Extolling an archaic tactic to defeat in battle; frustrate the plans of, and put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment all enemies on the field.
Email: bluebarnnewscentral@gmail.com
Twitter: @RadioFreeKansas
Following last December's U.N. Climate Conference in Poland, teens around the world have been striking from school in protest of government inaction on climate disruption. Now adults have taken up the cause. Beginning on Monday, 15 April, thousands of Londoners methodically organized as the Extinction Rebellion, and took to the streets in non-violent protest. People from pensioners to young parents with toddlers, scientists to city workers, teenagers to teachers, have occupied four landmarks in the capital - Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Waterloo Bridge, and the area around Parliament Square. They have been using a variety of non-violent direction actions such as street theater, blocking traffic, people chained to items, speeches, and public meetings. Their demands are that governments declare a climate and ecological emergency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025, halt biodiversity loss, and be led by new citizens' assemblies on climate and ecological justice - Battle of Waterloo Bridge: a week of Extinction Rebellion protests.
The demonstrations took many by surprise, even though they had been more than a year in the planning. Through a series of smaller protests over air pollution last year, activists tested their methods by blocking busy junctions for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Organizers spent months holding public meetings around the country, with thousands learning about climate consequences, and signing up to take part in larger-scale rebellions and be arrested. They now have scaled up, and plan on further actions. "We are prepared to pause, should the government come to the negotiating table", Extinction Rebellion spokesman James Fox said. "If they refuse to come and negotiate with us, then this is going to continue and this is going to escalate in different, diverse and very creative ways" - London Climate Protesters Seek Talks with Government. If nothing else, millions of people have heard their message that the world is in a spiralling climate emergency that demands transformative change to avoid catastrophe - Extinction Rebellion arrests pass 1,000 on eighth day of protests. Learn more at - Extinction Rebellion.
ONEROUS CUSTOMER FEES BY UTILITIES THREATEN ROOFTOP SOLAR
When in the 1990's the ecological damage from coal and petroleum was becoming more apparent, and energy conserving devices like compact fluorescent lights and programmable thermostats were reaching the market, a few enlightened utilities set about to stop growing fossil fuel use and instead promote conservation. They realized that it made economic sense to give away the new efficiency devices to customers who would then use less electricity, so the utility could avoid the huge costs of building new generating plants. Most utilities, however, were stuck in the mindset of get big, sell big, profit big. So they incurred huge expenses by building more coal plants like Westar's 2.16 gigawatt Jeffrey Energy Center, by installing EPA required emissions scrubbers, and by locking into long term coal purchase contracts.
These regressive utilities, who had bet on ever-expanding electricity demand and sales, were caught short by the energy efficiency revolution and the rapidly declining costs of wind and solar electricity. The Sierra Club can take credit for many of the 287 coal plants that their 'Beyond Coal' campaign lists as closed, but a good number of them simply became non-competitive against wind and solar. Of the remaining 243 coal plants still operating, many of them are staring at the specter of stranded costs - big assets and commitments that may cost more to operate than the revenue they generate. They are desperate to find some way to increase electricity sales. Because they have no more options to reduce their coal costs or increase their combustion efficiency, their only hope is either to beat down the competition or adopt a "can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy - or both.
Regardless of a coal utility's chosen approach, their main strategy is to grab as much market share as possible by being the centralized source of electricity. They are building wind generators, the larger the better, because large means centralized control of sales. They're also nobly "embracing" solar, but only if it's centralized, huge, utility-scale arrays of collectors that they can profit from electricity sales. Conversely, they have launched an assault on distributed solar, commonly called rooftop solar, because they don't own it. Not only must a utility pay the homeowner for any electricity they feed into the transmission grid, the utility can profit very little from selling rooftop electricity, and adding insult to injury, the homeowner buys less electricity from the utility. Regressive utilities are employing two tactics: getting states to repeal “net-metering” laws that compensate distributed generators fairly, and getting states to impose discriminatory "demand" fees on distributed generators by claiming these rooftop solar providers are "unfairly using" the utility's transmission grid.
If rooftop solar were objectively thought through, the benefits to centralized utilities would become obvious, and the systems would be valued, not demonized. Progressive utilities have chosen to be primarily a service provider of power distribution, rather than primarily a power provider. These utilities value the role of rooftop systems that collectively provide much of the utility's electricity. In addition, the utility doesn't have to build more large generating stations, while the homeowners, not the utility, all pay for their systems. Furthermore, the distributed solar systems generate the most valuable electricity for use by the utility to fulfill their legal mandate to meet peak demand during the middle of the day and the late afternoon-evening. This electricity should sell for a premium, not be penalized by an archaic mentality.
RESPONSIBLE ENERGY VS. KING CONG (COAL-OIL-NUKE-GAS)
26 April 1986: Chernobyl nuclear disaster demonstrated how "clean" nuclear power is. 33 Years ago on 26 April 1986, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 station. Several hundred staff and firefighters tackled a blaze that burned for 10 days and sent a plume of radiation around the world in the worst-ever civil nuclear disaster. While conducting experiments at low power, the plant operators lost control of the reactor, triggering a release of radioactivity 30-40 times the intensity of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs.
More than 50 reactor and emergency workers were killed at the time. Estimates of related deaths from cancer range from 4,000 to over 980,000. Most of the radioactive cloud from the Chernobyl explosion drifted into Belarus and Russia, but traveled even as far as Germany and Scandinavia. Ground water flowing under the damaged reactor is still carrying a radioactive plume into the Pripyat and Dnieper Rivers, threatening the city of Kiev’s water supply. More than a quarter of a million people were driven permanently from their homes - Chernobyl: Basic Facts · NIRS.
Troubled Indian Point NY reactors to be shut down - nuclear waste privatized. Entergy Corp. had announced in 2017 that they would shut down the two remaining Indian Point nuclear reactors, unit #2 and unit #3, in 2020 and 2021 respectively, at 46 and 45 years old. The Indian Point unit #1 had run for only 12 years before it shut down in 1974 because the emergency core cooling system did not meet regulatory requirements. The reactors are located in Buchanan NY on the Hudson River, only 27 miles upstream from Manhattan. Being as old as they are, units #2 and #3 have been plagued with accidents including two transformer explosions and oil leaks into the Hudson River, unintentional venting of tritium contaminated steam, tritium contaminated water leaking from the spent fuel pool and into the groundwater, a water pump failure, and loss of power to two reactor control rods - Indian Point Energy Center.
Once the units have permanently shut down, Entergy had planned to decommission them both along with unit #1, a process that would take until 2075. However, on 15 March, unit #2 suffered an unexpected shutdown that was caused by a malfunction in an electric generator. The reactor was off-line for three days, but the same generator problem forced a second shut down on 2 April. Now Entergy has announced that they are selling the reactors to Holtec International, a company that buys nuclear white elephants and decommissions them. Holtech said they can complete decommissioning at Indian Point decades sooner than if Entergy remained the owner and performed decommissioning itself - Entergy Agrees to Sale of Indian Point Energy Center to Holtec International. In exchange, Holtech will gain access to the decommissioning trust funds, in the neighborhood of $600 million per plant. An unexamined aspect of the operation is that Holtech plans to store the spent fuel rod waste in a privately run Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS) facility in New Mexico, named HI-STORE CIS. This is the same controversial nuclear waste storage facility that Holtech intends to be the temporary repository for spent fuel shipped from across the country. According to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, this waste storage plan will use open-air, temporary “parking lot dumps” that could easily become de facto nuclear junkyards, never to move again once the waste has been sent there. If you think this is as crazy an idea as we do, you can sign a petition to -Tell Congress 'Don't Waste America'.
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION NETWORK MEETING Thursday, 16 May 2019, 6:30pm Lawrence Public Library, Meeting Room C, 7th & Vermont St., Lawrence KS 66044
Planned agenda topics include:
Plan-2040 Comprehensive Plan
Bikeway Plan
social media volunteer
Local Solutions for Transition to a Sustainable Economy. The Sustainability Action Network advances ecological sustainability through societal scale actions. While we work for personal lifestyle changes for individuals to minimize their carbon footprint, there is an imperative for institutional change to respond to the rapid onset of the triple global crises of Energy-Ecology-Economy. "Action" is our middle name. Visit us on the web at - Sustainability Action, and Sustainability Action | Facebook.
CALENDAR EVENT NEWS ITEMS
CLIMATE PROTECTION NEEDED IN THE LAWRENCE/DOUGLAS COUNTY KS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Wednesday, 24 April 2019, 6:30pm Lawrence City Hall, 6 East 6th St., Lawrence KS 66044
The Planning Commission is holding a series of public meetings over the next few months, to craft details for the new "Plan 2040" Comprehensive Plan for Douglas County and Lawrence. This plan will spell out how "development", sprawl, growth, and issues of conservation will be handled. As currently written, this draft plan would prioritize economic growth over climate protection. View the draft plan here - PLAN 2040_Draft_Aug2018.pdf.
Plan 2040 will be in effect for the next twenty years, so it's crucial that it not be just more business as usual. A 2-3% exponential growth curve is impossible on a finite planet. The underlying drivers of climate disruption are resource exploitation and economic growth. We need a fossil fuel free economy in which regenerative businesses satisfy human needs. The October 2018 “Special Report on Climate Change” by the United Nations IPCC, and the November 2018 “U.S. National Climate Assessment” both make it clear that we have but 11 years to reverse, not mitigate or adapt to, but reverse global warming.
The entire Plan2040 document needs to be reframed, to review all land development issues in the context of the natural environment – not the reverse as has been the practice in the past. Ecological health, and specifically climate protection, should be the plan's central guiding principle. Governments really have but two choices for addressing climate disruption: spend money on trying to reduce the problem, or spend money on cleaning up the catastrophes - How Much Does Climate Change Cost? Try $1.5 Trillion (and Counting). "No country or community is immune to climate change" UN Secretary General warns - After Cyclone Idai, climate chief warns of more extreme weather.
THE ROAD TO A NEW GREEN DEAL TOWN HALL Wednesday, 24 April 2019, 5:00pm Oak Park Library, 9500 Blue Jacket Dr., Overland Park KS 66214
The Green New Deal has the potential to transform our economy, create jobs, and achieve 100% clean energy. This is a pivotal moment for our country and our planet, calling for bold ideas. The Sunrise Movement that is sponsoring town halls in every corner of this country. They know that the key to winning this fight isn’t in Washington DC. It’s in our communities. It’s in the hearts and minds of the American people and the resolve we show to making the Green New Deal a reality. Town halls are planned in libraries, university campuses, churches, and living rooms. Participants will learn about the ambition, prosperity, and promise of a Green New Deal, hear from political and community leaders, and discuss the pathway to make the Green New Deal become reality. For more info, go to - Town Halls for a Green New Deal, and Green New Deal Town Hall: Sign in.
KKFI COMMUNITY RADIO - ECOLOGICAL SHOWS THIS WEEK Listen at KKFI-FM 90.1, or link to web-streaming at KKFI 90.1 FM (courtesy, Mike Murphy, KKFI Programming Committee)
Tuesday, 23 April 2019, 12:00pm - Interfaith Voices This week on Interfaith Voices: "Green Faith: Young, Evangelical and Green". Kyle Meyaard-Schaap grew up in evangelical church that separated God from the environment and fostered mistrust in anyone who subscribed to a green ethic. But now the national organizer and spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action explains to other evangelical Christians that it was his faith that led him to a life advocating for the planet. He talks about his personal evolution on the subject, and how he tries to persuade Christian climate change deniers that human beings must become better stewards of the Earth.
Also: "The Green Sheep of the Congregation". The guest panelists on the show represent three faiths – Islam, Judaism and Buddhism – and share stories from the intersection of faith and environmental advocacy. They say they know it can feel lonely to be the “green sheep” of the congregation, the one who stands up and asks that more attention be paid to the environment. But they also say that religion – all religions – give followers a framework for speaking uncomfortable truths and connecting belief to action.
Wednesday, 24 April 2019, 6:00pm - All Souls Forum This week's talk was recorded live at All Souls Unitarian Church, and titled “The Green New Deal” with Winston Apple. Winston Apple is a well known area environmental and political activist. He will get into the details of the Green New Deal which has been proposed by national political leaders to address both the climate crisis and the need for social justice.
Friday, 26 April 2019, 9:30am - Bioneers Radio Series Bioneers presents “Archetypes in Every Woman: Renaissance of the Feminine". Archetypal stories guide our lives in profound and largely unconscious ways. Through reframing classic mythologies, we explore the resurgence of the archetypal feminine and its relationship to nature through a multi-cultural lens, with Jean Shinoda Bolen, author and Jungian therapist; Luisah Teish, author and priestess in the Ifa Orisha tradition; Sri Swamini Svatmavidyananda, teacher of Hindu Vedanta philosophy.
Saturday, 27 April 2019, 2:30pm - Women's International News Gathering Service The woman featured this week is Lisa Curran as “Forest Genius". Curran was professor of tropical ecology and director of the Tropical Resources Institute at Yales School of Forestry & Environmental Studies when she won a 5-year “Genius Grant”. Part of her genius was in studying forests intensely on the ground and also from satellites; part was in developing women scientists for a field dominated by men. She is now (2019) Professor in Environmental Anthropology at Stanford.
Monday, 29 April 2019, 6:00pm - locally produced Eco-Radio KC This Eco Radio KC program will feature another of their ecologically minded shows.
PLANT EXCHANGE IN LAWRENCE KS Saturday, 27 April 2019, 5:00pm - FREE 217 Arizona Ct., Lawrence KS 66049
Each Spring, a self-organizing group of folks gather for a pot luck dinner and plant exchange at the end of April. People with excess food plants or ornamentals that need to be thinned out bring them to share, and collect interesting plant starts that others have brought. It's all free, not even a tit-for-tat barter. You can bring plants with no desire to take any, or you can come without plants and leave with an armfull. Ground rules are to have all plants potted and labeled (preferably with common and botanical name).
LAWRENCE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION: STUDY SESSION & MEETING Monday, 6 May 2019, 5:00pm Study Session, 6:00pm Meeting Lawrence City Hall, 6 East 6th St., Lawrence KS 66044
The May study session agenda includes: Review of the Pedestrian-Bicycle Task Force Report. The May meeting agenda includes: 2019 Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, and 13th St. & 21st St. Bike Boulevard Concept Plan. Revised designs for the 21st Street and 13th Street bicycle boulevards will soon be released, but postponed to a later Transportation Commission meeting. There will be public open house meetings in the coming weeks to show the updated concept plans. Stay tuned.
The Lawrence Transportation Commission oversees the establishment of strong multimodal transportation in the City of Lawrence, in order to advance the health, safety, and welfare of all residents. They make recommendations to the City Commission regarding implementation of its Complete Streets policy to equally accommodate all types of transportation users - people who walk, bicycle, skate, use wheelchairs, motor, or ride transit. As such, they make recommendations about the priority, location, design, maintenance, and funding of transportation projects. Find agendas and minutes at - Transportation Commission.
LAWRENCE TRANSIT HUB LOCATION - AT CITY COMMISSION Tuesday, 7 May 2019, 5:45pm Lawrence City Hall, 6 East 6th St., Lawrence KS 66044
The City of Lawrence Transit Authority has been conducting a multi-year search for a transit hub location, that would be central to all bus routes, and not cause problems for nearby neighbors. Of approximately fifteen possible locations, a 2018 study narrowed down the field to five, and of those five, a site just south-east of 15th St. and Crestline Dr. seems to meet the criteria the best. The next steps will be to secure a use agreement with the State of Kansas, because the site is part of K.U., and to develop a site plan for review by the City Commission. This will be a public hearing with the intent on making a final decision about the transit hub location. The agenda will be available the week prior at - https://lawrenceks.org/agendas/.
WATER ADVOCACY TEAM OF L.E.T.U.S. Thursday, 9 May 2019, 5:30pm 1817 Learnard Ave., Lawrence KS 66044 (courtesy of Thad Holcombe, L.E.T.U.S.)
The Water Advocacy Team of the Lawrence Ecological Teams United in Sustainability (L.E.T.U.S.) is a faith-based collaboration of denominations that organize around issues of water quality, quantity, and availability. Issues range from the Ogallala Aquifer depletion to injection well pollution to power plant stream pollution to the Kansas Water Plan. They meet regularly to inform themselves and plan events and actions. This month's meeting will include a discussion of the Milford Lake Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program - https://www.milfordwatershed.org/partners. For more info, contact .
MONARCH WATCH OPEN HOUSE AND PLANT SALE Saturday, 11 May 2019, 8:00am-2:00pm Foley Hall, KU West Campus, Lawrence KS 66045
The Monarch Watch will have more than 10,000 butterfly plants (both annuals and perennials), including seedlings of thirteen milkweed varieties. These plants are ideal for starting butterfly gardens or adding to established gardens. Monarch numbers have been declining and a greater number of milkweeds will help sustain the monarch migration. At the Open House you can learn about creating Monarch waystations and see the magnificent butterfly and pollinator garden maintained by the Douglas County Master Gardeners. There will be games for the kids inside and out and they can make "seed balls" containing seeds of milkweeds and other butterfly plants that can be used to create habits for monarchs and other butterflies. They can also see lots of different insects and spiders, watch videos, or complete a variety of activities. All are welcome to tour our garden and lab space. They will have live demonstrations, and, of course, monarch butterflies! Refreshments will be provided. For more info, and a complete list of plants for sale, go to - Monarch Watch Open House & Plant Sale.
11TH ANNUAL REALLY, REALLY FREE MARKET Saturday, 11 May 2019, 10:00am to 1:00pm - FREE Clinton City Park, 5th & Alabama St., Lawrence KS
The gift must always move! This free and open market will be a celebration of cooperation and gift-giving that make life possible beyond the constraints of capitalists markets. Everyone is invited to give and receive clothing, household items, books, plants, seeds, crafts, information, skills, music, services, art, performances, stories, food, etc. There is no buying, selling, bartering, or exchanging involved in this market - everything is strictly FREE! Really, Really Free Markets are a form of alternative economies that are becoming more and more popular in the U.S.
Small items and clothing not taken from the Really, Really Free Market will be donated to the Penn House or Social Service League thrift store. However, large items cannot be transported to the thrift store. People are asked to take responsibility for any large items they bring that are not taken by the end of the event.
LAWRENCE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET - BIKEWAYS & SIDEWALKS Tuesday, 14 May 2019, 5:45pm Commission chamber, Lawrence City Hall, 6 East 6th St., Lawrence KS 66044
The Lawrence annual budget meetings have begun. The first stage is consideration of capital improvement projects (CIP). City staff has been priortizing items since the first of March. After bikeway advocates successfully lobbied the City Commission to dedicate meaningful dollars in 2014 to bikeways and sidewalks, the level of funding has increased. Available bike-ped funds for 2020 will be $750,000, rising to $1,000,000 in 2021. These dollars are for stand-alone bike-ped projects, not piggy-backed on road projects - things like bicycle boulevards, cycle tracks, and shared use paths. Two key projects that Sustainability Action has been advocating, but have been deferred, are a cycle track on the east side of Naismith Dr. from 23rd St. to Sunnyside Ave. at K.U., and a shared use path on the north side of 6th St. from Wisconsin St. to Monterrey Way. The more that citizens push for these and other projects, the more likely they will be built in a timely fashion. This meeting on 14 May is the first opportunity for citizen input. The agenda will be posted here when it is released.
NATIVE PLANT SALE BY GRASSLAND HERITAGE FOUNDATION Saturday, 18 May 2019, 9:00am-1:00pm Trinity Episcopal Church, 1011 Vermont St., Lawrence KS 66044
Native plants are adapted to Kansas weather extremes and are ecologically useful in low-maintenance landscaping. Their beautiful flowers attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. Landscape and prairie experts will be on hand to help you choose your plants and give advice on how to plant them. There will be children's activities also. Close to fifty species of wildflowers and grasses will be available, including a number of milkweeds and coneflowers, more common plants like black-eyed susans, and some harder to find prairie wildflowers, as well as some great shade tolerant species. For more information, contact them at or (785)840-8104.
DOUGLAS COUNTY FOOD POLICY COUNCIL Monday, 20 May 2019, 6:30pm location TBA, Lawrence KS 66044
The May agenda is not yet available. The Food Policy Council seeks to identify the benefits, challenges and opportunities for a successful, sustainable local food system. By advising the Douglas County Commission on public policies that will support local producers, preserve local agricultural resources and land, and create more local jobs, the F.P.C. hopes to improve the community's access to a local food supply and distribution networks. For more info go to Food Policy Council.
We hope this newsletter informs and inspires you. Please donate to Sustainability Action. Click on our PayPal button here >> Sustainability Action. THANK YOU! ___________________________________________________________________________________
We welcome suggestions for Newsletter items. Please send items to. The Sustainability Action Newsletter strives to inform, and encourage people to be active in the Sustainability Action Network, or other action-driven groups.
The Sustainability Action Mission is to bring awareness of the global crisis caused by climate change, energy vulnerability and economic instability to communities in the Kansas River bioregion, and the tools needed to re-skill and re-localize our economy, and create a more socially just and ecologically sustainable world.
Sustainability Action Programs include: 1) Food Sovereignty and Permaculture - local control of food and food policy, Food Not Lawns workshops, tours, and crop mobs. 2) Bicycles and Alternative Transportation - promoting bicycles, complete streets, ride sharing, and electric vehicles, including infrastructure and pro-active regulations. 3) Energy Conservation and Renewables - reducing our carbon footprint by promoting a carbon diet, an energy diet, conservation, and decentralized renewable energy. 4) Prime Farmland Preservation - protecting Capability I & II farmland from urban development and industrial land uses. 5) Water Rights and Watersheds - Protecting the water commons from privatization and contamination, and restoring watersheds. 6) Local Money and Local Food - fostering money literacy, and implementing a local currency through a buy-local campaign focused on local food.
Sustainability Action sponsored organizations: 1) Lawrence Creates Makerspace - a co-operative community space with tool sharing, recycling, and innovation incubator. 2) Diesel Health Project - promoting eco-justice in neighborhoods exposed to industrial air and water pollution, by monitoring pollution, and changing policies and enforcement.
Collaborative Organizations: We build synergy with like-minded groups such as: Douglas County Food Policy Council, Jefferson County Food Council, Lawrence Pedestrian Coalition, Cultivate Kansas City, Lawrence Fruit Tree Project, Flint Hills Renewable Energy & Efficiency Co-op, Kansas Permaculture Institute, and Live Well Lawrence. _______________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment