The View From Here Today

I contributed the following to the World Wildlife Climate Witness site last week and it was published this morning.  I took the photos that now illustrate it here on my blog within the last hour:

My name is Joe Galliani, I’m 52 years old and I’ve lived in Southern California for 33 years.
(c) 2009 by Joe Galliani
(c) 2009 by Joe Galliani - This afternoon's view from my studio's patio

Since 1993 my wife and I have lived in Torrance California, just a half mile from the beautiful beach and the Pacific Ocean. We feel very fortunate to live here at the base of the gorgeous Palos Verdes Peninsula, but today we’re breathing a big sigh of relief learning that the Palos Verdes Wildfire was 100% contained this morning. What we’re not breathing is clean air, because the smoke from the La Canada-Flintridge fire, about 38 miles from here, is still making air quality hazardous and people in the L.A. basin are being advised not to spend too much time outdoors and to keep their doors and windows closed and their air conditioners running.

ToxicTown Torrance Has A Chemical Problem

As if I don’t have enough environmental trouble to worry about here in ToxicTown, Torrance, California, my home for the past 16+ years, what with the evil Exxon Mobil Refinery using 750 prime acres of our real estate to spew greenhouse gases and other climate changing emissions day and night with the blessing and endorsement of our City Council, Mayor and easy to please Environmental Commission.

But today my friends at Greenpeace released a new reason to worry about the environment here in Torrance.  They put the bulls-eye on JCI Jones Chemical as the posterboys for needlessly dangerous chemical plants that put 4.5 million women, children and men at risk.  I’m one of those men and I take it personally …

torranceCAmap

California Goes To Hell In A Handbasket But Greenius Says AB 811 is Our Route To Green Heaven

P1040763As my beloved state of California’s driftless and leaderless economy was being driven deeper and deeper into the toilet by the least impressive occupants of Sacramento in modern history, I hopped in my del Sol Greeniusmobile and motored to downtown Los Angeles last month headed for the palatial headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the MTA.

I had ventured forth from the calm, cooling breezes of my mellow beach community because the treasure map I had recently discovered showed that over $600 million was available inside that building.

The treasure chest was cleverly disguised in the form of Federal stimulus money from the ARRA, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Imagine that.

While it’s sad but true that the entire gang in Sacramento can no longer figure out how to make California work,  President Obama and his “Yes I Can” team do know what they’re doing.  That’s why they have authorized over $7 billion bucks in energy efficiency and clean energy programs for the USA.  And damned if California isn’t going to score like a horny Republican Governor on Viagra in Argentina.

Exxon/Mobil Guilty of Climate Change Coverup. Now Ordered Out of Torrance 3 Years Sooner.

torrnace refinery

I initially gave Exxon/Mobil till 2020 to get out of Torrance and clean up their toxic mess here in my town. But now that I’ve found out they’re still lying and covering up their role in climate change and the size of their own carbon footprint, I’m going to have to get tougher with them. Some people just cannot be negotiated with and need a swift, hard kick in the ass.  Sometimes they need several of them.

The global gangbangers from Exxon/Mobil are like that. They’ll forever claim to be reformed and rehabilitated but in the end they’ll always knife you in the back and sell crack to your kids. It’s just part of their DNA. They’ve been acting that way for generations.

That’s why I shouldn’t have been surprised when I read this today in the Guardian of England:

The world’s largest oil company is continuing to fund lobby groups that question the reality of global warming, despite a public pledge to cut support for such climate change denial, a new analysis shows.

Ted Lieu Wants My Money, Wants My Vote, But Doesn’t Want To Talk About AB 920

Assemblyman Ted Lieu, 53rd DistrictI’m beginning to think that Ted Lieu only co-authored AB 920, the Feed-In Tariff bill as window dressing in order to try to pad his environmental resume.

Ted doesn’t talk about the bill in public, won’t put anything about it on his own web site, and looks down at his shoes and changes the subject if you ask him about the bill personally.

Why shouldn’t we conclude that Ted is practicing political greenwashing when he won’t show any backbone or courage and lobby on behalf of his own  bill even when you ask him to?

Until Ted proves otherwise, that’s the conclusion I have reached.  And in case you’re wondering, I’m a registered Democrat and a member of the Beach Cities Democratic Club, but fellow Democrat Lieu gets zero slack cut on this issue from me.

Ted Lieu used to be one of my city councilmen here in Torrance, but he didn’t stay local long because Ted had much bigger political ambitions than that.

Greenius Goes All AB 811 Over Green Task Force

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Creative Greenius talks AB 811 Financing to the Green Task Force / photo (c) Debra Bushweit Galliani

Last Thursday afternoon your Creative Greenius took yet another step on my journey to employ my professional skills, talents and resources for greater green good and not just to line my own pockets.

And so it was that I found myself in the Hermosa Beach City Council Chambers addressing the Green Task Force audience you cannot see in this photo as I presented my Finding The Green To Green The Grid House By House PowerPoint. (Click Here to Download a PDF copy of my presentation)

That audience is made up mostly of city staff members from the 17 different cities that make up the South Bay COG plus some interested citizens of those cities.  On this day it also included several board members of the Environmental Priorities Network, the Reverend Ron and even Mrs. Greenius.

Fortunately I suffered no stage fright or stress because I had spent many weeks researching, interviewing, analyzing and then crafting a presentation that simplifies the information and makes the subject clear and easy for everyone to understand.  For the past two decades I’ve been one of the top freelance pros in the United States doing this kind of work for my multinational corporate clients.  I bring the same level of focus, dedication and work ethic to the pro bono work I’m now doing.

But I also bring something more on top of all that.

Solar Smackdown in Torrance – Installer Sues City on Behalf of the Sun

Nice Guy-LargeAfter a decade in the solar power installation business, Bradley Bartz is tired of being Mr. Nice Guy.  He’s tried the sugar and honey approach for ten years but instead of catching flies he’s caught hassles and obstructions from local Southern California city officials who haven’t kept up with modern technology and remain both ignorant and adversarial when it comes to helping their citizens go solar.

Idiots!” is what Bartz calls them and he’s doing more than name calling.  He’s filed suit against Torrance, the proud home of Exxon/Mobil’s refinery, for stopping him from installing solar panels in the Hillside Overlay district.

In this exclusive and wide-ranging interview with your Creative Greenius, the outspoken Bradley Bartz of ABC Solar shares the inside story of not only his legal suit against Torrance, but his broader plans to force cities to live up to the state’s California Solar Rights Act, his unique views on the California’s solar rebate program and his red tape experiences in dealing with Southern California Edison.                              

Green Manhattan Beach Going Plug-In. Here Comes BMW’s Mini E!

The Mini E - Soon to be seen Plugged-into Manhattan Beach

And we’ll have fun, fun, fun, till daddy takes the Min-E Away

Reliable sources inform your Creative Greenius that Manhattan Beach is about to be named the first Southern California city to be part of BMW’s test of the new plug-in Mini E, the EV version of the popular Mini Cooper.

The local paper had a piece on April 26 that said MB was under consideration and outlining the unbeatable $10 a month cost of the cars.

Expect an official announcement after the Manhattan Beach city council approves the arrangement.

BREAKING NEWS: Exxon/Mobil Ordered Out of Torrance, Guilty of Greenhouse Gas Pollution

Pack Up Your Toxic, Fossil Fuel Factory With Its Climate-Changing Products & Get Out of Town By 2020!” Greenius Rules

It’s true, I have declared it thus this very day, marking this date as the beginning of the end of the Exxon/Mobil era.

Consider this fair and legal warning, world’s largest and most polluting oil company – I’m giving you 10 years to pack up and hit the road.  Otherwise I will have you evicted and we will seize your assets. Mark your calendar and let’s start collecting empty moving boxes for our poison pals in petroleum.

pack-your-bags-boys

The Greenius Goes Into Overdrive

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The Greenius in Yosemite

As the climate change crisis goes from bad to worse (while the deniers get nuttier and more cult-like with each passing day) and Australia gives Californians an advanced sneak preview at what is without a doubt headed our way sooner than you expect, your Creative Greenius has only gotten more Fired Up, Ready to Go!

That’s right my friends, while others are cutting back, downsizing, slowing down and pulling back, your Creative Greenius is not only Ready to Go, I’m already going, baby, and I’m moving at Obama speed.

So buckle up and hang on while I take you for a little trip with the Greenius to the places I’ve been and the places I’m going…