Chasing Clean Air

Daily smog detector descends from the mountain

This holiday season I handled the holiday blues, not by morphing into the sun, and being a light unto my family, spreading warmth & good cheer-- Pollyanna with blinders on-- rather I escaped to the mountains to find solace with a daily hike. Except yesterday when parks were closed due to strong winds and high fire danger.

Going above the city and ocean at Mesa Overlook, on a clear day I can see Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands, the ocean before me, as if extending to China, and the Santa Monica Bay, which hugs our metropolis with white tipped waves like a broad smile that signals, welcome to Los Angeles.

On a less than clear day, our city and Bay is shrouded in varying degrees of smog.

Depending on the day I hiked--relatively the same time each day--I got a sense of "true" air quality.

Move over Airnow.gov 

I have no idea how they determine their moderate and good air quality days, for frequently my eyes and lungs burn a different truth.

Fine particulate matter, the dark stuff that emanates from polluting vehicles and planes, transforms into a dark veil that covers our city and lungs.

It is most apparent when many people drive vehicles.

I thought Saturday would be clear because we'd just had rain and winds to clear things out. And I thought many people left for Christmas vacations on Friday. But Saturday, it turned out, many people traveled on what was considered the most heavily traffic and plane days of the year, reflected in the dark smog despite rain.

In fact, additional military air space opened to enable many more commercial flights to take family members with fruit cakes from one part of the country to another.

I thought about that fine particulate, creating a brownish veil that clouds my view, and realized the industry pollution I blame for much in Los Angeles smog pales in comparison to moving vehicle pollution.

I recalled how important it is to get every unnecessary polluting vehicle off our roads!

Shame on employers who insist employees make a long commute if their job doesn't 100% justify being in the office.

Teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and webconferencing should be the carbon-free alternative for all, or part, of the work week. Carbon-free meetings and work should be mandated by government, by creating incentives for employers.

Sunday was crystal clear. Few cars. No smog.

No smog, but no camera to show you those pristine views.

Monday. The brown/pink smog returned with cars.

Saturday, Mayor Villarogosa hiked with two security guards, one trailed behind him as the mayor went up the steep incline at a fast clip. Up, up, up! Everyone commented, "There goes the mayor," in at least four languages. He wore shorts and a wide smile, perspiration glistened in the afternoon sun.

When I came down from the mountain, I saw a small caravan of government vehicles, and oh no, the mayor's vehicle was a large SUV, or at least that's the one he drove that day. But I'm told by one of his police protectors, who sat behind the wheel, that this SUV business is about to change for the greener, as big plans are underway to revise the entire fleet. That's good.

It's amazing how wonderful and thoughtful some families are, and that's what I'm thinking, coming off of a great Christmas eve. Seven little kids running around, playing with marbles I brought, filling in Cinderella phone books, hugging my hands and legs, and I just had to write a positive post on this day just because I got lucky in an unexpected way, and it wasn't my family, surrogates can feel as good or better, Merry Christmas. 

Nuclear power is not an answer to global warming. Nuclear power is NOT green

Nuclear power is dangerous, and nuclear power is not an answer to global warming.

Nuclear power is on the table in California due to those who are not knowledgable regarding the dangerous risks.

Nuclear may go on California's ballot in June.

If it does, vote no.

There have been many reactors that have melted and given nearby residents cancer, without being reported.

I personally know this to be true.

Dan Hirsch of Committee to Bridge the Gap says, "It's the most dangerous material on earth, a target for terrorists, and an accident could kill hundreds of thousands of people."

Politicians who aren't well-informed are pushing nuclear in response to global warming, and using incomplete information to make their poisonous point.

PBS is following this story: http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/blog/index.php?p=218&kcet_speed=hi&kcet_play=1

And President Bush. Last I heard he denied Hanford Nuclear Storage facility new money to fix leaks occurring in our Nation's nuclear storage tanks.

Nearby are apple farms, the Columbia River... who knows what, and who, else are effected because there's nowhere safe to store remnants of nuclear power, and would you like a truck to drive by your neighborhood, delivering a load of nuclear waste?

Nuclear waste can last 500,000 years.

It's an insane debate that should be left underground with tons of nuclear waste in Hanford. 

Politicians and electric companies must stop pushing nuclear, and we the voters must stop them with our voice and votes.

John Edwards, so far, in my opinion, is the only presidential candidate that truly understands our energy issues and makes sense.

John Edwards is my front-runner.

All That's Green Is Not Gold: VC Money Goes Toward The Bubble - Pop!

Go green solar, wind, hydrogen, algae but do not go the way of the junk bond, California's savings and loans, the internet boom to bust disaster that took the NASDAQ with it, not to mention the trust of millions who invested badly.

Venture capital going into green companies, be careful and look for value not hype.

This is what I woke thinking after writing yesterday's post about the green business conference, GreenXchange, where I met men making millions on what they may accomplish. And may not.

An example includes one man with whom I spoke, who has an online media company that offers renewable energy information for a steep price. The information isn't different from what you or I can gather, and I have, it's just that he got a million dollars to hire people to do so. People he hasn't hired yet.

When I asked him what he'll do with a million dollars, he said he'd turn it into 40 million dollars by selling his online media company to a bigger one.

That's very green of him.

This man didn't mention value once, a value he may bring customers. The goal was only: Make money.

Whereas the goal should be to create value and as a result make money.

I paid a visit to his web site, and learned he's not selling anything unique but he is packaging information on renewable energy for individuals and companies to buy for outrageous large sums, information easily accessible otherwise.

The main research provided on his web site, so far, is solar. I can tell you, solar is great and was particularly great if you researched and bought leaders in 1st quarter of 2007, which I did and recommended to my readers. I'm sure there are many, many more solar details this man and others can sell you like Michael Milkin sold junk bonds.

I understand this man, and others like him, packaging information to sell. It's a free world. What I don't understand is investing a million dollars in a "green" venture for the sole purpose of selling the company in a few years for $40 million.

John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club formed to preserve Nature, must be turning in his grave now.

The green movement is here because we need positive change to protect the environment now, not to greedily profit without a clear plan that includes creating value.

Laguna Beach, Calif. - Colors of nature burst all over!

Driving down the 405 I noticed more Orange County smog than I'd seen before. Fortunately, I turned off to go to Laguna Beach for a weekend getaway... As pretty as ever.

Strolling on the beach on a cold early morning walk that included tide pool explorations, I was sensitive to smoke in the air from locals burning wood.  But that passed into a beautiful blue day where silver glitter danced on the glassy Pacific Ocean, dimming at dusk into a romantic orange glow.

Laguna Beach is as about as clean as a Southern California town can be; it's on the coast, away from industry though within miles of San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, which closed in 1992 but leaked what was called trace amounts of radioactive material into ground water near San Clemente. ?? If you want to read more: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/homepage/article_1246083.php 

The ocean is somewhat polluted due to storm run-off mixed with people's toxins but the sun melts away my toxic thoughts, and the beauty of the water and its tides...breathtaking natural beauty.

      

Green Conferences Sprout Up All Over

Where did all the flower-children go? Flowing skirts, Birkenstocks, and back-packs, holding up signs with big bold black letters Save the Whales!

Times changed, and at long last, the white man understands Earth’s delicate balance, nature and needs, and he wants to green his planet and bank account, and thus the GreenXchange was created by a media conglomerate that crowned itself—a Global Marketplace Conference. 

And so it was.

The Old Boys Network scooted to the left and joined the environmentalists in their efforts to save the world. Sort of.

The first annual GreenXchange Xpo kicked off at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City last Monday and Tuesday; an expensive conference for companies going green and wanting to discuss the business of the environment.

With an almost $1000 price tag, the two-day event got me wondering what went on beyond the veil of business stories swapped in a Middle-Eastern-bizarre like setting, only picture a sea of black suits mingling under chandeliers.

I observed mostly white men in elegant suits and green ties, swapping stories that sounded something like this:  

"I'm going green with millions of dollars to back me." 

This was a far different cry from the stories I overhead at San Francisco’s Green Festival in November, where a sea of Birkenstock’s rallied to the cry:

“Save the whales! The trees! Global warming!”

If I were to summarize the respective take-away vibes, the Green Festival was about heart and altruism to protect the environment without necessarily enough thought to self and structure, and the GreenXchange Xpo was about head, business structure, and greed without enough thought to environmental impacts. The gulf between the two felt wide, and I believe should be narrowed.

It got me thinking how each group must and can learn from the other, which applies to me, too. 

I spend as much time speaking out to clean our air, testify at hearings,  expose polluters and educate them on solutions—as those who make money doing the same. I write stories that others charge for, including the organizers of  GreenXchange Xpo who charge a pretty penny. I have a  long history of writing my observations, with or without compensation. A writer writes and my interest is protecting the environment.

This event reminded me of starting out after college when I changed my cocktail waitress attire for a blue suit to wear at Forbes Magazine's office in the National Press Building. Immediately, I was lobbied by powerful white men in black suits, who wanted to be in the magazine.

These men knew how to work the system.

And here they were again, their system superimposed on the current it! environmental movement, and The Old Boys Network had gone green. 

Mercedes and Beemers were valet parked, and their drivers entered the GreenXchange Xpo posse, ready to reinvent the world and themselves, and drive like a Porsche on biofuel to the front of the green business-pack.

It was a great opportunity to network. Truly it was.

Creative Artists Agency catered a cocktail party overflowing with drinks,  caviar, lamb, and salmon. Yum, but not too environmentally sound.

Salmon is caught in ways that harm other marine life and the environment, and lamb like all meat is created using natural resources that hurt the environment, such as trees grazed for land to feed animals, and limited water supply use.

But it was their first such event, and, as such, it's well to remember these things generally get better with age. Like women.

The money talk occurred with hope, and zest, and I learned of a man with a web site that didn't look THAT much different than my own, information-wise, who'd just raised $1 million dollars. When I asked him what he'd do with one million dollars, he said he'd make his company worth $40 million in order to sell to a media company. And just as I was thinking, hey, this conference isn't so bad for learning how I might be greener, too, the million dollar man with creative ideas disappeared. Lickedysplit.

As a long time nature lover and voice for the environment, aspects of this event felt insincere. Of course, that can happen anywhere. Many speakers and attendees were MBAs--about business--and I observed many who spoke without enough information.

In fairness, I heard many who were interesting, and made headway with worthy "green"ideas like an organic cotton clothing company, recycled paper company, and I spoke to an innovative wind turbine creator. I'll tell you more about them in another post. Oh, and Green Energy TV. I just checked this YouTube-like site for the environment, and it featured Jay Leno speaking about Hydrogen 7.

General topics at the conference included: Cleantech, Carbon Offsets (this idea reminds me of Enron when a company is encouraged to “offset” cheating by focusing on charitable donations), Renewable Energy—wind, sun, water, Transportation, VC Funding, and more.

We've come a long way since the days when I couldn't give green PR away, to today’s billion dollar marketplace driven by government laws and incentives, and Al Gore's tipping point when Global Warming became real and the masses tipped into the Go Green Pot of Gold.

Perhaps as the shorelines recede from global warming, the tides will change for environmentalists, too, who will profit from their efforts just like the Gucci crowd does, and, together we'll share ideas and effort and do the right thing:

Save the planet.