BE PART OF THE SOLUTION Fundraiser

Yesterday we started a GoFundMe fundraising campaign titled BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. Fundraising sites are fairly new (at least to me). It's a way to raise money for personal causes, life-events, new business ideas, products etc. GoFundMe removes the physical barriers traditionally associated with receiving financial support from people who feel a situation, product or service is worthy and support it. That's it. No other bells or whistles. We think Be Part of the Solution is one of those events and hope you will support it. 


Here's why:

We've been publishing Alternatives Magazine for the past 10 years (hard to believe), with very little, to no financial help. It evolved about the time gas prices went from a $1 to $2. In the beginning, I admit, I knew very little about the environment and really didn't associate Alternatives with the environment, but most people did, and that was fine with me. 

The more I learned about the environment and the effects our modern industrialized society had on it and it's side effects, the more interested I became. If you lived in L.A. 30 years ago (which I did) you knew about air pollution. You could see it, taste it and worst of all . . breathe it. But gas was cheap and abundant so we motored on, complaining, but moving on.

It's no secret, fossil fuel rules the world, and has ever since the Beverly Hillbillies discovered it. It's made millions of millionaires and -- now billionaires. It buys politicians, media sources and the companies riding shotgun, does pretty much what it wants and could care less what you and I think. Life is good. Pour me a beer.

What I've noticed and learned over the years is how little the population either didn't care, or know about the environment, especially the part we created. To most it's just to massive to think one person can make difference. The planet can take care of itself and it usually does. But, if we keep creating chemical toxins just for the common cold, someday it may sneeze and blow us off to join the rest of the extinct species. But that's been our history or the mentality of the general public -- if it's not broken don't fix it. Or until a major disaster occurs. Then mount up the Calvary.

The country and the rest of the world has become so divided politically it's a wonder anything can get done. The word "environment" has created a political whine of it's own. The oil and gas companies hate the very word and spend millions on lobbyists/congress making sure you do too. It's hard to feel any sympathy for an industry that's the most profitable on the planet, receives $10 million dollars every minute in subsidies. In other words, your tax dollars.  

Oil is not going away anytime soon. At least not until every drop is sucked up, burned and placed in the atmosphere as CO2. When it comes to energy, we have options. A lot of them. They are all around us. But the powers to be, like the Koch Brothers are doing their best to keep a lid on them. Last year, China spent a record $83 billion on clean energy, a 39 percent jump from the year before, and more than twice what is spent in the United States. $7 trillion will be invested in new energy systems by 2030, two-thirds of it in developing countries. Roughly $5 trillion of it will be clean energy investment.

Energy, however, is a distant second place in terms of urgency needs. If we should be worried about any resource, it should and will be about WATER! Without it nothing else matters.

We hope you think our "BE PART of the SOLUTION" is a good promotion and you will donate whatever you can, and we'll do our part in providing information and solutions. Just click on the link below, or the logo.

http://www.gofundme.com/v5d5d8yc?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=campaign_link_t&utm_campaign=welcome

Thank you,
Dennis Ketterman