A proposed ordinance aimed at quieting loud motorcycles passed the city's Public Safety Committee Tuesday and will now be considered by the full city council.
By Casey Conley
ReporterA proposed ordinance aimed at quieting loud motorcycles passed the city's Public... more
GIVE the Commonwealth’s miffed motorcyclists credit for imagination. The aggrieved group protesting Boston’s new ordinance against poorly muffled bikes has christened itself the Massachusetts Riders for Justice Committee.
Here, in the interest of greater accuracy - and onomatopoeia - is my suggestion: ROARR, or Riders Outraged About Reasonable Restrictions.
Let’s face it. Motorcycles are prime offenders when it comes to noise pollution. One night a few weeks back, a friend and I were walking near the Public Garden when there arose such a clatter that all heads turned to see what was the matter. A dozen or so bikes came snarling and snorting around the corner, almost all with unmuffled pipes.
By Scot Lehigh
Globe ColumnistGIVE the Commonwealth’s miffed motorcyclists credit for imagination. The aggrieved... more
Captain’s Comments
It’s great to be back in San Francisco!
I had the good fortune to have spent the past two weeks travelling in our great State of Alaska. What a great experience. If you haven’t been, I would encourage you to take the trip north and see the last American Frontier. While there I visited Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali, Juneau, Skagway, Petersburg, Sitka and Ketchikan, as well as the great glaciers of Glacier Bay. Wild life was abundant and the fishing was unbelievable. Not much crime in the back country, at the fishing streams or on the cruising ships.
Policing of most of the towns was unlike what we do here, in “the lower 48.” Some towns had only 4-5 sworn officers, including the Chief, but that was to police populations of under 1,000. In Juneau, several dozens of police officers lined the July 3rd parade route. It also happened to be the 50th Anniversary of their statehood. The locals do enjoy their Independence Day celebration and many also celebrated the resignation of their Governor as well, which seemed a bit perplexing to me. I was told by some officers that many of the jurisdictions supplement their force in the summer months when harvesting and canning of salmon is in full swing and that many of their calls of violent incidents are usually alcohol fueled.
Thanks to Lt. Rich Pate for assuming duties here while I was gone. I understand things went very well. See below for the Crimes of Note he submitted for the past week. It was disturbing to see that there was a shooting on Broadway Thursday night inside a club. Two individuals suffered non- life threatening gunshot wounds. I have asked the Entertainment Commission to hold a hearing to examining the clubs promotions, business plan and security plan. Hopefully we will put an end to dangerous and preventable situations.
The Central Station Community Meeting is this Thursday July 16th at 6 PM at 660 Lombard, the Tel-Hi Community Room, please join us. Don’t worry, if the crowd is unruly, I can always break out a slideshow of my vacation!
SAFE Night Out! We hope to keep the “Bocce with Cops” night going this year at DiMaggio’s Playground Bocce Courts August 4th at 5 PM. Save the Date!
Happy Bastille Day! Look for several celebrations and street closures around the district. Traffic should not be impacted significantly.
Crime Trend in Chinatown
The “River Rock Burglar” is back at it in Chinatown. Over the past two weeks we have experienced up to 5 burglaries in Chinatown. The MO has been the same as in previous years. The suspect takes a cobblestone or river rock and breaks a store window and makes off with cash or merchandise. The latest hit was for a tray of computer equipment on 6/13/09 from a store on the 500 block of Washington. It has been frustrating to experience the same type of burglary over the years. We have caught the suspect twice and he was most recently released from prison on parole on July 3rd, about the time when we started experiencing the burglaries again. Plainclothes officers from Central Station are investigating and searching for the suspect. The suspect is described as a 48 year old white male, 6’, 190 pounds, blue eyes and grey and brown hair. He was released by parole and listed “homeless” as his address. In the past he was found to be sleeping in local SRO hotels and parks.Central District Newsletter
Captain James I. Dudley
July 14, 2009
“Arm... more
The pilot episode, entitled The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which launched on Earth Day 2008, follows the kids and KJ the Green Gorilla as they face a demented plot by Dr. Morlon Huffelbot to create an island of plastic bags in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and come up with green jobs of their own to fix the problem.
By by Adam W., SustainableCircles Corp.The pilot episode, entitled The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which launched on Earth... more
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Like most thoroughfares in booming cities of the developing world, Bogotá’s Seventh Avenue resembles a noisy, exhaust-coated parking lot — a gluey tangle of cars and the rickety, smoke-puffing private minibuses that have long provided transportation for the masses.
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
The New York TimesBOGOTÁ, Colombia — Like most thoroughfares in booming cities of the developing... more
It sounds big, but it just isn't enough. Leaders of the G8 industrial nations meeting in Italy this week are likely to agree that the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. That means cuts of 80 per cent among the rich nations.
They will say that this is essential to keep global warming below 2 °C - widely regarded as the tipping point beyond which scary global feedbacks could wreck the climate system that keeps us fed and watered.
Sorry, guys, but this is scientifically illiterate. We might be lucky: if the atmosphere is less sensitive to those gases than most scientists suppose, it could be enough to keep us below 2 degrees, for a while at least. But the best estimate is that the world needs at least 80 per cent cuts in global emissions, and probably more like 100 per cent, to stay below two degrees.
The smart talk back at the climate lab is about negative emissions. We may need to construct a planetary air-conditioning system to keep us cool by sucking carbon dioxide out of the air.
Now I have been writing about climate change since the mid-1980s, when it was not much more than a scary thought among a few atmospheric chemists. Even at the end of the 80s, insiders say Greenpeace decided not to launch a campaign on climate change because they were not sure about the science.
So I am amazed at how far the world has come since, in admitting the need to control the emissions of gases fundamental to our economies. I know the 1997 Kyoto protocol was a bit of a damp squib, with the US bailing out and everyone else taking their cue. But even to be talking about 50 per cent emissions cuts today is, from the historical perspective, dazzling politics.
The trouble is the science has moved on even faster. The planet is not waiting for the diplomats. Climate chaos is coming down the tracks fast.
Even a decade ago, most scientists figured that we could probably cope with doubling the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels. That is, going from 275 parts per million to 550 ppm. Right now, we are at approaching 390 ppm and pushing up by around 2 ppm a year. So it seemed that we had a bit of time.
But five years ago, with growing concern about climate tipping points, scientists began to see 450 ppm as the threshold we should not exceed. That's a lot closer. We will be there in 30 years.
And more recently the talk has been about 350 ppm. In other words, because of the timelags involved in the whole global warming process, we will need to lower concentrations of greenhouse gases to below where they are now.
Either that or we may face the rapid breakup of the Greenland ice sheet, runaway African droughts, drowned cities and oceans so acid they dissolve coral reefs. As the cover story of New Scientist magazine eloquently put it last week: "It's worse than we thought".
But I won't despair when the G8 leaders walk away basking in the glow of having made a strong statement on climate change. Despair isn't really an option. And there is good news.
The White House is listening to its chief scientist, Nobel prize-winning energy campaigner Steve Chu, who certainly gets it. He tells Americans they will have to abandon California to the desert if they don't act fast. He and Obama believe there can be a worldwide revolution in how we generate energy: a low-carbon revolution within a generation.
I believe that too. There are tipping points in human society, as well as the climate system. But will we reach ours in time to prevent nature going over the edge? That I don't know.It sounds big, but it just isn't enough. Leaders of the G8 industrial nations meeting... more
Footage from a news story about SF enforcement of loud motorcycles, this video very clearly lists health effects of loud motorcycles and attributes this information to the SF Health Dept.Footage from a news story about SF enforcement of loud motorcycles, this video very... more
Want to see why we aren't getting single-payer health care, or any of the other things we voted for? Check out whose paying how much for what, and then let your 'ahem' representatives know what YOU think about lobbying.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Wednesday is the start of a new fiscal year for many Bay Area transit agencies. And that means it is the day fares go up. In the case of Bay Area Rapid Transit, the increases come amidst difficult labor negotiations.SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Wednesday is the start of a new fiscal year for many Bay Area... more
Not surprising, but still troubling: A new study from the University of Washington and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health shows that subways are the loudest forms of mass transit in the city.Not surprising, but still troubling: A new study from the University of Washington and... more
What can the progressive movement learn from the LGBT community? On the 40th anniversary of Stonewall there has been a good deal of reflection and soul searching on the role of the struggle for gay rights within the larger civil rights movement. Yesterday when Barack Obama met with gay couples in the White House he said, “It’s not for me to tell you to be patient any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half-century ago. We’ve been in office six months now. I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration.” That could be applied to a number of issues, not only those affecting the LGBT community.
Richard Burns, Chief Operating Officer of the Arcus Foundation, Naomi Clark of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Richard Kim, Associate Editor at The Nation, and independent journalist Nancy Goldstein on the role of LGBT politics within the progressive movement.What can the progressive movement learn from the LGBT community? On the 40th... more
On Friday, 6/26, Secretary Sebelius announced a new series of health care reports for each state, "The Health Care Status Quo". Each of the 50 reports highlights the current status of health care and the need for reform this year.On Friday, 6/26, Secretary Sebelius announced a new series of health care reports for... more
On numerous visits to Manhattan, I have found myself poking around the city trying to find a moment of quiet and once located a hint of it in Central Park during a windless, late-night snowfall. There I stood absolutely still in the lemon glow of the city, a sky full of snow. The city still roared from all sides, a thousand noises compressed down to just one. I counted that distant, mild roar as quiet, a welcome relief from the more pressing noises of the daytime city.
Great Article from Miller-McCune MagazineOn numerous visits to Manhattan, I have found myself poking around the city trying to... more
A Call To The Legal Profession To Defend Citizens Against Noise Pollution
By Arline L. Bronzaft, PhD.
The Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City has estimated that "...international passenger traffic will double by 2010 and domestic passenger traffic will double within the next 20 years." Whereas this potential growth in airport travel is being met with glee by the aviation industry, it is bringing distress to the millions of people who live close to airports and have to live daily with the noise from overhead jets. Similarly in community after community, residents are registering complaints that noises from recreational vehicles, highways, leafblowers, garbage collections, high speed-auto racing, and nearby discos are robbing them of the peace and quiet to which they believe they are entitled. Sadly since too little attention has been paid to noise pollution, many people find their complaints fall on "deaf ears."A Call To The Legal Profession To Defend Citizens Against Noise Pollution
By Arline... more
The long community fight to close the Integrated Environmental Systems (IES) medical waste and solid waste incinerators in Oakland, California has ended in victory.
Article by Bradley Angel
GreenactionThe long community fight to close the Integrated Environmental Systems (IES) medical... more
The English non-profit Oxfam is asking everyone to "demand action until you're blue in the face." You'll be joining Fatboy Slim, Jarvis, Little Boots and VV Brown to send a message to world leaders at the climate summit in Copenhagen asking them to deal with climate change as a real problem.
As part of the initiative, campaigners will take a snapshot of you at various festivals across the UK and your photo will be added to a massive petition that will sent to the PM. As the numbers grow, they'll continue to update the gallery of blue faces. This movie will also be shown on festival screens across the country. Go blue for green!The English non-profit Oxfam is asking everyone to "demand action until you're blue in... more
In the video above I outlined key elements of the bill is an extremely over simplified way, and discuss some of the complexities about the political climate.
There are people out there that live and breathe these issues, so if you are on twitter, I highly recommend following @katesheppard and @david_h_roberts. Other people who are consistantly chatty about the topic include @michaeloko who does PR for the NRDC and @JesseJenkins an energy and climate policy analyst.
If you want to hear NPR break down cap and trade, you can smirk as they tried to be funny in this fabulously simplified and understandable piece. Kate Sheppard broke down the waxman markey also known as the aces bill or HR2454 in bullet points (love that). And Dave Roberts just posted a piece on why he’s not freaked out about the Waxman-Markey Bill. This is an excellent article with a lot of great points that will give you hope at the end of the day. And who doesn’t want a little hope at the end of the day?In the video above I outlined key elements of the bill is an extremely over simplified... more
If there's one thing that continues to stand out to me in the politics of climate change is the yawning chasm between what scientists say is needed in terms of emissions reductions to prevent catastrophic climate change and what politicians are proposing. Finally though, scientists are speaking up; 20 of the United States' leading climate and environmental scientists have written an open letter to President Obama and Congress highlighting the gap between what science says is necessary and what politics deems feasible. The full letter is available from The Woods Hole Research Center, but here's the gist of it:
Waxman-Markey is Just a Small First Step
Waxman-Markey can only be viewed as first step, and must be enacted this year. However, the bill needs to be strengthened wherever possible (and certainly not weakened). Furthermore, the President must show personal leadership to "lead the American public into recognition of the scale of climate disruption so that the US will embrace still stronger policies to do what we know from scientific investigation is necessary to prevent disastrous climate alteration."
450ppm is Not Enough to Prevent "Ruinous Climate Change"
The scientists also expressed that the international political consensus that constraining atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 450ppm is adequate, is far from that. Without going so far as James Hansen, Bill McKibben and others in specifically saying that we really should be reducing CO2 levels to 350ppm, the scientists urged stronger action on the part of the United States:
We and many other are of the view that these objectives [holding CO2 to 450ppm] are inadequate to sustain the integrity of global climate and to hold the risk of ruinous climatic change to an acceptably low level. United State policy must provide a fully satisfactory US contribution to global greenhouse gas reductions that move beyond these inadequate international limits.
For more info on who signed the letter click the linkIf there's one thing that continues to stand out to me in the politics of climate... more
