Letterbox - Column Title Suggestion, Port Fraud, and Appreciation for Climate Change Article

Whatcom Watch congratulates Betsy Behnke for her clever peak oil column winning title, “Rabbit on a Roof.” We’ve given Betsy a complimentary lifetime subscription to Whatcom Watch. Read the reasons for her title suggestion below. Thank you, Betsy!

Reasons:

1. We’ve gone beyond the canary in the coal mine and the elephant in the room — we know that there’s a problem and we’re talking about it, and now we need to find solutions (and note that the phrase “rabbits on their roofs,” from the first column in the series, implies bottom-up strategies).

2. A rabbit on a roof a) has to develop new behaviors (e.g., not falling off the roof), but b) can see farther than a rabbit on the ground or in a burrow can, and thus has a greater chance of developing solutions before being consumed by an oncoming problem.

3. The notion of a “rabbit on a roof” is catchy and could lend itself to further development as a title for meetings, workshops, weblinks, etc. — it’s a title that makes people curious, a sexy, creative title — which leads to number 4.

4. Rabbits are known for, well, multiplying. So what can a lone rabbit on a roof do? Give out a shout to like-minded rabbits and encourage them to get together and, well, create some more good rabbit-on-a-roof type information, thinking, strategies, solutions, etc.

However, despite the habits of rabbits, here what is needed is not “reproductive action” — action that relies on already-available paradigms and is then judged by preexisting standards — but “productive action,” which sets its own measure, norm and standards ... a distinction I borrow from the German philosopher Bernhard Waldenfels (see his book, “Order in the Twilight,” available in English translation from Ohio University Press).

Thanks for all your good work to wake us up “before it’s too late” (another possible title? “in case it’s not too late”?) ...

Dear Watchers:

On Feb. 6, 2007, I spent about an hour at the Port of Bellingham reviewing the material from my public records request for all airport- related proposals/presentations made to airlines and local organizations. Mary Matyas was kind enough to help guide me through the process. I placed this request right after the Airport Advisory Meeting (January 2008). At this meeting there was no mention of a proposed hub for Allegiant Airlines.

During the meeting I tried to illustrate how important an airline proposal might be to our community. We have had tremendous turnover, with SkyBus, Western Airlines, United and Delta cutting back flights. An airline presentation/proposal is an excellent indicator of how we are representing Bellingham and judges character/ethics of our local officials.

After the first document, I became a bit concerned. For example, two slides are from the presentation given to Frontier Airlines by the Port of Bellingham in June of 2007. This meeting with Frontier was confirmed. I do not know why Western Airlines was included or how Delta was so highly acclaimed. Why were these included?

At the meeting and at previous meetings I always expressed these same concerns (http://www.blinet.org.) The airport is more interested in balancing a budget over the community’s sustainability and environmental interests and future.

The slides are not oversights, either; I checked and compared other presentations, especially the presentations before Frontier’s. Not that this is interesting, but I found that the weight of the paper was heavier in presentations around the time airlines left.

This gets back to my question regarding what checks and balances are in place for our community when there are inflated numbers, lack of sources and services that do not actually exist while at the same time not caring about the environment and servicing Canadians because we are cheap and have no concern for our own environment.

I care about the community and the environment and if this is common practice with local Port of Bellingham officials, chances are this may carry over to other port activities. I would also stress that if these same presentations are going on at the Chamber or the Semiahmoo Men’s Club, then I would be real worried.

I presented these two slides to a number of students, friends and family and they are at the consensus that the slides represent fraud by a port official. In short, it means any information like this being relayed to other governmental agencies, businesses and/or organizations (Green or not) is misrepresenting and may have cost our community greatly.

We need to work with the FAA and ask them to reduce large cargo/passenger traffic here not because it balances a budget, but because we have an environment to protect.

I am still waiting for the Port of Bellingham’s request to see if they would work with the FAA and make BLI a cleaner airport. I have also asked if port officials would contact a local school letting the kids ask questions in regard to Allegiant Airlines, and how the carrier benefits our community and the environment.

We could also ask about the impact to local casinos that operate in Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties. Well, we can save that question for the First Nation.

Dear Watchers:

Congratulations on your front-page article on climate change! Glad to know more of the Whatcom County’s program. Whether one chooses to put quotation marks round climate change or the war on terror, we all can benefit from becoming more energy self-reliant.

Having been in the energy efficiency field for nearly 40 years, I’m well acquainted with its many advantages. Our country (and particularly the Pacific Northwest) has a unique opportunity to set an example of “right livelihood.” I’m encouraging local businesses to advertise their low carbon footprint (LCF) activity.

Truly, we can be healthy, happy and holy using our fair share of our precious earth’s resources and our world will be better off for it. We need not wait for others to change. We have it in our power to do so right now!. Again, thank you for your article.