This article, written by Joanne Poyourow (initiator of Transition Los Angeles), connects the big issues confronting us, which cannot be handled separately. The original article (with active links) can be found here or here.

To the 1Sky board of directors:

In your open letter to all people and organizations working to combat global warming, you ask how to move forward with urgency and clarity of purpose.

1) Understand the full scope of the problem.

Global warming is not a standalone issue. At the same time as we are trying to decarbonize our entire society and cope with the erratic weather events of early climate change, we are simultaneously being hit with peak oil and economic contraction.

And hear our most excellent home-grown, all-Vermont Funk band, Electric Sorcery !! Playing 2:00 PM at the historic Gathering Inn, Hancock, Vermont !

The doors of sound have been ripped off the hinges by Electric Sorcery who routinely electrify Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Towns are regularly woken out of their slumber by the by the wicked sound of this power trio.

Electric Sorcery takes psychedelic music firmly rooted in the 70s and adds their own special twist. Funky rhythms and psychedelic guitar riffs come together to create an intriguing sound that is sometimes very heavy.... This is a fun listen and anyone who gravitates towards the psychedelic sounds of the 70s needs to hear this… - SeaOfTranquility.org 

Meet & Eat    Greet & Drink

Saturday, September 25, from 2 – 4 PM  

1295 Route 100

Diagonally opposite the Hancock Hotel

Please bring your concerns, your hard questions, and your ideas.  The Independent vision for Vermont is all about you, your families and communities !

Tricycle, really.

Saw this interesting vehicle in Burlington yesterday. Like a Baby Björn sling, the tricycle keeps the kid in front of the adult. The tricycle set-up surely gives a lot of stability. A fun sight!

John Dillon reported on VPR that Vermont Yankee has electrical cables that frequently get submerged in water, and the NRC is none too happy about it. It's not clear from his report what the cables provide power to. If it's safety systems, there's a worry that they could short out when submerged. 

The NRC approved the design at Yankee and most or all other reactors with buried pipes, nearly impossible to inspect for leaks, carrying radioactive materials. And they've regularly been accused of being lapdogs of the industry. So if the NRC thinks it's a big deal, it probably is.

Entergy tried to excuse its misinformation to regulators about having no buried pipes by distinguishing between "underground" pipes and "buried" pipes (a distinction NRC officials have said they don't recognize). I guess it won't do Entergy any good this time to insist that the electrical cables are actually not "submerged," just "under water."

The topic of how we get our energy is on the forefront of conversations these days as we grapple with the oil-spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the recent coal-mine collapse in West Virginia, not to mention the dozens of aging nuclear power plants around the country.

If Vermont were to secede from the United States of Empire and become an independent nation-state, how could it possibly survive as a separate republic? How would it function? Are there any examples of smaller, sustainable nation-states which might serve as a role model for a state like Vermont, should it decide to leave the Union?

I suppose my favorite moment in the oil-spewing fracas that’s dominated our nation’s all-too-readily dominated attention over the past months was the moment I first heard that BP might attempt to stanch the flow with a slurry of shredded tires and discarded golf balls. The so-called “junk shot.”

Noted Peak Oil author Richard Heinberg quietly visited Vermont in April and spoke in Montpelier at a day-long gathering of the state’s Transition Town leaders. It was apparently the first time any state had gathered its Transition leaders for a conversation, and Heinberg told the nearly 70 people assembled in the sparely decorated church basement that Vermont has the potential to lead the way in the U.S., becoming the first “Transition state.”

Carl Etnier of Transition Towns Vermont.

Everyone envisioning a clean-energy future in the U.S. or Vermont should know that the best policy to create real cost-effective and fast deployment of renewable energy is what is known as a feed-in-tariff, or FIT. A FIT is the only policy that removes the monopolistic corporate controls over the utility grid and allows anyone to effectively become a power company with cost-effective renewable energy.  

Electric assist bicycle motors are a boon for people who want the low cost, convenience, and exercise benefits of bicycling, but maybe not all the exercise benefits that the distance or topography of their trips would offer.

They're also great for cycling late at night without getting the metabolism too high for easy sleep. I used to keep an electric bike for night-time climbs of the 700 vertical feet on the trip from town to home, for precisely that reason. Alas, the motor burned out just after the warrantee expired, though I used it but weekly. I haven't risked any more money on an electric bike in the seven or so years since then.

Recently I read that the Tour de France officials are checking bicycles for hidden motors, after allegations that Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara used one when he won the Tour of Flanders and the Paris-Roubaix.

I understand that tiny, concealable, but significantly powerful electric motors represent a nightmare  for bicycle race officials. As someone who supports transportation cycling, however, I'm glad to see the technology has come this far. Not because I can see a point to paying $2500 or so for this level of miniaturization. But if premium technology this light and small is available, I assume that the less expensive technology for us ordinary blokes has improved significantly, too. (As the design adage has it, "Light, inexpensive, robust: pick any two.")

On the other hand, maybe amazing high-end technology is not the place to look for harbingers of better bike motors for the rest of us. The technology advances and economies of scale from China putting 100 million electric bikes on the road may be more important.