The Loma Prietan
March/April 2001
Meandering
by John Maybury
The Big Crunch
California’s energy crisis dominates the news these days. From locker room to cubicle farm, we tell one another PG&E horror stories. We are instant experts on ISOs, power grids, and palladium. After the divisive election, here at last is an issue most of us can agree on: The utilities are getting what’s coming to them and now we need a real public power system.
Most people don’t fall for PG&E’s crocodile tears, believing instead that the utility shelters its profits with an elaborate corporate shell game. Eventually truth will out, but meanwhile we live with rolling blackouts and greedy power companies. Read my mail:
Gary Lippman’s family friend Dan, whom Gary describes as the electricity guru: “California utilities agreed to a retail pricing scheme that assumed wholesale electricity costs would stay low, but natural gas prices have more than doubled in the past eight months, the state has not built new generating capacity in more than 10 years, and the big players manipulate the market. Specifically, there is no prohibition against an independent power producer or PG&E affiliate from shutting down a plant (‘necessary maintenance’) until the price spikes go out of sight.”
Fred Zierten: “No utility bailout! I am outraged at their bullying tactics. They were making a reasonable profit under regulation, but they got greedy, pushing deregulation to make a killing on the new market. It has become clear that they cannot provide safe, clean energy at a reasonable price. They should be taken over and replaced with a public utility:
47 municipal utilities provide excellent service at costs lower than PG&E’s [Alameda and Sacramento, for example]. Now is the time to develop a public power system that takes the profit out of supplying such essential commodities as gas and electricity; invests in clean, renewable energy, not nuclear and coal-fired plants; conserves energy; and makes decisions publicly, not behind closed doors.”
Joan Strain: “Maryland has no energy crisis, but there is an energy-saving plan. Households are charged nine times more for daytime electricity use during the week. Normal rates apply on weekends. People sacrifice, but it works.”
Pond Power
When he’s not chasing red-legged frogs, Dave Cohn drives a cement truck. On January 11, Teamster Cohn was out looking for tadpoles in the rain when his pager went off (ribbet, ribbet). Dispatch wanted him, pronto, an emergency run to the Pacifica seawall, which had just been breached by 30-foot storm swells. Pacific Cement supplied 138 cubic yards to the city’s contractor, Power Engineering, which delivered 16 truckloads by the 11 p.m. deadline, before the next high tide.
It was a wild scene down at the pier, all bright lights and big-city media milling about as huge waves slammed into the
beachfront, but so far the concrete patch is holding and Dave is back on frogwatch. Other frog fans are answering the call of the wild. Sandie Spacek and her Cub Scouts have volunteered to help Dave establish ponds for red-legged frogs. Pat McNair of Creekside Smokehouse in El Granada is talking to Dave about making a frog-friendly environment in the creek behind McNair’s store (which sells really good smoked fish and cheese).
Badder Bugs
A 12-year-old Nebraska farm boy infected with salmonella has been found to have the same antibiotic resistance as the cattle on his family’s farm. Fortunately the boy recovered without needing ceftriaxone treatment, but the case points out that some 50 million unneeded antibiotics prescriptions written every year may be adding to antibiotic resistance. Also, bacteria may be exposed to antibacterial resistance from genetically modified organisms (Natural Foods Merchandiser).
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
“Divorce Your Car” is Katie Alvord’s book about why Americans are married to their cars, why the marriage is on the rocks, and why they should get a divorce. Order the book and other New Society Publishing titles at www.newsociety.com.
Fab Fiber
The best fiber is bran cereal. It works better than prunes and better than Metamucil, which can seize up in the colon if you don’t take it with enough water. Bran is more natural and filling than Colace, Dulcolax, or milk of magnesia. Dress it up with dried or fresh fruit and you’re on your way to inner peace. Eat your prunes. They’re loaded with vitamin A, fiber, potassium, magnesium, and antioxidants.
Clean Power
Motorola has unveiled a prototype of a new miniature fuel cell that can power laptops, cell phones, and other portable electronics. The new cell has 10 times the energy density of a conventional rechargeable battery, and it can run for a month. It works by mixing methanol (wood alcohol) and oxygen at room temperature, which produces electricity. The only byproducts of the reaction are water and carbon dioxide.
Headlands in Mind
Hike, bike, and go birding in the Marin headlands, just minutes north of San Francisco. Take the Sausalito exit off Highway 101 just past the Golden Gate Bridge and go left through the half-mile-long tunnel or take the panoramic drive over the hill. Enjoy the gray-sand beach and don’t forget the Marine Mammal Center, including gift shop and information kiosk. The lagoon behind the beach is home to California coot, canvasback ducks, pelicans, and cormorants.
Energy Boost
Tired and tapped out? Get enough sleep and take catnaps, drink lots of water, eat well but don’t overeat, don’t skip protein and carbohydrates, eat just a little bit of fat, take your vitamins and minerals, avoid too much sugar and alcohol. Don’t forget to eat fruits and vegetables year-round, five or more servings a day, to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other
diseases. Fresh is best, but frozen produce is also high-quality nutrition.
Even on the road and on the run, some of the best food you can find is at the salad bar. Think vitamins, minerals, fiber, and good taste: berries and bananas on your cereal, grilled veggies on the barbecue, exotic desserts such as mango and kiwi.
DU
Our depleted uranium (DU) armor-piercing shells fired during the Gulf War exposed our own troops to radiation poisoning, which may explain thousands of cases of Gulf War Syndrome, according to former U.S. Army nuclear medicine expert Dr. Asaf Durakovic. American and British soldiers, mostly medical orderlies and mechanics who handled Iraqi victims and tanks struck by our ammunition, unknowingly were touching and breathing DU particles. Dr. Durakovic fled the U.S. when told his life was in danger if he continued his research. Check out www.commondreams.org from the Sunday Times, U.K.)
Filbert Flivvers
Clean hydrogen fuel from Turkish hazelnuts could power cars of the future, according to a New Scientist magazine article by Murat Dogru and his colleagues at the University of Newcastle, U.K. They studied Turkey’s world-leading output of
a quarter-million ton of hazelnut shells, which now are disposed of by incineration but could be converted to hydrogen fuel
to run cars.
Bird Bulletin
Love to read the local Audubon newsletter, Sequoia Needles, edited by Cliff Richer. To wit: Former Alameda Naval Air Station becomes bird refuge. Pinnacles National Monument has 410 species of bees. Bullfrogs are eating their way across Arizona: fish, snakes, birds, even frogs. King penguins dive to 900 feet to feed on fish. For more goodies like these, plus Christmas bird counts, birdwatching trips, educational and social events with like-minded folks, visit www.sequoia-audubon.org or phone 650/345-3748.
Blue Bird of Happiness
Bluebird lovers who want to set up nesting boxes or help in other ways can contact California Bluebird Recovery Program’s Howard Rathlesberger at 650/367-1296 (rathlesberger@email.msn.com)
or Lee Franks at 650/592-7733 (funseekers2@juno.com).
Local Tree Hugger
Humboldt has Julia Butterfly Hill; we have Nancy Hall. The urban forester and organic farmer also is an accomplished singer-songwriter with the popular band The Curios. Call 650/359-2073 or e-mail nancygroovethinghall@yahoo.com.
Kindness to Cats
Keep your cats indoors, especially at night. Roaming cats live only two to five years on average, whereas indoor cats may live to 20 or more. Danger lurks everywhere outdoors: cars, animal attacks, diseases, human cruelty, parasites, poisons, traps, and overpopulation. Bird lovers especially favor indoor cats, because even “belled” and well-fed cats will follow their instincts and kill birds. E-mail abc@abcbirds.org.
Elkhorn Wins
Elkhorn Slough, a major sea otter refuge and an important ecosystem on Monterey Bay, will be monitored for the next five years thanks to a million-dollar grant from Duke Energy, which is modernizing its power plant at nearby Moss Landing. Save Our Shores and other marine conservation groups negotiated the funding for the program. Visit www.saveourshores.org.
Stop It
When you stop smoking, your pulse rate and blood pressure drop. So does the carbon monoxide level in your blood. Nerve endings begin to recover. Your sense of smell and taste returns. Your lungs expand. Shortness of breath lessens. In time, heart attack and cancer risk goes down. Keys to quitting: Set a date. Get rid of all cigarettes. Stay away from smokers. Don’t even take one puff. Get support and encouragement. Change your routines. Exercise. Drink water. Reward yourself. See www2.cancer.org, www.cdc.gov,
and www.quit-smoking.com.
Tech Neck
The office worker and the home worker sit all day, often with bad posture and poorly designed equipment, leading to pain and injury, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain. Ergonomics studies the interaction of human and machine to prevent health problems and promote productivity. To learn proper computer and chair/desk positioning, posture, exercises, breaks, relaxation, and stress reduction, see www.uhs.berkeley.edu/facstaff/ergonomics and the Ergo Works catalog at ergoworks@worldnet.att.net or 650/631-9775.
No Monkey Meat
This is no joke. KTVU News reported recently that loggers and roadbuilders penetrating African jungles have made it easier for poachers to hunt primates (gorillas and chimpanzees) for their meat, some of which feeds desperately hungry people but most of which is sold at a premium to specialty food buyers. Several species are being eaten to extinction. Two ways to help are to protest to the World Bank and to boycott tropical hardwood products.
Wildlife Rescue
Concerned about habitat destruction and homeless possums, skunks, and raccoons? See www.wildlife-museum.org, web
site of the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. SPCA, the official
humane society, picks up only injured or dead animals, and must
euthanize the injured.