West Seattle’s CoolMoms share their “Letters to Michelle”

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We told you recently about West Seattle’s CoolMom.org group assembling and sending letters to First Lady Michelle Obama, expressing their concerns about, and hopes for, the future of our planet. This morning, members of the group got together to show us the finished product, 50 letters which they are binding into a book and are getting ready to send. (Left to right – on slide Sydney, then mom Terri Glaberson, center Deborah Kapoor w/ son Asim in front of her – CoolMom.org director and co-founder Kirsten McCaa – Laura Elfline with Sydney and Vivian, then Abby Suplizio with Gabe & Soleil.) Here’s Gabe, explaining what he wrote:

The book will be on its way to the White House shortly.

Glocson February 18, 2009 (8:18 pm)

How about Hot Moms…..

GenHillOne February 18, 2009 (9:11 pm)

How about Cool Dads?

TheHouse February 19, 2009 (9:01 am)

How about teaching your children that paper is made from trees which is what the pictures are drawn on and the fact that global warming has been around about 1 billion years before a human being showed up on the planet?

Just a few thoughts for your next meeting……

owen February 19, 2009 (11:31 am)

Wow, I didn’t realize people were still denying climate change. Or are you just trolling?

100KGSD4WS February 19, 2009 (11:56 am)

Hi Owen – Probably prudent to keep in mind there will always be folks that hold an opposing view, especially when there are different versions of what constitutes “global warming”, the contributing factors, the reality or lack thereof in terms of human ability to “restore nature”, etc. This is such a galvanizing issue that more than 7 people with a vital interest in “global warming” need to address. I agree about parking in the junction as well.

owen February 20, 2009 (10:38 am)

Fair enough – except I don’t think TheHouse was starting a discussion on any of the topics you mentioned. He was pretty clearly just taking a politically driven swipe at a group doing admirable work for kids and the environment. Go Cool Moms!

TheHouse February 20, 2009 (1:08 pm)

Owen, I’ll be glad to discuss this though PM or the discussion threads but there are no politics involved in my statement at all. First of all, I am not denying climate changes. I stated that global arming has been around for about 1 billion years before any humans showed up on the planet. That is acknowledgment of GW, but simply stating that humans are not the cause.

Second, I’d like to see you refute the statement that paper is not made from trees.

No politics here, I think the word you’re looking for is hypocrisy.

That’s also not to mention the fact that their name “Cool Moms” automatically insinuates that if you’re not part of the group, you’re not cool. Sounds pretty uncool.

owen February 21, 2009 (9:40 pm)

Well, paper can be made from rice, kenaf, cotton, hemp, or other fiber sources. But it’s probably fair to assume that the “No cutting down trees” letter was written on paper made from trees, so your point is well taken. However, calling a 6-year old’s logic “hypocrisy” is a bit of a cheap shot. You might as well pick on his spelling while you are at it.
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On climate change… of course the earth’s climate has naturally warmed and cooled many times over billions of years. But, the recent rapid rise in global average temperatures since the 1960s can only be explained by greenhouse gas emissions from human causes. Natural variations (volcanic eruptions, solar activity, PDO/ENSO, etc.) alone don’t explain it. The current methane and CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are higher than the last 650,000 years, and we’re the clear source of the increase in both. There is international scientific consensus on these points (see the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 4th Assessment [PDF]), so it’s time to act.
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Kudos to the Cool Moms for taking that action. I hope that many more do as well – including those of us, like me, that are not “cool” nor “moms”. We really should be past the point of partisan fighting on this issue.

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