Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

So, being from Canada, and not that interested or have much education with American politics growing up, I found this advocacy project very interesting.. Enjoy!


PRESIDENT- BARACK OBAMA-Democratic

-Contact Information-

-Email @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/

-The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Congressperson- Thomas Huntley- DFL


State Representative

-Contact Information-

-Email @ http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/join.asp?id=10271


-585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Phone # (651) 296-2228







Congressperson- Yvonne Prettner-DFL


-Contact Information-

Capitol Office:


75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room G-9
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
651.296.4188







Congressperson- Jim Oberstar-DFL


-Contact Information-


Duluth Office


231 Federal Building
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 727-7474

D.C. Office

2365 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-6211



Governer- Tim Pawlenty- Republican


-Contact Information-

Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155


Other ways to reach our office:

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
Toll Free: (800) 657-3717
Facsimile: (651) 296-2089
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us



U.S. Senator- Amy Klobuchar- Democratic

-Contact Information-

302 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Main Line: 202-224-3244

1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Main Line: 612-727-5220

Commissioner- Dennis Fink-DFL


-Contact Information-


Board ChairRoom 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 726-2458
Term Expires: 12/31/2010





City Major- Don Ness- DFL


-Contact Information-

Room 402
411 West First Street
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone # (218) 730-5230
E-mail: dness@duluthmn.gov

Share & Voice: Enviro- Cool Award!

I received this award from Derek @ DP- Keeping it Green for my recent post- Share and Voice: Lost Generation.

I am passing this award on to Jayme @ Going Green with Jayme for her Share and Voice: Camping. It was seems so simple, but at the same time making a big difference. The little things add up!

Here are directions for you to "pass the torch"!

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.

2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).

3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).

4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.

5. Publish the post.

6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.

7. Continue the process...

Reflections: Week 7 & 8

CRAZY!! Where is the time going??

During week 7 we read an article titled III Winds: The Chemical Plant Next Door. It was a woman's view point on how chemical plants can be the cause of cancer. I liked this article, although hard to follow, because it wasn't so forceful about one opinion. It left a little open ended, allowing you tot hink for yourself. We also watch the movie "Green". This is by far my favorite movie that we have watched in the class. It hit home and really reflected what people were feeling about the chemical plants in in their towns. It focused on Cancer Alley. The 100 mile river that stetched along the mississippi river. This area is also the home of many people who are affected by their living situation. It really opened my eyes to what we all take for granted.. also what we see as important.

During week 8 we read an artice called Privatizing Water. This whole concpet was shocking to me and shows how much our world is run based on profit. The article ties in pretty well with the movie we attempted to watch, Thirst. They both touch on the political portion and rational of having this happen. It shows these people are contradicting themselves. Being voted in to represent the people, then not letting them vote on something so important. "They don't understand."

I really enjoyed what we covered this week and lots of thought provoking questions were brough up in discuss. Some that stand out to me were, what would I stand up for? Are we costomers? Hmm.. I'm also really exctited to start the photo essay but that can wait till after spring break :)

Share & Voice: Lost Generation

A couple nights ago, I was getting a ride home from a freindof mine and we got into a conversation about how crazy of a world we live it. Just how we have come so far from the "cavemen" days. Everything in our world is so systematical and with the evolution of everything, it' changing and forming the world. My freind told me to watch this video on youtube and I found it very interesting and thought provoking! I hope you all Enjoy!

Review of Documentary: "Green"

Summary


The documentary "Green", is based on over 150 petrochemical plants that run along the Mississippi river from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. This one area that ranges around 100 miles in 25% responsible for the nations petrochemicals, also known as "Cancer Alley".


Throughout the documentary, they move along the river from town to town and discuss what issues each are facing. Most share the same things in common, low-income residents and an unusual amount of rare cancer cases and other rare health issues- Linked to the plants? It's hard to prove. People who are interviewed and live in these towns (cancer alley towns) are confident that there is a link between their health and the plants. A young girl talks about her cancer and how she believes it related to the plants. She suffers from neuroblastoma- Tumors. She has had numerous removed and she is only 13 years old. Another case that was discussed involed a little boy named Caleb whos face was paralyzed on the left side from cancer of the brain. He needed radiation, during which had his pituitary gland "fried". This caused his growth to be affected and he now has serious developmental problems.

There are so many other people affected, I could write the longest blog ever and not get the words out to describe how these people are feeling or what they are going through. Apparently, these big cooperations keep track of their own data and have to (should) disclose when there is a problem. The example related to this kind of situation was, turning yourself in for a speeding ticket, only this is a little more serious. Another issue that seemed a little shady was data can easily be skewed because of the division of land. Why lie to our selves with these numbers? We are only manipulating ourselves in the long run.

A town called Norco was hit pretty hard with power plant problems. The coorporation Shell had an explosion at one of their plants. Seven people died. A powerplant "flare", which releases gasses and toxins into the airhad a mishap, but it was ok... The plant gave the town a better look and offered them money. Seriouly!?

What about a 700 million dollar plant? Shin Tek, a plant that is known for its use of polyvinyl chloride (pvc's). Thats ok too, because it will offer 650 jobs and open up ecomonic opportunities. When interviewed about that statement a woman of that town said, "Certain people are sacrificed for power and greed!" Which I believe is true. People can't see past the money. If something is producing and making profit, then it must be a good thing.

My thoughts..

Is there really nothing we can do? Will there always be enivronmental injustice? It's hard to say. A point made, was that us as the consumers are the ones feeding the plants the $$$ to keep them going. Can we go without those products? It's such a nasty cycle of taking a lot and not giving anything. It works for everyone who are not fimiliar with these issues, we live our lives day to day and think the smallest issues are tough,. I couldn't imagine having to live on a 17 foot deep landfill, or lose a child to cancer that could have been linked to a home grown garden. So many things are taken for granted. A woman on the documentary said a very powerful comment, " They don't see human beings, the see GREEN!" Until we can look past the "green", problems are going to keep on rising.

Share and Voice: Transportation!?!?

So.... This summer will be my first summer staying in Duluth, which I'm very excited for. This means, I won't have my parents cars to use freely when needed. Here's my predicament.. I have the option of getting an A to B car or perhaps a scooter. Of course I will walk as much as possible, bike, and ride the DTA considering that's what I have been doing for the past 3.5 years. But... for the past 3.5 years my 2 main destinations have been school and the DECC. I'm hoping I will get out and see what Duluth is really about this summer. Such a tough decision. Here are my pros and cons of each:

Car Pros- Fits more people, more comfortable for long trips, not dependable on the weather, safer. Cons- More expensive with gas, and insurance, parking is harder, won't feel the wind blowing in my hair on a hot summers day, maybe be hard to sell after done with.

Scooter Pros- Smaller, easier for parking, better on gas

Cons- 1-2 people maximum, mom wouldn't like the idea, weather becomes a factor

I have researched both on how they tie into the environment and here are some article that have left me torn..

http://ecomodder.com/blog/motorcycles-scooters-great-environment-wrong/

http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac.html

I know that there are environment freindy cars but I'm still a college student trying to get by.Until the decision, I will stick with walking and the DTA!!

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

My Product of Choice..

The product that I use daily is "Lady's Speed Stick 24/7 Antiperspirant Deodorant Solid". (haha) I didn;t know that was the actual name, but it gave it me the options. Everyday I wake up and put it on without even thinking anymore. Every now and then, if I'm wearing a new stick, someone will notice the fruity smell, which i will take as a compliment over smelling like BO of course. But after reading some of the information that was given by "Skin-Deep Cosmetic Database", I might start to think about about smelling like fruits and flowers.

Facts About the Product

-Ingredients in the product are linked to: Cancer and Allergies/ immunotoxicity

- Scored a 4 out of 10 on the hazardous scale

-IS tested on animals... Gross!

-54% of other antiperspirants have lower conerns

My Thoughts

I think this website is really interesting!! The thing that really threw me off about this product was that they tested on animals. I think thats cruel and disgusting to do that. Also, ingredients can cause cancer. I feel like that is said with a lot of products- from plastic to cell phones. But I guess things do add up if used too much. I think I will continue to use antiperspirant, yet again because I like to smell good and it only rated a 4 on the hazard scale. I know 4 is higher than 0, but if we were to adjust every aspect of our lifes, I think that might be hard. Maybe starting little, will work for me. I'll look for a safer, more environmentally freindly and consumer freindly product next time.