It’s Easy Being Green

While both sides of the presidential election begin to unleash their war of words, they’re also dragging environmental and energy stances into their statements. The Democratic National Committee will unveil a new anti-McCain campaign today called “Exxon McCain ‘08″. The campaign will include a special gas pump logo, bright red buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs sure to be seen in a city near you sometime soon! The campaign is aimed at rebuking the Republicans tire pressure gauges they handed out to political reporters earlier this week that were labeled “Obama’s Energy Plan”.

Do you think one candidate has a better energy policy than the other? Let us know who you think has the best eye for the environment and energy issues daunting our nation!

A World Naked Bike Ride Event

I’m having a good chuckle while waking up to my first cup of coffee this morning.  Heads were apparently turning in St. Louis Saturday night, while hundreds of mostly nude bicyclists protested society’s dependence on oil.  It was all part of the “World Naked Bike Ride” which stretched for 10 miles through the city.  So far 70 cities across the globe have unknowingly been host to one of these political rides.  Officers with the St. Louis Police Department checked to make sure the bike riders were within the decency laws, wearing minimums like pasties, body paint, loin cloths and thongs.

For more information about organizing your own World Naked Bike Ride, check out their website.  There is also an entertaining video of what the rides look like.  You can also Google search for pictures using the ride’s name.  It’s quite entertaining.  I’d really like to see one of those come to Flagstaff!

Prime Minister Gordon Brown apparently made waves in the UK on Valentine’s Day. Showing his love for the environment and sustainable living, Brown announced he is planning to develop new towns in the UK that will be completely free of cars. His idea is that these “eco-towns” will dot the English countryside, providing much needed housing while creating as low an environmental impact as possible. Under the plan, the first “eco-town” will allow vehicles to be parked on the outskirts in designated parking lots making the interior of the town pedestrian friendly and open to public transportation. Brown’s “eco-town” will consist of about 10,000 homes.

The announcement didn’t come without concern though. Brits have already started organizing protests and petitions against Brown’s plans for several “eco-towns”. They fear that these new developments will mean a “massive loss of greenbelt land” according to the Mirror.

I think, as long as everyone can come together and hash out reasonable spots for the prototype “eco-town” to be constructed, that it’s a great idea. Would you live in a town that banned cars from running around the interior, making it a pedestrian community? What do you think the drawbacks could be? If you’re interested in the subject of new, sustainable communities, check out my blog entry and video on the Masdar Initiative.

I’m glad to see this morning that the National Resources Defense Council has gained some ground in federal court against the White House and the Navy.  NRDC has gone to court against the government because of a decision by President Bush to allow the Navy to use high powered sonar equipment in a “no sonar zone”.  The zone is known to be the home of large groups of whales and several studies have shown the sonar in question can cause mass death in whales.  According to the NRDC, the high-intensity sound waves can travel vast stretches of the ocean and are so intense that marine mammals experience bleeding in their brain before they die.

In January, President Bush argued that the high powered sonar was vital for our nation’s military preparedness exercises and granted the Navy an exemption so they could ignore a court ruled injunction to stop the practices back on January 3rd.  U.S. District Judge Florence Marine Cooper released a 36 page ruling stating that the Navy must abide by a previous order which outlawed the sonar use in that particular area of the Pacific.  What’s even better, Cooper suggested our President’s attempt to go around the previous ruling was “constitutionally suspect”.

I’m glad Cooper made what seems like a sound ruling both in favor of our environment and in favor of the people who tried to stop it.  Our government, and our lame-duck President for that matter, need to learn they just can’t run around doing whatever they want.  The people are watching….power to the people!

The NRDC produced a really great 5 minute long video on this issue.  It’s called “Lethal Sounds” and is narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

Is anyone else even a little dismayed by the current administration in The White House? In case you missed it yesterday, oil prices hit the long-awaited $100 per barrel mark. It’s the highest dollar value the commodity has ever traded at. Granted, if you compare it to the oil crisis of the 1980’s economists say the $100 mark is still a dollar below the 80’s crisis point if it’s adjusted for inflation. There was a lot of speculation by economists last night that the only reason the oil hit that high was because a few lone investors really wanted to see it trade that high. After all, we’ve been awaiting this most glorious milestone for months now!

Well, it seems at first glance those lone few on the trading floors yesterday got to see their fairytale price point. But the implications of it are going to be more far-flung than just rounding another base. Already the economy is feeling pinched. While final numbers from the holiday shopping season aren’t out yet, retailers apparently had a dismal season. That’s no surprise really because it seemed like the writing was on the wall well before Black Friday ads were being leaked to the internet. Now retailers are slashing and dashing, trying to get people into their stores during a time of the year when people are just plain tapped out. It’s been reported that major U.S. restaurant chains are freaking out about the first financial quarter of the year. They’ve already seen huge decreases in the amount of people dining in their restaurants all because of a steadily rising cost for gas, energy used at home and a waning economy.

To trump all economic concerns with the oil climb, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino talked about how in order to stave off high gas prices, the U.S. needs to start more domestic oil exploration and production. It seems Perino really has been given a heavy dose of the Bush/Cheney crack infiltrating every Capitol Hill office! Do our oil producers really need to be given the green light to tromp around already protected areas of wilderness looking for more oil, especially when most experts say it wouldn’t be online for production for another 10 years? With the Dems in control in Congress it more than likely won’t happen. But the Democrats also want the government to start dipping into the strategic oil reserves to bring prices back down. I think that’s another incredibly bad decision when we’re already at the mercy of foreign, oil producing countries.

This is the time for our government to do something good. Quit giving the tax breaks to big oil. Quit giving higher fuel-economy and environmental standards the pussyfoot approach. With our presidential elections just months away, this is a great time for candidates to show what they’re made of in the face of an impending oil and financial crisis. In the meantime, I’m doing what I can to make myself knowledgeable and able to live in a time where oil isn’t always available or worth the cost. I just got the book Peak Oil Survival: Preparation for Life After Gridcrash by Aric McBay. It shows you how to plan for the future, surviving and thriving when the food, transport and energy industries sputter out after consuming their last drops of fuel. I also just stumbled on Cody Lundin’s book, When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes. I’ll let you know how the books are and maybe discuss them as I go along.

How quickly American’s seem to turn their backs on our roots…the simple foundations on which our country was built upon. Some of these ideas, while seemingly outdated and maybe not the most convenient, are truly the best options when it comes to living in a sustainable way. Rail travel is one of those ideas.

The idea behind rail travel is not a new one. The first examples of rail travel began in Greece around 6 B.C. Grooves embedded into limestone rock provided a guide for wagon wheels pushed by slaves to traverse a 6 kilometer trail without leaving that trail and damaging the surrounding landscape. The idea slowly progressed from wooden rails laid on top of the ground to the current iron rails of today. In 1869, the transcontinental railroad was completed opening up the western United States for settlement. The railroad also greatly reduced the amount of time and cost it took to ship goods from the east coast. Between 1896 and 1910, it’s said that 95% of all inter-city transportation was done by rail. In 1920, rail travel reached it’s pinnacle, transporting 1.2 billion passengers. But a nearly tripling in rail fares that year led more Americans than ever to look at the automobile as a cheaper, more self-sufficient way of travel. Rail travel saw another surge beginning in 1939 but it was still only half of ridership seen in the 20’s. By 1970, airlines were transporting almost 75% of travelers while trains carried a mere 7%. Amtrak was created during this same time period by the U.S. government to balance out transportation options and relieve traffic congestions on roads and highways. But since then, railroads haven’t had a huge impact on travel. It’s just another forgotten way.

Now, that forgotten mode of transportation is coming back to haunt us.  This isn’t a scary haunting but one of those friendly spirits that appears to tell us we messed up writing off rail travel a long time ago.  But, we can change that and some of our lawmakers are hoping to do just that.  On November 6th, the Senate voted 70-22 to fund Amtrak with $11.4 billion for the next 6 years.  That’s a fairly sizable increase to the government run, for-profit, railroad compared to years past.  Is it enough to save passenger rail travel and encourage more to use the service?  Only time will tell and the House still has to put their stamp of approval on the measure.  President Bush and his administration has dallied with the idea of shutting down Amtrak and opening passenger rail travel to privatization.  Under that plan, each railroad would have their own opportunity to provide passenger rail service, just like they did in the old days.

Rail travel requires about 20% less energy than traveling by car or plane making it more environmentally friendly.  Trains can run in bad weather when planes might not be able to fly or when roads might be too hazardous and nerve-wracking to drive.  Trains provide you with more leg room and you don’t have to deal with breathing that stale, recirculated air.  You can get up, stretch your legs and walk around.  Not to mention the fact you can actually see major portions of our country by traveling on a train.  The scenery is always changing!  So, if you plan on flying or driving this holiday season, take time to think about how it would be different boarding a train.  Think about the environmental impacts, saving you headaches of early check-ins and security lines and most of all, the relaxation you’ll experience on your journey and most of all avoiding the $3/gallon gas prices.  If you’re really passionate about it, book a trip on Amtrak or write your local Congressman or Senator a letter to let him/her know your support for rail travel.

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