Progressive Democrats of Cambridge - DFA - Issues - Environment

Project Lightbulb: a creative way to help the environment

Thu, 10 May 2007 09:44:35 -0700

PDC-DFA member Quinton Zondervan and I recently chatted over email about an interesting project he started recently, called Project Lightbulb. The website is very basic, but the idea is powerful (so to speak): Quinton is teaming up with other volunteers to buy energy efficient lightbulbs and to distribute them in public venues, to encourage home energy conservation. Piece of cake!

If you'd like to join in, head on over to the Google group and sign up! Or, just print out this brochure, buy some lightbulbs, pick a street corner, and start distributing.

* Full disclosure: Quinton and I are also working together on a business project, which is unrelated to Project Lightbulb.

Take action to help the environment this week!

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:44:28 -0700

Lately there appear to be a gaggle of things you can do to help the environment. Join in the fun!

- Make a donation to bring alternative energy to Cambridge. Thanks to an initiative by City Councillor Henrietta Davis, the New England Wind Fund has agreed to install a 2kW solar installation for a Cambridge school or municipal building if 150 Cambridge households make a donation to the fund. Go to http://www.newenglandwind.org/Cambridge to find out more and donate!

- Join the Climate Walk this weekend. The Interfaith Walk for Climate Rescue, which began in Northampton on Friday, March 16, will arrive in Cambridge Friday, March 23. Go to http://www.climatewalk.org/ to join up with your fellow environmentalists!

- Join the Step it Up Rally to demonstrate against global warming. The Step it Up Campaign is coordinating actions across the country, including a big rally on April 14 on Boston Commmon. Go to http://www.stepitupboston.com/ for more information or to sign up for the rally.

H/T to Sam Seidel.

Support Hybrid Cabs in Cambridge

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:22:33 -0700

A little while ago I mentioned a new service called PlanetTran, a car service which will take you to the airport in a hybrid cab.

Well, PlanetTran is looking to expand, and they want your help:

In response to the growing demand for our environmentally responsible car service, PlanetTran has applied to amend its livery license in the City of Cambridge to include more vehicles. Since Feb. 2000, the License Commission has placed a moratorium, or cap, on these licenses, pending a needs assessment, vehicle inspections, and driver approvals.

...

If you could take a few moments to sign our online petition or write to the Cambridge License Commission on behalf of PlanetTran it would go a long way toward convincing them that our service is valuable and appreciated by the residents of Cambridge. Additionally, we would be most appreciative if you shared this with neighbors and colleagues who are residents, as well as those who may work here in Cambridge.

And if you want to know how to reach the license commission, look no further:

Cambridge License Commission
831 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-3068
Phone: 617-349-6140

Hat tip to artic_monkeys on LiveJournal.

What Cambridge can do about global warming: phase in hybrid cabs

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 07:15:36 -0700

Via LiveJournal, there is now a cab service which will get you to the airport using a hybrid car: http://www.planettran.com/hybrid.html

Planet Tran doesn't have taxi medallions, so their vehicles can't sit at public cab stands. But if you give them a call, they can arrange to pick you up.

Al Gore's movie has brought the issue of global warming to the forefront. Most of the cities that have shown concern about this issue are attempting to increase the city's use of alternative energy, by, for example, buying alternative energy credits, or using alternative energy cars within the city's own fleet. It's a fine idea, as it goes, but it's limited by the city's own buying power.

But Cambridge can be even more aggressive in its pro-environmental policies, by regulating taxi medallions. If the city were to gradually phase in the requirement that every new cab medallion awarded by the city has to go to a cab operated using a hybrid car, it could significantly cut down on gasoline consumption in the city of Cambridge. Moreover, it could pave the way (so to speak) for the City of Boston to follow suit. Boston has already shown leadership on this issue by transitioning its fleet to alternative energy, thanks in large part to Councillor Felix Arroyo.

If Cambridge and Boston together could push their cabbies to use hybrid vehicles, we could make significant cuts in gasoline consumption. That would mean a bump for the region's economy and a boon for those who are dependent on cars, as the cost of gas would fall slightly. It would also push other eco-friendly cities to consider similar measures.

So, city council, what do you say? Councillors Brian Murphy and Henrietta Davis tend to be out front on environmental issues - care to take a swing?

Protest Kennedy's position on clean energy

Tue, 16 May 2006 07:34:35 -0700

Stolen shamelessly from Blue Mass Group:

Please join us to create a human wind turbine formation in front of Senator Kennedy's Boston office at noon on Tuesday May 16, 2006. This should only take 15-20 minutes and will happen RAIN or SHINE. Enough time for you to protest Senator Kennedy and still grab a bite before heading back to work!

Afterwards, we invite you to join us as we hand-deliver the hundreds of letters that have been collected over the last several months to a staffer in Senator Kennedy's office.

Senator Kennedy has stated that he will continue to fight for his constituents by supporting the Stevens amendment and opposing Cape Wind. According to a poll by the State House News Service that came out last week, 71% of Massachusetts residents support the project. Senator Kennedy needs to know that a large majority of his constituents support this project and so should he.

For this to be effective we need as many of you as possible. Please pass this along to your friends and family asking them to join us tomorrow (Tuesday, May 16). If you plan to attend please let me know by replying to this email as soon as possible.

Senator Kennedy Protest
What: Tell Senator Kennedy to stop supporting back door politics When: Monday May 15, 2006 at noon
Where: Government Center Plaza, Boston

Fight the fare increases, for the union makes us strong

Fri, 12 May 2006 03:14:49 -0700

There's a brilliant piece in the Phoenix this week, which argues that the MBTA fare increases are a union-busting tactic meant to aid the agency in an anticipated PR battle with the Amalgamated Transit Union this summer. The ATU contract with the T ends on June 30.

The Phoenix tries to play the story as a "pox on both houses" kind of story, blaming the T, the union, and the legislature for not caring sufficiently about the public. I think that's simplistic in the extreme: the agency and the legislature have far more power than the union does, and the power dynamic in play is clear. After all, they won't need to worry about their paychecks in the event of a strike.

More, much more, later on.

In the meanwhile, think about this: as more and more public employees become unionized, these kinds of public agency union-busting tactics will become more common. What can we do to neutralize these attacks on the common good?

Windmill on the Charles

Thu, 11 May 2006 08:57:54 -0700

Henrietta Davis is floating a cool idea to build a windmill in Cambridge. The windmill would expand the percent of clean energy which the city uses to 20%, from the current 4%.

Kudos to Davis; if memory serves right, she was also one of the prime movers behind the municipal wi-fi network set to go into place this summer. She's helping lead us into the future.

You know you're on the wrong side of Cape Wind...

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:20:18 -0700

When the Bush administration's position is more friendly to clean energy than yours:

The Bush administration has weighed in against a plan advancing in the U.S. Congress that would empower the Massachusetts governor to block the nation's first offshore wind farm from being built in Nantucket Sound.
...
Blocking the wind farm would have a "chilling impact" on the administration's goal of expanding renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Good grief, I think my head will explode. The Bush administration has a goal of expanding renewable energy? Say what? Clean energy is like kryptonite to Bush's Superman. Quiet provisions that undermine a progressive state's authority in favor of federal overreaching are the modus operandi of these guys. So the Senate effort to block the Cape Wind project seems like the perfect piece of Bush era legislation.

There's only one explanation I can think of: Energy Management Inc., the company developing the project, is somehow lining Bush's pockets, or is a friend of Bush, Sr., or who knows what all. That deserves some investigation.

Update: A quick search of opensecrets.org includes a long string of donations to Democratic candidates, mostly John Kerry, plus a couple of donations to Republican candidates throughout 2001 - 2004. And then:

PHILLIPS, JOHN B MR
LAGUNA NIGUEL,CA 92677 ENERGY MANAGEMENT/MANAGEMENT CONSUL 6/1/2005 $250 National Republican Congressional Cmte

I have a hard time believing that national policy can be bought so cheaply, and the donation is nearly a full year old now. But then, with these characters...

Reilly and Kennedy: We don't need no stinkin' low energy prices!

Wed, 03 May 2006 07:19:13 -0700

Via Dem Apples: Tom Reilly today took the bold, decisive step of telling Massachusetts residents that low energy prices are less important than a nice view over in Kennedy-land:

I AM writing in support of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s efforts, along with those of his colleague from Alaska, Senator Ted Stevens, to give Massachusetts an important voice in the siting of what amounts to a large-scale power plant in the middle of one of its most pristine natural resources, Nantucket Sound ("Kennedy caught in crosswind," Page A1, April 30).

Reilly actually does make some good points about the fact that there's no state oversight of the Cape Wind project, but the way he has come out against Cape Wind is noxious: he's asking the Senate to meddle in our state's affairs. The effort in the Senate, led by Kennedy and Alaska senator Stevens, is a sinister effort to deprive Massachusetts of its natural right to determine whether we want to trade off nice views from the Cape Cod Kennedy compound in exchange for cheap, clean energy. It's particularly boneheaded in light of the record high energy prices these days.

If Reilly said that he was opposed to the project because of a lack of state oversight, and that as governor he would work to provide state oversight of the project, that'd be fine. What he's actually saying is that he doesn't think the citizens of Massachusetts deserve a voice in the matter at all.

I also hope this episode is one more nail in the coffin of the "Reilly as the average Joe" argument. Reilly is opposed to a project which will make cheap, clean energy available to the residents of Cape Cod, at a time when energy prices are at record highs. Patrick is for the same project.

So who's really on the side of the average Joe? Will the fact that Reilly lives in an apartment be of any comfort to the folks who have to pay higher prices for electricity in order to subsidize the Kennedy compound? Or will we be able to forgive Patrick for his wealth, in exchange for his visionary leadership on clean, cheap energy?

Issues, Issues, Issues

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 22:33:57 -0800

I've been too busy to give lots of important issues very much attention lately. Here's a little round-up of what's happening on Beacon Hill and at 795 Mass. Ave (and elsewhere):

Health care reform appears to be dead, at least for this year. I haven't followed the story as closely as I should have, but it looks like the fault lies somewhere between Romney and Trav. Shame on both of them.

A Vermont law limiting campaign spending will be argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. When last I heard, this was John Bonifaz's case; I'm not sure if he's still on it or if he's given it up to focus on his Sec. of the Commonwealth campaign.

Alaska Rep. Don Young is trying to kill the Cape wind farm project. Seems that clean energy in Massachusetts is bad business for oil interests in Alaska. Oh sure, Young claims it's about navigational safety, but if that's the reason, why all the secrecy? If that's the game, let's talk about navigational safety out in the open.

T fares will be increasing soon. That's bad news for low-income, working-class commuters. And it doesn't do much good for the T either. If there aren't visible improvements in service, but there are visible improvements in the fare, what does that do to our perception of this vital public service? In order to be an effective system, the T fare must be much lower.

U Mass. is increasing in-state tuition for the fifth year in a row. Same story, different details.

Boston is trying to go wireless, following Cambridge's lead. And really, is there any other way?

All-age shows in Cambridge are coming under attack thanks to the scrutiny of the Cambridge Licensing Commission, in the wake of last summer's fracas at the Elks club. After all, we wouldn't want kids to have a good time, would we?

Municipal Power. The city council (seems to) want it, city manager Bob Healey is dead set against it. And we're talking about a truckload of money: 115 million big ones. (If I'm reading Healey's report right.) Maybe I'm not enough of an expert on this issue, but I happen to think muni power would be a very good idea. When all the dust of the capital expenses settles, we'd be left with a much bigger budget, meaning that moving money around to accomplish certain goals (especially affordable housing, or electric subsidies) would be pretty easy. Maybe I'm being naive? Galluccio last Thursday suggested that Cambridge should join up with 5 or 6 other communities to share the up-front capital cost, which I would also be able to get behind.

One other issue to throw in the mix: popular election of a mayor. It hasn't really been a hot topic since the summer, but with Galluccio in the news a lot, I figure I'd toss it out there. I don't know if I like it or not. Here's one compromise I'd propose: Cantabridgians get to elect a mayor by popular vote, provided 1) candidates may not run for both mayor and council simultaneously; 2) the mayor gets a bit more power, say, the power to ask the city manager to resign (maybe subject to a 2/3s override from the council, or something like that) and 3) the mayoral election happen by IRV. I know that last point seems silly, but it actually might be useful in case a mayor leaves office - the person who came in #2 could then be named mayor without the need to hold another election. Also, Cantabridgians are accustomed to and like IRV, so why not?

Yawn.. not much going on these days, is there?