[*BCM*] A message from Bill McKibben

[SusanShamel at aol.com]

Dear bikers,
       OK, different subject, maybe even not apropro for this forum.  
However, what's the harm in passing along a good message? We all know that bikers are 
helping to save the world by not spewing more CO2 into the atmosphere.  So I 
assume that many of us are environmentalists and concerned about the state of 
our planet, which has been negatively affected by our current President.  
Hence the subject: we need to elect a President who will help us green-up America.
       I am forwarding you a comment by Bill McKibben due to your interest in 
our environment.  It is political, so you can do with it what you want -- but 
it sold me!
       Roger and I were privileged to again attend a lecture by Bill McKibben 
at BC last night. Bill is supporting Obama for President for his 
environmental policies.  Also, having recently traveled extensively throughout the world, 
he spoke about how Americans are intensely disliked abroad.  He views Obama as 
the one person who will be able to transcend all barriars and restore not 
only Americans', but also the world's faith in America. I have copied a recent 
report "Enviornmentalists for Obama."  You can go to http:
//enviros.barackobama.com to see the list of signatures following the letter as I did not include 
this long list.
******************************************************************************
********************
ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR OBAMA
We, the undersigned, who have devoted much of our lives to the cause of 
conservation and environmental protection, all actively support Barack Obama in his 
quest for the Democratic nomination.

While it is true that all the leading Democratic candidates have expressed 
strong and similar environmental platforms, we believe that only Senator Obama 
has demonstrated the ability to work across the aisle and forge the broad 
coalitions necessary for real change. In Congress and the Illinois Legislature, 
Senator Obama has taken on vested interests and built creative coalitions that 
have achieved major environmental victories. It should come as no surprise that 
he has received the highest ranking from the League of Conservation Voters of 
any candidate for president. It is no accident that in Illinois in 2003 he was 
one of only six State Senators to receive a 100% environmental voting award 
from the Illinois Environmental Council. Our nation needs a President with the 
courage and ability to boldly confront climate change and our dependence on 
fossil fuels.

Two years ago, when few in the U.S. Senate would even say the word CAFE, 
Senator Obama reached across the aisle and introduced the Fuel Economy Reform Act 
with Republican Senator Richard Lugar and a dozen other Senators. By working 
with the environmental community, the United Auto Workers and a host of experts 
to build a strong coalition, Senator Obama was not only able to propose 
legislation that both strengthened and reformed fuel economy standards, but he was 
able to secure the votes of several senators who had never before supported 
fuel economy mandates. In 2007, for the first time in over 30 years, Congress 
adopted and the President signed strengthened and reformed fuel economy 
standards that were virtually identical to the Obama-Lugar legislation.

Barack Obama is also a champion of clean renewable power. As an Illinois 
state legislator, Senator Obama was the lead Senate sponsor of the renewable 
energy portfolio standard legislation supported by a strong coalition of 
environmental and public health organizations and clean energy businesses. In 2007, 
Illinois enacted among the very strongest renewable energy standards legislation 
in the nation – requiring that utilities ramp up their purchases of clean 
renewable energy to 25% of the electricity supply by 2025. Barack Obama supports a 
similarly aggressive federal renewable requirement. We believe that as 
President, he will be uniquely capable of overcoming the political roadblocks that 
have thwarted adoption of a national RPS to date.

To address the climate crisis, Senator Obama supports an aggressive cap and 
trade program that harnesses the forces of the market and auctions 100% of the 
permits to fund energy efficiency, clean technology, and to protect low income 
Americans from rising energy prices. In addition, Obama has relentlessly 
pursued measures to reduce our dangerous dependence on oil while ensuring that 
efforts to promote alternative fuels also achieve our low carbon goals. For 
example, Senator Obama has led the effort to establish a National Low Carbon Fuels 
Standard based on the innovative program adopted in the state of California. 
Knowing that such a program would make many ethanol producers nervous, last 
year Senator Obama called the ethanol community together and explained his view 
that ethanol’s future depended upon developing low carbon alternatives to today’
s corn based option.

Recognizing the possibility of opposition from Midwest colleagues, Senator 
Obama worked with Senator Tom Harkin to introduce the legislation with him. When 
introducing the legislation, Senator Obama asserted that we must 
simultaneously pursue our climate change and energy security goals. We applaud Senator 
Obama’s view that a low carbon fuels standard is the most effective way to ensure 
that all alternative fuels - - including coal based options - - are not 
allowed into the system unless they too achieve significant carbon reductions. 
Again, Senator Obama’s broad vision and ability to build unusual coalitions has 
moved an important environmental priority forward.

We believe that Obama is telling it as it is when he says that it is not 
enough to elect a Democrat, but that we need to elect one who can govern by 
uniting people in a setting where Democrats don’t hold all the cards. Climate change 
is the challenge of our generation. We must have a President with the courage 
and resourcefulness to unite the nation and face up to this challenge.

We invite all environmentalists and conservationists to join us in supporting 
Barack Obama, which may well decide the kind of country we leave to our 
children. 






**************
Start the year off right.  Easy ways to stay in shape.
     
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
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