We're killing each other with cars

InvestigateWest has a concise piece that sums it up:

We’re killing our neighbors with our cars

We are literally killing people with air pollution.

It’s a simple fact that tends to get forgotten in the everyday bustle of our lives. And it’s that bustle itself – specifically, zipping to and fro courtesy the internal-combustion engine – that is proving most difficult for air-pollution regulators to fight.

Photo/Flickr and icewaterdog

These points are brought out nicely in a story by Keith Matheny that ran Sunday in The Desert Sun, the newspaper in Palm Springs, Calif. Thousands of people die from air pollution each year there in the Coachella Valley alone.

Now, it’s true that Palm Springs is cursed with unfortunate geography of being just over a low pass from Los Angeles, and located in a bowl of a valley. So the gunk in the air from LA and western Riverside County becomes a problem for Palm Springs.

But it’s also true that you could find many places in this country where air pollution peaks to levels considered too high for breathing. Matheny explains:

It’s the mobile pollution sources — diesel trucks, construction equipment, cars, trains and planes — that pose the biggest air quality challenges.

He goes on to point out, though, that the California Air Resources Board has just 50 inspectors to target a state’s worth of vehicles. . . .

Another reminder that we've got to get Oregon-ized to put the needs of people ahead of cars. It's a matter of life and death.

McNary Field: Home of the Salem Cargo Cult

a working aircraft at McNary Field -- the kind that could continue with the field under private ownership (Image via Wikipedia)

If Salem needs cash so desperately, the place to find it is the airport, as in selling it to private investors for them to operate or put to other use, as conditions dicate.

The airport is currently a tax drain on the city and occupies good, centrally located and well drained land that gets plenty of sun (and, yes, rain) -- perfect for a group of investors to take over, continue to run as an private, civil aviation airport if desired and, more importantly, to start using all that safety-buffer space as farmland as well.

Because the airline industry is cratering. The sooner Salem admits that there will never be scheduled commercial service to Salem again, the sooner the airport can be privatized and put on the tax rolls to become a tax generator instead of a tax drain.

Between the price of jet fuel (kerosene, from oil) and the onset of prices on carbon emissions, the bottom line is that that air travel --- one of the most energy intensive human activities --- is going to be less and less a part of our lives in the years to come and it will certainly never be a mass activity for the middle class, as it was for a while.

Salem's leadership seems to be either unaware or in denial about all of this, but the physical facts on the ground will trump any amount of psychological denial. The only question is how many planes will we attempt to build out of cedar planks before we give up our denial and admit that those years are over:

The most widely known period of cargo cult activity, however, was in the years during and after World War II. First, the Japanese arrived with a great deal of unknown equipment, and later, Allied forces also used the islands in the same way. The vast amounts of war materiel that were airdropped onto these islands during the Pacific campaign between the Allies and the Empire of Japan necessarily meant drastic changes to the lifestyle of the islanders, many of whom had never seen Westerners or Easterners before. Manufactured clothing, medicine, canned food, tents, weapons, and other useful goods arrived in vast quantities to equip soldiers. Some of it was shared with the islanders who were their guides and hosts. With the end of the war, the airbases were abandoned, and cargo was no longer dropped.

In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the soldiers, sailors, and airmen use. They carved headphones from wood and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses. The cult members thought that the foreigners had some special connection to the deities and ancestors of the natives, who were the only beings powerful enough to produce such riches.

In a form of sympathetic magic, many built life-size replicas of airplanes out of straw and created new military-style landing strips, hoping to attract more airplanes. Ultimately, although these practices did not bring about the return of the airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war, they did have the effect of eradicating most of the religious practices that had existed prior to the war.

Best editorial in a long while: Paul VanDeVelder

Image via Wikipedia

Saving the Columbia and Snake river salmon

If ever there were a story that foreshadowed the political and legal Waterloos that loom in seeking solutions to climate change, surely that cautionary tale is the one about the Columbia and Snake rivers' salmon and their imminent extinction. And like most stories about endangered species or environmental threats, this one is not only about fish and rivers -- it's about us.

The policy deadlock that has resulted from the debate among stakeholders along the Columbia and the Snake -- aluminum smelters, the Bonneville Power Administration, politicians, Indian tribes, states, conservation groups, fishermen, barge operators, agribusiness and wheat farmers -- has flushed billions of taxpayer dollars out to sea over the last 15 years while doing very little to prevent 13 endangered salmon stocks from going extinct. . . .

Throughout this stalemate, fish counts have continued to fall, and the underlying science is clear: In river after river where dams have been removed, native fish populations have rebounded and thrived. As the government's former chief aquatic biologist, Don Chapman, concluded, dam removal is the most effective strategy for saving endangered native fish stocks from extinction.

This was the conclusion reached by the Idaho Statesman newspaper back in 1997 after it conducted a yearlong study of the Snake River dams. The paper reported that the economic benefits of a healthy fishery -- and the resultant tens of thousands of jobs -- would swamp the benefits of leaving the dams in place. . . .

If the law and science are unable to trump politics to save this fishery -- a fishery that was the most productive in the world just two generations ago -- how will we ever meet the towering challenges posed by global climate change?

Food, Inc. --- a good meal, not a great one

We ventured out from LOVESalem HQ last night to catch Food, Inc. at Salem's gem of an indie movie theater, the Salem Cinema.

The more I think about the movie, the fewer stars I would give it, although it's a very watchable and engrossing film, and I wish every American would see it (particularly those still eating industrial meats -- that is, meat purchased from anyone other than the local farmer).

The bottom line issue that's nagging at me is that the film kept attempting to assert that consumers have sovereign power in our system and that the corporations will gladly do whatever it is we demand, if we only demand it insistently enough. (The illustration used to bolster the argument was that Wal-Mart has decided, after many years of hard work by others, to stop offering milk from cows hopped up on gene-tampered synthetic growth hormone, rBST, a/k/a rBGH.)

But the film really showed, in heartbreaking detail, that consumers are not all-powerful and can only be said to get what they want from the corporate-dominated phood system if what they want is tremendously profitable to provide.

That is, a woman who lost her young son to E. Coli strain 0157:H7 was featured in the film. Her son was killed by eating a fast-food burger. Her story is powerful, compelling, almost enough to make you weep. And yet, precisely nothing has been done to prevent recurrence. She works tirelessly to attempt to get "Kevin's Law" past the corporate owners of Congress but they shut her down, year after year after year. Even after killing people in agonizing ways year after year after year, the industrial phood system, controlled by a handful of surpassingly evil companies like Monsanto refuses to change. If consumers were actually sovereign, as Food, Inc. tries to argue, then we would see companies lining up to make their meat safer and safer, because people do not want food that will kill them. (The movie's brief reference to "The Jungle" and the efforts by people like Teddy Roosevelt to tackle the Beef Trust hints at the reality -- it isn't consumers that are sovereign, it used to be that government was. In the century since, corporations have worked tirelessly to preserve the shell of democracy but to replace its internal workings with one much more to their liking --- one that won't make them get the shit out of the meat if it threatens to reduce profits by so much as a penny.)

But the rBST case undermines the movie's happy talk about consumer sovereignty even more, because Posilac (TM) --- the synthesized recombinant bovine growth hormone --- was the product that no consumer ever asked for. Moreover, when they learned about it, consumers wanted nothing to do with it, and asked repeatedly for milk from treated cows to be labeled, so they could avoid it. Naturally, this upset Monsanto, who set to work all over the country, having their hired hands in legislatures all over America and (ultimately) the FDA FORBID dairies who refused to use their infernal product from labeling their goods as rBST-free or rBGH free.

In other words, the consumer is only sovereign if we can control what the consumer is allowed to know about their food. We know that they want real milk, cream, butter, ice cream, and cheese from real cows that aren't treated like a 100w bulb being burned at 150w (which is what Monsanto's hormones do to cows). Thus, we have to forbid anyone from knowing the difference. It's been nearly two decades and we've finally reached a stage of such consumer disgust about this whole thing that dairies who don't use milk from treated cows are allowed to note that fact --- provided that they also note that the FDA says that there's no difference between milk from cows hopped up on Posilac and real cows that produce as they evolved to do.

This mandatory statement -- which is actually nothing more than a self-imposed indictment of the FDA as a servile puppy licking the hands of its corporate masters like Monsanto -- is like a North Korean news report, which is fitting, given that the control that Monsanto and its ilk exerts over the so-called "regulatory agencies" is nothing if not totalitarian in scope and effect.

The movie was finished too late to note that one of the key Monsanto fixers who revolves in and out of government as needed to keep the system greased properly for The Firm has recently been appointed to -- you guessed it! -- a key role in the Obama Administration . . . as a top adviser on Food Safety no less!

If satire hadn't already been killed when Henry Kissinger was given a Nobel Peace Prize, this surely would have done it. (This should also prove fatal to any foolish notions about the "liberal" Obama and his willingness to fight for everyday people's interests.)

In the last few years, we've seen some stellar movies about some powerful threats and problems: There's the iconic "An Inconvenient Truth" (climate change); "Sicko" (the medical-industrial complex); "The End of Suburbia" (peak oil); and now there's "Food, Inc." about, well, phood.

What is the one thing that unites all these topics? That, until we start talking about the real sovereigns running the show -- the corporations who profit by destroying our climate, treating health care like a luxury to be granted only to the rich, promoting energy consumption and turning food into a weapon of mass destruction -- we'll get nowhere close to a solution to any of these issues.

The one documentary film that actually puts a name to the Beast and points to the underlying solution to all of our dilemmas is one that came and went without a trace, totally ignored by "responsible" media channels (responsible = responsible to corporate owners): The Corporation. That's the real meal deal for what ails us not just in the food aisle, but everywhere.

(For a powerful double feature, watch "HOME" and then "The Corporation." The first makes the problems indelibly clear; the second takes the mask off the source of those problems.)

Costco Members: An unusual offer you'd probably overlook

Image by tattoodjj- Away for a few days via Flickr

Costco.com is offering Costco members a free "Depend" adult diaper sample. I know, "Whoop Tee Doo" and Bob Dole jokes are what you're probably thinking.

BUT, there are plenty of people in Salem who need personal care/hygiene items like this and who are so hard up for money that buying them means less to eat. So your church assistance pantry would probably welcome these; the Union Gospel Mission, the YWCA Shelter (which is always looking for donations of personal care & hygiene items, the Willamette Humane Society Thrift Store, the Friends of Felines Thrift Store --- all of these places would probably gladly accept them from you and either give them to needy folks or sell them cheap.

So if you're a Costco member, consider going here and requesting the free sample for someone like yourself and give it to one of those agencies -- if we all request the sex/size pairing we would ourselves use, then we'll have a nice mix for the people who need them.

Magical thinking: Wind turbines without power transmission lines

One of the hardest things for a nation raised on a steady diet of television and politician's promises (nonsense, in other words) is to realize that there really are no free lunches, and that everything we do is connected to everything else: that the big-screen TVs are destabilizing the climate, that energy-hog appliances mean more mountaintop-removal coal mining and coal-sludge disposal nightmares, and that providing energy to lots of people living in the Willamette Valley means putting giant energy facilities elsewhere, which means that you need miles and miles of giant, ugly transmission lines across Oregon.

Notice anything NOT shown in the heroic illustration above? That's right --- in addition to showing a string of wind turbines smack in the middle of a gorgeous vista, there's a remarkable magical quality to this because it shows no transmission lines blocking the view either.

Apparently the power produced by these turbines just magically arrives at the outlets serving the heated towel bars in the gigantic McMansions (whose owners would fight tooth and nail against any power lines blocking their views or coming within miles of their homes).

The SJ and LOVESalem agree on something! (La Margarita Express)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

One of the nicer places to eat around here is a locally owned place that quietly serves up good food at good prices from a nondescript storefront location that, while very convenient, really doesn't do it justice. La Margarita Express sits between a beauty shop and one that sells clothes and what-not to hipster kids and across from the misbegotten disaster that is the Court St. Transit Center (with its abundant complement of tattooed ne're-do-wells, tragically young mothers, and feral youth posturing for each other). None of which really detracts from the meal, but probably helps explain why so many Salem folks haven't tried it.

Check it out -- it's great to enjoy a place where the owners bring you not only the usual and salsa as an appetizer but also a nice bowl of warmed refried beans with a sprinkle of cheese --- yum. It's hard to go away hungry.

Peak Moment Conversations: Coming Soon to Salem's Public Access TV (CCTV)

The nice folks at Salem's own CCTV have agreed to broadcast an excellent series of shows, "Peak Moment Conversations," created and produced by two brilliant folks with lots of TV experience (so these shows are many orders of magnitude more professional -- and watchable -- than a few home-made shows you might have seen on cable-access TV before).

CCTV has provided a very nice schedule, with each program showing thrice: Fridays at 5 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m., and Mondays at 9 a.m., so no matter what your schedule is, one of those is bound to work for you (you may also have some sort of capability to "time shift" when you watch). There's an amazing amount of great material in these shows, which they continue to produce, so we'll probably just keep right on going.

Transition Salem sponsors this series as part of our ongoing and growing efforts to get more people involved in helping us prepare for and become more resilient in the rapidly emerging new world of peak oil/energy scarcity, carbon limits, and economic uncertainty.

Please tell your friends, co-workers, the people at church, your book group, your service club, your political friends, etc. about these shows and invite them to watch. Everyone who is concerned for the state of the world and its direction can enjoy these gentle, informative and often inspiring shows. Following is a description and some of the topics that will be shown:

Peak Moment Conversations - stories of local self reliance

Tour a suburban permaculture backyard, ride an electric bike, learn about renewables, car-sharing, intentional communities, and the elephant in the peak oil living room. "Peak Moment: Community Responses for a Changing Energy Future" showcases individuals and groups building resilient, local self-reliant communities responding to a collapsing economy, and accelerating energy and climate decline. The half-hour programs feature host Janaia Donaldson's in-studio conversations, field tours, and occasional presentation excerpts.

This program may not be about your specific community, but it's about everybody's communities in our global community. Stations and viewers tell us they love this show: it's personal, engaging, very local, inspirational, and informative.

And with the economic downturn -- it's timely. The heart of this program are stories told by people about their ideas and actions to live with a smaller footprint, to be connected to the earth and each another, to be more self-sufficient while they protect themselves and their families in the downturn.

The series (146 episodes as of June 2009) has aired for three years on about two dozen community access stations nationwide including Manhattan & Brooklyn NY, Sacramento, San Francisco, and mostly many smaller communities.

Notes to stations:

These programs are up front and personal, and production quality is quite good. It's produced by individuals in northern California with a community access TV background. Program DVDs are available for purchase at www.peakmoment.tv. Target audience is people from teens on up: anybody who eats, drinks and breathes -- and is concerned about sustainability, humans, the economy, and life on the planet.

Frequency of Episodes: Approximately every 30 days

Producer: Peak Moment Television

DL	Episode Title	HH:MM:SS	Total DL

Episode Title	HH:MM:SS
001 Conserving Farmland at Trabucco Ranch	00:28:42.03
072 "What a Way to Go" - Meet the Filmmakers	00:26:51.03
073 Post Carbon Cities - Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty	00:28:01.00
074 San Francisco Takes Action on Climate Change	00:28:04.00
075 Sustainable Connections - Transforming a Community Through Local Business	00:28:02.00
076 City Repair - Permaculture for Urban Spaces	00:27:38.00
077 Climate Change, Despair and Empowerment -- A Roadshow from "Down Under"	00:27:58.00
080 An Innovative Program Helps Residents Protect Their Water	00:27:59.00
081 A No-Nonsense Look at Climate Change and Petrocollapse	00:27:36.50
082 People-Centered Developments for Reduced-Energy Living	00:27:53.00
083 Practical Tools to Grow an Intentional Community	00:27:25.00
084 Creating the Impossible - O.U.R. Ecovillage	00:27:37.00
089 Affordable Homes Forever - Opal Community Land Trust	00:27:12.00
090 What Can One Person Do?	00:28:02.00
091 A Sustainability Renaissance Man	00:28:02.00
092 A Community Car Share Hits the Road	00:28:04.00
093 Mendocino Renegade	00:27:55.50
094 Facilitating Economic Localization in Willits, California	00:27:54.00
095 Economic Localization - A Community Rediscovering Itself	00:27:27.00
096 Reconnecting with Our Roots - Food for Body and Soul	00:27:03.00
097 Toward New Models of Shared Leadership	00:27:49.50
098 Energy Independence -- America's Road Not Taken	00:27:39.50
099 Hope Dances Eternal for this Media Maven	00:27:44.00
100 Suburban Permaculture with Janet Barocco and Richard Heinberg	00:25:23.00
101 Energy and Climate Initiatives in Santa Barbara	00:28:03.00
102 To Be of Use - Serving the Community	00:28:04.00
103 Building An Ecologically Sensible Home	00:27:41.00
105 For the Love of Trees	00:27:55.50
106 Community Gardens Grow Community	00:27:33.00
107 Plug-in Hybrids Power the Grid	00:27:59.00
108 Sustainable Bellingham — Grassroots Organizing is Key	00:27:59.00
109 Powering the Rain Shadow	00:27:26.00
110 Preparing for Peak Oil	00:27:35.50
111 We Make the Road by Walking	00:27:50.00
112 Learning From the Collapse of Earlier Societies	00:27:40.00
113 Designing the Next Generation Hybrid Jungers and Kaufman.mpg	00:28:04.00
129 Meeting the Energy Challenge	00:28:03.00
130 Oil and Gas — The Next Meltdown?	00:27:02.00
131 Making Financial Sense of the Coming Energy Crisis	00:27:48.00
132 Peak Oil and Its Effect on Climate Change	00:21:28.00
133 Two View of a Post-Oil Future	00:27:08.00
134 Shocks, Shortages, and Scenarios - Planning for a Post-Oil Future	00:21:07.00
135 Broadening the Peak Oil Conversation	00:28:03.50
136 Energy Investment - Energy Return	00:27:26.00
137 Peak Oil - Politics, Geopolitics and Choke Points	00:26:55.00
138 The Twilight of an Age	00:25:10.00
139 The Transition Movement Comes to America	00:27:34.00
140 Transit on Demand (Have Cell Will Travel)	00:27:40.00
141 Creating a Home Graywater System	00:27:59.00
142 Energy Coop Brings Power to the People	00:28:02.00
143 Corporate Couple Become Permaculture Activists	00:25:56.00
144 Local Living Economies — Protecting What We Love