The Loma Prietan
November 2001
Meandering
by John Maybury
Patriotic duty
We all want to help the economy recover. One way to do that is to lessen our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil, by driving less and by driving leaner, cleaner cars. Our consumption of oil leaves us vulnerable, especially if the world goes to war. The National Resource Defense Council warns against calls for increased domestic drilling in the name
of national security: NRDC says this is not the answer to self-sufficiency (there simply is not enough domestic oil to meet our needs). Whether in war or peace, we need to use less oil. Are you willing to sacrifice for the cause?
Trains on alert
Since September 11, Amtrak has seen huge jumps in ridership. The passenger rail system has honored many airline tickets for people unwilling or unable to
fly, adding extra equipment to handle the overflow. Amtrak also has helped carry medical and relief workers and supplies to New York. Onboard, station, and track security all have been boosted to protect the national rail infrastructure. The Senate delegation that visited Ground Zero took the train from Washington (and at least 16 Senators favor increased funding to help Amtrak handle the load). Please ask your representatives (including the President) to keep the trains on track.
Rock and a hard place
SummerHill Homes of Palo Alto wants to build 241 units in the Brisbane Quarry on San Bruno Mountain. But David Schooley and San Bruno Mountain
Watch say, “No thanks!” They prefer to see the noisy, dusty quarry become a
botanical garden and history museum. The quarry sits in the middle of the
state and county park, home to rare and endangered butterflies and plants. A
massive housing development would bring nonnative plants and birds, pets and pests, cars and chemicals into this protected environment, one of the last
oases of open space on the Peninsula. Info: 415/467-6631.
Green condos
Kudos to Creekside of Pacifica Home-owners Association for solar-heating its rebuilt swimming pool and putting native plants along the banks of San Pedro Creek, which borders the property.
Roll your own
Bake your own oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit for homemade granola, but
to save energy in these times of natural-gas price gouging, buy crunchy cereal direct from Galaxy, makers of delicious, natural flavors like cranberry orange, molasses ginger snap, mocha fudge, banana, vanilla almond munch, and raspberry. Benefits: not genetically modified, organic, kosher, vegan, dairy-free, no oil added, wheat-free, high in protein and nutrients. Info: 415/902-5658 or www.galaxygranola.com.
Grassroots goes global
World Social Forum gathered earlier this year in Brazil as a counterpoint to corporate titans who meet every year in Davos, Switzerland, to carve up the world. Five thousand delegates shared information
and developed strategies to fight business globalization (with its accompanying plagues of poverty and pollution). Info: www.co-intelligence.org.
Got gas?
Think hydrogen is the solution to energy problems? “Hydrogen is not a primary energy source. It’s a convenience fuel. Or it
would be if someone could figure out a cheap, efficient, and safe way to cart it around. There are no hydrogen mines or wells. You can pump oil (or hydrogen sulfide or hydrocarbon gases) out of the ground and extract some hydrogen, but what’s the point? You’re still pumping oil out of the ground. You can separate water with electricity to get hydrogen and oxygen. When you burn the hydrogen and oxygen, you get a clean flame and you get your water back. But you cannot possibly get back as much energy, in any form, as you
had at the beginning. That’s a non-negotiable law of nature. Now count the
fuel burned to generate the electricity and you’ll really be crying the blues. Converting a fossil fuel into electricity and using the electricity to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen and then burning the hydrogen
and oxygen will produce two to three times as much pollution as just burning the fossil fuel in your car. It wastes energy and simply moves pollution from your car to the power plant.” (Roger Lagerquist)
News feed
Prune purée (S.F. Chronicle reporters used prune baby food) makes hamburger juicier. It also kills e. coli bacteria in meat. Fresh red meat is safer to eat than processed meat
(hot dogs, salami, bologna, bacon, cured ham), according to researchers at U.S. National Cancer Institute and World Health Organization. Some imported soy and oyster sauces may be carcinogenic, according to British scientists. See www.foodstandards.gov.uk/news/soysauce.htm. Genetically modified
yellow corn turned up in some brands of white-corn chips, leading the experts to say that the horse is already out of the barn. Canadian chemists conclude that teflon and other coatings on nonstick frying pans and ovens break down under heat and release toxic chemicals that contribute to global warming (reported in Nature, the British science weekly). Lab scientists are frankensteining strawberries with fish to create frostproof fruit. Well, now, isn’t that appetizing. And if the worst thing you ever heard was the idea of a tobacco giant like Philip Morris selling cheese and breakfast cereal, then you would love my friend’s suggestion for a website linking corporate bad guys with all the product boycotts and exposés targeting them.
Another nail in the coffin
Good old Philip Morris (see previous item) made the news recently regarding its commissioning of a report by research company Arthur D. Little International
on the costs of smoking in the Czech Republic. The report stated that tobacco-shortened lives could save millions of dollars in health care, pensions, and housing costs for the elderly. Philip Morris requested the study in response to the Czech Republic’s plan to increase cigarette taxes. Info: www.philipmorris.com, www.ash.org.uk,www.tobaccofreekids.org. But sometimes the bad guys get their comeuppance. Philip Morris has apologized for paying the research consultant
to study the so-called “positive effects” of tobacco on the Czech Republic’s economy, i.e., the cost savings of early death from smoking. Philip Morris acknowledged that the Arthur D. Little report was “not only
a terrible mistake, but that it was wrong.” The giant cigarette-maker canceled plans for similar studies in other Eastern European countries.
NAFTA disasta
What’s NAFTA done for you lately?
Farm income is way down, farm and
ranch bankruptcies are way up, food
prices are way up, agribusiness and
food company profits are way up. Info: www.tradewatch.org, a project of Public
Citizen. In related news from Agribusiness Examiner (www.ea1.com/CARP/), a
nationwide poll shows that Americans support U.S. farmers and ranchers, value their conservation efforts, and want more locally grown food.
Home sweet home
For some time, the local economy has been squeezing people out of their jobs and homes. People have fled the area, either of economic necessity or because they can’t stand it here anymore: too many selfish people, too many rude drivers. Newspapers are full of articles about refugees. I know of at least five couples who left for greener pastures. Even the mayor of San
Carlos had to resign and move to Sacramento to find affordable housing. For
those who stay, what is the outlook?
How do we live in a growth capital but keep our sanity? In a magazine called The Sun (www.thesunmagazine.org), Scott Russell Sanders wrote in “Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World” (Feb. 2000) about the importance of getting to know your community and being involved in improving it. It’s not good enough to sit around waiting for the dot-com mess to work itself out. We need to start fixing
things now: transportation, planning, zoning, housing. What will be the
future of the post-dot-com Bay Area?
Store Wars
“Store Wars: Wal-Mart Horror Story” is a video about the big-box chain store that has systematically exploited small communities and left many of them in economic ruins when the company decided to close the outlet. Order the video from 800/343-5540 or www.pbs.org.
Happy hookers
Internetfishing hooks a big one: . Seafood Choices Alliance educates fishermen, chefs, and seafood lovers about ocean
conservation and the availability of your favorite fish. See food in the Afishionado newsletter..
Surf the beach site
Visit the brand-new Pacifica’s
Environmental Family website:
www.langhoff.com/PEF/PEF1.html
(it’s case sensitive; use capital letters
as shown). Direct link to the Beach
Coalition: www.langhoff.com/pbc/cleanup.html.
Diving bells
Welder and metalworker Silvio Modena, Jr. of Half Moon Bay makes bells out
of old oxygen tanks discarded by divers. He sells the recycled bells at street fairs
around the Bay Area. Info: 650/726-5022 or http://www.imakebells.com.
Dot-comatose
Another victim of the dot-com meltdown is people at the bottom of the food chain. Food banks say donations are dwindling, as even damaged goods are being sold to outlet centers instead of being donated to food banks. Tons of dented cans and dog-eared boxes of food are now being salvaged for profit, leaving many soup kitchens going begging for food to feed their hungry clients.
I have seen the future
And it is square watermelons, grown in boxes in Japan. They’re the perfect shape for shipping in square containers, storing in square refrigerators, and not rolling off your counter.
Who?
The burrowing owl, an endangered species in the South Bay, made front-page news recently. Some Mission College students want to save the bird’s shrinking habitat on campus and at nearby Moffett Field and Shoreline Amphitheater, but these young bird-lovers are just one step ahead of the
bulldozers.
Heavy breathing
Speaking of owls, researchers say night owls are better off exercising at night. Something about hormones, according to a University of Chicago endocrinologist’s research on the advantages of wee-hours athletic performance.
Aix marks the spot
Three hours to Provence! France’s new high-speed TGV train (186 miles per
hour) now goes direct from Paris to Aix-en-Provence in just under three hours. Previously you had to change trains in Marseille, adding two hours to the total trip time. Air France is fighting back with fare-war prices, but the fast and fancy French trains look like winners.
Fruits and nuts
California ranks 48th in the nation in power consumed per person, but leads
the nation in such production categories as dairy, fruits, nuts, vegetables, wine, high tech, aerospace, and entertainment.
E-mail Meandering John Maybury at mayburrito@mindspring.com.