Friday, November 10, 2006

Another reason to live in Oakland instead of Berkeley

from People's Weekly World:

First in nation: Oakland OKs ‘oil independence’ by 2020

Author: Marilyn Bechtel


People's Weekly World Newspaper, 11/09/06 12:53

OAKLAND, Calif. — In an action with far-reaching implications for improving air quality, curbing global warming, growing the “green economy” and developing well-paying jobs for urban workers, Oakland’s City Council voted Oct. 17 to develop a plan to make the city oil independent by 2020. It is the first such measure by a U.S. city.

The resolution calls for a broad-based expert task force to draft a binding action plan within six months to significantly reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels. The plan will then go before the council for adoption.

Addressing a rally on the steps of City Hall the previous week, the resolution’s author, Councilmember Nancy Nadel, called it “another step in making Oakland a sustainable city.”

In the spirit of the “three E’s” of sustainable development — economic prosperity, environmental enhancement and social equity, she added, “We are challenging experts in the city to devise the most creative ways to transform our oil usage and, at the same time, stimulate our economy and provide jobs and entrepreneur opportunities especially to those in our community who need employment.”

Nadel credited the city’s Apollo Alliance with helping to develop a policy “that really meets the needs of the people in our city.”

In recent years Oakland’s City Council has adopted other environmental measures, including a sustainable community development initiative and a civic green building ordinance.


Van Jones, left, and Victor Uno, co-conveners of the Oakland Apollo Alliance, addressed the Oct. 10 rally outside City Hall. PWW photo by Marilyn Bechtel.
At the Oct. 10 rally, Apollo Alliance co-convenors Van Jones, executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and Victor Uno, business manager of IBEW Local 595, both emphasized the green economy’s potential to create good jobs for working-class Oaklanders, especially young people of color.

Oakland was “at the back of the bus” in the last big shift in the economy, the Internet boom, Jones said. Now, “we want the green wave to lift all boats,” he said. “We believe that when we bring labor unions, business leaders, community groups and youth together on that basis, we are inaugurating a new politics of hope.”

“We want not just minimum wage jobs, or livable wage jobs — we want good union jobs with good wages and benefits for all of Oakland’s residents,” said Uno. “We think the green economy is part of the solution.”

The task force is to consist of 11 appointees — three by the mayor and eight by the City Council. Ideas already in the mix include use of alternative fuel buses, retrofitting buildings and collaborating with neighboring cities Emeryville and Berkeley on use of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.

Proponents point out that by using more resource-efficient technology, converting to renewable fuels, improving public transit and attracting “green energy” firms, Oakland can also begin to address issues of environmental racism affecting poor working-class communities located near industrial facilities, diesel truck routes and major freeways.

A related measure initiated by the Ella Baker Center and expected to reach the City Council soon is a proposal to create the nation’s first “Green Jobs Corps” to provide job training and placement for Oakland residents in green building construction and new environmentally sustainable businesses.

mbechtel@pww.org

Friday, June 16, 2006

Rising Prices and Supply Interruption

No, I don't have time to update this blog, but I do have something to say tonight.

I went to get a blood test today, and the phlebotomist (sp?) didn't have any butterfly needles, which are extra necessary for people like me who don't have veins and who easily get hurt by needles. He said that they hadn't had any for 2 or 3 days. Interesting. He also said that he commutes from Fairfield to Berkeley and it takes him 1.5-2 hours to drive to work. He said that the one time that he had tried taking Amtrak, the train got him home 3 hours late. Three hours!! (The worst I've ever had on that line was 45 minutes late, and that was just last week. That sucked extra bad because I was late and had to pay on the train, so I paid 150% and got a ride that was 150% as long. Good thing I had a book with me.)

Why the hell does a head of organic lettuce cost $1.79 at Berkeley Bowl? That price snuck up this spring.

I was at Whole Foods yesterday, buying some tempeh, and it was on sale for its usual price. That's their way of sneaking in a price increase (under the $1.99 sale tag, it said that the regular price is $2.29). I hate when they do that.

Interesting that although gas prices are (artificially) a bit lower, food prices are still rising.

Can anyone spare some change so I can get some solar panels, batteries, inverters, and supplies to build a strawbale and cob cottage? It would be much appreciated.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

3/19: Sustainable Caravan to Permaculture Sites in East Oakland

(my comment: I don't think anything is really sustainable- biodiesel cars still need oil, bikes even need a bit of oil...bikes and cars are built with electricity and stuff that comes from oil...)
(one more comment: is the permaculture guild a group that actually exists, or is it just a name?)

The East Bay Permaculture Guild presents a

Sustainable Caravan
(bike · biodiesel · ride share)
to Permaculture Sites in East Oakland

Sunday March 19, 2006
Tour begins at 10 am and goes until 1 pm
Caravan from Fruitvale BART at 9:30 am

Please join us on a journey along the streets and watersheds of the East Oakland Hills, deep into the heart of the Dimond District and San Antonio neighborhood, to welcome the beginning of Spring. We will visit East Oakland gardens and parks featuring examples of urban farming, green and natural building, remediation and restoration, graywater systems, neighbor cooperation, and community activism. The caravan will consist of bikes, biodiesel, and ride sharing, demonstrating a range of sustainable transportation. The tour involves some slightly steep parts, but most of it will go downhill. Please bring your own bag lunch.

Please RSVP to isisferal@yahoo.com or at 1-800-MY-YAHOO (1-800-699-2466) (when prompted press # GARDEN TOUR (or say 427-336-8687)) to coordinate with the caravan, which will leave from the Fruitvale BART station. Let us know if you need a ride or can offer a ride, or if you’ll be coming by bike and if you want to meet us at the first site or get a lift uphill with your bike from BART.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Free workshop on raising chickens this Saturday!

YOU EAT CHICKEN and/or EGGS RIGHT? (what the hell?! -mahtin)

Then come on down to a free chicken raising workshop

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29th 1pm-5pm
City Slicker Farms' Center Street Farm
at the corner of 16th & Center Streets, West Oakland

1pm-2:30pm learn how to raise chickens for eggs, meat or companionship
2:30pm-5:00pm hands on demonstration on slaughtering chickens with
Jim Montgomery of Green Fairy Farm

INFO / RSVP 510-763-4241


(p.s. Since we're in the field a lot we only check e-mail a few
times a week. Please call 510-763-4241 for a prompt response)

CITY SLICKER FARMS
Growing affordable fresh produce for West Oakland

510-763-4241
737 Henry Street
Oakland, CA 94607

LOCATIONS
Center Street Farm, The Annex Farm, West Oakland Wilds Farm, The
Garden of Eatin', Ralph Bunche School Nursery, Jubilee West Garden &
Mandela Farmer's Market

Friday, October 14, 2005

Toyota Recalls 75,000 Prius Hybrids

Back to Story - Help
Yahoo! News
Toyota Recalls 75,000 Prius Hybrids

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto WriterThu Oct 13, 6:35 PM ET

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it is recalling 75,000 Prius gas-electric hybrid cars because their engines can stall due to an electrical problem.

Involved in the recall are some 2004 and early 2005 model year Prius cars. The cars have a gas engine as well as a battery-powered electric motor that can run separately or together to save fuel.

In affected vehicles, dashboard warning lights may come on and the gasoline engine shuts down. The vehicle's electric motor will continue operating in a limited capacity, so drivers can steer to the side of the road. The gasoline engine may start working again if the driver restarts the vehicle.

Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis said the automaker began investigating the problem after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 68 reports of Prius engines stalling. No one has been injured by the defect, and it hasn't caused any reported accidents, Dominicis said.

NHTSA closed its investigation after Toyota said it would voluntarily recall the vehicles. Owners will be notified starting this month.

Toyota dealers will repair affected vehicles for free. The vehicles may need to have their software reprogrammed. Dealers may also apply a waterproof grease that will prevent water from getting into the electrical system.

Dominicis stressed that the defect isn't related to the Prius's gas-electric hybrid system and could happen in any vehicle.

The Prius was the world's first commercially mass-produced hybrid car and it remains the most popular. U.S. sales of the Prius more than doubled in the first nine months of this year to 81,042, according to Autodata Corp.

___

On the Net:

Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_bi_ge/prius_recall

Thursday, September 22, 2005

PETROCOLLAPSE - Social isolation or solidarity?

ah, yes, Jan Lundberg told me about this a few months ago... anyone want to pay my plane fare?


PRESS RELEASE

PETROCOLLAPSE - Social isolation or solidarity?

The First Peak Oil Conference in New York City - October 5, 2005

Contact: Jenna Orkin, Moderator
(718) 246-1577 cell: (646) 267-1577
jennakilt@aol.com
or: Jan Lundberg, Organizer
(215) 243-3144
http://www.petrocollapse.org/

The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist
40 E. 35th Street, New York, NY 10016

9 A.M. - 5 P.M. Registration begins 8:30.

Speakers include James Howard Kunstler, author: The Long Emergency; Dr. John Darnell, Science and Energy Advisor to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett; Jan Lundberg of Culturechange.org, former publisher: the Lundberg Survey; Mike Ruppert, author: Crossing the Rubicon, Fromthewilderness.com; David Pimentel, Cornell University; David Room, Post Carbon Institute. Moderator: Jenna Orkin, World Trade Center Environmental Organization

Sponsored by Culturechange.org and by Continuing Education &
Public Programs, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY).

"As oil prices rise and crude oil supplies and refined products strain to keep up with demand, the peaking of global oil extraction is finally becoming acknowledged in the mainstream news. As Hurricane Katrina has hampered petroleum production in addition to devastating a large population and ecosystem, as Rita threatens to do worse, people are asking if this is a foretaste of the future of a nation that has failed to conserve energy," stated Jan Lundberg, a principal conference organizer who ran the oil statistics firm
Lundberg Survey.

"Yet, the complete story on peak oil is still suppressed, and the public remains in the dark about the vast array of consequences of this looming crisis. Dishonest reporting by OPEC countries and major oil companies have contributed to the illusion that there is sufficient time before we 'run out of oil' to transition to a 'solution', whether it be hydrogen, renewables, an attempt to increase nuclear power, or some combination of the above," Lundberg added.

Approximately one dozen significant oil producing countries are past their peak in extraction and it is possible that world peak has already arrived (this cannot be conclusively determined until after the fact). The sudden effects of shortage are likely to hit the global economy within the next three years, possibly even as early as this winter. "With Hurricane Katrina, we have just seen what the lack of disaster preparedness can do. And the effects of peak oil portend an economic and social hurricane," said Jenna Orkin, the conference moderator.

At The Petrocollapse Conference the participants will ask:

What are we facing now as the economy prepares to hit the wall known as resource limits? Will growth suddenly implode?
What will be the effects of Peak Oil (a geological phenomenon) and petrocollapse (a socio-economic phenomenon) on food supply and other services we depend on?
What is the role of the market in determining how severe will be the effect of shortage stemming from geological depletion?
Is there a "Plan B" to ease a transition to sustainable living in a world without plentiful energy and petroleum's materials?


TV cameras should bring batteries as there are restrictions on use of church electricity.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

PEOPLE'S PARK COB FREE-BOX REBUILDING, SUNDAY (9/25)

> To: cityrepair@lists.riseup.net
> Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 18:44:39 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: [cityrepair] People's Park - COB FreeBox
> Workparty - SUNDAY
>
> Friends:
>
> PEOPLE'S PARK COB FREE-BOX REBUILDING, SUNDAY (9/25)
> 1-6pm. (BERKELEY)
>
> Consider leaving something in the fuel cells this
> weekend for a Sunday Afternoon Cob Workparty.
> Students, Volunteers, Parkgoers will all be working
> alongside the Friends of People's Park to rebuild
> the recently razed FreeBox.
>
> Please come if you can! Experienced cobbers - you
> are needed to help guide others! New to Cob? We
> would love to have your appetite for natural
> building knowledge! We can all feed eachother - just
> BRING IT!
>
> IMPORTANT: This event will take place on University
> of California Property. The University is somewhat
> opposed to the FreeBox's reconstruction. "We
> (Friends of People's Park) began rebuilding the free
> clothing box on Sept. 17th & 18th. We put up four
> legs for the roof and built the foundation for the
> box. The police informed us that they considered
> our rebuilding the vandalized box as vandalism."
>
> Spread the Word
>