Actual Letters to Congress

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Permalink Reply by Clyde Childers on July 20, 2008 at 5:12pm

yourlettertoyourcongressman.docWelcome!
Mrs. Grey and I are happy that you have joined this group and we hope that your involvement with this effort will be rewarding for you and your children. We have prepared a letter that encompasses the Pickens Plan so you can send it to your congressional delegation. It is easy to send you just click on the web site to your congressional delegation. You can easily find it by Goggling it.

Mrs. Grey and I had fun developing this plan and we shared this plan with Pickens' people and they sent back a "Great Idea!” I just want to share with you our opportunity to make a difference. A copy of the letter is at the top of this comment

Best Wishes
Clyde Childers

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ross on October 7, 2008 at 8:39pm

Response Letter to: Senator Boxter of California last year 2007.


Dear Senator Boxter,

I want to thank you for responding to my letter and express my appreciation for your efforts to protect the consumer from profit gouging with the various legislative acts and bills you have sponsored and passed. However, as a businessman I understand the margins of profit an enterprise needs to maintain in order to sustain profit and overhead. Protecting the consumer by marginalizing a company’s ability to produce profit under minds the free market where ultimately the consumer sets the value of an object. We cannot allow for exploitation if we are serious about raising standards of living and ending poverty, yet at the same time we cannot inhibit our industries ability to sustain the profitability that enables them to innovate and produce new technologies. This dynamic of supply and demand is fluid and self-correcting in sustainable markets, yet, the direction of current energy policies has created volatility simply because we are dependant upon an unsustainable energy source. I was able to predict the rise to a $100.00 a barrel from a simple understanding of supply & demand. Anyone could reason this. And when China begins their rise to Western standards of living you will see much higher prices. Your co-sponsored bill S.6 expressing Senate support for eliminating tax giveaways to large oil companies is a good idea unless these giveaways are used as incentives to develop new industries in sustainable energy resources. We need visionary leadership to develop policies that encourage the development of sustainable energy resources and free us from the dependence of foreign oil.

I am currently involved in a project finishing up in Anaheim, CA called “Energy Field” that has a solar array no bigger than 1/3 of a football field. This panel array has the ability to produce enough power for 20 homes a year. I look at this and wonder why are we not doing more? A developer I work with put a $20K solar system on the roof of his garage and reduced his summer energy cost from $685 per month to $45 per month. That, with running his dual air conditioner day & night, the pool equipment and all household electronics and appliances. To say solar is not a viable alternative to many of our energy needs is an escape from reality. Not only is it viable, it is available here and now. The total time from start to finish for the “Energy Field” project will be approximately 8 months. We will finish this March 2008 and the solar collector field will be a beautiful park setting, which is all people will notice as they drive by. I applaud the City of Anaheim for having the vision to implement such a project.

There is a fundamental understanding, a mindset that must be sustained in order for our generation to turn the course we have inherited as our current energy policy. The current policy is unsustainable and under minds our children’s future. We as a world leader must pave the way for our world to find energy independence, in doing so we can neutralize a volatile market component as well as lower the cost of production. Stabilizing our economies is a crucial element to the war on poverty. The volatility oil has created in the world market is contrary to fundamental principles our forefathers intended. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will be impossible if we are all beholden to a few for our most fundamental resource, a resource that can not be sustained. This is not some ambiguous ideology-- these are fundamental truths (self evident) intended to safeguard us from investing in such misguided policies. Our forefathers had a very profound respect and understanding for the foundations of the Bible and from that understanding they were able to formulate a system of government that we abide in today. Our leaders are at a crossroad in world history—the world is staged in a provocative manner where we either solve the dilemmas facing the world today or fall into the desperate agendas of those who are disenfranchised by the current course. You know of these individuals, who want to lead us into Jihad and convert the whole world to some fundamental fascism bordering on Dark Age mentality. This is only one possibility for there is room for more sinister agendas. The point is our leaders must lead the way, these issues must be resolved despite opposing political agendas and with in this free society that actually holds the answers but hasn’t implemented them on a macro scale because we have no visionary leadership and/or no one wants the other to get credit.

The Romans wished they had it so good… for their lands were invaded and conquered because of leadership unable to act.

Where are the visionaries?
Lincoln, who saved the Union and abolished slavery.
Kennedy, who took us to the moon…
Reagan, who ended the cold war…
What has the U.S. done to build upon this legacy?
Who will lead the world beyond 20th century mentality and into the future—where stewardship of the planet is a fundamental steppingstone into the 21st century? Can our leaders educate and lead us toward the virtues of alternatives? Such as: Hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the physical universe. Ethanol-- from which Brazil (a third world nation) leads the world in discovering energy independence. Nuclear, from which France supplies 70% of their nations Energy. Solar, Wind Water & Geothermal, from which potential energy lies waiting. Do we have the visionaries in office to tap the potential of these alternatives? Can they lead us? Will we make it another 100 years?
Democrats, Republicans, Taliban, are you offering leadership toward a new direction, or business as usual? China seems to be up and coming, where do their goals LEAD us? A heavy proposition, one of which our politicians addressed with their new energy bill-- that is a step in the right direction, but hardly visionary. If General Motors (G.M.) has trouble reaching the 35 mpg benchmark by the year 2020 have them consult the West Philadelphia High School students who made a car that gets 50 mpg and goes 0-60 in 4 seconds on bio-diesel. It was on display at the 2006 Philadelphia Auto Show. They used car parts from existing technology. I’m sure the engineers at G.M. will be able to figure out how these kids did it by 2020. They are now working on a hybrid-electric car. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Electric and even Air power are the future modes of transportation. You can’t run internal combustion engines in space without a sustained atmosphere-- one that you have to breathe. Makes no sense to do it in space, so why do it on our planet. Internal combustion engines need to go the way of the dinosaurs. They are soon to be extinct.

Our love affair with oil has created this war on terror we can never turn our backs on nor afford to lose. I look at the current World War we are all waging and I think we are fighting the wrong enemy… it is ourselves… we are spiritually bankrupt, impoverished.
We should be waging a war on poverty, against ourselves, and our own mismanagement of the world’s resources. We are creating the desperation, by our own actions.
We have not been good stewards…
Our children will be ashamed of what they stand to inherit by the work of our hands. I am guilty just as well. I go along with all the masses, following the same path laid out for me by shortsightedness and I guess the convenience of greed. For lack of options I carry on this legacy of deceit and envy, the generational curse the Bible discuss. Where Ishmael is jealous of Isaac’s inheritance and feels robbed of his birthright while we as a nation consume more energy than we can produce. The Middle East views us as bourgeois Americans, self indulgent and not worthy of the prosperity we enjoy. The parallels are amazing, yet the result is an escalation of war and instability in the Middle East and the world. I know this all sounds esoteric and bazaar, but it is because we have denied sound biblical principles and the wisdom of our founding fathers that we are finding ourselves in this situation. Where the ancestors of Ishmael inherit the jealous hatred of a stepbrother’s envy throwing both our worlds into turmoil. I would not presume it is so simplistic, yet what so ever you sow so shall you reap applies in our world today. This is not only biblical but fundamental laws of nature. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, Newton’s Third Law of Motion and intrinsically the 1st Law of Thermodynamics. By pursuing an energy policy that is not sustainable we are putting our national security at risk, we are not protecting American interest. We are in fact denying those in other countries their inalienable rights by creating a desperate world stage for a commodity that is not sustainable. Does our current energy policy pursue our interest as a nation or the interest of a few? Is this the real Holy War? Ourselves… What if we are the only intelligent life in the universe? Shall we squander it upon our current worldview? What is it? What is mans legacy? We’ve been here less time than the dinosaurs, yet we have the potential to transplant life to other planets. Will we? Why would nature pursue such a being with such potential? With the ability to create, yet destroy themselves with the push of a button… If evolution is the scientific method upon which we base this empirical truth-- that nature endeavors to perpetuate life. Then how does man fit into this endeavor? Can we picture ourselves as the right hand of nature perpetuating life throughout the universe? Does the fundamental forces of nature pursue life? I believe so, despite our attempts at civilization, and our idealisms that have given way to imperialist, and/or totalitarian fascism. Ultimately these are pawns in the life force of this universal struggle; can imperialist actions or totalitarian fascism be the worlds messenger of hope, because they are “righteous” endeavors and have united mankind, or will they lead us into another failed attempt at enforcing some version of truth and any hope for mankind. Man, thus far has yet to prove himself. What shall it be? We haven’t succeeded in destroying ourselves—yet… Will we survive the next 100 years? Is this the real Holy War? Ourselves… to avoid such fatalistic mentality and demand the good stewardship of our national interest… From a biblical perspective, how can we love our enemy if we cannot understand his pain? A pain we indirectly contribute to every time we buy gas at the pump. We need to take back our leadership and their misguided energy policies! We must end this suffering, we must end poverty—so our enemies may have hope and not resent us for having joy. We must resolve the misguided direction our leadership, and the special interest are taking us…find our nations true calling… where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a hope the United States endeavors for all. We must continue to defend our sovereignty, yet convince those who have no hope against such an overpowering nation (The U.S.) we mean no harm and only desire their success and freedom… If the world has any hope to survive the 21st century then ending poverty must be in the forefront of all our efforts. Good stewardship of our world’s resources is fundamental to that effort and our survival.

How does one win over the hearts of one’s enemy? Look to the Marshall plan, it has a good track record. Rebuilding efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan can work as they did for Germany & Japan. I suggest we create “Bridges of Hope”. We cannot leave those countries or you will have Genocide like we saw in Vietnam and Cambodia when we abandoned Southeast Asia. If there is any lesson we learned from Vietnam, it is what not to do. No more 20th century mentality. In order to show our sincerity we must offer it.

Rebuilding efforts must continue. In order to build a bridge between nations, especially our former enemies we must offer hope. What better way to do this than to give their children and families a future for a better life? I suggest we offer such a program! “Bridges of Hope” if you will, formed as a non-profit organization funded by businesses whose interest benefit from the stabilization within a particular region. A grass roots effort not fueled by political agendas, but hope. Basically, a scholarship program that brings funds into these impoverished regions through participation in this program of hope. Students in the U.S. and Western nations get scholarship credits for each dollar they raise and vice versa for students in the receiving nations. Developing scholarship funds by working together. Students of each nation would be encouraged to sponsor an individual and correspond with them to discover more about one another and their needs. Each student/region would be given a goal to meet the needs of their student/community. The students would form clubs within each school that meets to determine immediate needs; intermediate needs and long range needs of individuals or the community they are sponsoring. Every student body will be unique, yet pursue some basic goals of scholastic improvement in order to raise funds for their education. The schools in Eastern Europe would have different needs than those in Asia or Africa. A school in Africa might need a well for drinking water as well as computers. Where a school in Eastern Europe might only need funds for their education. The students in each nation would form local chapters to pool their resources and create successful fundraisers that celebrities and musicians might attend and corporations sponsor to assist in raising the funds for a particular communities needs. These events would raise awareness and spotlight the importance of world communities meeting the needs of one another. Students would get scholarship credits for each dollar raised that is put into a college fund that can only be spent on education or vocational training throughout the person’s life. This fund should be transferable to their children or whomever they wish to donate it to. The funds are created by independent donations and sponsorships that can easily be acquired by the companies that have vested interest in the success of the program. Apple, Dell, Compaq would benefit by future graduates, and users of their products. Gaming companies would benefit from students playing their games and sponsoring worldwide tournaments to develop healthy competition between cultures. Sponsoring fundraisers to promote their products and raise money for a worthy cause is a wise investment in any company’s bottom line. There are a number of companies that would benefit from sponsoring such events and students would be building upon their future while promoting good will among nations.

There is more detail and thought given to the development of this program, but I believe I’ve stated enough to plant the seed… What better way to pave the way to peace between nations than by providing a means for the next generation to help one another and become friends? I would like to be part of the solution not the problem. I have a child of my own and wish our leaders would consider our children’s future and not their own political agenda…

Senator, and all our leaders in Washington… we are not the generation that wants business as usual. We will not sit idly by and watch you squander our great nations future. We the people have the means to take back our nation, through our constitutional rights, and our vote. There is also the grass roots effort that creates organizations as the one I proposed above that can usurp misguided policies. We can do the same with energy. I believe a nation such as ours could create a national energy conglomerate that would put any utility to shame. If the leadership in Washington refuses to do it, believe me there is enough public interest to do it ourselves. Senator Boxer, get to the business of running a nation, not politics as usual. Offer us solutions not more of the same. By 2020, I want to be driving something other than a fossil fuel vehicle that gets 35 mpg.

Sincerely,

C.L. Ross

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