1. One who is engaged in or experienced in battle.
2. One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflict
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/warrior

https://kislingjeff.wordpress.com/?s=spiritual+warriors

No KXL Promise  (Keystone Resistance continued)

One thing you can do as an environmental spiritual warrior is join the new Keystone Resistance Movement,

Dear Friends,
Today brings renewed resolve. We have walked this path together before.  (from the Keystone Call to Action. at No KXL Promise.)

Dear Jeff, Thank you for joining the Promise to Protect. You’ll be notified here when you are invited by frontline communities to help stop this Black Snake.

To start preparing for this moment and get everyone up to speed on the latest developments, we held a mass meeting on December 6th with some of the leaders behind the Promise to Protect. Listen here to learn what’s gone on since the decision, how the Promise to Protect came about, who’s leading this call to action, and what the next steps are.

This pipeline is not a done deal, but we do know one thing: you and the 10,000 people who have joined the Promise in the last few weeks will be TransCanada’s biggest hurdle. We’ll keep you updated on any new developments and informed on ways you can continue to resist Keystone XL in the months to come.

https://nokxlpromise.org/press-release/nearly-8000-join-future-resistance-keystone-xl/