Time to step it up...

Tonight's the night. Yes, the President is finally giving a speech outlining what his Administration plans to do regarding the Gulf oil spill cleanup, as well his plans for an energy policy.

It's about time. However, the President, and the government in general, can only do so much. We as individual citizens have to get serious about reducing energy consumption and resource waste. It's ridiculous for Limberger to attempt to blame the spill on "environmentalists," as the need to drill deep comes not from BP's caring about anyone's opinion, but rather the need to go (as all oil companies do) where the oil is.

What can I do, you say, to cut down the use of petroleum? Any number of things, which may be easier to implement in your life than you might imagine.

If you must drive a car, don't be a leadfoot. Seriously, again according to tests done by Edmonds, easing up on the accelerator alone can cause you to save, at minimum, 20 percent gas (and lives), no matter where you drive. For city drivers, there's still significant savings in easing up, as you're not stomping down on the brakes so often (or so hard); being easier on the brakes also saves petroleum, and reduces wear and tear on your vehicle (which is also composed of petroleum, in large measure). Please, drive the speed limit. (On the highway, drive 55). It's not a communist plot--the federal speed limit was passed, in fact, during the original oil crisis of the 1970s, to save gas. Oh, and you're not saving that much time when you speed, weaving in and out of lanes, etc., particularly when you're not driving on the highway.

We've all heard the saying, "reduce, reuse, recycle," which has always struck me as an updated version of the old saying, "waste not, want not."

To reduce means to look at whether we need to buy something in the first place, whether we'll actually use what we buy. We also need to look at product packaging, as some packaging is excessive, and other packaging is easily reusable. For instance, I've kept certain candy and cosmetic tins, glass jars, and the like and reused them, to use for office products (e.g., pen and pencil holders) and other uses. Sometimes that's the reason I've bought certain mints, because I could see that I'd be able to reuse them (in addition to the delicious candy, of course).

Look at what you use most often--can you use less of it? Be it paper, laundry detergent, or something else, chances are you use way more of it than you need. For instance, with laundry detergent, for one load, you don't need to use the entire scoop, only up to the first fill line. You might find that using this reduced amount not only saves money, but gets your clothes cleaner. I have found this to be the case when doing laundry, particularly for my dark clothes.

Perhaps the last part, to recycle, is not done as often as possible is that often, municipalities make it as difficult as possible to do so. Thankfully, in my part of Prince George's County, officials have made it easy to recycle, ever since single-stream recycling has been implemented (as I mentioned in an earlier post, of Jan. 7, 2009). If you live in PG and don't have single-stream recycling yet, it will be coming to your neighborhood sometime this year. If you don't live in Prince George's County and don't have single stream recycling, contact your local public works and ask why it hasn't implemented single-stream recycling; perhaps contact P.G. County yourself and ask how it came to be put in place. Remember, plastic is made from petroleum, so when it's recycled to make new products, less petroleum overall is used in the process.

Of course, it makes sense to complete the circle, and purchase recycled goods, when you need to buy things. It's almost too easy to buy 100% recycled paper for writing or printing/copying, and the quality is the same. Actually, someone mentioned to me that the 100% recycled copy paper by Staples is better in quality than the 30% recycled version, that it was more trouble free with office equipment. If you think you can't swing the price of the recycled product, and you have a Staples rewards card, bring in your used inkjet cartridge or toner cartridge for recycling next time you go shopping there, and soon enough, you'll be getting coupons for $3, $5, $6, or more off your next purchase. Easy. Without a button.

There's No Health Care Choice Now!

In the continuing drama that is health care reform, President Obama will be holding a town hall meeting at the White House today. I hope he will be pushing for a public option in any health reform legislation that goes to Congress, in order to give Americans a real choice regarding health care, because even with the plurality of companies offering health insurance, the insurance companies, being insufficiently regulated, offer what they want, IF they want, at whatever price they want, to whomever they want.

One consequence of this one-sided market is that some companies offer, in addition to ostensibly real insurance policies, offer "limited benefit" policies, which can leave policyholders worse off than before, as chronicled in today's New York Times article, "Insured, but Bankrupted by Health Crises."

Now, there's more than one way to underinsure, and some of them involve leaving patients with fewer choices, as I found out the hard way years ago. Yes, like the couple in the article, I was covered by my employer's insurer, which happened to be Aetna. I assumed that it was regular medical coverage, so I blithely went to a highly recommended doctor at a nearby clinic near Wisconsin and Western Avenues in DC.

When I provided my insurance card, I was told that I was not covered. How could that be, I asked. I was then told that my type of coverage, I could only be treated by a doctor in my jurisdiction, MD, not in nearby areas like DC, not even at clinics which were almost directly on the MD-DC boundary like this one. Huh? Most of my co-workers also lived in Maryland (they were the ones who recommended this excellent physician), and were covered. I found out that the most recent hires (me and two others) were covered under a slightly different, more restrictive coverage plan than more senior employees at this small consulting company. Ick.

So, I sucked it up and paid for the office visit out of pocket. Thankfully, no tests were needed, or I would have been up the creek. Thus, in practice, I was underinsured. Of course, no one was told this at orientation--it's likely that the HR manager was not fully aware of the consequence of the change in policy. Nonetheless, that such a restrictive health insurance policy change was even implemented speaks to the squeeze that small businesses are placed in regarding insurance premiums, as they pay high prices for coverage because they are not in large coverage pools.

Oh please--as it is, the American public doesn't have health care choice--you are covered by an insurer your employer chooses, by a policy chosen by your employer, etc.--IF your employers offers health insurance, and even that's only if you don't have a dastardly "pre-existing condition." Anytime one of these Republican talking heads screeches that a universal health care plan would reduce patient choice, ask if the coverage of their Congressional representative is restrictive.

Members of Congress who refuse to vote for a true public option (not some watered-down state cooperatives) in the reform plan should be seen as backstabbers.



Unfortunately, one prime reason that Congressmen and women (and anyone else, for that matter) become backstabbers is the love of...

The newest O, Bo...(the first dog)!

Finally, the newest Obama has arrived at the White House...and it appears he's already bonded with the President...

Photo by Pete DeSouza.

Seems the Portugese Water Dog is a good choice for this athletic family! However, I wish the naysayers grousing about the Obamas not getting the dog from a shelter would calm down --he said that he would prefer to get a shelter dog, but didn't guarantee that the dog would come from one. Bo was returned to the breeder because the original owner couldn't keep him, so the Obamas are Bo's second family--what more can you ask for? Sheesh! (How soon we forget that he recently posed with "Baby" to encourage people to get dogs from shelters whenever possible in the A Rare Breed of Love campaign.) As much as I admire the work of the Humane Society and other organizations, I wish they'd concentrate more on helping people keep their pooches and kitties, which would greatly reduce the numbers of critters in shelters. It's much more complex than simply spay or neuter your pet, important as these measures may be, as recent economic pressures have forced many to give up their four-legged loved ones (such as having to move into housing that doesn't allow pets).

Some of the more common reasons that people give up their pets (not including the aforementioned economic one):

• Pet behavior, such as soiling the carpet, destroying furniture, or other behavior issues, many of which can be dealt with by training, offered by stores such as Petsmart.
• Dog is "too" energetic.
• No time for the dog.

While other reasons are beyond the owners' control, such as illness or death of the owner, many of the others ultimately stem from folks not researching the canine lifestyle in general, not researching particular breeds, and not researching whether a small dog or large dog would better fit your lifestyle (as large breeds tend to have more expensive upkeep [e.g., larger kibble and vet bills], yet don't live as long as smaller pooches).

Also, the policy of shelters not allowing people who don't have fences to adopt a dog is counterproductive. Unfortunately, too many people who have a fence allow their dog to stay outside for far too long; if this is the case with a young dog that is of age to be spayed/neutered (but it hasn't yet been done), it's easy for a dog to slip under the fence to sow its wild oats, so to speak, or for a stray dog to come under your fence to mate with your dog, which are all-too-common scenarios.

The sad fact is that most of the dogs languishing in shelters tend to be medium to large breeds, rather than smaller dogs, which are quickly snapped up when they do arrive. (I know--I've tried--you almost have to conduct a vigil outside a shelter in order to get a small dog [under 30 pounds]; a neighbor who successfully obtained his Benji lookalike from a shelter agreed).

Can't we all get along, and try to help people keep their dogs (dogs that are not being abused, that is), so that the animal shelter population has a reasonable chance of being reduced in the future?