Alex Palmer's Natural History Notes and Thoughts

December 26, 2013 President Obama:             I am writing to urge you to stand down any legislation that would move the Keystone Pipeline project forward.  I know that we are in an economic bottleneck and that we need to create jobs and build back our economy sooner rather than later.  The Keystone Pipeline does sound promising with all of its presumed “job creation.”  But I hope you do NOT let this project go forward during your rein of power.  This pipeline has enormous environmental consequences looming beneath it, and as you know environmental depletion and economic degradation are intimately linked.  If we let this project move forward, we will further compromise America’s natural resources, including endangered natural capital such as brook trout and other sensitive wildlife, and the greenhouse gas emissions that result from this dirty energy production practice could vastly accelerate climate change.  Also, let us not forgot the high risk of oil spills, chemical leak

Introduction Imagine there's two islands, and on each of these two islands is an all-inclusive resort.  Imagine that the only way to get to these islands is to swim.   Island A is only a short swim away across shallow water while Island B is a 50 mile doggy-paddle off of the coast (although the water is at least still warm and calm in this scenario).  Which all-inclusive resort do you think is going to get more patronage: the one on Island A or the one on Island B? Now image instead of people trying to swim across an ocean to a beach resort, image wildlife trying to reach their homes - but only this time the ocean they must cross consists of busy freeways, asphalt parking lots and polluted land.  Which island are most of them going to make it to...and how long can they survive on a habitat island surrounded by all of this chaos?  Chances are, not for long, and those islands will soon be void of most wildlife species. This unusual sounding situation is actually an all too com