25 years ago (yesterday I think) the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Alaska causing a large oil spill. Later that year, 1989, a woman tossed out her car keys in answer to, what can one person do? She was inspired by a letter to the editor that I wrote in a local paper called The Fishwrapper which was being published back then. Bellingham Herald picked up the story and did a feature on her tossing the keys with a section about my letter being sort of a straw that broke the camels back. Excerpted from article: First it came back as what can one person do? And I thought, Dont buy Exxon. But what difference would that make? I credit my final decision to sell the car to a letter in the Fishwrapper, a free local paper. The letter, written by Robert Ashworth, said in part,I am one of a growing number of folks I know who dont drive. I get around on foot, bicycle or public transit. If people think this kind of lifestyle is a big sacrifice, I just tell them about my bicycle trip to Southern California. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Too many people, he wrote, just want to sit back and expect the corporations to do all the changing for us. An advantage of his new way of life is never having to worry about his weight, he said. Until she read that letter, James wavered.If you mentioned it to friends, theyd roll their eyes. I was still not 100 percent sure. But when I read that letter, I thought, Thats it. I realize, though, that Im fortunate. Im a single person. Its easy for me to do it. On my web page is full text of that story from July 1989 Bellingham Herald. theslowlane/other/exxon.html
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 22:55:39 +0000
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