I sent this email to Akaka and Inouye because of their votes yesterday

[ferme ta bush]

Dear Senators,

Shame on both of you. You, of all representatives, know about the importance of preserving our wildlife and natural habitats.
As a result of your vote yesterday in favor of opening the drilling in the Arctic Wildlife, I am therefore canceling my trip to Hawaii, for this year and many years to come. I will encourage my friends on the West Coast to do so as well. I hope your colleagues in the congress will vote otherwise.

Tahiti looks pretty good right now....

Helena Ruffin
Los Angeles

Here are their email addresses if you want to do the same:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

[montanacowboy]

1. Great!

hit them in their pocketbook - anyone planning trips there should cancel them - boycott Hawaii - if everyone did that, see how long their economy will hold up

maybe we need some nice oil drilling rigs off the Hawaii coastline, nice black ooze washing up on those white sandy beaches

These people are beneath contempt

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Excellent!

I agree and you should send it as an LTTE to the local papers there as well so that the constituents put pressure on them.

Hawaii's been putting tourism advertising dollars here in the midwest recently. I don't know about the rest of the country. So, I'd say at a minimum, they're at least fishing and if Hawaii understands the rest of the country's Democrats aren't going to take the bait...

[candle_bright]

3. Good letter

but I don't understand boycotting the whole state of Hawaii! Why just Hawaii, and not every state who's senators voted to drill ANWR?

I'm all for putting pressure on our representatives, but punishing Hawaii kind of make me sad, since that is my home state. :(

[CountAllVotes]

4. my letter

Dear Mr. Inouye,

How could you cast the vote to start the beginning of the end for our environment by voting as you did re: ANWAR (remember that?).

I have nothing else to say to you MR. INOUYE.

Sincerely,

. . . . . . . . . . .

:argh: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CountAllVotes]

5. why Case and Ambercrombie

how exactly do they fit in with the votes of INOUYE and AKAKA?

[The White Tree]

6. Good for you

I admire your convictions to do this. I was thinking of something similar, except I am not going to Hawaii anytime soon so it would be a hollow threat.

I think given the nature of Hawaii's tourism industry which is based on it's environment, and this blatent disregard of the environment by these 2 Democrats no less, that responding as such is entirely justified.

The following is a paragraph from an Op-Ed written by Thomas Friedman in the NT Times this morning. When I read it I thought it may explain somewhat the decision of the Hawaii senators.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/opinion/17friedman.html?hp>
(registration required)

On energy, the Bush team's obsession with drilling in the Alaskan wilderness to increase supply is mind-boggling. "I am sure China will be thrilled with the Bush decision to drill in Alaska," said the noted energy economist Philip Verleger Jr. "Oil in Alaska cannot easily or efficiently be shipped to our Gulf Coast refineries. The logical markets are on the West Coast of the United States and in Asia. Consumers in China and Japan, not the U.S., will be the real beneficiaries of any big Alaska find.

"With a big find, China and Japan will be able to increase imports from a dependable supplier - the U.S. - while consumers in the U.S. will still be at the mercy of unreliable suppliers, such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. It is simple geography. , a big find will lead to lower prices in the short term, promoting more emissions and more warming."

Since Hawaii gets a lot of tourism from the Japanese and they are also a west coast state, they may have viewed this as a good thing for their state, a sad perspective in my opinion.

I think the same thing goes for Mary Landrieu, sadly, there is too much oil interest in her state for her to resist this which again I think is a poor excuse.

[Tansy_Gold]

7. People who represent pristine Pacific islands

shouldn't vote to despoil pristine Arctic wildernesses.

Several years ago, I blocked a boycott of Hawai'i by a large artists' organization that was planning a conference there. The proposed boycott was over the refusal of Hawai'i to allow a member of the organization to bring a service dog to the islands. I defended the islands' right to protect their environment, even if it meant some persons with disabilities would be unable to attend the conference.

Now I say, fuck 'em. They want the oil from Alaska regardless of the risk to the environment and the wildlife there, then fuck 'em. I don't care if Maui is overrun with feral pigs or if the last silversword disappears. yes, we'll all be the poorer for it, but I'm not going to protect the pristine wilderness of people who were perfectly willing to sacrifice someone else's.

Fuck 'em.

[LeftHander]

8. My Letter

Thank you gentlemen...

For playing politics and handing the Republicans yet another pointless victory. This oil represents only a tiny portion of the U.S. overall future consumption.

Promoting conservation and alternative fuels would save more oil in the long run. More than would be gained from ravaging the last remaining American wild lands.

This is a huge dissapointment to the progressive American people and will ultimately result in a huge dissapointment to the all the people including the people of Hawaii...because they are going to pay the price for your political dealings with the GOP you no doubt made by giving them your vote on ANWR.

It is not going to stop here. Oil drilling outside of California will be next as well as west florida and maybe even near Hawaii...

Frankly your two are a massive disspointment to humanity and all that is good and decent.

I want to curse you both, swear openly at you but I cannot. I can only bow my head in shame and weep for last remnents of costal tundra.

THERE WAS NO REASON TO GIVE THIS VICTORY TO THE GOP....

NONE!

I too will not consider Hawaii in my vacation plans in the future. Because you have made it filthy with some backroom deal with the GOP to protect your island. To make a playground of of the rich and republican. YOu sold out.

You spineless weaklings.

BRad Odland
133 FORUTH
Waukesha, WI 53188

[candle_bright]

9. Whoa

Hawaii isn't "filthy" now, nor is it a rich and Republican playground. Hawaii is a blue state, first of all, and secondly there are LOTS and LOTS of people in Hawaii who are very far from rich.

I am reeling here at the anger shown at Hawaii, the whole state, and consequently all of the people from Hawaii. For cryin' out loud, TWO senators voted to drill ANWR, not the 1,000,000+ residents of Hawaii.

Geesh. This anger is really misplaced and disheartening to see. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Yeah, let's just shut down Hawaii's tourism industry so there can be tons of unemployed people! That'll help save the world. :eyes:

[LeftHander]

10. What else do you suggest?

The only way is to piss off the people of Hawaii. To make them put more progressive lawmakers in place that will indeed vote the will of the people.

Did the majority of people in Hawaii want drilling in ANWR? I highly doubt they would.

So Inoyue and Akaka sold out. The only recourse is to make it hurt.

That was a bad vote. A very bad vote by those two senators.

[candle_bright]

11. Well

I don't have any suggestions of the top of my head, but this boycotting business is all wrong.

This boycott idea, if effective, will indeed succeed in pissing of Hawaii residents, but they will NOT be pissed at Akaka and Inouye, they'll be pissed at the people boycotting. I speak for myself, and I feel safe speaking for most others I know from Hawaii.

[mainer]

12. Hawaii doesn't deserve punishment

Inouye and Akaka ARE progressives, Hawaii is a very blue state, and this ANWR vote is a real outlier for them.

A bit of psychology about this. The Hawaii and Alaska representatives have always worked together on political issues because they feel ignored and abused by the "lower 48" states. I think Akaka and Inouye just owe the Alaska reps some chits, and so went along with whatever Alaska wanted. Unfortunate, but that's politics.

Why don't you instead get mad at the REPUBLICANS who voted for drilling? Why do we punish our own before we punish the enemy?