Dude! What Part of Fires, Flood, Drought & Record Temps Didn’t You Understand?

July 2, 2011July 3, 2011carbon producers, climate change, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, SustainabilityLeave a Comment

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet. That’s What Happens When YOU’RE the Jackass driving 140 Miles An Hour Totally Toasted

Good old now dead Jackass, Ryan Dunn, never provided me with a single ounce of entertainment, but he has handily provided me with an apt metaphor for all his fellow Jackasses who keep talking smack and moron-level nonsense about global warming and climate change being a hoax.

So he’s got that going for him now.

If we’re not the climate equivalent of a Jackass who already has 23 tickets and still gets drunk off his ass and drives 140 miles an hour and crashes and burns well then, I don’t know who is.

According to court records, Dunn had at least 23 driving infractions over the last 13 years from six different counties, among them citations for speeding and careless driving, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving without a license, two parking-related transgressions and a criminal mischief-damage to property citation.

Continue reading ➞ Dude! What Part of Fires, Flood, Drought & Record Temps Didn’t You Understand?

Traveling Through Time, Exploring the String Theory and Hugging the Giant Sequoias

June 4, 2011June 20, 2011climate change, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green vacations, national parks, renewable energy, solar power, Sustainability1 Comment

I took an unexpected trip in the WABAC Machine last week while I was on vacation with the lovely and talented Debra just outside Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park here in America’s most beautiful state, California.

We like to rent a house in the town of Three Rivers when we go up there and we’ve always found different, very cool places to stay on Vacation Rental By Owner (vrbo.com). The house we stayed in this trip was perfect. It was a craftsman-built one-bedroom with every amenity. Private. Quiet. On 13 acres and just a 15 minute drive from the Park’s southern entrance.

There was a nice selection of books, especially guides to the flora and fauna of the High Sierras. We also found magazines (Utne Reader anyone?) CDs and Blueray DVD movies and documentaries.

I pulled an old issue of Sierra (the magazine of the Sierra Club) from July/August 1997. It was there because the cover story was “Among the Ancients, Giant Sequoias of the Sierra” Another article headline that made the cover, “Is Al Gore Our Great Green Hope?”

Wow… 14 years ago doesn’t seem like a million years ago, but damn if it wasn’t.

Vice President, Al Gore, talking about the need to take immediate action on global warming and failing to convince the President or any Republicans that he knew what the hell he was talking about.

Indeed as it turned out he knew far more than the President or any member of Congress did on the subject but none of them cared because Gore’s personality and persona didn’t work on TV. I’ve always said that it’s a curse to be truly intelligent in the USA and nobody in American politics ever fails when they attack the smartest person in the room for having too damn much intelligence and not enough common man “I want to have a beer with that dude” appeal.

Al Gore is one reason I like to believe in my own favorite version of the String Theory of particle physics – multiple alternative universes occurring simultaneously is the way I like to grok it.

Continue reading ➞ Traveling Through Time, Exploring the String Theory and Hugging the Giant Sequoias

Free Earth Day Movie Friday, April 22, in Manhattan Beach

April 6, 2011April 6, 2011carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, environmental legislation, fossil fuels, Sustainability1 Comment

From my great friends, Carolyn Miller and Transition South Bay L.A. and Sona Kalapura and the green city of Manhattan Beach

If you don’t know how damaging plastics are to our environment here are two free showings on Earth Day 2011 – Friday, April 22 – of the movie BAG IT that will enlighten you and make you angry. Angry is good when it comes to more petroleum based products that we have shoved down our throats until they choke our landfills and oceans. The Greenius says, Ban Plastic Bags! Then force the manufacturers of those bags to clean up the mess they’ve made all over the planet.

CicLaVia is Back This Sunday & We’ll Be Rolling Against Coal!

April 5, 2011April 5, 2011Bicycles, carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, fossil fuels, Sustainability1 Comment

How’d you like to enjoy 7-and-a-half miles of L.A. streets free of motorized vehicles and open only to bicyclists and pedestrians? Stroll, play, talk, celebrate -do whatever you want on the public street without sucking up gas fumes or fearing for your life from drunk drivers, texting drivers, drivers eating or putting on makeup or just plain dangerous behind the wheel lunatics.

That’s exactly the scene you’re going to get this Sunday, April 10 from 10am to 3pm at the second ever L.A. CicLaVia where public streets from Boyle Heights to Downtown, MacArthur Park to East Hollywood will be shut down to traffic and open to you and me emission free.

My favorite part of this next CicLaVia is the Bike Parade coming from my friends at Greenpeace and Sierra Club which they’re calling ROLL AGAINST COAL. In case you didn’t know, the City of Los Angeles still gets 40% of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, the dirtiest polluters and greenhouse gassers on the planet. It’s long been time to kick coal out of L.A.’s power supply and that’s exactly what Greenpeace and Sierra Club have in mind with their BEYOND COAL CAMPAIGN.

Sunday’s bike parade is part of that campaign and designed to call more attention to it. Not only will those Rolling AGainst Coal have a traveling good time together as we bike parade throughout the event, but we’ll be busting out the Creative Greenius with the decoration of our bicycles and the visual aides and props we also sport to raise awareness about the city’s addiction to coal and the life-saving difference Los Angeles could make if it fully commits to the green vision for a clean energy future! Get all the details you need after the jump.

Continue reading ➞ CicLaVia is Back This Sunday & We’ll Be Rolling Against Coal!

Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

December 3, 2010December 4, 2010climate change, energy efficiency, environment, Sustainability7 Comments

I ordered my new 2011 wall calendar for my office from Amazon.com because they had the best price and free shipping. But I thought that free shipping meant “no cost” not “brain free.” Apparently that’s not the case because Amazon sent me my 2011 calendar in a box big enough to ship a flat screen TV. Check it out: When the box arrived via Fed Ex ground, I got excited thinking someone had sent me a large gift…I mean this box was huge, dwarfing my large sized trash and recycle bins…

Continue reading ➞ Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Hey, Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, I’ve Got Your New Direction Right Here!

November 28, 2010November 28, 2010carbon producers, climate change, electric cars, energy efficiency, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green jobs, plug-in cars, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment

The Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce quietly parted ways with its executive director last week, telling local reporters only that it wanted to embark on “a new direction” that would include “more community outreach and more collaboration with local businesses and city government.”

Well I’ve got just the new direction the Chamber is looking for.

It’s a direction totally in line with its mission to “promote, educate and organize the businesses which serve our residents” and will instantly deliver on its desire for community outreach and collaboration with both businesses and city government.

The Green Idea City movement has been slowly building since the Hermosa Beach City Council embraced it at its January goal-setting workshop, as then-Mayor Michael DiVirgilio outlined in his March article in the Daily Breeze.

Read the rest of the story on Hermosa Beach Patch.com

GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Top 10 Green Champions in Hermosa I’m Most Thankful For

November 23, 2010November 28, 2010citizen volunteer, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green jobs, plug-in cars, politics, recycling, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment

When it comes to the holiday season I’m a Thanksgiving kind of guy.

I love everything about T-Day: the focus on gratitude and appreciation, the gathering of family and friends, the sharing of a feast we’ve all contributed to, and best of all, its non-denominational inclusiveness.

In a year when there was hardly anything on the national environmental scene to be thankful for (and frankly plenty to flat out freak out over) it’s been the right time to think globally and act locally, especially if that locality happens to be Hermosa Beach where you have green champions such as:

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON HERMOSA BEACH PATCH.COM

Ready To Be Part of Art History & Be Seen Around the World? Join Us On November 21 for Another 350.org Spectacular!

November 17, 2010citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, fossil fuels, renewable energy, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment

As you know my pals at 350.org have a certain flare for the dramatic. The Global Work Party on 10/10/10, which your South Bay 350 Climate Action Group was proud to be part of, was the largest day of carbon-cutting action in the planet’s history. And there’s no way we’re stopping there. The acceleration of climate change in 2010 won’t let us.

Now, artists and activists have dreamed up an out-of-this-world art project that will keep the climate crisis on the front pages of media outlets around the globe. Talk about pure creative greenius!

And when I say “out-of-this-world” you can take me literally.

Continue reading ➞ Ready To Be Part of Art History & Be Seen Around the World? Join Us On November 21 for Another 350.org Spectacular!

Don’t Miss the RETHINK: GREEN Benefit for ECHS on Nov 6

October 27, 2010citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, green education, SustainabilityLeave a Comment

If you dig Environmental Charter High School and the the Green Ambassadors as much as I do then you’re not going to want to miss this all star charity event on their behalf, especially if you’re also a fan of Ed Begley Jr. and his Living With Ed Show. Check out the details and join me on Saturday, Nov 6 in supporting these true green heroes!

Creative Greenius Loves Hermosa Beach Sharrows & You Should Too

October 14, 2010October 14, 2010Bicycles, citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, Sustainability, Yes We Can!Leave a Comment

South Bay Bikes — Members of the newly formed South Bay Bicycle Coalition are happy with the Hermosa Beach "sharrows," which allow bicyclists to use a lane of traffic on Hermosa Avenue. The group hopes to see more South Bay cities install such bicycle-friendly facilities. (Steve McCrank, Daily Breeze Staff Photographer)

I’ve written before about the sharrows Hermosa Beach painted on Hermosa Ave earlier this year and how much I like them. I continue to use them and I like them even more now. I feel safer when riding on Hermosa Ave and the cars on the road don’t seem to have any real problems going around me if they need to.

Since I stop at all the stop signs, I get a certain amount of respect from the vehicles I’m sharing the road with too.

I think a lot more streets should feature sharrows throughout Hermosa Beach and the newly resurfaced Upper Pier Ave is a good place to put them next. I think most of my friends in the South Bay Bicycle Coalition and the Beach Cities Cycling Club agree with me.

My recent bicycle tour of Long Beach with their Mobility Coordinator extraordinaire, Charlie Gandy, further convinced me of the benefits of sharrows. Their green painted sharrow lane on 2nd Street in the Belmont Shore neighborhood produced 30% more cyclists with fewer crashes, 20% fewer cyclists riding on the sidewalk and a 50% reduction in car/bike crashes.

A big part of the reasons sharrows work so well in Long Beach is because of the great job they did educating their elected officials, the police force and the public. They made sure they got the word out, that people in the community understood what the rules were and what the benefits would be from working together. The result? Long Beach is fast on the way to becoming the most bicycle friendly city in California.

There’s no reason Hermosa Beach can’t follow that same sharrow story of success and indeed if Hermosa really wants to be taken seriously as a “Green Idea City” or wants to actually achieve carbon neutrality it’s going to need sharrows and a lot more bicycle infrastructure and friendliness to get there.

Step one to get there is for a strong bicyclist turnout for Wednesday (Oct 20) night’s public forum on Hermosa Beach Sharrows. Check out the details after the jump.

Continue reading ➞ Creative Greenius Loves Hermosa Beach Sharrows & You Should Too