Geology Office of Governor Rick

Geology

Office of Governor Rick Scott

State of Florida

The Capitol

Monroe St.

(850) [HIDDEN] (fax)

Sincerely,

The office of the 45 the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott (4/22/2011): Florida Petitions EPA on clean water standards. http://www.flgov.com/2011/04/22/florida-petitions-epa-on-clean-water-standards/)

Office of Governor Rick Perry

Office of the Governor

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Dear Governor Rick Perry:

Your struggle against smog and air pollution is noteworthy. In 2004, you created an air pollution early warning system that allows industry officers to take corrective and preemptive action before smog develops. This was a pioneering and innovative program that -- developed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) - represented a major technological advance in air quality procedures in Texas. As you stated, this program proved to be aggressive and comprehensive. It was not only smog (and air pollution) that you targeted at the time, but your work also endeavors to target surface water quality and to respond rapidly to pollution and adverse conditions in drinking water. In fact, the TCEQ already operates more than eight continuous monitoring stations in waters around the state.

According to the research that I've conducted on the state of pollution in Texas, your work seems to be ongoing and the EPA seems to be giving you a tough time.

No wonder! Most of your problems seem to stem from the town's businessmen that run their huge factories and corporations that pollute your water with plastic. Businesses are profiting from the products they create but are also damaging the environment in the process. The latest BP oil spill incident is a prime example of the extent of damages that could occur if procedures to mitigate them are not put into effect.

A fact that you may be unaware of is that plastic causes grievous damage to Texas's lakes, streams, rivers and waterways in general in that it not only contaminates the water, but also, potentially, prevents tourists from returning.

Clearing up the plastic, it seems to me, will provide you with three advantages:

The first and most important is the environment damage caused by excess plastic disposal in the ocean; this will be dealt with. The second is the financial implication for Texas and Texan businesses if disposal measures are not enacted immediately. Eventually, as evident by the BP oil spill, negative publicity on the part of businesses can have adverse consequences on both revenue and profit. Also, research has proven that when pricing remains constant, consumers often purchase products from socially conscious and environmentally friendly companies. Dealing with the plastic problem will only help sustain business. Finally, your sense of justice and ethics will come out intact. 'Actions speak louder than words." Constituents willl see that you mean what you say, and say what you mean.

As you stated: "I believe Texans living in the Houston area will see the quality of the air they breathe improve through the new monitoring and response system we are announcing today."

It is not only the quality of the air that needs to improve; Texans need to benefit from reduced plastic pollution too.

Feel free to contact me if I can help you in this matter.

I can be reached at. ____ or email me at ____ with any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Sincerely,

(Source: Office of the Governor Rick Perry (June 02, 2004) Gov. Rick Perry Announces Pilot Program to Combat Air Pollution http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/4439/

The Honorable Neil Abercrombie

Governor, State of Hawai

Executive Chambers, State Capitol

Honolulu, Hawai'i 96813

Phone [HIDDEN]

Fax [HIDDEN]

Dear Gov. Neil Abercrombie:

I was interested to read about your recent initiative in improving Hawaii's nearshore fisheries. Your initiative in merging activities between Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Conservation International (CI), and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation (HKL Castle) and in creating the Fisheries Enforcement Units will help sustain Hawaii's ecological, economic, and cultural well-being (as your yourself pointed out) in ensuring that valuable marine stock are responsibly fished and managed.

You are correct in presuming that the key to protecting Hawaii's fisheries is effective enforcement of laws, and that if you take care of the ocean will take care of you.

Healthy fisheries are important for local fishing communities, for aside from protecting the fish, we are what we eat.

Just as we are what we eat, the fish are too. And in a never-ending ecological cycle, our actions impact the state of the water, ipso the fish drink that water, ipso they become contaminated, and, again, ipso the food that we eat contaminates our system.

As far as I understand, your interest in the waters goes back to your childhood when you saw Lake Erie literally dry up due to pollution.

It is this that I am approaching you about for I know that you understand!

So much of the public attention focuses on water pollution through public littering, but little is known about the effects of plastic pollution on waters as a result of business operation.

The purpose of this letter is to both inform and to provide a call to action on the part of elected officials about the immediate dangers of plastic water disposal. There have indeed been significant improvements to environmentally friendly business practices. However, much still remains to be accomplished in regard to disposals of plastic in the ocean.

I have chosen Hawaaii as an examople because many large businesses are located within your borders. In addition, Hawaiii relies heavily on tourists income to finance and support state budgets. Our tourists are attracted to yur coastline, but if your beaches are polluted by plastic, many tourist may not return. In fact, word-of-mouth 'buzz' may discourage other tourists from visitng Hawaii. Economic implicaitons may be huge.