The Loma Prietan
July/August 2001
Meandering
by John Maybury
Saving a mountain
Good news, hikers! Some 4,000 acres on the south side of Montara Mountain have been acquired by Peninsula Open Space Trust for eventual transfer to federal and state parks. With foundation grants in hand (Packard and Moore, i.e., HP and Intel money), the trust spent nearly $30 million for Rancho Corral de Tierra, home to red-legged frogs, San Francisco garter snakes, San Bruno elfin butterflies, and endangered peregrine falcons. Now we can hope to connect the Coastal and Bay Ridge Trails.
Guts
Bravo to San Mateo County Times editorialists and San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Simon for challenging the SFO runway-expansion juggernaut (Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein, et al.), which favors dredging the bay to increase airport capacity, regardless of the cost to taxpayers or the environment. Listen up:
S.F. and SFO do not own the bay or the Peninsula! We all do. High-speed trains linking the three Bay Area airports, plus better scheduling to spread air traffic around, would be far better solutions to runway congestion (see related article).
Worldwide weirdness
Mount Kilimanjaro’s ice cap is melting so fast it may disappear in 20 years due to global warming. City planners in heavily polluted Lanzhou, China, propose leveling a mountain so the smog can escape, but townspeople whose ancestors are buried in tombs on the mountain have blocked the bulldozers. Factory emissions and dust storm clouds are blowing across the Pacific Ocean in the jet stream from Asia to America. Taliban rulers have ordered Afghanis to pray for rain to alleviate a 30-year drought. California’s Sierra snowpack is down 50 percent, presaging a long hot summer.
Green bullets
Will wonders never cease! Our U.S. Army has come up with environmentally friendly bullets, and that’s no oxymoron. “We want to be good stewards of
the environment,” said Army spokesperson Karen Baker (S.F. Chronicle, May
4). The new tungsten compound (with copper casing) replaces old lead ammunition, which has contaminated soil and water near military firing ranges from Cape Cod to Monterey. Infantry trainees shoot about 200 million practice rounds a year from their M-16 rifles. The Army says that the new bullets will be more accurate and that soldiers won’t even notice the difference. The Army hopes eventually to do something about chemicals used to seal, waterproof, paint, and propel the ammo.
Norwegian wood
Viking sea power was based in part on superior shipbuilding skills and materials. Key to this was the Vikings’ use of axes to fell trees and shape logs; the ancient technique followed the wood’s grain, making it strong and waterproof. But in
the Middle Ages, saws came into use, cutting against the wood’s grain and making it weaker and more porous. I learned this
(and more) from a video at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, where
volunteers and archeologists have spent thousands of hours painstakingly reconstructing scuttled Viking ships discovered deep in the muck on the harbor bottom. Scientists found through trial and error that only glycol restored and preserved the waterlogged wood, making it possible to rebuild the ships piece by piece
Ignoring Binky
Jump inside the head of Victor Evertor, corporate powermonger, head of EATU,
a pollution-spewing, people-crunching multinational. “Ignoring Binky” is a
comic-book satire about the banality of Big Business greed and megalomania. Don’t ignore Binky. Order the book by phoning 866-923-9223 or visit their website www.checkmatenow.org. Beverly Red and Mitch Hall created this graphic novel
to promote their environmental nonprofit, Checkmate.
What energy crisis?
We conserve energy while the Bush administration belittles conservation and
urges us to produce and use more power. According to Forbes editor Dan Ackman (“Phantom Energy Crisis,” Salon.com, May 8), the president wants Americans to fear an energy crisis despite clear evidence that conservation does work and that there is in fact no emergency. Pacifica artist and teacher Amy Owens, for one, does not buy the phony crisis. She signed a pledge to protect the environment against special interests that lobby politicians to roll back the regulations of the last 30 years. Defend your right to clean air and water, wildlife and open space, national parks and
forests: www.defendenvironment.org.
Number 3
Have you heard that companies making plastic numbers for gas station signs are ramping up production of number 3s? Three-dollar-a-gallon gas may be here by summer and the oil companies can continue to enjoy record profits. When do we wake up and smell the burn?
Book battle
Independent booksellers are fighting for their life against unfair competition by megabookstore chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble. Buying books from independents may cost a little more, but it preserves freedom of choice and freedom of the press. See www.changinghands.com and www.addall.com.
Don’t feed the deer
Well-intentioned people who feed deer may be hurting more than helping. Risks to the deer include exposure to viruses and disruption of natural migration patterns. Risks to humans include injury by startled deer and unwelcome advances by predators such as mountain lions.
Brainwash
Drive-through car washes are environmentally correct because they recycle water: much better than polluting creeks, bay, and ocean with automobile suds and cruds running down the driveway into the storm drain. Also, car washes are fun. Powerful blasts of water rinse off the dust, rainbow-colored detergent squirts all over your car, hot wax sprays every crevice, loud air dryers sweep across the hood (at the end you even feel a little puff of air in your left ear as the blower passes by your window). When the red light turns green, you drive out into the sunlight, fresh as a daisy.
Blood pressure
Fifty million Americans have high blood pressure, but less than a third control their condition, increasing their risk for stroke, heart disease, and kidney failure, especially among the elderly. We recommend heart-healthy habits: Maintain healthy weight, be active daily, use less salt, eat more fruits and vegetables, cut back on alcohol, get your blood pressure checked regularly, and use your blood pressure medicine if indicated. Info www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
Nuts about nuts
Halleluia, peanut-butter lovers! A new scientific study by Penn State University researchers says nuts help lower cholesterol and provide plant protein, dietary fiber, antioxidant vitamins, and minerals. E-mail pmk3@psu.edu or visit www.psu.edu.
Goat chops
SFO recently rented 250 goats to crop weeds at the airport. Then the fire suppression squad down the peninsula got their goats. Goats R’ Us of Orinda, which specializes in clearing brush and poison oak, provides hungry goats, plus attending shepherds.
Puttin’ on the Ritz
First it was chocolate baths at Hershey’s Pennsylvania spa. Now the new Ritz-Carlton’s environmental atrocity in Half Moon Bay offers pumpkin facials.
Bay Nature
This beautiful new magazine edited by Malcolm Margolin just appeared in my
mailbox with articles and photographs exploring Bay Area nature. Order
online at www.baynature.com or call 925/372-6002.
What’s that smell?
Millions of tons of fish parts dumped in lakes and landfills by commercial fisheries could be made into biodegradable material called hydrogels for use in manufacturing diapers, filters, hand lotion, and fertilizer, according to researchers at University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Mall wart
Wal-Mart has been removed from Domini Social Equity Fund’s portfolio over ongoing concerns about the big-box store’s labor and human rights policies abroad. Domini replaced Wal-Mart with 3M (www.3m.com), which has won awards
as a pro-environment and pro-labor company.
Hot tips for warm rides
Tune up and safety-check your bike or skates. Wear appropriate clothing and
protective gear. Warm up first and cool down afterward. Obey traffic laws.
Wear a helmet. Don’t wear headphones. Use common sense. Have fun.
Easy rider
Sleek, purple Thalys trains fly on welded rail between Paris and points north, leaning through curves, conductor proudly announcing top speed of 300 kilometers per hour, steward handing out freshen-up towels, sandwiches, fresh fruit, coffee, chocolate mints, even dentally correct Stimudents. Only one fly in the ointment: ringing cell phones and inane monologues.
Lufthansa, Air France, and other airlines use high-speed trains to link major airports and city centers, because they are faster and cheaper, and run in all weather.
The stork rises
Teich bird refuge on France’s Atlantic Coast has succeeded in bringing back
the stork from the brink of extinction in Europe. Dwindling numbers of the
endangered species have bounced back, thanks to Teich’s careful management
and coordination with other European sanctuaries. But the refuge is fighting
off invasive plants like pampas grass whose seeds blow across the Atlantic Ocean from South America.
Bike to the ballyard
Very cool. Bike to Pac Bell Park for a Giants game and park free at the secured valet-parking station on McCovey Cove walkway beyond right field. Kash, the aptly named valet on duty, gladly accepts tips. On busy days, he recommends bringing a bike lock in case he has to keep your bike outside. Info: e-mail bike-valets@sfbike.org or call 415/235-4215.
The light at the end of the tunnel is mayburrito@mindspring.com