Finished with school forever

On a happy note ...

What's happening mang?

EPA Blocks States from Cutting Global Warming Pollution from Vehicles

On Wednesday December 19th, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Stephen Johnson announced that he was denying a waiver for California under the Clean Air Act to implement global warming pollution standards for cars and trucks—one of the largest and fastest growing sources of global warming pollution.  This decision would also derail the efforts of the eighteen other states that have adopted or are in the process of adopting California’s vehicle emission standards.

Statement of Environment America Energy Program Director Rob Sargent:

“EPA has turned a blind eye to the law, science, and the critical role that the states are playing in tackling global warming.  The decision to block California’s vehicle emissions standards is nothing less than an early Christmas gift to the automobile industry from their friends in the White House.  

For years, California’s vehicle emissions standards have resulted in cleaner cars and trucks on America’s highways.  In the face of federal inaction on global warming, states across the country have opted to follow California’s lead in order to achieve significant state-level cuts in global warming pollution. 

Thirteen states have adopted California’s motor vehicle emissions standards and five states have announced their intention to adopt them.  EPA’s denial of California’s waiver request undermines a powerful global warming pollution reduction tool available to states looking to do their part to tackle global warming.  This misguided decision by the Bush administration flies in the face of overwhelming public support for policy-makers to do more—not less—to address the challenge of global warming.

The Bush administration has tried to explain away the public backlash to this decision by pointing to the increase in fuel economy standards signed into law the same day, but the comparison doesn’t add up.  The Clean Cars program is about reducing air pollution including the pollution that causes global warming, not increasing miles per gallon.  To the extent that the Clean Cars program forces carmakers to make cars that go further on a gallon of gas, the fuel savings and the global warming emissions will be greater and happen sooner than under the CAFE bill just signed by the president. 

Earlier this year, Environment America released a report showing that, nationally, the vehicle emissions standards blocked by EPA’s decision would have cut global warming pollution by 100 million tons per year by 2020 in the eighteen states that have adopted or are considering adopting the standards.  Cumulative emissions reductions from this program in all eighteen states would have been 536 million metric tons by 2020—the equivalent of taking more than 100 million of today’s cars off the road for an entire year.

We are confident that the courts will overturn this flawed decision, and allow states across the country to move forward with these much needed global warming pollution standards for cars and trucks."

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Related email where you can protest the EPA's decision:

"Absurd." ¹... "Disgraceful." ²... "A mockery of law and sound public policy." ³

That's what governors, attorneys general and members of Congress have had to say about the Bush administration's decision to stop California and 17 other states from adopting global warming pollution-slashing Clean Cars programs.

Even though cars and trucks are one of the largest and fastest-growing sources of global warming pollution... Even though the EPA has granted California permission to go beyond federal standards on 50 previous occasions... Even though California's program would begin a decade earlier and eliminate three times as much carbon pollution as the new federal mileage standards by 2020.

You can register your protest with the EPA here:
http://environmentamerica.org/action/global-warming/epa-waiver?id4=ES

The decision, frankly, stinks, especially coming just hours after the president signed new auto fuel efficiency standards into law. Observers already are speculating that the fix was in for the auto industry. We're ready to push for whatever action it takes -- including a congressional investigation, legal action and more -- to overturn this wrong-headed decision. But step one is registering our outrage with the Bush administration's EPA and Stephen Johnson, the president's hand-picked administrator.

Tell Administrator Johnson to lead, follow or get out of the way of states that want to help America solve global warming by clicking on the link below:

http://environmentamerica.org/action/global-warming/epa-waiver?id4=ES

Coming just a week after the meeting on climate change in Bali and Al Gore's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, this latest decision is more evidence, as if we needed it, of the Bush administration's head-in-the-sand approach to global warming. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by it, but we don't have to stand for it. Please take action today.

And thank you for all that you've done this past year. Happy holidays to you and yours.

P.S. Please forward this message to any friends or family who might be interested by clicking here:
http://environmentamerica.org/action/global-warming/epa-waiver?id4=ES

The year has been going pretty well for me I think. I've been going out a little more again and picking up on the social life that I used to have. It feels good to come around more and go out and do the fun things I used to do. I almost forgot how fun it is to drink, be merry, and dance the night way with people you enjoy being with. Then do it again at someone's house to sober up and eat.

School is going well also. I'm in my 6th class and only have 4 more to go! I'm excited because I'll FINALLY be done with school ... FOREVER! After this, I've decided, I will NOT go back to school. Well, maybe ... I've been thinking of taking some art classes. The Art Institute opened up here so I'm going to look into that and see what programs they have. I've always wanted to get into interior design, so hmm ... debating. I can never make up my mind when it comes to my life goals. It's constantly changing. All I know is that I want to be my own boss. I'm tired of working for someone else. It can't be helped for the time being though.

My sister, cousin, and I will finally get working on getting our business started. =) It's pretty exciting. We've made tentative plans to be up and running in about a month, but, we'll see how things progress first. We've just registered a domain name, selected some suppliers, and still need to be approved for a merchant account, and business licensing and I'm sure there's more to do. Baby steps and we'll get there.

I also met an amazing guy. ^__^. My girlfriend works with him so she decided to introduce us back in May and since then, we've been talking and hanging out every weekend. He's Japanese and he's been here for 11 years. His accent reminds me of Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai and a twist of Yoji from Miami Ink. Hehehe, I like it. He's a really smart guy and I always enjoy talking with him. It also feels comfortable when we're not talking. It feels good to know that we still enjoy each other's company without having to make conversation for the sake of talking. 

He's also met my family and he gets along with everyone really well and doesn't act uncomfortable and standoffish. I think he's a perfect gentleman, and I'm completely enamored by him. Hahaha. It took me by surprise because I didn't have any expectations coming into this when we first met. I just thought of it as friends and for awhile, I denied the fact that it was something more. Then one weekend while we were hanging out at his place, he asked me if he could be my boyfriend. Hahaha, he said it so shyly, it was very cute! That's something I don't expect to hear from an adult. I feel like he inspires me, in so many different ways. He's supportive of me and keeps me in check when I start to lose focus, which I do often and he's attentive to me and notices the little things. It just feels good being with him and I feel a little sad and empty when we have to part ways. It just makes the excitement of our next meeting all the more intense. =) I feel very deeply for him, even though I know it's been such a short time. I just know that I have never felt this way about anyone in the past. Without his knowing it, he teaches me to be free and open with my emotions and I don't feel vulnerable and scared to, and I think it's a good thing. I've always had trouble expressing my feelings and with him it happens naturally. It feels like a good thing and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it and not hold myself back like in the past. That way, I know I put my all into it and I won't have any regrets. =)

U.S. PIRG : Help us reach 5,000

Hope everyone had a great New Years! I spent mine in Vegas. The plans were to go out NYE but instead, we had a bbq and I ended up playing Genji: Days of the Blade the rest of the night.  I'm a video game addict. Har har har. It was a nice and relaxing trip and one that I desperately needed.

Here's a copy of a U.S. PIRG email I received back in December ... a bit late I know ... but yeah:

 Sign the petition!!!

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In just a few short weeks, the 110th Congress will convene, and hopefully move
our nation toward a new energy future.  Representative Nancy Pelosi has named
energy as a top priority of the new congress, with plans to invest in clean,
renewable energy sources with money that has for years gone to handouts to Big
Oil.

This type of investment is the key to our new energy future.  We will be
delivering our Stop Handouts to Big Oil petition soon.  Can you help us reach
our goal of 5,000 signatures?  If you haven't signed the petition yet, please do
so now.  If you have, please forward this message on to 5 friends and ask them
to get involved.

To sign the petition, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web
browser:

https://www.uspirg.org/action/new-energy-future/oil-handouts?id4=ES

Background

Oil Company Profits Continue to Skyrocket

Big oil companies are swimming in a sea of record-breaking profits while
American consumers and taxpayers pay the price. In 2005, the world's biggest oil
companies reported a combined $111 billion in profits. In the first three
quarters of 2006 they reported more than $94 billion.

Some of the biggest oil company profits in 2005 were:
* ExxonMobil:  $36.1 billion
* Royal Dutch Shell: $25.3 billion
* BP: $22.3 billion
* ConocoPhillips: $13.5 billion
* Chevron Texaco $14.1 billion

Federal Handouts Lavish Billions on Oil and Gas Companies

Despite earning record profits, oil and gas companies continue to benefit from
billions in handouts courtesy of American taxpayers. Between tax incentives,
below-market fees for drilling on public lands, research and development
subsidies and accounting gimmicks, these companies will receive more than $31.6
billion from the federal government over the next five years.

Specifically, these handouts break down as follows:
* Tax breaks: $16 billion
* Research and development subsidies: $1.8 billion
* Below-market fees for drilling on public lands: $9.5 billion
* Accounting gimmicks: $4.3 billion
* Total: $31.6 billion

Some of most outrageous handouts to Big Oil include a deduction allowing oil and
gas companies to write off taxes and fees paid to foreign governments.  This
giveaway is not only a boon for Big Oil, but also for the governments of the
world's major oil-producing nations, many of which are openly hostile to
American interests.  According to estimates from the Joint Committee on
Taxation, modifying the deduction would save taxpayers $325 million over the
next five years.

Another costly and unfair handout allows companies drilling for oil and natural
gas in publicly-owned waters and on publicly-owned lands to pay below-market
fees, or royalties, for the resources they extract.  These royalty payments
provide needed resources to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Historic
Preservation Trust Fund, the oil-producing states and the federal treasury.
Schemes that let oil companies off the hook for their royalty obligations will
cost taxpayers at least $9.5 billion over the next five years.

Congress is pumping more than $1.8 billion into federal research and
development, including one provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to give
$1.5 billion to an oil consortium in Representative Tom DeLay's home district of
Sugarland, TX.

The good news is that new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has stated that one
of her top agenda items in the first few days after she takes control in January
will be to cut the most outrageous of these taxpayer giveaways to Big Oil.

Can you help us reach our goal of 5,000 signatures?  If you haven't signed the
petition yet, please do so now.  If you have, please forward this message on to
5 friends and ask them to get involved.

To sign the petition, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web
browser:

https://www.uspirg.org/action/new-energy-future/oil-handouts?id4=ES