Al Gore's Big House

Or houses?

Media has had news about the allegedly "global warming" utility bills for Al Gore's residences; the preacher against global warming.

I saw his movie, "Inconvenient Truth." It's one of the few movies I have seen since I am not one for Hollywood, celebrities and their big houses.

I liked the movie.

Yes, the message is important, we do need to address global warming. My main complaint about the movie was not seeing bicycles. I don't think he mentioned bicycles. One can walk away knowing we have a global warming problem while feeling helpless about solutions.

Yes, celebrities, politicians and so forth live in big houses all too often. Would you listen to some cleaning lady, or janitor, like me?

Not long ago, I heard someone on the radio complain that Wikipedia wouldn't allow articles about "just anyone down the street." Try doing an entry for the cleaning lady.

Does someone have to live in a big house to have a voice?

Also, just about everyone drives.

We all live in Al Gore's big house, it's our Planet Earth.

Conversation about The Compact

The compact to not buy new things was a topic on KUOW Radio's "The Conversation" yesterday (February 26). A group of folks making a compact not to buy new things except for a few exceptions such as food. This can reduce consumption. They have a Yahoo group and so forth.

Interesting idea.

I haven't taken any pledge against new items, but I don't consume as much as most folks around me.

One caller worried that such movements could put folks out of work. Less consumption means less manufacturing and retailing.

Here is where we can connect two movements. There is a movement for "shorter work week." A quote I once saw said, "work less, buy less, live more fully."

Having a family can make downsizing more difficult. Kids are often influenced by peer pressure and advertising for shiny new products. They can become like "Trojan horses" residing in the household and bringing demands for things they see on TV or at friend's places.

Still, several callers with kids said that their children were understanding and going along with the program, so to speak.

My lifestyle is quite austere. I have no one's demands to worry about, but myself.

Being single has advantages.

Single living is be more the story of my lifestyle than being gay. While listening to that show, I checked my email and found this piece about how to tell you are gay.

Here are the 3 top items that came to view in that email.

You know you are gay if:

1. You wear appropriate underwear for each of your dates.
2. You understand the subtle differences between at least 20 brands of vodka.
3. You understand the immense importance of good (or bad) lighting.

Much of identifying with various strands of culture revolve around consumption. Whether you are an SUV driving "soccer mom," or a fashion conscious gay male, the stereotypical norms of our culture are often defined by the products we buy.

Here are some questions to ponder.

Does downsizing make one a loner in this culture?

Is being a loner necessarily bad?

Is having a nice car, clothing, furniture, living space a prerequisite for dating and being in a relationship (either gay or straight?)

Are there other ways of feeling connected besides being in a relationship; being the top catch for a date?

Connection between Amazing Grace and abortion

In some conservative Christian circles, there is a connection being made between the slave trade and abortion. Both are seen as related around the question "can someone be defined as human with basic human rights?"

This dialog is revolving around the film Amazing Grace which talks about abolishing the British slave trade in the early 1800s.

Interesting concept, but I have a different view.

Scientists and theologians will ponder the question, "when does human life begin" for years to come. Answers have not been conclusive, to me at least. Meanwhile, it's known that thousands of people die each day from malnutrition. I recently saw a sign up on the campus of Western Washington University stating that 1,208 people die each hour from malnutrition. That's an amazing number!

Can the world feed all her people, or is overpopulation going to lead to mass suffering and death?

I would say that in an ideal world, a totally ideal world, there would not be abortion. That's an ideal world. I actually don't know of anyone who thinks abortion is wonderful, like for instance, "go out and get an abortion for the fun of it." In an ideal world, there wouldn't be abortion, but there also wouldn't be unwanted pregnancy. There also wouldn't be starvation or environmental degradation.

How can we get closer to living in such an ideal world? To me, that's a more important question than whether someone is "pro life," or "pro choice."

Often, in the name of "pro life," funding is cut off to important family planning organizations that help address the issues of unwanted pregnancy and world population explosion. There are many good things that these organizations do of which abortion may be just a small part of the picture. About the good work that many of these groups do, I hate to use this analogy, but cutting their funding can be a case of "throwing out the baby with the bath water."

Yes, reducing world population is an important goal toward reducing death and suffering. Think about even the over 40 million Americans with no health insurance, not to mention that 1,208 starving world citizens per hour that I saw depicted on that campus sign.

Then there is the question of the morning after pill. It's still after a pregnancy begins, but do we define a small culture of cells the same as a human being? Of course, prevention is the best strategy. Prevention of unwanted pregnancy. Good sex education, anyone? "Abstinence only" doesn't seem to work.

At best, these are all complicated issues with many shades of gray. Just passing laws against abortion isn't going to solve these problems.

One Thousand Two Hundred and Eight Plastic Forks

sadly stuck into the grass in front of poor "Old Main" administration building of Western Washington University.

1208 per hour.

I rush by. "Is that 1208 more mouths having to be fed each hour on planet Earth?" Over population. The grass sure does look tired and trampled. It's been winter. Lawns look beet up, dormant, full of dog droppings, litter, plastic forks.

Not yet the vibrancy of spring.

Next day, I look again. "NO." It's not 1208 more mouths, it's 1208 people who die each hour, from malnutrition related causes.

1208 each hour. Could be you or I.

It's a fund raiser for university students to go with out eating for 30 hours and donate $2 to some hunger relief fund.

I remember a similar campaign during my college days, so many years ago.

It still seems like the poor old Earth is too crowded and burdened. One can feel overwhelmed. Ready to walk on by and forget.

It's nice to be generous and charitable, but an ocean of hunger can be deeper than even Earth's "fished out" oceans. Of course fish farming and better distribution of wealth can bring more to the table of satisfaction.

Still, it seems like we're losing ground.

Also found on tired lawns, just before Spring's vibrancy begins:

Old condoms.

Another thing sprouting all over Bellingham:

New condominium developments.

Of course compact condominiums are better than single "family values" acres of sprawl. And condoms are one of many good ideas.

Let's put two and two together and address the world population explosion.

Alternative Fuels Raceway?

There are some folks who want the State of Washington to help fund a Nascar racing track in Kitsap County. Bad idea, as I am not into competition and all that oil consumption.

There is another proposal, in the Legislature, to use our state motor vehicle fleet for giving a push to locally produced bio-fuels. Money for converting school buses, state cars and so forth to alternative fuel.

I put two and two together. How about a state subsidized "alternative fuel race track?"

If the state were to fund something like this, it might be justified as a way to "drive" new technology. Western Washington University has a program for building cars that run on alternative fuel. They have built electric cars, solar cars and so forth. Often, I read that these cars are entered into competitions in various parts of the world.

Maybe even this wouldn't be a good idea.

I hear bio-fuels aren't that good. The amount of energy consumed in growing the crops can cancel the benefit. Today's Bellingham Herald had an article about dairy farmers who are worried that bio-fuel demand is pushing up corn prices, thus raising the cost of producing milk.

I have to have reasonably priced chocolate milk to run my bicycling.

Forget the bio-fuels and the idea of a competitive Nascar track, even my thoughts about an "alternative fuel" race track. I've got to have my chocolate milk.

Oil On The Brain

Title of an interesting book. I heard the author, Lisa Margnelli, interviewed today on KUOW's show called "The Beat."

Interview is still in KUOW Radio archive for The Beat, February 20 07. It's about half way through that hour long show.

Pictured on right is drilling rig I saw off southern California coast during my 2003 bicycle tour.

She talked about how much our oil economy is driven by the consumer.

Following the pipeline all the way from filling stations striving to keep the customer happy to gas truck drivers "doing what it takes" to make sure the station remains stocked. She met one driver who wore shorts in the truck because gas spilled on one's leg is better than gas soaked pants. That can turn one into a human torch.

Volatile.

Then there's the refineries. There's all that effort placed in cracking geological formations to get out the increasingly hard to tap reserve.

She even visited some oil exporting nations such as Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela. In Venezuela, she described one woman who was waiting in a cardboard hut for over 20 years for her promised benefit of a new house from government oil revenues.

The interview describes it much better than I. It's quite interesting.

Of course the conclusion involved trying to use less oil. She mentioned things like tele-commuting, more efficient cars, car-pooling.

I would add to this the story of my lifestyle. I've never driven a car! Bicycling, walking and public transit has met that the only time I "filled up at the pump" was for a lawn mower. That was part of a lawn mowing job I had in college.

Carousel at Seattle Center

For color and light toward the end of the long winter, it's the carousel at Seattle Center. I took this short Youtube video while I was down in the city on a weekend trip via Greyhound.

Still new to the video world. I don't have any editing software yet. Enjoy.

Extreme biking

Last November, a person named Rune passed through Bellingham on his way around the world. Traveling by bicycle. He was headed for Canada, to bike across that country in the winter.

Yes, the WINTER. Rune's home country is Norway.

By now, he is crossing prairie provinces and one can follow the trip on his blog, Vikingbiker's Diary. Lots of interesting pictures, Youtube videos and so forth.

An interesting contrast to my kind of cycling. His sleeping bag cost $800, while I lucked out and found mine at the Grocery Outlet (of all places) for $10. Of course, mine is only good in temperatures above 45 F. I only bike tour in the summer. His has to be good in weather down to maybe 30 F. below zero.

I forgot the exact number, but cold.

His kind of biking is more extreme than mine. Not only is he crossing Canada in the winter, he headed north (after crossing the Canadian border) to Prince Rupert, BC. before starting his eastward trek across the country.

Wanted to get even farther north, I guess.

His dramatic trip is generating a lot of media coverage; newspapers, TV and radio stations. In the media, he often says he wants to see the world now. See the world now because after one gets married, one basically stops doing things like this.

I guess that would be "going from one extreme to another." "World traveler" to "nester."

As for me, I prefer more moderate cycling. One or two month "summer vacation" trips while keeping my job and rented room, here in town. I've been across the USA, but only in the summer. I'm not planning to marry, but have met bike tourists who do travel as a couple. Others leave their spouses at home while doing a tour. For moderate trips at least.

I've done nothing as extreme as biking around the world or crossing Canada in the winter, but bike touring remains a part of my lifestyle; year after year.

Everyone is different.

Rune is having a great time and it's fun to follow his progress on the web. One of his Youtube videos with snow blowing across the road is quite memorable.

More reasons for using a sauna, steam room or hot tub

It creates and appetite for "light foods," summer menus like salads, fruits and juices. Even during Bellingham's long winter.

On chilly days one might crave hearty food like steak dinner. Sauna can heat one to the core so appetite turns to lighter foods. This can reduce fat and salt intake.

Washington climate change challenge

Image: power line near Bonneville Dam.

Governor Gregoire has signed an executive order called "Washington Climate Change Challenge."

Someday they might come up with a better name.

Basically this challenge means "rolling back greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020."

Good idea, but a hard step to take due to population growth.

Yes, population growth is a big factor.

Most Northwest electricity used to be "non greenhouse gas emitting" hydro-power.

Dams on the rivers.

We've built just about all the dams we can, but our population keeps growing.

We've outgrown our rivers!

I hear that the percentage of power which the Northwest gets from
hydro-electric sources keeps dropping. It's been dropping for years.

New people means having to get power from new sources.

If we can't build anymore dams, "new sources" has been natural gas, coal and nuclear.

That is in the past at least.

Still, all is not lost. There are more radical things that can be done.

Radical or innovative? Somewhat interchangeable concepts?

For instance, the city of Bellingham is now participating in a special program connected with the power company called Puget Sound Energy.

Pay a bit more than market rate for your electricity and the power company
will funnel money into a special account. This special account buys power from wind turbines and other "green" sources.

Yes it still costs more to get power from things like wind. It costs more than most conventional sources of electricity, in the short run at least.

In the past, the Northwest automatically had the best of both worlds.
Hydro-power was both cheaper and cleaner; or at least cleaner as far as
greenhouse gas is concerned. Now that population has outpaced our
rivers, more of our power comes from burning things, like coal.

Also, the worry about salmon habitat has limited dam operations.

Going green costs a bit more, in the short run at least.

Western Washington University has taken a similar step in its power purchasing.

The city uses power for things like streetlights and sewage plants. I read that electricity accounts for around 65% of the greenhouse gas emissions related to city government, in Bellingham at least.

Amazing.

The city drives so many police cars and "public works" trucks. This wouldn't count buses as that's Whatcom Transit Authority.

I know, there are a lot of streetlights and water pumps in this city.

State of Washington is planning to go beyond just the operations of state government, or electricity. Washington is trying to reduce emissions in every sector of the economy.

It is a challenge; especially with population growth.

Our city's program is a bold start, but more needs to be done. More things on many fronts, including the population front.

I can hear, some social conservatives are saying, "help we're on an economic roller coaster to ruin."

Well, on the transportation front, I like biking better than riding in a car. It may not be as fast, but it's the scenic and healthy route.

Let's be socially innovative.

Washington State Initiative 957 has just been filed

It would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else their marriage would be annulled.

I doubt it would get enough signatures to make the ballot, but it's sure succeeding in starting a lot of conversations.

Let us add to that conversation a link between "sexual politics" and "environmental politics."

Population, procreation; it doesn't make sense to persecute alternative lifestyles, such as gay lifestyles, while the world's getting too crowded and the north pole is melting. Look at all the traffic.

So, let the conversation roll and let's start talking sexual politics linked to environmental politics.

I doubt that Initiative 957 is a serious initiative. It is basically a conversation starter. Filed in response to a recent Washington State Supreme Court ruling against gay marriage.

Court ruling called Andersen V. King County.

This decision, declared that a “legitimate state interest” allows the Legislature to limit marriage to those couples able to have and raise children together. Because of this “legitimate state interest,” it is permissible to bar same-sex couples from legal marriage.

This initiative to also bar "child free" heterosexual couples from marriage may not go real far, toward the ballot, but it's going a long ways in editorial pages, blogs and radio talk shows. Now that the conversation is starting, it is time to link this discussion to environmental issues. How much procreation do we want to promote in this world, or do we want to embrace some alternatives?

Sound byte from US Energy Secretary Bodman

Worrying about economic impact from implementation of "cap-and-trade" policies he said,

"The U.S. economy is not something to be experimented with, in my judgment."

I am sure many would counter with, "so does that mean we experiment with world climate instead?"

The world climate meeting in France sure put more "punch" into concern about global warming. As I stated before, argument is shifting from "is there global warming?" to "what do we do about it?"

Solutions range all the way from smoke free nuclear power to National Bicycle Month. The latter being in May.

I will say, "what is wrong with experimentation?" America has often been called "an experiment in Democracy."

If we can be an experiment in democracy, that means being willing to experiment with the economy also. This may not be an argument for cap and trade. Actually, I don't really know what cap and trade is. I just have some rough ideas.

Aside from the specifics of cap and trade, the main point in my thinking is, "be willing to experiment and don't worry to much about, for instance, your house value."

"Gee maybe the neighborhood will change." For instance "density" can mean public transit is more viable.

All through history, it's a trade off. We give up some things and gain new things. Maybe life in the future can be healthier and more sane at least. There is some leeway in how people can define saner. Innovation and a little patience can go a long ways.

Big honking cell phone towers (I mean windmills) are needed.

They might change the neighborhood, but people need to "let go." Rising sea levels from global warming would change the neighborhood also, the coastal neighborhood, that is.

Is that what they call a "sea change?"

Oil well near a Taco Bell drive through

Production not far from consumption.

While most oil for US lifestyles is imported, some is produced locally in places like Southern California.

Thinking about my last post for a tax on imported oil.

Domestic oil production would be exempt from such a tax.

A tax on oil imports is a good idea overall, but would not be without side effects. For instance it would likely encourage drilling for oil in places like Alaska's Anwar Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Maybe that wouldn't be the end of the world.

American's tend to rail against the drilling consequences of oil consumption, but then drive home from the protest.

I saw this interesting juxtaposition of land uses during my 2003 bicycle trip down the west coast. This was in the Huntington Beach area. Ironically, very nice bike paths in that area. Much of Southern California has real nice paths along the beaches and other spots.