Stop the Pipelines, Stop the Maddness

With yet another major pipeline break this past week, it seemed timely to post this piece I wrote during the controversy fighting to stop the Keystone Pipeline. 

 (Photos from Washington DC march to stop the Keystone LX pipeline. )

 It worked!

Building and opening the Keystone XL pipeline would have been nothing less than suicidal madness for the human race.  ALL pipelines leak.

With recent massive poisonous spills in my neighboring states might happen anywhere massive pipelines to transport dirty, toxic petroleum sludge.

There are a thousand reason NOT TO build these monsters, but only one reason TO build it.
Greed, pure and simple.

Not energy independence, because the figures do not add up to anything but worsening drought and climate destruction.



 Please stop the madness. Tell the EPA and your elected representatives to tune out the paid lobby and listen to the citizens who know that a few jobs are not worth the health of our ecosystem.

Falling into Fall Rhythms

This year, the Fall Equinox falls on Saturday, September 22 at 10:49a.m. in my part of the world. It's a time of harvest, seeing the fruits of our labors, both in the garden and in our kitchen. It's been a good growing season for us, yet in other parts of the US as well as across the globe, drought has brought devastation. As I was placing the colorful display of our luscious tomatoes around the fountain this morning, I became even more grateful for the wealth of food we have grown this year. The drought in other regions have made this kind of harvest impossible.

Which has me thinking more about our Earth Mama than usual... asking questions with no easy answers. When will more people begin to take responsibility for their individual and collective roles in caring for our planet, simply pay attention? What could be an inspiration that will move people from apathy to action? How can I be more visible with the work I do to show and teach how simple steps lead to big results?

My traditional rhythm during the fall is to clean up outdoors and create space for winter's chill. The lush gardens of summer and fall are fading, transforming the beauty of flowers and succulent tastes of fruits and vegetables into the stripped and mulched beds of soil, ready for the quiet rest of winter. The songs of sunshine and dances of the wind through the string bean poles are silent now. I may continue to dance through the rows, as the garden has always been a place of refuge for me, a place to touch the soil and become truly connected to the living and breathing Earth Mama on which we live.

I'm grateful to have full shelves of colorful bounty, ready to share with family and friends at our dining table. I'm also grateful to have time to be still in the knowing that another season has past, providing an abundance of earthly goodies, demonstrating the cycle of life continues. Which got me wondering, what goodies have grown in your gardens this summer? Did you have a bountiful harvest? Was there any new varieties of vegetables or fruits that were above the rest in volume or flavor? We usually try a few new selections each growing season, but must admit this year none of the new ones really stood out...

So, now I have spent massive hours in the kitchen, and I still have work to do, but the jars are filling the shelves and the freezer is getting packed. We're better prepared to face the cold winds of winter, knowing our harvest will carry us through.

Enough is good as a feast...

Good Grass Roots Idea

This is something anyone can do—and the impact could be huge:

My friend LaRa recently send me a copy of this great letter she had sent to Wal-Mart executives. My sister pointed out that it also needs to be sent to Sears, Best Buy and anyone else selling electronics. Please feel free to personalize and make this your own. Thank you LaRa for sharing this and for all you are doing to stop mountaintop removal and other gross indignities to the planet.

*PLEASE join in this campaign with LaRa and contact Walmart regarding this gross waste of energy. Please send this email far and wide.
Thank you.

Take talking points from the letter below.
Mailing Address Below
Phone # 1-479-273-4000 - leave message for Mr. Walton
FAX: 1-479- 273-4329
website: walmartstores.com
(Could not get an email address.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -

Walmart Senior Management December 7, 2009
Walmart Board of Directors
Attention: S. Robson Walton
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611

Dear Mr. Walton,

The staff of your stores has been very willing to reach out to the local communities to assist with worthwhile projects. Thank you. Here I want to challenge you to a project that covers six southeastern states as well as all of the areas where your 8,150 Walmart stores are located.

Are you aware that the demand for coal to create electricity has resulted in blasting the tops off of over 500 mountains and covered 2,000 miles of stream with toxic soil in the states of VA, W.VA, KY, TN, OH and PA? The blasting goes on daily and whole communities, animal life, and vegetation are being destroyed as I write to you.

So how does this relate to Walmart? In the last two weeks I have visited three Walmart stores in three different states to find that there are 30 to 40 TV’s turned on 24/7 in each store.
Multiply that by 8,150 stores; that is enough electricity to serve a whole community.

PLEASE CONSIDER LIMITING THE NUMBER OF TV’S THAT ARE EMPOWERED IN EACH WALMART STORE!

On your website under walmartstores.com you state,”Sustainability- Our aspirational goals are being supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, creating zero waste and selling products that sustain people and the environment.”

This is a grand challenge for you to work toward these goals and bring forth renewed resolutions and solutions for 2010 to waste less electrical energy and save the mountains and the people and the communities of Appalachia as well as other communities where your stores are located around the globe.

I plan to follow up on the results of this request in 2010 and I plan to send this letter to people who share these concerns with me.

Thank you most sincerely for your action on this very important world project.


Martha LaRa Gibson
2098 Chestnut Grove
Mouth of Wilson, VA 24363
Email: larag@localnet.com
Phone: 276-579-4374*