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350! 10-10-10! South Bay PedalPalooza, Next Sunday!
South Bay 350 Getting to Work on 10-10-10!
Has the Green Idea City Invited YOU Yet?
My old pal, Michael DiVirgilio, the Mayor of Hermosa – until Pete Tucker takes over that ceremonial title later this month – is putting on a “Leadership Forum” on Sept 10 in Hermosa Beach in the City Council chamber. I only know about it because the announcement was sent to me by accident with a request not to forward it to anyone. I’m honoring that request by reposting the invite here instead of forwarding it to anyone.
It’s all been very hush-hush with no public announcements or outreach despite the fact that he’s been planning it for a couple of months now. It’s apparently by invitation only and intended for VIPs of an undisclosed nature. Call it a closed session if you want to be really accurate.
This isn’t the kind of transparency or sunshine I expect from local elected officials and this level of secrecy isn’t worthy of a “Green Idea City” label.
Greenius on Patch.com: Redondo’s Most Important Vote Has Nothing to Do With Zoning
Although local temperatures have been unseasonably low most of this summer, much of the rest of our planet has been burning (Russia’s historic fires), melting (Greenland glacier chunk breaks off, Arctic Sea Ice Loss), overheating (record heatwaves), or experiencing the extreme weather conditions climate that scientists have been warning about for decades now.
Regardless of what polling of a mostly misinformed and ignorant general public shows, the overwhelming and undeniable consensus of the world’s climate scientists, the people who specialize on the subject, says that we’ve pumped too much greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuels into our atmosphere and it’s overheating global temperatures in the air and in the ocean.
Not surprisingly the fossil fuel industries have spent hundreds of millions trying to con people about what’s happening and focus blame somewhere else. They’ve been doing exactly what the tobacco industry did until the stack of dead bodies from lung cancer victims got too big to ignore.
Greenius on Patch.com: Lessons Learned on Carbon Neutral City Committee
After eight months of working directly with Mayor Michael DiVirgilio to introduce and launch the Carbon Neutral City initiative, I stepped aside two weeks ago to focus more on the surrounding South Bay communities and to play a different role in Hermosa.
It’s been a rewarding and exhilarating 34 weeks since I first sat down with DiVirgilio, Dency Nelson and Robert Fortunato at the Planet Earth Café to propose that Hermosa Beach become the first municipality in Southern California to go carbon neutral and rebrand itself as the “Green Idea City.”
I’ve learned a lot over that period.
Greenpeace Los Angeles Kicking Ass on Chemical Risks
While every elected official I know in the Los Angeles area has been silent and invisible on the issue of chemical plant security over the past year, our true heroes at Greenpeace Los Angeles have been kicking ass and taking names when it comes to keeping this issue on the front burner, informing the public and calling for the necessary action. Chemical plants using poison gases and other lethal toxic compounds surround our highest population areas here in So. Cal and put us all at risk. They could easily switch to safer alternatives but won’t do so unless they are forced by law.
My pal, Jenny Binstock, one of L.A.’s tireless environmental champions has been relentlessly pursuing this issue and was featured in a Greenpeace video from just two weeks ago talking to regular folks at the farmers market. All she’s trying to do is prevent a toxic nightmare right here in our own backyard… Check it out:
If that doesn’t move you to take some action of your own, listen to what this nursing student has to say about how the local medical community would be able to handle a medical emergency in the L.A. area if we had a chemical disaster:
If you’re ready to take some action – and nothing will happen unless you do – we need you to tell your Senators to prevent a toxic nightmare in your community by co-sponsoring and voting for the the Secure Water Facilities Act (S. 3598) and the Secure Chemical Facilities Act (S. 3599).
It wouldn’t hurt if our local council members and mayors in the South Bay spoke out about this issue too, but don’t hold your breath… Or maybe you better.
The Big Green Bus is Coming to Manhattan Beach!
The sensationally sustainable Sona Kalapura is bringing the Big Green Bus to Manhattan Beach on August 2 and August 3.
The Greenius will be there both days to help support Manhattan Beach’s efforts and get to hang with some of the greenest, smartest and most environmentally hip people I know anywhere.
Greenpeace Shutting Down BP Stations in the UK
Bravo to Greenpeace for once again cutting to the heart of the matter and showing us the right way to deal with the oil industry today.
I admire and respect Greenpeace for actions like these which show more smarts and more courage than anyone in our government does.
While our national elected leaders fiddle, delay and obstruct as the planet heads for hell and high water, environmental activists like these Creative Greenius types who belong to Greenpeace are our last best hope for doing the right thing.
Greetings from ToxicTown Torrance! Breathe Deep… That’s the Smell of Dirty Money
My pals at Greenpeace, spearheaded by my sister from another mother, Jenny Binstock, produced the video above to warn folks like me, who live in ToxicTown Torrance, that we’re not really safe from the danger that surrounds us all over the South Bay and throughout all of Los Angeles. Luckily we have Greenpeace on the case to do the job that our own Mayor and City Council just aren’t courageous or visionary enough to do.
Mayor Frank Scotto and my friend, Councilman Cliff Numark, should be the ones informing us of this danger and they should be the ones inviting Retired LA fire captain Ed Shlegel to talk to our citizens about the importance of chemical security legislation and the ways we could all be made safer in our homes, in our schools and in our businesses. They should be the ones urging you to contact US Senator Boxer to tell her to schedule a vote on the Secure Water Facilities Act before the August Recess.
But they’re not and they’re unlikely to ever show that kind of leadership. They’ve never shown the willingness or the balls to take on for profit businesses who foul our skies, pollute our air and poison our lands. They seem to think that short term financial gain and tax dollars are worth the long-term health and safety risks that come with these dirty businesses. I’m afraid to report that their idea of sustainability applies only to their own terms in office.
So it’s up to Jenny Binstock and Greenpeace – and me and you to show the courage, the vision and the balls. Click here to find out everything you need to know to take action
Here’s Boxer’s phone number: 202-224-3553. Tell her you won’t vote for her in a few months unless she does the right thing right now.
Tell her that after her failure to get us a climate bill that you’ve lost faith in her ability to deliver on ANY of her promises and that you don’t care if she loses her job or not. That’s what I told the staffer who answered her phone.
Creative Greenius 