Archive for November, 2008
Still Too Soon to Buy Those (Green) Curtains
The election of Barack Obama was good news for environmentalists, as he is likely to diverge from the Bush Administration’s policy of rape, pillage, dump and drill. Ever since November 4th, many of us have been drooling on our shirts and letting our eyes roll off into space as we daydream about the green curtains, solar panels and organic garden that the President Elect is no doubt planning to install in the White House. We shiver with anticipation at the thought of his newly empowered EPA, and giggle with glee as we count off possible USDA and EPA heads as if we’re reciting our Christmas list.
It’s an exciting time for the greenies (and for Americans, in general), but I’m writing to warn everybody that we aren’t there yet. He’s not really our president until January 20th, and there’s a lot of havoc that the Bush administration can wreak between now and then.
For example, (more…)
Return to the Big Green Apple
Ah, New York. I’ve been away for nigh on a year, now, and it’s good to be back. Despite the cold, wet November day, despite being unemployed during an economic crisis, and despite the sad reality that I still haven’t found my own place yet (I’m crashing at my sisters’ place), I really am happy to have returned to this massive, colorful city of opportunity.
Over the past eight months I’ve visited about 40 US states and a couple of Mexican and Canadian provinces, and as much as I enjoyed the beauty and diversity of this great continent, no place I saw could compare to New York City. Including the Grand Canyon.
What is it I love about New York? There are several answers to this question:
1. It’s my home. Although I was raised in Massachusetts, I’ve been living here (on and off) since I was 19, much of my family and many of my closest friends are here, and I consider this city my “home base”.
2. It’s wicked diverse. There are people from everywhere here, and everyone lives side-by-side in peace and harmony with respect for one another. And there are about a million hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants with the best food you’ve ever had.
3. It’s easy to be green here. A lot of people think of New York as a big, dirty city with trash everywhere and millions of tons of carbon pumping into the air each day. This is basically true, however, living in the city is really a lot greener than living in the suburbs or the country. (more…)
Turkey Time with Sarah Palin
Yesterday I was out with friends and happened to overhear some new Sarah Palin gossip. Having assumed that all Sarah Palin gossip was rendered moot on November 4th, I became intrigued by my peers’ enthusiasm over the Palin buzz. It seems that the Alaska Governor was interviewed by an Anchorage NBC Affiliate the other day, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving the informal press event was held at a local turkey farm. During a slaughter.
While Palin cooly waxes political and shares her restrospctive thoughts on the presidential race, we are distracted by a busy farmer, who picks up turkeys one by one, turns them upside-down into a large cone, severs their necks, and waits patiently while they bleed out a bit. Palin’s hair and makeup are terrific as always, the farmer is wearing a moustache and a baseball cap, and the turkeys are nice and plump. What’s the big deal?
Well, it seems that this Palin interview/turkey massacre has provided many Americans with their very first opportunity to witness a livestock slaughter, and several people – if not millions – are finding the whole scene shocking and distasteful. These are the same millions, no doubt, who are licking their chops at the thought of ritualistically sinking their teeth into some juicy turkey meat this coming Thursday. Just another wonderful example of our penchant for hypocrisy, and a vivid illustration of the enormous gap between our collective alimentary delusion and the true nature of our food system. (more…)
Bling Goes the Hybrid
This is the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, a vehicle that Cadillac is calling, “The Future of Luxury”. At 22 mpg (up from 18) and $70+ thousand, this monstrosity would really be better referred to as “an awkward but perhaps inevitable consequnce of America’s transition to true green transportation.” Even when you ignore the yards of leather, numerous flat-screens and other shiny, non-recycled decorations lining the interior of this “car”, the fact that this eight-seater only gets 22 mpg (highway!) is a real shame.
Cadillac boasts that the Hybrid Escalade is the “world’s first full-size luxury hybrid SUV”. Maybe it’s just me, but the phrase “luxury hybrid SUV” is a bit of a brain-bender. It seems like the Cadillac people have maintained the illusion that they can have their luxury SUVs and be green too. But they’re wrong. My 1995 Volvo 850 sedan gets 28 mpg. It’s 13 years old, not a hybrid, and it’s still better for the environment than the new Escalade. Granted, my car does not seat 8, but you can buy a Toyota Sienna mini van for 1/3 of the price, seat the same number of passengers, and get a whole extra mile to the gallon – and the Sienna isn’t even a Hybrid. It’s just Japanese.
The moral of this story: it’s officially time for the American Car Manufacturer to wake up. WAKE UP! Just because you might sell a few of these luxury hybrid SUV’s to trend-setting Rappers and other LA types doesn’t mean that they’re worth making. It’s time to make some compromises and develop some really nice cars for real Americans. You can keep the shininess, but you might want to consider dropping some of the extra tonnage and make a nice, efficient hybrid (or even an electric car! why not?) that gets over 40 miles to the gallon. The true bling is in the MPG.
Secretary Pollan?
The radio and internet have been abuzz this week with talk about food and ag writer Michael Pollan and his popularly-supported candidacy for the position of Agriculture Secretary under the next administration. Although I can’t really see him moving to Washington and wearing a suit, Pollan is certainly a big step up from current secretary Ed Schafer, or either of G.W. Bush’s previous two Ag Secretaries, all three of whom have sat idly by as America’s food system crumbles in the hands of large corporations. Pollan is a journalist, not a politician (which is probably a good thing), and he is one of America’s most vocal and most read food and agriculture activists. His books and articles have shone a new, bright light on our food system, educating Americans about the economic, health and environmental problems we face and the healthy, local and delicious alternatives available to us.
I, personally, don’t expect Pollan will actually be offered the Secretary of Ag position – Pollan himself finds the prospect unlikely and there are others with better resumes and similar politics waiting in line ahead of him (Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is just one who comes to mind) – but that’s really not the point. The point is that Michael Pollan’s contribution to America’s food future is already huge. He has educated the American public about their food, and brought food system discourse into the mainstream. The sheer fact that Americans even care who their Agriculture Secretary will be is an enormous step forward. Because of Pollan and other writers like him, food and agriculture policy is in the public eye, and Americans are working democratically to take back their food system and to make it work sustainably and fairly and for the people.
So thank you, Michael Pollan. You are the Ag Secretary of our hearts, even if you can’t be the Secretary of the USDA.
Modicum of Greenness
This weekend beheld the box office opening of the latest James Bond oeuvre, “Quantum of Solace,” a film that millions of Americans are turning to in an effort to escape the reality of an economically repressed November. I was among the hoards participating in this mass delusion, and waited in line for nigh an hour to get good seats, anticipating an entertaining hour of mindless action, violence and sex. Little did I know, in addition to this triad of Bondyness, I was also in store for a light dose of environmental commentary.
That’s right, James Bond is the latest of many hollywood hits to bring eco-consciousness to the big screen. And unlike “Wall-E,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” and “An Inconvenient Truth,” which unabashedly shovel the greenness into your face, “Quantum of Solace” subtly spoons it to us like a mom who doesn’t want her kid to realize that he’s actually eating brocolli. (more…)
Welcome Back, Me
Hi! It’s me, Gwen. Remember me? I write this blog. Or I did, as recently as eight short months ago. Since I last wrote, I have been driving a 1995 Volvo sedan around the mighty USA, spewing carbon and other nasties into the air at about 28 miles per gallon. I’ve been eating roadside beef and American cheese, hanging out in towns with no recycling services, and living in an Alaskan home that gets its water trucked in on a monthly basis. The closest I’ve come to composting is throwing an apple core out the window of my moving car. And that’s really just littering.
Tsk tsk.
But now I’m back in New York, ready to repent for my eco sins by riding the subway, getting a new job in the environmental sector, and moving into an apartment with a back yard (soon to be my garden). I’m going to push the New York recycling system to its extreme, conserve electricity using the time-tested method of turning out the lights, and shop with near exclusivity at my favorite grocery store in the world – the Union Square Greenmarket.
And we’re selling the car. That’s right, the car’s gotta go. New York is no place for a Volvo, and Boyfriend and I could certainly use the cash (remember $5 gas? we were on our way to Alaska during that golden age).
So here we go. Back to blog land, and back to a never-green-enough lifestyle.
