Hi Everyone,
I am new to the YPF blog, thanks for having me. I want to share two exciting things that have been going on at Green For All over the part month.

One is this:

A few months ago, I was standing in the shower,  I realized that everything I want to do with my life- change the course and the conversation about international human development both at home and abroad, ensure the continuation of life on earth - will be influenced by who wins this presidential election.

Monday- as far as Mondays go was pretty splendid, now as I head into Tuesday amidst my work I realize that today I'm leaving to fly to the Twin Cities to train at Power Vote.

I feel like someone is trying to give us a hint.

By June Zeitlin, Executive Director, Women's Environment & Development Organization

     The more we experience the effects of climate change, the clearer it becomes that everyone on the planet has a huge stake in what we decide to do now. That is why it is appalling that women are still being overlooked as key to the solution.

     When storms and mudslides devastate a neighborhood, women shoulder most of the cleanup, stay home from work or school the most and take care of the injured. When drought hits the developing world, it is women whose crops and animals suffer most, as they produce most of the food in Africa and Asia. Women are the ones who risk assault to go further and further in search of water and firewood.

I was scrolling through the online version of the New York Times this morning, and read the headlines, "Bush Calls to End Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling." (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/washington/19drill.html?_r...). Bush's argues that lifting the ban would help lower gas prices and strengthen national security. He goes on to argue that if Congress fails to act accordingly, then Americans can blame them for $4/gallon gasoline. I tried to make some sense of the argument: put the environment, surrounding wildlife, and our earthly home at risk because it's the ONLY way to keep gas prices down. And, the corollary: failure to lift the ban means greater economic pressure for Americans.

We should all grow some of our own food. No, I don't mean we should all become farmers, but we should grow part of what we consume.  Think about it, at this precise moment there are people going to bed hungry and some are dying of starvation.  The raising prices of basic food such as rice, corn, and flour have become such an international issue that all the advances gained in the war against poverty can be lost quickly if prices continue rising and become an obstacle to people's ability to feed themselves.  If we teach people in urban centers to grow part of their own food in small lots, communal abandoned city lots, and on roof tops we will all have an impact on the demand of some foods and indirectly make food more affordable .

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n255/georgienewyork/maineventflyer.jpg

I hope this "outreach dream list" will inspire you!!! Let's spread the word now as much as possible, Remember the motto "If there is a will there is always a way, especially if it is the will of God!"

A critical blow was struck against the future of mass transit in New York City yesterday, as political infighting in Albany stymied the passage of Mayor Mike Bloomberg's innovative and ground-breaking congestion pricing plan. The plan would have charged an $8 fee for cars to enter the Manhattan central business district, defined as the area south of 60th Street. Revenues from the program would have been earmarked for use by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which runs the subways and buses of NYC. The promise of revenue from the program (which was anticipated to be about $200 million over three years) would have qualified the city for over $300 million in federal grants for mass transit projects.

Many thoughts have been dancing in my head since I've been here at Take Back America. One of the most convincing and inspiring, however, has been the notion that we can solve both America's environmental and economic woes in one fell swoop.