Dear Senator McCaskill:

I visited your Columbia office this past week with GRO-MO; you can see some photos of our action there on their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/GROMissouri?sk=wall&filter=12
These folks are some of the loveliest activists I have ever met; I started demonstrating during the Viet Nam War!

The points we were making are about sequestration and the State Legislature's reduction of Medicaid and Food Stamps for average Missourians, many of whom have not recovered from the economic depression of our times. Missourians in this small town, where I have lived for one year now, cannot find jobs yet.

You might remember me for seeking your attention to the Keystone XL pipeline. My other major group membership is the Sierra Club. I hope you will thoroughly investigate the latest information as revealed by recent reports at this site: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15843. Just as I have suspected corruption is a major issue in this pipeline project, which has already spilled, and is a huge environmental risk to every location it crosses.

Thank you for taking time to notice these issues and attend to them. 

PMB

references from above  CorpWatch article: "Lobbyists for Canadian Pipeline Have Deep Ties to White House"

Friends of the Earth: "Friends of the Earth files for release of State Department records on massive lobbying operation by TransCanada and Province of Alberta" 
http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2013-04-friends-of-the-earth-files-kxl-foia-request

Financial Times (sign in required): http://www.ft.com/cms/s/91300bf0-c80e-11e2be27-00144feab7de,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F91300bf0-c80e-11e2-be27-00144feab7de.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corpwatch.org%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D15843#axzz2Uz75tTPU

Alberta Geological Survey: "Alberta Oil Sands": http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/energy/oilsands/index.html

U.S. Energy Information Administration: "Petroleum and Other Liquids":  http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/imports/companylevel/

News Discovery.com: "The Sticky Problem with Tar Sands": http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/what-are-tar-sands-110902.htm

CNN Opinion: "The Real and Dirty Obama Scandal":  http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/opinion/jones-obama-keystone-pipeline/index.html

The Guardian: "EPA deems US state department Keystone review 'insufficient'": http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/23/epa-keystone-green-groups

Comments of the Sierra Club, et al: (374 pp.) April 23, 2013: http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/690723-comments-of-sierra-club-et-al-on-the-keystone-xl.html

Inside Climate News: "Inside the Exxon Oil Spill in Arkansas": http://insideclimatenews.org/exxon-oil-spill-arkansas

 

 

 

Message to Governor re: Factory Farms in Midwest

Dear Governor Nixon:

Here is an article that is written by Tom Philpott, examining the trend in agriculture in the Midwest. I doubt that Missouri's charts would look much different.
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/11/industrial-scale-hog-farming-screws-small-towns

I remember you were celebrating exports of pork one recent year. Some of them may be landing in Asia I would think.

Because of environment, human rights, animal rights and wages to workers, we are indeed obligated, in my opinion, to revert to sustainable farming practices. This may not be as difficult to sell to the General Assembly as you think, if you show them some of these numbers. By the way I am living in a small town again in Missouri.

Thank you for your attention to these issues.

CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS POST

UNFORTUNATELY neither the CAP THE RATE nor the RAISE THE WAGE issues will be on the Missouri ballot in November 2012.

 http://moresponsiblelending.org/content/campaigns-cap-rate-and-raise-wage-suspend-legal-challenge