Make a difference by donating it

I have heard from some of my liberal friends that they intend to return or not cash their “stimulus” check from the IRS as a protest against the war and/or the Bush administration.

I have another idea I’d like to share. This is not advice for those Republicans among us who support the present administration, of course, but rather for progressives and liberals who would like to make a statement.

If you want that check to do some good I would recommend the following:

1. Send it to the Democratic Party to help in the effort to change the face of Washington.

2. Send it to your favorite conservation/environmental organization to help fight global warming and trying to save the rainforests and some of the hundreds of species going extinct thanks to us.

3. Send it to one of the large charities dealing with the food shortages we are causing or to assist with some of the natural disasters exacerbated by global warming.

4. Send it to a veteran’s organization to help with the incredibly damaged soldiers returning from the war.

5. Send it to any of our dozens of worthwhile local charities to help with their missions. My favorite is the Interfaith Council on Homelessness, which is dealing wit the fallout from our economy.

6. Last, but not least, send it to a friend in the form of a donation to their children’s college fund since colleges are already too expensive for many deserving kids even with excellent grades, grants and loans, work study and parents’ help.

I’ll bet you can even come up with some other ideas.

— Emma Amiad

Plan for future

Joe Yarkin’s piece on energy is a nice and pretty comprehensive coverage of where we are in this unique history. Peak oil, indeed — never again will human beings have the access to unlimited petro-power that we have had in the last 150 years.

We need to think ahead. How many things we take for granted are based on petroleum? Not just gas and diesel fuel, but all the plastics — from Fisher-Price climbing toys to valves and tiny tubes for repairing hearts, from plastic bottles to the parts for insulin pumps upon which diabetics depend for survival.

Make your own list. And then prioritize it. What will our descendants really need? And without huge profits to be made from providing those things, how can we really be sure they will be made, and that the technology will continue to be available?

Driving home a few days ago I thought again about limiting my driving, and realized that even if I gave up my car entirely, Donald Trump and others with a huge supply of money would go right on flying all over the world. All my self-limitation would accomplish would be to hold prices down for those who don’t need to worry about what it costs.

Well, how about gas rationing? Those of us who grew up in World War II remember it. Everyone got a certain number of ration coupons every month. There were four kinds of ration books: A, B, C and D. How many coupons you got depended on how important your work was to the war effort or to the community. Ambulance services and hospitals got more. But you only got so much per month.

I would be content with that system, even if it wasn’t perfect. And it would provide another motivation for thinking twice before driving.

— Joy Goldstein