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Are YOU A Neoconservative?
If one had to choose a word to describe neoconservatism,...
Roses:
Gift of the Angels for Gentle Healing Roses have seduced people...
Leaks and Landscape During a Dry Winter
Did you know that most water customers start off the...
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Thom Hartmann

The nation's #1 progressive radio talk show host and the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored winning author of 21 books in print. In its eighth year, The Thom Hartmann Program  airs live daily, NOON – 3pm, ET simulcast as both radio and TV on over 120 radio stations. into more than 50 million homes via both nationwide satellite TV systems (DirecTV and Dish Network). http://www.thomhartmann.com

LOCAL: What’s That All About?

Written by Eric Michielssen | 30 November 2009

Everywhere you hear it! It’s almost too much to take or believe. Why should I when I can buy it cheaper at Wal Mart? Yep, you guessed it—“Buy Local?” As a local, organic farmer, I really supported the idea. But, was my support bolstered by the opportunity to increase profits?

Oh, I’m probably not that shallow-just doing it cause it made good marketing sense. As a local farmer I see the benefits for our community up front and personal as someone said once. Yet, it wasn’t ‘til I was out of the area attending a sustainability conference in New Mexico that a glimmer lit up my head. Ironic? Maybe? Something a small farmer outside of Taos said in a little book I found that not many have read I’m sure. But, it was huge. And let me share a short passage from his wonderful book, A Garlic Testament-Seasons on a Small New Mexico farm by Stanley Crawford.

“But staying at home is the most ecological thing to do. There is no other way to grow your garden, tend your animals, your orchard, your streams and rivers, ponds, and lakes, fences and roads, to study the accretions of time. This is of course mainly what most of humankind has done for most of history. The numbers are rapidly coming in to say that running around, driving and flying, on the scale now considered socially acceptable and even fashionable, is something the planet cannot much longer support.”

The whole book was great and Crawford also shared a lot of his experience growing hundreds of varieties of garlic. And coincidently, our new farm outside of Pozo will be growing a lot of garlic for Slocavores to enjoy.

So, if local is pretty cool and good for the environment and the local economy and our food security, what’s going on with the local farm and food scene? The big news right now is the brand new and expanded Nature’s Touch Nursery and Healthy Foods store in Templeton. Owner Melanie Blankenship of Templeton just opened her new digs on Main Street. And, if that’s not enough, she’s opening a new store in Atascadero as well in just a few weeks.

For the past seven years, I’ve grown organic veggies out at Clark Valley Farm near Los Osos for our CSA members, a bunch of farmer’s markets and some local restaurants. Jim Terrick, my farming partner for the last couple of years, is taking over full ownership of the farm and will continue the CSA next spring.

I’m not quitting! No way! My wife and I just bought a small farm out near Pozo that’s totally off the grid, with solar powering the house and the wells. It’s quit a bit smaller than Clark Valley Farm and a lot more affordable. Hopefully, Dana and I will be able to farm the place into our old, old age.
Stay tuned for more news and information on all that is local in farming, ranching and food in San Luis Obispo County—where food is grown, where you can get your hands on it, and restaurants and cafes that prepare it.

SLO County resident since 1967 Eric Michielssen is a former teacher, tennis coach, Realtor, small-time developer, Broker for People’s Self-Help Housing, a re-born environmentalist, localvoare and organic farmer loving life and our new Pozo farm.

No Sludge

Written by David Broadwater | 03 November 2009

SLO County Planning Commission Bans Sewage Sludge Land Application on Open Space Lands

At its Oct. 23 meeting, the SLO County Planning Commission approved Open Space Policy OS 2.4, which prohibits land application of sewage sludge and composts containing it on open space lands in SLO County.  The Commission is conducting hearings on the County's new Conservation & Open Space Element (COSE) of the General Plan. OS 2.4 is in the Open Space chapter. Staff recommended the prohibition.
The prohibition is consistent with proposed County policy restricting land application exclusively to agricultural-zoned lands producing food and feed and used for grazing.
The prohibition stems from the recognition that unmanaged land application of materials containing sewage sludge poses an unacceptable risk to public health and environmental integrity. This is due to the toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and pathogenic pollutants concentrated in sewage sludge, which persist in the environment.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors will have the final say on OS 2.4 and the COSE.

Ethics and the Green Revolution

03 November 2009

A conscious understanding of our physical environment has been slowly seeping into our lives for years, beginning with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a book on the effects of the chemical DDT on our environment published in 1962. Along with huge strides in efforts to protect the environment have come many dubious claims of concern backed up by little or no action. The word Ethics refers to a set of moral principles generally thought to be essentially good. While many individuals show their concern through word and action, a special species of individual, the corporation, has been less than principled.

If you watch TV at all, you will have seen ads touting the greening of Chevron/Texaco, BP Fuels, and various car manufacturer product lines. In a more forgiving world we might assume that these companies have our best interests at heart and are trying really, really, hard to protect the environment and minimize the impact of their operations and sales on the environment. Based on their actions, rather than their imaginative advertising campaigns, increased profits and higher share price trump ethical corporate behavior every time. A classic example is Texaco’s treatment of drilling wastes in the Ecuadorian rain forest (http://chevrontoxico.com/). Texaco, now Chevron/Texaco, abandoned pools of toxic drilling waste in some of the most sensitive habitat on earth. Read what they say about corporate responsibility at http://www.chevron.com/about/chevronway/ and make your own conclusions. Did Madison Avenue help them a bit with their corporate responsibility pledge?

Another great example, perhaps one of the most painful in today’s business climate, is General Motor’s single-minded pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of long-term health. GM continued to build and sell huge SUVs even as gas prices climbed out of sight, driving the company into bankruptcy on the wheels of Suburbans. The question “is this the right thing to do” apparently never came up. At least GM doesn’t try to put a green spin on their operations (http://gm.com). They apparently will be satisfied if they just survive.

I don’t suggest that corporate malfeasance and lack of ethics occurred in a vacuum, however. The word “Ethos” refers to the fundamental character or spirit of a group or society. As a society, we have given license to, and actively encouraged, corporate behavior by our seemingly endless consumption of goods and services, housing, food, and transportation. If more people drove small, fuel efficient cars, GM would have made more small fuel efficient cars. If we were content to live in small, energy efficient homes, builders would build them for us. Clearly we have some internal attraction to the biggest and the best that requires a conscious decision on our part to overcome. Whether innate or driven by years of exposure to Madison Avenue’s blandishments, as a Nation we are called upon by our environment to change our way of living. With any luck, the change will come within our lifetimes and be a choice we make, not a disaster forced upon us by a ruined earth.

Michael Morin is the owner of Morin Bros., a full service automotive shop in San Luis Obispo. For answers to car questions email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fishing for Sustainability:

Written by Adaire Hahn | 01 October 2009

Hook, Line, and Thinker

Sustainable is a buzzword used quite liberally these days, and an important watch word it is. Somewhere between “Have it your way” and “My way or the high-way” there's been a disassociation in American culture that separates humankind from nature, and imbalance ensues. In terms of fishing and seafood, however, sustainable pertains to how often a species can keep up its numbers, as well as the method to which the species is caught or harvested.

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Styrohome

Written by Sonsie Conroy & Allyson Nakasone | 01 October 2009

Imagine for a moment that you lived in a house built out of Styrofoam coffee cups. You'd certainly worry about safety and stability; let alone what the house would look like. And yet this material is part of a green wave of new building materials that promise to save time and money at the same time that they reduce waste and conform to green guidelines.

We can see some of the first homes built of Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS), a first cousin to Styrofoam, right here in San Luis Obispo, next to French Hospital on Johnson Avenue. These houses began life in the same way as any other building: with the development of the architect's plans. But rather than using wood or steel studs to erect the structure, the builder invented a new method, and called it Vitruvian. Duane Heil is the owner of Vitruvian, an Arroyo Grande firm that works with EPS to create building "kits" that are preformed, with many components already in place, and that can be erected right on-site.
Employing a complex computer system, Vitruvian uses the architect's plans to extrude fully-formed EPS panels for walls, ceilings, and other objects. Lightweight steel reinforcement is added, along with conduit, electric junction boxes, and other needed components. Each item is numbered and a schematic is produced to show exactly how to put the building together on the site. The walls are so light that two men can maneuver them into position. In many respects, these state-of-the-art buildings resemble the old Sears catalog houses sold around the turn of the century, shipped to the site by train or freight wagon, and erected by the homeowner on his own lot.

Vitruvian estimates that this construction method saves about 20% over standard building techniques, and is easy to teach and learn. Waste material is recycled, both at the factory and on the building site, so little if any remains to enter the waste stream.

The insulating properties of EPS are excellent, and all Vitruvian materials produce zero off-gassing for the life of the building. The building package provides a completed, weather-tight shell that also provides a low carbon footprint and extremely low energy bills for the life of the building.

While most construction projects create an estimate 10% waste, this new method reduces that figure to 1%. Vitruvian is able to accomplish this by recycling all unused pieces. In addition to the waste being recyclable, the whole building is recyclable too! The more custom and complex the building, the more this innovative construction method will benefit the project. With regard to energy savings, if all construction was done this way, it would be the equivalent of removing more than 80 million cars between now and 2030.

For more information, visit Vitruvian's website: www.vitruvianbuilt.com, and watch their construction video. Also, check out their blog for photos of the first-ever EPS pool, nearing completion in Arroyo Grande. Now that is one huge Styrofoam cup!

Not All Electric Cars

01 October 2009

Look Like Cars

Automobile manufacturers took the conservative route when they designed their hybrids, with the possible exception of Toyota’s Prius, which, dare I say, is now so common that Honda has copied its design for their new Civic Hybrid. They wanted them to look like cars, even if the interface was somewhat alien and intimidating compared with your average Chevy. A huge exception to this rule will be appearing on California’s highways and byways by the end of this year. The Aptera is the brain child of inventor Steve Fambro, an LA resident, commuter, and inventor who wanted to drive in the carpool lane but couldn’t always find a passenger. He partnered with composite boat builder and pilot Chris Anthony to design an exceptionally efficient vehicle that in California qualified as a motorcycle, allowing it to drive in the carpool lanes with a single passenger.

The initial offering will be an all electric, three-wheel vehicle that looks like it just landed in the experimental section of the airport, losing its wings in the process. Capable of a theoretical 100 miles per charge, the Aptera will accelerate to 60 miles per hour in less than 10 seconds and cruise at 70 in the car-pool lane of the freeway while carrying two people and a very modest amount of luggage or groceries. The passenger seat will fold down and allow a surfboard or step ladder to squeeze in as well. Driving the Aptera requires no special skills, and does not require a motorcycle endorsement on your California Drivers License. Perhaps the greatest challenge many will have with the car is getting in and out of it. Like some low slung exotics, the driver has to go in butt first, swinging the legs and head in afterward. Rearward vision can also be an issue. Some of the early prototypes had three cameras displaying the rear sides and back, while the later ones had left and right outside rear view mirrors and a single camera at the rear.

Diminutive size and use of composites has kept the weight of the Aptera to just 1500 to 2000 pounds. It is designed to handle adverse weather, steep hills, and bumpy roads, keep the occupants warm or cold as they might desire, just like a real car, and do it while using very little energy. The Aptera 2h will be a gasoline electric hybrid with a tiny gasoline engine that is relegated to charging the batteries only. Preliminary estimates suggest that it will be capable of a real world 100 to 200 miles to the gallon of gasoline!

The influence of pilot and boat builder Chris Anthony is clearly seen in the aerodynamic shape of the Aptera, but what you don’t see are the talents of engineers and designers that include some of the best minds in Detroit. Hopefully this will translate into a viable, user friendly people hauler that will carve out a place amongst a Prius and Smart car crowd that places a high value on economy of operation and environmental friendliness.

SOURCES:
http://www.aptera.com/
http://www.apteraforum.com/
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4237853.html

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