I don't know how much what I did counts towards making my life better, but it is the closest thing that I have for my one thing for the day. I doubt I will make a major global impact with my actions, but what the heck.
While out running errands today, I had to stop and put some gas in the car. I was driving on fumes. I was kind of stunned that the price of gas was $3.67/gallon at my regular gas station. If I am not mistaken, the price jumped up close to $0.30/gallon overnight. Chicago has some of the highest gas prices in the country. I know that a lot of the price is bound up in taxes, but I always thought that it would be offset that there are refineries nearby. I would imagine that any Europeans who might be reading this would think that Americans must be pretty whiny about gas prices, but in the absence of reliable and convenient public transportation and cities that are designed around the automobile, we are reliant on our cars and don't have much of a choice. With the economy the way it is, every penny hurts. Anyway, as I am especially low on funds right now, the best I could do is $20 for a quarter tank of gas.
My first one thing today came when I had to go pick my step-daughter up from school. The school is only two blocks away and sometimes out of shear laziness, I have driven to pick her up. Bad Doug. Anyway, after the painful experience of putting gas in the car, I slapped the leashes on the dogs and walked to pick her up from school.
The second one thing I did is somewhat related. Yesterday, I got an e-mail from one of my state senators, Mark Kirk. He is a proponent of the Keystone XL pipeline, which really doesn't surprise me because he is a Republican. I don't support the Keystone XL pipeline for many reasons, mostly environmental. The source of this oil would be the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta. Everything I read about that points to environmental damage. Strike one. The second impact would be on the Ogallala Aquifer through which the pipeline would pass. This aquifer provides drinking water for millions of people. They say that the pipeline would have the highest standards of safety, but seriously who believes safety and oil go together. Can we say Gulf oil spill, BP?
I could go on more about my objects, but that really isn't the point. Okay, one more. The pipeline would supposedly reduce dependence on foreign oil. Last time I checked, Canada was a foreign country. But, I digress. So, I put all of my objections in a clearly and intelligently written e-mail, if I do say so myself, and fired it off to Senator Kirk.
I doubt that what I say is going to make any difference in his thought process, but I feel better for voicing my thoughts and concerns. Nothing is every going to change if we all stay quiet and don't object to things that we think are wrong.
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