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Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay
Monday, April 30, 2012
Salem's Disastrous Priorities: The Highway Lobby Runs Roughshod Over Librarians
Salem is busily undermining its library system, even as it is squandering the millions being poured into the hands of private contractors to engineer the environmental impact statement for the boondoggle on the Willamette, the third auto bridge that has no rationale other than lining the pockets of the road gang and proving that no amount of data on declining vehicle miles traveled and permanently higher gas prices will penetrate the dense fog of lies being generated to sell this monstrosity.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
A prophet is not without honor but in his own land
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21626-arctic-sea-ice-may-have-passed-crucial-tipping-point.html
I had the privilege to interview Dr. James Hansen for fifty minutes a little while ago. The collapse of ice sheets was his greatest concern if we did not take aggressive action now.
The Arctic ice discussed in that story is not the same, but if we're crossing tipping point for loss of sea ice, how much more likely is it that we are at or near to a similar tipping point for Greenland?
One of the most terrifying parts of my interview was Dr. Hansen reminding me of something that I was completely overlooking but which should be front and center in everyone's thinking: that we're only seeing about half the annual CO2 output showing up in the atmosphere because so much is being absorbed in the oceans -- not only is that making an enormous change in the oceanic acidity (eating away at the very base of the global food chain) but it means that there is a gigantic reservoir of CO2 being stored away that will immediately act to _maintain_ atmospheric CO2 levels even when we are forced, whether by our consciences or by global economic collapse, to stop pumping so much CO2 into the atmosphere.
In other words, not only have we loaded the dice against ourselves in terms of climate outcomes, but we've put ourselves into a straightjacket that's tied to the craps table, so we can't even walk away from the game, even if we were to suddenly wise up. If all human CO2 emissions stopped tomorrow, we're still not going to see CO2 levels drop very fast at all.
Here's the talk much like the one he gave at Willamette:
I had the privilege to interview Dr. James Hansen for fifty minutes a little while ago. The collapse of ice sheets was his greatest concern if we did not take aggressive action now.
The Arctic ice discussed in that story is not the same, but if we're crossing tipping point for loss of sea ice, how much more likely is it that we are at or near to a similar tipping point for Greenland?
One of the most terrifying parts of my interview was Dr. Hansen reminding me of something that I was completely overlooking but which should be front and center in everyone's thinking: that we're only seeing about half the annual CO2 output showing up in the atmosphere because so much is being absorbed in the oceans -- not only is that making an enormous change in the oceanic acidity (eating away at the very base of the global food chain) but it means that there is a gigantic reservoir of CO2 being stored away that will immediately act to _maintain_ atmospheric CO2 levels even when we are forced, whether by our consciences or by global economic collapse, to stop pumping so much CO2 into the atmosphere.
In other words, not only have we loaded the dice against ourselves in terms of climate outcomes, but we've put ourselves into a straightjacket that's tied to the craps table, so we can't even walk away from the game, even if we were to suddenly wise up. If all human CO2 emissions stopped tomorrow, we're still not going to see CO2 levels drop very fast at all.
Here's the talk much like the one he gave at Willamette:
Friday, April 13, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Think you have the right to vote?
Richard Nixon and his co-conspirator cronies decided to make the GOP, once the party of Lincoln, into the racist party, making Lyndon Johnson's prophecy that signing the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act would cost the Democrats the South for 40 years.
The GOP took up race baiting with a vengeance, and it continues unabated today, as the party relentlessly tries to fabricate "voter fraud" fears, while busily proving again and again that stealing elections and wholesale election fraud is the province of elected and appointed officials, not voters.
What's amazing is that so few people realize just how pervasive the GOP's war to limit voters has become. Faced with a choice of (a) admitting that its racist ideology and tactics dooms it to irrelevance or (b) declaring war on voting by the poor and people of color and trying a host of tactics to suppress registration and and prevent voting by the growing non-white plurality (soon to be a non-white majority), the GOP has gone all-in for (b).
The GOP took up race baiting with a vengeance, and it continues unabated today, as the party relentlessly tries to fabricate "voter fraud" fears, while busily proving again and again that stealing elections and wholesale election fraud is the province of elected and appointed officials, not voters.
What's amazing is that so few people realize just how pervasive the GOP's war to limit voters has become. Faced with a choice of (a) admitting that its racist ideology and tactics dooms it to irrelevance or (b) declaring war on voting by the poor and people of color and trying a host of tactics to suppress registration and and prevent voting by the growing non-white plurality (soon to be a non-white majority), the GOP has gone all-in for (b).
Friday, April 6, 2012
YAY! Salem Saturday Market opens tomorrow!!
Zero Waste Policy (Photo credit: heidigoseek)And there's a nice volunteer opportunity for you to help make it even nicer, while getting to know some very nice people behind the scenes:It's farmers market season again! And that means the award-winning Zero Waste Zone project will be up and running again. We believe the public is more in tune with composting and recycling at the market with two years of volunteers helping at the Zero Waste stations. But it doesn't hurt to have a few volunteers at the start of the season as a reminder.
Anyone interested in volunteering at a Zero Waste station tomorrow? Just let me know the time, and I will put you on the schedule. You can check in with Tina Miller, the market manager, at the start of your shift. Just let her know which station you'd like to be at.
Thank you for all of your work! Without wonderful volunteers, this project would not be the success that it is!
Best,
Beth
--
Zero Waste Zone Project
Friends of Salem Saturday Market
(503) 877-FSSM (3776) --
friendsofsalemsaturdaymarket.org -- salemsaturdaymarket.com
ZeroWaste@FriendsOfSalemSaturdayMarket.org
Winner of 2 "Recycler of the Year" awards for 2011!
Association of Oregon Recyclers ~ Mid-Willamette Valley Green Awards
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Spots going fast for an important class Saturday!
Double clicking on the poster image should enlarge it.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Best Bet: World heroine Sandra Steingraber returns to Portland
Image by dunrie via FlickrThe Dr. Sandra Steingraber event has been rescheduled to April 5, 2012.The Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) is hosting a free talk with renowned activist, ecologist, and author, Sandra Steingraber.
The event will be held from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday,
April 5th at The Old Church,
1422 SW 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97201.
The author of numerous books including the seminal Living Downstream and most recently Raising Elijah, Dr. Steingraber will speak on the link between environmental pollution, human illness and cancer.
Steingraber has won numerous awards, including Chatham College’s biennial Rachel Carson Leadership Award, the Hero Award from the Breast Cancer Fund, the Environmental Health Champion Award from Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles, and most recently the Heinz Award. She has served as an advisor to the California Breast Cancer Research Program, provided Congressional briefings, and lectured on many college campuses. A columnist for Orion magazine, Steingraber is a scholar in residence at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.
NCAP is a non-profit organization that works to protect community health and the environment through research, organizing and advocacy to promote alternatives to pesticides. They are based in Eugene, OR and have been active in pesticide reform throughout the Northwest for 35 years.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information or to arrange interviews,
Josh Vincent, Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP)
541-344-5044 x 22 jvincent@pesticide.org
Interviews with Sandra can also be arranged through the above contact.
NCAP - www.pesticide.org
Sandra Steingraber
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