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Pedal to the Medal, Community Rising: We Are Everywhere
July 16, 2008 - 9:09am — Sabrina ArtelI’m stewing over McCain’s stupid homophobic statement about his preference for a male and female household to raise adoptive children. Come on, John. What’s better — thousands of children homeless in the childcare system or a loving parent period? Keep sticking your foot in your mouth Senator; do us all a favor and kiss the White House goodbye.
Whew, these weeks have been packed with Trailer Talk and my little Beeline travel trailer has been packing on the miles. Upon returning from Los Angeles, I went to the coalfields of West Virginia for the Mountain Keepers Music Festival. I traveled about 1,300 miles roundtrip and went through four states. My Jeep broke down twice making the mountainous journey to West Virginia and I’ll have to start fundraising for a reliable tow vehicle.
My visit to concerned citizen Larry Gibson and Kayford Mountain was bittersweet. To witness the destruction of the Appalachian people, their culture and mountains was painful, but their tenacity, wisdom, hospitality and courage was inspiring. Seeing the devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining and the greed of the energy companies and the inhumane and immoral behavior condoned by the United States government was disgusting.
The American Dream? My visit was a reminder that we must speak out and fight for what we cherish. Silence equals death, right? The planet is melting and human beings are taking down what I consider to be a miracle — the planet itself. More on the true cost of coal, of energy extraction and what we’re facing with the precious Marcellus Shale underfoot in my Catskills later.
Mountaintop removal/valley fill coal mining in southern West Virginia Photo by Vivian Stockman, www.ohvec.org
I’m trying to take in the ease of summer, gazing at the flowers bursting on the pond and the freedom of open doors and warm nights, but it’s not working. I’m really concerned over the ties between our government and the corporations. It’s created a dangerous situation and I’m trying to recuperate.
So, in the spirit of fun, I accepted an invitation from Steve to do Trailer Talk at the Vintage Trailer Jam ‘08 last weekend. Travel trailers, caravans, campers, Airstream Bambis and Safaris, Silver Bullets, Canned Hams, Sportcrafts, Shastas, Crickets, Eriba Puck, the Beeline and more converged at the Saratoga Springs Spa State Park in New York.
I don’t usually bring the Beeline to trailer happenings and didn’t know who would be there and what the community would be like, but was excited to talk about home, connecting ideas of recycling, simplicity and sustainability to history and the appreciation for a bit of the past embodied in the trailers.
After a night of music and homemade pie eating and visiting people in their caravan homes, I gratefully shared coffee with one of my camping neighbors on Sunday morning (I forgot to bring coffee... yikes!) while we talked about the environment, ate homemade black raspberry pie with a couple from Maine who had joined me at the Democratic Primaries at an Edwards Rally in Portsmouth in ‘04 (small world) and discovered a group of conscious and loving people at the Jam.
Dawn Quinn, Corinne Ginsberg and Sammy
I met Corinne and Dawn who are OurChart members (small world again!) too! They, like so many of the Jam participants, have jumped off the daily work grind and are taking things in their life at a more spontaneous and simple pace. Corinne, a teacher, and Dawn, an operation room nurse, have a gorgeous Airstream and will spend the next year traveling throughout North America. It was great bumping into OC members on my adventure and I wish them an amazing road trip journey.
Corrine Ginsberg, Dawn Quinn and Sammy
I’m fortified by the individuals I meet in various communities who are clear on what’s right. I think that mostly we all want the same things — a good life, recognition and to feel that our life has offered something beneficial to those around us. Here’s to summer adventures, to dreaming of something better, of getting motivated to act, of singing out in voices strong and filled with committed laughter and, of course, trailer travels.
- Sabrina Artel's blog
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24 Comments
Yes, yes. We are everywhere
Yes, yes. We are everywhere indeed and surprisingly there are A LOT of us in even in the most taboo of places....
Sh!t!!
Where is the revolution!!!! we have to take to the streets and SOON!!!
btfan2
Blood for oil, blood for coal
I live in West Virginia and I've seen the devastation first hand. When I was in high school I attended a few protests with members from OHVEC as well as the Coal River Mountain watch. Definitely a life changing experience. It's important that people know about mountaintop removal in Appalachia and the rampant havoc on both the law and the earth here. It's sad that even a lot of West Virginians are unaware about it. I get so angry anytime I see a "friend of coal" sticker on the back of someone's car. A friend of coal is NO friend to me or this state.
Many people who aren't as affected by mountaintop removal regard it with sympathy and anger until someone suggests to them that they may pay a significantly higher cost for their energy consumption... Then it's not such a moral outrage anymore. People are so frustrated and desperate for gas for their cars that it seems like they'd tolerate any environmentall harmful way to drive prices back down-- like offshore drilling.
That's how these companies come back at protests against mountaintop removal-- "Oh, so you WANT higher utility bills?"
It's propaganda bullshit.
People are so frustrated and
People are so frustrated and desperate for gas for their cars that it seems like they'd tolerate any environmental harmful way to drive prices back down-- like offshore drilling.
My dear, I completely agree. I ended up in a debate with my best friend and her fiance. They both despise Gore and are upset about this movement - because they say it's killing our economy through fuel. They blame us and the "lame" global warming. They call it a hoax.
What they clearly see is the inability they we must change our behavior in order to change our fuel source. We have the ability and the technology for an infinite sustainable energy that is clean. Why build an oil rig, when we can build a wind turbine? Why build a nuclear plant when we can build a solar plant?
People don't want to change their consuming behavior - because they really feel that consuming is what keeps our economy together. And they are right. It does. But in order for us to change our fuel, and have control back of the economy - and not dictated to us by corporate power. Then we must change our behavior and ride out this increase.
We need to choke the corporations off from controlling the market.
Seek new sources of energy while changing our habits.
Why would people build new oil refineries knowing the shortage of oil in the ground - and knowing of alternate fuel sources?
We have all that technology and have had it for over 30 years - it's not just about investing in these companies to make new technology - it's putting in place the technology we already have that is pretty basic and pretty easy to maintain. the technology really hasn't changed all that much in the late 30 years, except for getting more efficient at what it does.
If we are to get off our dependency of oil and fossil fuel - then we must change our behavior.
The prince of oil knows that oil is almost dry - that is why he invested his money into Dubai as being a destination place...to keep wealth coming into the area and to keep their economy from collapsing.
And Dubai has went green.
http://www.dubaicityguide.com/index1.asp
Why are we choking on Dubya's tail pipe, called greed?
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Now I could be wrong but...
People can't change-- not because they don't want to, but because American's are trapped into a life of fossil fuel consumptions by energy companies and other corporations who go to great lengths to protect their industry. America won't go green, not because people are "addicted to oil," but because the fossil fuel industry is "addicted to profit."
In 2007, Exxon Mobile's profits exceeded $40 billion dollars last year. Massey Energy's profits are about $644 million dollars as they are the 4th largest coal producer in the United States, controlling over 2 billion tons of coal reserves in Appalachia. With the combination of sheer economic power and years of a Republican administration that's been more than kind to their cause, their monopoly over our lives in terms of energy consumption is virtually invincible against public protest, even if that takes the form of "changing behavior." The sad truth is, there's no way for an American to truly live a "guilt-free lifestyle" and still be a consumer. I suppose if you had a million dollars or so on hand you could commission someone to build you a super energy-efficient house, complete with solar power, water conservation mechanisms and the like. But it seems to me, living the most energy efficient life you can in the midst of America's consumer culture, you're the equivalent of a vegan in a predominately meat-eating society. Reducing our ecological footprint is not as easy as turning off light switches and keeping your A/C down in the summer.
The products we buy, the cars we drive, the energy we use-- there's not really any feasible way to cease our support of these kinds of corporations. America won't go green-- at least not yet-- not until the energy giants find a way to profit from that, as well.
I'm afraid it's the corporations who have us in a chokehold.
I agree with you - but there
I agree with you - but there is a vast amount of people who refuse to change - even when it is given to them as a choice. A simple task of recycling - our city handed out recycling bins for free - and they are easily to obtain if one needs more. Yet because recycling actually makes people change their habits - it's not done.
We have a busing system - it's not the best, but we have one - and it connects the whole Lehigh Valley, even over into Jersey. it goes into all the Industrial parks and through suberbia, and even up to Wind Gap.
There are days when we have free ride days - and that is when it is so hot, and they are trying to promote people to not drive their cars on dangerous ozone days.
People don't use it - except if they are poor, old, or disabled.
Everything in this infrastructure is about right here, right now, this is what I need to do, this is what I want - and I don't have the time.
People can change.
We can take the horse to the water, we just can't make it drink.
People know we need to stop our dependency on foreign oil - what they don't see is that our own oil corporations is just as dirty as OPEC.
We want to stop being fucked by OPEC. But OPEC isn't the only Dick that has been fucking us.
People want change, but it means we need to start changing our behavior. We need to change the way we do things.
How can we expect change to happen if we don't change ourselves?
My best friend cries to me about bills and she can't take it anymore. Plain and simple - then stop buying shit impulsively. Or at least plan - save - then buy.
In the last year, she's thrown out her full attic - because they talked about renovating it to make room for the kids. ALL of the stuff impulsively went into the trash in less then a weeks time. Evey year she buys new holiday decorations to replace last year's. Mean while - attic is left undone and put on hold. They bought all new living room furniture - the old went out for garbage. They bought a new huge plasma TV - and all new LCD TVs for the other rooms, even though the TVs were fairly new - they were thrown in the garabge. They bought a used Expedition (I laughed at that one). They decided to renovate the kitchen and tore out the counters and bought all new shelves and counter top and sink. They ripped out the ceiling and replaced it with new lighting fixtures. Went to the Caribbean islands 2 times since November. He's been going threw a divorce for the last 2 years. And talking about getting married...soon. They've been buying patio furniture and are talking about buying a jacuzzi. And last kicker is...they just bought a new 2008 Mazda (with nothing down). They're going on a family vacation in a few weeks.
These are major major purchases. Her job is not looking too bright because her boss is broke. And he is searching for a new job and is willing to take a pay cut to relieve the stress.
She knows what to do, but she's not willing to change her habit of spending.
Our addiction is consuming...and corporates addiction is money...and oil is what we use as the glue.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Saving money on a
Saving money on a microeconomic level and fighting the economic and political goliaths that are multi-national corporations are two very separate endeavors.
You're probably right that we can contribute in little ways, like recycling and spending less frivously but it all means virtually nothing on the macroeconomic scale.
I feel like some veins of the environmental movement have used what almost seems like propaganda to make ordinary Americans feel like it is their actions alone that are responsible for the global energy crisis when that's just not the case. We are trapped in this role by oil companies and they aren't going to let us go anytime soon.
Then again, you should know that you're talking to someone who has completely given up hope on traditional activism to address political and economic problems. I guess I'd feel differently if I felt like "knowledge is power" and the more people know about these atrocities, the more people will care and the more people that care, the more can be accomplished, but that just isn't the case. In this case, it seems to be moreso that knowledge is not power but a burden-- the burden of knowing how beyond fucked we all are.
However! I think the fight against mountaintop removal is an excellent and worthy cause because it's such a regional problem. Don Blankenship is a criminal who has managed to escape the legal penalties of his company's actions through a forgiving and supportive political climate. And because that political climate is a local/regional one, it would be easier (although not easy) to change.
Organizations like OHVEC and the Coal River Mountain Watch are seriously making a difference through years of hard work-- educating others about the problem, telling their poignant personal stories, and staging brave protests against the coal company itself.
The West Virginia government and citizens need to stop letting themselves be treated like a third world country, or a colony, used up for its natural resources and left behind having gained nothing from the transaction. What a lot of people don't understand that this isn't just an environmental problem; mountaintop removal is unique in that aspect. It doesn't just destroy the environment-- it destroys entire communities. It's a human problem just as much as an environmental problem and I wish for once I wish the people of WV, government and citizens alike, would fucking stand up for themselves against this colonizing force.
I feel like some veins of
I feel like some veins of the environmental movement have used what almost seems like propaganda to make ordinary Americans feel like it is their actions alone that are responsible for the global energy crisis when that's just not the case. We are trapped in this role by oil companies and they aren't going to let us go anytime soon.
Hmmmm. I understand that mode that it's like it's just "us" - the American people who are at fault. And I know it's not just us. But the propaganda is trying to get our attention to wake up, and see that we are snarred by this infrastructure glued by oil and based on consumerism.
The thing is. We aren't trapped. We hold the key to take the shackles off. We just have to wake the fuck up and realize it is us...each and everyone of us, who posses the power to change.
The people who are in desperate crisis is those who are poor..... But if subburbia does not wake up - they will lose everything.
And yes, I think consumerism is a major problem. Everything is impulse buying...even down to our foods. Most of these impulse buys are corporate linked.
Changing the way we shop.
Changing, by starting with me first and acknowledge that I have power to change my life by changing my habits - and education and spreading the word of mouth - is the most effective and most radical change that 1 person can do.
If I have to park my car and take the bus...or walk or ride a bike, so I can take a stand and save money to buy a hybrid car...or put solar panels on my house...so that I am less Dependant on fossil fuel.
If I refuse to buy impulsively and start buying with conscious and not convenience - I will start buying non-corporate and more local - I'll be improving my city...my neighbors chance, my friend's chance...my chance at a local economy sustainability.
It starts with I....and I can not give up.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
lol k
Whatever helps you sleep better at night.
Although I feel like I should bring to everyone's attention that while city and regional busses are GREAT for saving on personal gas expense that.. riding the bus really isn't helping the environment either, because they, as well, run on fossil fuels.
Tell those suburbanites to have fun making the hour long commute to work...on a bicycle.
People can't help it if they don't live on a bus line! America's transporation infrastructure developed under an economy in which we enjoyed very favorable gas prices. People spread out into the suburbs, into the country, wherever they wanted because they could afford to live further away from work and the cities. Maybe that's why Europe is having an easier go at this, seeing as how they've been dealing with gas over $5 a gallon for years already. Their infrastructure developed under those conditions so the economic culture there had become accomodated to that over time. Americans can't easily change population distribution and how that affects everyone's transportation cost.
very true - they do run on
very true - they do run on fossil fuel. but in buses that are owned and operated by my community. it costs me $2.50 to ride all day long - and cheaper if I buy a 30-day pass. They also have front and rear bike racks - so I can ride my bike to the bus stop.
here is my local bus...
They have bins up at the top (like an airplane), or room for you to bring on your stuff.
We have subburbs and the busses do go in them. All a person has to do is change their habits.
people don't want to change their convenience...their habits. They expect changes to happen while not changing.
if suburbia is too far away...umm then move to the city...or change the face of suburbia by starting with I...then getting others into wanting the buses to come deeper into the suburbs..then petition the bus system into making a new route.
OR
try "slugging"
http://www.slug-lines.com/Slugging/About_slugging.asp
oh wait...that would actually mean changing our own habits.
if we took the bus..or carpooled it would take at least 1 extra car off the road. I don't care what anyone says. Every dollar saved, is a dollar less in the hands of corporate oil. And more towards making a change of where we have been.
I carpool. I try to buy local. I am starting with I. And I educate others as well as myself and I am not giving up because I know that I can change..not only me, but my community, just with keeping my eye on I in change.
The moment I give up, is the moment I put the shackles on my self.
and the moment change will never come.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
like i said
"lol"
"k."
do you feel trapped? Are you
do you feel trapped?
Are you going to wait for someone to dig you out? Or are you going to dig yourself out?
people can change. they just don't want to stop sucking on their pacifier. the addiction is consumption.
All we have to do is change how we, as consumers, consume.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Hey now.
I ride the bus as well.
But the difference between you and me, is that I don't have this grand, self-righteous illusion that I'm making a difference in the world.
It's not fair for you to imply that we're all "infants" who are "passified" and that we just need to "grow up" and be as eco-friendly and righteous as you are.
Take this school of thought and you will forever find yourself a hypocrite at least in one way.
Big Machine
Great hearing from you! Would have loved to meet you and talk when I was in Charleston. Grab a bite at the iHop or something. The "Carbon Neutral" and "Clean Energy" signs on the main boulevard in Charleston and along the highway approaching the coal fields were abundant. Sort of like saying, "Fat Free Lard" or "Drug Free Pills". Let's think of more of these.
The intersection between people needing jobs and the set up that makes destructive jobs necessary in these communities is no accident. Speaking to Ed, a former Massey Coal employee was amazing. He takes full responsibility for the damage and lies he participated in and is now fighting the energy companies and speaking out with honesty. We all do need to look at the true cost of the energy that our government has supported.
mountain tops
who the F''' lets these people sheer off the tops of mountains? are we out of our minds? why aren't we having a mammoth lie-in to stop them? it is so EVIL.
War Zone Really
Imagine massive explosives, animals running and dying, hardwoods discarded, the entire eco-system of the mountain destroyed, people's homes covered in toxic coal dust, water dried up and boulders flying into your home windows while you sleep. Imagine the greed, disregard and stupidity that allows an entire mountain to be extracted from the coal. Imagine the thousand years that it takes to create one inch of top soil destroyed along with two more inches of topsoil for the one time use of coal. Three thousand years of precious life giving top soil gone in a burst of bombing.
Watching the train cars heaped with million dollar plus coal riding down through the hollow as the remaining homes sit sadly; a reminder of the bought out, mowed down communities is stomach turning. Here's to Gore and his courage to speak out against all destructive forms of fuel and to all of us for knowing there is a better way.
not to be a downer....
but I heard an interview with Stephen Hawkings, who seems pretty convinced that the future of human kind is in space. That we will destroy the resourses of this planet or that some other natural (astral) calmity will occour.
umm, thats all I can add to this discussion.
talk about creative thoughts :)
well that's a really optimistic perspective :)
Anything is Possible Right
I've heard that too and fabricated food, micro robots controlling our bodies etc. and that's all fascinating but while we're here and we've been blessed with the beauty of this planet let's protect it. Perhaps we'll all jump but what about the rest of life on this planet?
More later- Thanks Grace for including explorations into kinds of evolution in the conversation!
Stephen is a genius. And I
Stephen is a genius. And I respect him - but I think he would even say it's not too hard to add 1 plus 1 and see the fate of this world if we continue to destroy it by destroying nature on mass scales.
News flash. Birth rates for this past year are at a all time high. There were 4,315,000 births last year. The last time we had that many was in 1957.
I love babies. And despite what people might think. I do really love people and life. I just don't know how much more this world can sustain. There normally is a force, like an equilibrium between births and deaths.
Natures way of pest control.
I really don't know if I want humanity to become this all consuming alien, hopping from one planet to another - consuming them...like we fear happening to us.
Then again, maybe we are aliens...and what we really fear is our own self.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
After reading this I'm feeling a little nostalgic...
"I’m fortified by the individuals I meet in various communities who are clear on what’s right. I think that mostly we all want the same things — a good life, recognition and to feel that our life has offered something beneficial to those around us. Here’s to summer adventures, to dreaming of something better, of getting motivated to act, of singing out in voices strong and filled with committed laughter and, of course, trailer travels."
AND I suddenly have an ENORMOUS craving for homemade PIE made with ripe summer berries and fresh coffee! ;)
BTW - Corrine & Dawn, Sammy's a cutie!
"It matters not Who you love, Where you love, Why you love, When you love, Or how you love...It matters only that you love." --John Lennon
Pie Jam
It should have been called the: Vintage Trailer Jam '08 and Pie Bash. Love all the way :)!
Balance
Sabrina, thanks for talking about the range of experiences on your travels. The information about W.Virginia interests me because my mother was from there--her father a coal miner who died from TB/black lung. She had returned to WV a few times in search of their farm and had said things were very changed. I had no idea they were scraping off mountaintops.
You bring up something that I struggle with. As important as it is for me to know what's happening in the world, it can become overwhelming. It's so important to connect with people who are focusing on the quality of their lives and life on the planet. I value those encounters with others who want to do it right. We all make each other's attempts more powerful.
Lezbeth
Power to the People, uh-huh, uh-huh...
Thanks Lezbeth for sharing your family history with us. What I saw outside of Charleston on Kayford Mountain is impossible to truly describe. A percentage of my electricity and comfort in NY comes from the coalfields of WV. It's a massive problem and as you say, it sure can become overwhelming but we can all step by step support what we cherish.