Letter to SacBee

I beg to differ with a recent claim made by one of your readers that the oil industry is not subsidized. Aside from the fact that California is one of the only states in the country that does not have an oil severance tax in place, a much larger subsidy has been taking place since fossil fuel became the energy choice of this country over a hundred years ago. All of the byproducts created from combustion of fossil fuels including but not limited to toxic air and water pollution, mercury poisoning of fish, ocean acidification, climate change, extinction of marine and mammal species, increased lung cancer, heart disease and asthma rates to name a few all represent external costs not included in the production of fossil fuel. Transferring these costs from producer to the public represents a massive subsidy of the fossil fuel industry. This convenient and profitable arrangement has allowed the oil companies to profit immensely at our expense. The only way to slow down this gravy train is to attach a cost to carbon in the form of a revenue neutral carbon tax.

Why Dems and Repubs can rarely find common ground

The main reason as I see it is because Repubs look at the world differently. Whereas Dems tend to see the world as it is in all its complexity, messiness and shades of gray, Repubs see the world as they would like it to be, a nostalgic dream of an era gone by. Many of them long for the world of yesteryear when European whites held all the reins of power and everybody fit in their rightful place. People of color weren’t so uppity and fortunately not many of them voted. Gays stayed in the closet and you could go out for the evening and forget to leave your door unlocked. Yes, those were the days. Now the world has become scary and the people you see in public are many different shades of yellow and brown. A intelligent person of color has made it to the White House, an impossible thought not more than 10 years ago. This rapidly changing demographic profile that makes up the U.S. is a frightening world to many older, white Americans. This fear morphed into anger and expressed itself through the tea party. "Taxed enough already" became their rallying cry in 2009 as the health care bill was being debated but a more accurate slogan would be "Too much change already."  But the demographic changes are here to stay and will likely accelerate as the Baby Boomers begin to die off in 20-30 years. Yet many whites cling to the hope they can somehow reverse this trend and eagerly embrace the messages of fear being promoted from within their ranks. Whether it is Mexicans, gays, Blacks, liberals or socialism, fear is the uniting theme. Though the pages of the playbook are worn and frayed, the strategy is consistently effective. Unable to reinvent itself as a big tent party and sell its bankrupt supply side economic theory, Repubs are forced to use the tactic of divide and conquer. Using social hot button issues such as gay marriage, abortion rights or illegal immigration, Repubs effectively force voters to take sides. If you vote along the party line, you are being patriotic. If you vote the other way, you are a traitor to your country. For many people busy with their daily lives, it is just plain easier to see the world in black and white and let others define right and wrong for them. Adhering to a rigid ideology eliminates the need to think and ponder the world in all its complexity and shades of gray. Some issues can be molded to fit into the guidelines of the ideology such as gay marriage or abortion. Other issues that do not fit the mold or expose the shortcomings of free market economic theory such as climate change need to be vigorously challenged or denied. This irrational approach to everyday problems conflicts with the more complex, scientific problem solving approach favored by Dems. In this environment, little can get accomplished since the mechanism by which problems get solved is different. There can be no common ground between the two parties unless the problem solving mechanism is the same. This would mean either Dems give up science as the reliable way of understanding the world or Repubs must discard their non-linear way thinking.

Letter to Eddie and Monica Ortiz

Eddie and Monica Ortiz own the Grocery Outlet in Rancho Cordova, CA located at 2801 Zinfandel Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.

Dear Eddie and Monica:

I am a regular customer of the Rancho Cordova Grocery Outlet and admire all the good things you do for the local community. I read a while back that your store has an advanced electrical monitoring system arranged with SMUD to help lower your power consumption and reduce your carbon footprint. Considering your commitment to the environment, I find it puzzling that you do not provide a bicycle rack near the entrance to the store to customers like myself who get around town by bike.Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated and would further demonstrate your commitment to protecting the environment.

Sincerely,
David Brotman

Porcupine Fable

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person’s good qualities. In other words, learn to love the little pricks in your life.

Speak Up and You Shall Be Heard

I am a frequent customer at the Bel-Air Market in the Gold River Town Centre. There is an eating area in front of the market with tables and chairs. Almost every time I walk by, at least one person is smoking. I have gotten into the habit of hyperventilating on approach and then holding my breath until I get to the entrance near the ATM machines. For some reason, today I thought about whether there might be an alternative to hyperventilating. Suddenly an idea popped into my head! The Starbucks at the far end of the shopping center recently remodeled their store and along with the remodel was new signage outside that prohibited smoking within 20 feet of the store which effectively ended all the outdoor smokestacks that regularly visit for a coffee. Why not suggest the same for Bel Air? The possibility that they might accept this argument by precedence made sense and I had reason to be optimistic. The Town Centre shopping center is an older strip mall built in the 1980’s when the word pedestrian was still considered a foreign term. Like others built at the time, the parking lot and driveways were designed exclusively to accommodate the automobile. There is even a driveway that circles the perimeter of the mall that people use as a sort of mini-freeway. The main driveway that passes in front of the stores is narrow and there were no speed bumps installed to slow traffic down. People exiting the store had to look carefully to make sure no car was speeding through. My own close call took place about 2 years ago when I was crossing from the Jamba Juice side back over to Bel Air. A driver nearly clipped me as I was crossing the road. I yelled at him to stop and he looked up from whatever he was doing and did stop but then tried to defend his actions with some sheepish denial. That incident prompted me to suggest to the manager at Bel Air to install speed bumps. The manager at the time commiserated with me, noting that she was very aware of the problem and promised to work with the mall owner to see if something could be done. Well, sure enough, last year, new speed bumps were installed. So perhaps they did take me seriously.Anyways, that was a little bit of a tangent. Back to the main story. I decided to speak up once again. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were they going to argue that they didn’t have jurisdiction over the outside area or have to consult with corporate headquarters? Nope, as soon as I mentioned it to the manager, he said he would get signs installed right away. I don’t know how long this will take, but I go over there pretty frequently.Moral of the story. If you think something needs attention, better to speak up. If you just assume someone else will speak up for you, you might be waiting a long time. In this case, Bel Air has been there over 10 years.

Letter to Dan Lungren

Dear Debra:

Per your instructions, I will outline my purpose for meeting with Congressman Lungren.First of all, I had the good fortune of bumping into Congressman Lungren in front of the Bel Air Market a couple of weeks ago. We talked a little bit about clean energy but under those circumstances, it was difficult to have a meaningful discussion. I would like to meet with Congressman Lungren to discuss 2 issues of critical importance: the impacts of climate change, our reliance on fossil fuels and what should be done about it.I do
not know whether or not Congressman Lungren accepts the theory that the climate is changing and humans are the primary cause of these changes. There is an accumulating body of evidence supporting anthropogenic climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was created by the World Meteorological Organization has stated unequivocally in its most recent assessment that Human activities ... "are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents ... that absorb or scatter radiant energy. ... [M]ost of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations." The statements by the IPCC are supported by every major scientific organization in the U.S., including the National Academy of Sciences, The American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). All have issued statements in recent years concluding that the evidence for human modification of climate is compelling.In short, there is no longer any meaningful debate occurring among scientists about whether
climate change is happening and whether humans are the cause. That issue has been settled. A small group of skeptics remain who have offered other theories such as water vapor, natural variation, sunspots,etc. None of the competing theories have withstood scientific scrutiny.

Most of these other explanations tend to focus on one aspect of the climate change model or
extract limited pieces of data, also known as cherry-picking to bolster their arguments. If Congressman Lungren is interested in learning more about the scientific basis behind climate change theory, I urge him to contact Dr. James Hansen of the Nasa Goddard Institute of Space Studies. Dr. Hansen is the leading climatologist on global warming and has been researching this problem for over 20 years. I am sure he would be delighted to discuss the issue with Congressman Lungren. Dr. Hansen can be reached at (212) 678-5500.
The impacts of climate change are already evident on a global scale. Mountain glaciers are receding and the polar ice caps are melting. A massive ice sheet 100 square miles and 600 feet thick in size recently broke off of the coast of Greenland. 2010 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record. Coral reefs around the world are under stress due to the acidification of the ocean from increasing Co2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Unusually hot weather gripped Russia this year, drying out acres of farmland and raising wheat prices around the world.

There is no secret as to what is causing the increase in Co2 in the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels since the beginning of the industrial revolution have released millions of tons of Co2 and much of the Co2 that was burned at the beginning of the 20th century is still in the air today. Dr. Hansen has identified a list of what he refers to as positive feed backs, which are observable consequences of Co2 increases that are responsible for accelerating the warming of the planet. According to Dr. Hansen, the earth’s climate is approaching a critical tipping point, where it may be too late to do anything. Once again, I urge Congressman Lungren to speak directly to Dr. Hansen so he can understand this problem in more depth.

To summarize:

1. The earth is getting warmer due to the increase in Co2 in the atmosphere.
2. Humans are responsible for the increase in Co2 due to the burning of fossil fuels.
3. The consequences of a warmer earth are now observable and accelerating.

The only question left is what to do about it. Clearly, we cannot extract and consume every last bit of fossil fuel left underground before we seek out alternatives. The consequences of burning additional fossil fuels, especially coal would be disastrous from both an economic and environmental perspective. I completely understand the concerns of many in Congress and perhaps Congressman Lungren who fear that any attempt to begin a transition to a clean energy economy would cost thousands of jobs. However, those costs must be weighed against the cost of not doing anything. On July 27, 2010 a panel of experts and officials from the Dept of Defense gathered to discuss the issue of clean energy. The Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus stated that it is a matter of national security to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and his statements were echoed by other officials at the meeting including Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman at theDept of Energy. According to Deputy Secretary Poneman, the status quo is unsustainable. He goes on to say that, "The security and prosperity of the United States are directly tied to energy." A May, 2009 report from the Center for Naval Analysis called our national energy posture a serious and urgent threat to national security.

From everything that I have presented above, the only logical solution is to phase out fossil fuel use in this country and build an alternative clean energy infrastructure. The purpose of my meeting with Congressman Lungren is to give him a blueprint for accomplishing this goal. I promise not to take up too much of his time. I only ask that he hear me out on this.

Sincerely,
David Brotman

Return Comcast Cable Box

Since we can watch lots of stuff directly from the computer, we decided to end the Chinese package with expanded cable. This meant I had to return the cable box to the Comcast store on Truxel across from the Walmart in North Natomas. Total distance is approximately 24 miles. The weather was cooperating. In fact it was slightly nippy. Fall has finally arrived in Sacramento after a brief Indian summer last week. I left at about 10 minutes to 10 in the morning after taking Fluffy for a short walk. I don’t like to stop and the reason is that my muscles start to stiffen up. So I simply slow down for some Gatorade every once in a while which worked out fine. I arrived at the shopping center about 12 noon and before I parked my bike, I checked to see if the Indian fast food place was still there since it tasted so good last time. I was dismayed to find the space empty with a for lease sign. Jeez, that was only about 1.5 months ago that I ate there. Oh well. I locked my bike and opened the door to the Comcast store. It was crowded with a long line of people returning equipment and paying their bills. I had to wait about 1/2 hour but fortunately there was a big screen TV to pass the time. Business completed, it was time to choose a place to eat. I went over to unlock my bike and suddenly heard, "Hey, you in the shades, what time is it?" A well-dressed homeless man had looked up from reading some type of textbook and I told him, "It is 12:23. " He smiled and then said, "Bless you man, bless you." I just nodded. I could have said bless you too, but I am not a blessing you this or that type of person.
Okay back to the issue at hand. Food. Del Taco was out of the question and so was Arby’s. Their sandwiches are loaded with way too much salt. How about that Gordita’s Burrito on Truxel and El Camino? Yes, I remember that place. It was a decent place with good, clean food. I arrived at the corner and looked for the restaurant sign. It was gone but it did say Taqueria Mezcal. Okay, that’s close enough. I parked in front of La Bou next door, walked in and ordered a chicken burrito and a small drink. That burrito tasted so good. What a difference from that crap I ate at El Forastero. It was large and had beans, fresh chicken and I think some rice as well. I have come not to expect lettuce and tomato in burritos. But they did have salsa and it was fresh and appetizing, especially the green salsa. I piled green and red salsa onto my burrito and wolfed it down while dripping salsa and sauce on my plate. I was enjoying myself so much, I forgot about the time. Oh, shit! I had to be back in Gold River by 3 PM to pick up Pumpkin and it was already after 1. Travel time on the bike trail is usually never less than 1.5 hours and that was going downhill. Going back is all uphill. I had to get going. I jumped on my bike and headed back as fast as my sleepy legs would crank those pedals. My legs were sore and the burrito was weighing me down. No wonder sports experts do not recommend eating big meals before working out. I am sure there was a battle going on inside me to see where the blood would go - to my stomach or to my legs. I tried to put the pain and soreness out of my mind and focused on getting a rhythm. I am always amazed at how fast other cyclists ride on that path. I was pumping hard and I was probably averaging 12 mph which was not too shabby considering I had already traveled over 25 miles. But they were passing me by like I was standing still and no one looked like they were exerting much effort either. I didn’t want to look at the time on my cellphone and just pushed as hard as I could. I didn’t want Pumpkin standing outside waiting for me. Finally, I arrived on Roaring Camp Drive just as the school bell rang in the distance. Wow, what timing! I just made it. I parked my bike under a tree where I usually meet her and 2 minutes later saw her dragging her backpack on the sidewalk. That was close!Total adventure time - 5 hours. Distance traveled - 48 miles.