Title: A Real Anti-war Resolution and City Policy, and a
bit
I think
Gary Hoover has the best proposal for our cities response to the
threatened war with Iraq. Resolutions are pretty much meaningless, but
what Gary proposes are concrete steps that will reduce our countries
perceived need to wage war for oil.
This
issue is quite timely for me- earlier today one of my carbon monoxide
detectors went off. Being that these toys are made in China, I keep
two of them around in hopes that one will work. True to Chinese
quality standards, one was beeping and blinking away while the other
said all's well. Noting that the stovepipe did seem rather hot for the
medium amount of heat being produced I was inclined to believe the
hyperactive alarm.
I
promptly shut off the natural gas space heater and turned on the
backup electric heater. Now at this point conventional wisdom would be
to call Minnegasco and let them sort things out. This would result in
Minnegasco coming out and a) after a couple hundred dollar service
call tell me that the flue is blocked and I need to call a masonry
contractor to reline the chimney, or, b) tell me my 1960s vintage
Burn-O-Matic space heater is beyond hope and try to sell me a new
forced air furnace even though I've no basement to run ducts in.
Now
option a) would cost over a thousand dollars given that this is a two
story house with a steep roof. Option b) is too frightening to
consider- A friend of mine recently wandered out to Minnegasco's cute
fireplace showroom and fell in love with a gas fired fake wood stove.
The tag said something less than $3000 with "standard
installation". So she had Minnegasco come out and give her an
estimate for installing one in her less than hundred year old
Minneapolis house- came to something like $7000.
If you
have an older house, Minnegasco is not your friend. Now I could do
like some of the do it yourselfers do and just buy a cheap gas space
heater and hook it up myself. But natural gas is nasty stuff- they put
those diamond shaped HazMat signs on tanks of it for a reason. So
Minnegasco has you over an oil barrel- or do they?
Despite
the protestations of some insurance companies, wood and corn stoves
are much safer than natural gas. Ever seen HazMat placcards on a log
truck or a load of corn? They are also installable by the average
citizen. For my garage I bought an EPA certified low emisions wood
stove for under $400. Taking lots of time to carefully read the
instructions and check and recheck everything I did the installation
myself in less than a day. These modern solid fuel stoves vent direct
through the wall so there's no need to climb on roofs- even a gimp
like myself can install them. The wood pellet and corn stoves use
giant hoppers and a fill will last a day or more- no need to
constantly stoke the fire. And we have a surplus of corn and wood to
burn here in the heartland!
BTW,
I've been through this problem before- the chimney gets blocked by
birds nests and such. My not so standard repair procedure is to open
up an inspection port and bang away with plumbers snakes, whatever...
to clear the obstruction. This has worked twice before, but my initial
attempts this time have been unsuccessful. I've considered some of the
larger (M80) recreational explosives, but their hard to find this time
of year. Perhaps overnight we'll come up with some creative means to
clear my blocked chimney...
Failing
that, I may have to run out to Fleet Farm and invest in a corn or wood
stove. Under $2000 for a new one, and if I have to abandon my house to
the gangs I can unbolt it and take it with me.
The
hyperactive CO detector just went off again, even though the gas space
heaters been off for hours. The gas water heater was going though...
s'pose I'll have to shut that off for the night too. I'd love to put
in a passive solar water heater, but with all the bullets flying
'round Hawthorne they're not a good investment. Just think of a bullet
busting out a glass tank full of water on your roof in below zero
weather...
tryin'
to stay warm in Hawthorne,
Dyna
Sluyter
Mayor Rybak
notes that he will veto an anti-war resolution if passed by the city
council.
I would like to see our Mayor and city council pass a resolution much
more specific and much more positive, as well as good for the city in
many other ways.
I would like thee mayor and city council to pass a resolution to free
Minneapolis from the grip of the coal and oil industries which are at
the heart of much of our pollution, urban sprawl, and geopolitical
crisis.
Even foggy San Fransisco recently initiated a $100 million solar power
project which will net the city huge savings over time and a measure
of energy independence starting immediately.
This project will begin to free that city from the grip of
pollution-intensive energy sources managed by corporations which are
really not about providing good services and products for people, but
about extracting money from people any way they can.
So here are some topics for a real anti-war resolution....
RESOLUTION TOPIC 1: SUSTAINABLE URBAN ENERGY
Minnesota has a rich supply of clean energy: wind alone could
power our state -- probably make us an energy exporting state. Solar
technology more effective all the time. Solar panels in
Minneapoliscould supply energy on-site everywhere.
This is the most effective way to get energy, and creates the most
resilient energy supply possible as well. Natural disaster or
terrorist attacks can disrupt the fragile and brittle infrastructure
we currently use, but scattered-site sources can be set up to function
even if the grid goes down.
RESOLUTION TOPIC 2: SUSTAINABLE URBAN PLANNING
The Mayor and City Council should also set in motion a vigourous plan
to encourage small businesses within walkable, bikable neighborhoods.
Urban villages must be the norm, not the exception. This alone
can save energy and cut down on pollution.
RESOLUTION TOPIC 3: SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORTATION
3A: WALKABLE, BIKABLE CITY
The city leaders must resolve to support the cleanest, healthiest
forms of transportation available for the widest possible use in the
city. Our infrastructure and traffic laws must encourage and reward
walking and biking. Businesses that use Human Powered Vehicles must be
acknowledged, supported, and held up as examples to the rest of the
community. Pollution-intensive, petroleum-intensive, and
coal-intensive forms of transportation must be reduced to a
minimum.
I continue to work to establish a transportation co-operative in
Minneapolis to provide affordable, clean transportation. Council
members Dan Niziolek and Dean Zimmerman have been helpful, and Lisa
McDonald has been helpful as well. The city needs to make such a
project a real priority in terms of policy and budget.
So far the city has done nothing to promote and integrate HPVs or
small electric neighborhood vehicles into the transportation
network.
The Greenway and other such projects will wither away if we do not
work to create an integrated sustainable transportation system. As it
is, the Greenway is a fragile and temporary venture which is
vulnerable to being thrown on the development scrap-heap. Left
as it is, it wil continue to be misunderstood and under-utilized.
The expansion and development of the Greenway is vital, but only as
part of a fully-integrated plan to encourage walking, biking, and use
of public transportation over an auto-based system.
3B: FOSSIL-FUEL-FREE CITY FLEET
The city fleet must become fossil-fuel-free. This can be
accomplished using current renewable technology, and should be an
intensive project, implemented immediately. Wind and Solar
sourced electricity could power some vehicles. Some small service
vehicles could be HPVs. Other vehicles could be powered from biomass
fuels grown locally. The city should enlist the state-supported and
private Univeresities and Colleges in the area to do ongoing research
into implementing, monitoring, and improving technologies related to
this project.
RESOLUTION TOPIC 4: FOSSIL-FUEL-FREE HOME HEATING
City leaders must resolve to encourage the use of clean corn-burning
stoves in the city. A well-educated and much-experienced green
leader pointed out to me yesterday that grain silos fallen into disuse
should be re-used. Local farmers can be contracted to grow non-GMO
corn using sustainable farming methods to fill those silos. The
corn could be carried by HPV to homes throughout the city from various
distribution points.
I easily haul up to 500 or 600 pounds on my HPV -- year-round -- and I
know this can be done. Good jobs can be created, the local
economy strengthened, pollution reduced, and our city can make a real,
profound statement against war and for peace.
Efficient corn furnaces are only one alternative to fossil-fuel home
heating. There are many more possibilities.
There is more, but this post is intended to stimulate our leaders and
my fellow citizens to think of more ways we as a city can pass a real
resolution for peace-making is this war-dominated season of
"peace on earth". More ideas, anyone?
QUESTION: what is lean and green and red, white, and blue all
over?
ANSWER: a real, true American patriot!!!
-- Gary Hoover -- pedaling for peace all over town from King
Field
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