From: Anthony & Victoria Stoppiello [mailto:stoppiello@nehalemtel.net] Subject: GEN. INTEREST: my response to Boone re forest transfer Begin forwarded message: From: Anthony & Victoria Stoppiello Date: February 17, 2012 9:24:59 AM PST To: “Rep Boone” Subject: Re: I’m the 3,562nd signer: “Uphold Federal Protections for Oregon Forests!” Dear Ms. Boone, My understanding is that SJM 201 does NOT voice opposition to changing the stewardship of O&C lands, but in fact does just the opposite. It is a joint memorial that would [...more]
Feb 192012
Jan 162012
This morning I awoke early. It was still dark as I went out into the cold. I felt the magic of the waning full moon bathing my world in white light. But so early? It was the whales. They wanted me to feel the moment and hear their message.
In 2006, some 600,000 homeowners living in coastal areas that insurers consider high storm risk saw their insurance policies cancelled or not renewed. This includes coastal areas stretching all along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean from Texas to New York. Allstate Insurance totally pulled out of Florida, leaving 650,000 policy-holders without insurance. A 2007 study by Environmental Defense showed that new policies in Miami, Florida are now costing residents 500% more than previous ones. In March 2008, State Farm, the last major insurer in coastal coverage, pulled out. It no longer will write homeowner policies within a mile of the Atlantic Ocean.
Nov 102011
I’ve been reading books, articles and e-mails about complexity, the economic and political situation, and technology for years now, trying to get a handle on what is going to happen to life on earth in the near future (while I might be alive). I get all kinds of mixed signals, and I seem to change my mind almost daily about what it all means.
Nov 072011
Near the center of Athens you can walk through large tracts of public land covered in rocks, ruins, wooded areas, and dry-land vegetation. Go in one direction and you’ll find the Hill of the Muses. It’s a cool place to take a break from news of global economic decay.
My family wandered there one afternoon during a recent trip to Europe. On the hillside facing the Parthenon we could hear the roar of 100,000 citizens outside the parliament building, protesting cuts in worker pensions, reductions in the minimum wage, increases in taxes, and other bloodletting demanded by eurozone financiers.
Sep 272011
This libertarian outlook is a bit dangerous, I think. The problem is that, while the small businesses mentioned in the article (cosmetology, moving) are unlikely to destroy the environment, kill people, or generally mess things up, there are plenty of businesses, some even “small” by some people’s definition, that either could potentially, or already have, mess(ed) things up. The general call I hear lately for less government regulation is not, I think, about getting nibbled by fish, as the example in the article details. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to remove the protections we enjoy against messing things up.
While our federal or state government may want to take a protectionist stance on this issue, I don’t think it meshes with the global nature of the market. The reality is that natural gas is a commodity that will be shuttled around the world to the best (highest-paying) markets, in the current system.
This same scenario is being played out with other fossil fuels (i.e. coal and tar sands oil) as we strive to extract the last bits all over the earth. Unfortunately, the U.S. and Canada are blessed with lots of these essential commodities, and we will inevitably suffer from exploiting them.
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