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The GREEN MILE-stones
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Dec. 20, 2013.]
The GREEN MILE-stones
As we reach the end of 2013, let’s do the “milestones” thing:
- This is my 20th new GREEN Reactor column in The Blue Paper.
- It’s also my 70th newspaper column or article (most of which involve GREEN issues) published continuously over the last few years in papers here in Key West.
- A few weeks ago marked a year of daily postings to my Facebook GREEN Reactor page.
- In a few weeks it’ll be a year since I stepped away from 5 years on the board of Last Stand.
- In a few months I’ll reach 5 years as a charter member of the City’s Sustainability Advisory Board.
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There are many who expend much more GREEN energy than I do (e.g., these people) but we all do what we can to work toward improving the planet and our quality of life. (more…)
Fresh GREENs
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Dec. 6, 2013.]
Fresh GREENs
We mentioned last time that GREEN Reactor would be back in December with something fresh….. How about some Fresh GREENs?
Key West is loaded with old-timers like me who’ve long been involved across the spectrum of GREEN matters (not just environmental concerns, but also quality of life, social justice, equality, etc). However most of us realize that a significant chunk of our generation (the Boomers) has distorted the N in their GREEN credentials into a D and have since relegated the health of our world well below their GREED quotient. And others have become so afraid of Teapublican backlash that they now pretty much shun their inner GREEN.
With all this drain on GREEN power, we find more and more that without an influx of YOUNG GREENs we’ll soon be (more…)
ObamaScare
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Nov. 8, 2013.]
ObamaScare
We’re past Halloween, but judging by the on-going Obamacare fright-fest, you’d never know it. And it’s not only the standard Teapublican-beholden claptrap from Faux News. Catch CNN or other network coverage — even the late-night comedians – and you’d be hard-pressed not to conclude that Obamacare had become ObamaScare. So much so that all more serious issues of trashing the economy and ruining our country’s debt rating – issues that are still on the table with a short fuse, have totally dropped off the radar.
Which is exactly the point… After their abject failure to tie Obamacare to the budget and the credit ceiling, the Teapublicans were bestowed with a mighty gift to keep their drive alive. On a silver platter they were served a plate of maximum distraction for the masses. The Obamacare people had (more…)
Yes, Dennis, voter issues are real
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Oct. 25, 2013.]
Yes, Dennis, voter issues are real
A few years ago I wrote the Key West Reactor column for the former Key West The Newspaper, edited by Dennis Reeves Cooper (who now writes a retrospective and opinion column for this paper). Though we had our disagreements over the years (e.g., over his bashing of Norma Jean Sawyer), our relationship was civil, and continues to be. He didn’t impose constraints on my articles, even when they conflicted with his distinctly right-of-center POV. So I hesitate to react resolutely to what he writes these days. But last week’s article “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE VOTER ID CONTROVERSY?” can’t go unchallenged — after all, my handle is Re-ac-tor for a reason….
In the column Dennis asks (more…)
This Tea Ain’t GREEN
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Oct. 11, 2013.]
This Tea Ain’t GREEN
Something was lost in the hoopla over the insane move by the Teapublicans shutting down our federal government. Most of the talk was about their obsession with keeping Obama from going down in history as the President who finally made some progress toward universal healthcare. (Everyone with a lick of sense knows that the “Obamacare is destroying America” rants are just a cover for their ire over Obama getting any “good” credit for anything.) What faded from the public discussion was that the shutdown was also driven by their extreme Anti-GREEN agenda.
Besides delaying Obamacare, the budget bill put forth by the House Teapublican radicals called for (more…)
EnviroNerdalist?
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Sept.27, 2013.]
EnviroNerdalist?
Traditionally, the Nerds were the guys who designed and built all those dirty things like the oil-drilling platforms and the nuke plants and all kinds of nasty stuff wreaking havoc on the planet. And Environmentalists were the tree-huggers who tried to STOP all that nasty stuff wreaking havoc on the planet. And never the twain would meet. Or would it? (more…)
Dredging up FACTS
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on Sept. 13, 2013.]
Dredging up FACTS
As we get closer to the October 1st referendum on the Channel-Widening Study in Key West, the greedy businessmen pushing for the study are clearly getting more and more desperate to influence the last few undecided voters. Since their opposition is people concerned about the environment, our health and the quality of life in Key West — you know, everyone who doesn’t focus purely on the almighty dollar—it’s hard for them to find a counterpoint that makes sense. So of course they are taking their cues from Faux News and the Swift-boaters and Koch-backed Super-PAC teams as the vote approaches.
The pro-dredge hype machine is now flinging against the wall anything they can come up with, no matter how outlandish. In this column (more…)
Vampire Blues
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on August 30, 2013.]
Vampire Blues
I’m a vampire, babe,
Suckin’ blood from the earth
I’m a vampire, baby,
Suckin’ blood from the earth.
Well, I’m a vampire, babe,
Sell you twenty barrels worth.
Forty damn years later, long after we were supposed to be FLYING our cars and living in solar houses, we still SUCK. We’re sucking over 7 million barrels of crude out of the ground EVERY DAY in the US. And that doesn’t even count all of that horrendous fracked natural gas. The US is on track to exceed Saudi Arabia’s massive output before too long. Why are we here?
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Racism and the Environment
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on August 16, 2013.]
Racism and the Environment
Environmental Racism – the placement of toxic facilities, garbage dumps or other hazards within towns or neighborhoods that are mostly inhabited by minority populations — is a well-known and widely documented phenomenon. Though the racism involved may not have been overt – e.g., a sewage plant may have ended up in the low-income black neighborhood because the residents were least resistant to the project – the net result is the same. Such placement is all too common in America.
In some cases these areas developed in the opposite sequence. Best example is “the tracks”. Many communities of America have railroad tracks in or near the town. (more…)
Keystone Cops and Flops
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on August 2, 2013.]
Keystone Cops and Flops
When people of my age were kids, our 3 or 4 channels of TV would fill afternoon and weekend slots with old movie shorts like The Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy. Typically they’d include “silent” shorts featuring the Keystone Cops – a gang of incompetent policemen who’d pursue criminals or attempt to do public services, but to disastrous results. However it wasn’t unusual that after all the tumult, they’d still get their man.
The Keystone “bitumen” (obscure term for “sandy thick unrefined oil”) pipeline that is proposed to cross America seems to be following a similar script. (more…)
Essay Bee
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on July 19, 2013.]
Essay Bee
Is it something like a Spelling Bee, but for composition? Over the 4+ years since I was appointed, I invariably draw the quizzical response “Essay Bee???” when I mention a meeting of the SAB – better known as Key West’s Sustainability Advisory Board. Then, just the word ”Sustainability” will often induce eye glaze-over. Or sudden realization of being late for an appointment. Or a jump to the next article in the newspaper….
Still here? Okay, let’s see if I can pull off a discussion of Key West’s SAB that will engage you, even if you’re not especially enamored of wonkish infrastructure talk. (more…)
GREEN Backlash Backlash
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on July 5, 2013.]
GREEN Backlash Backlash
The seeds of our last age of enlightenment were planted in the 1960s and blossomed in the 1970s with theestablishment of the Environmental Protective Agency (under Richard Nixon!) and celebrated with the brand new Earth Day celebration. During that age grew the seemingly indisputable idea that “saving the planet” was a natural thing. Everyone paying attention recognized that man’s explosive population growth and unconstrained expansion would doom us — and so proceeded to sow the seeds of salvation. But even while doing so, they continued to love those big-ole cars and – and the cheap gasoline powering them.
After having lived through the rapid progress of the Space Race, they were sure that nuclear power would soon be refined into a cheap practical energy source that would obliterate the smog of the coal and petroleum-based power plants. After the scare of the Oil Embargo of ‘73/’74 — when people wouldn’t stand for higher gas prices (almost a dollar, for god’s sake) — they quickly adopted mileage standards to eventually reduce the cost of driving. And with it, the demand for oil. (more…)
Legacy of Sally’s Rides
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on June 21, 2013.]
Legacy of Sally’s Rides
Anyone who’s followed my various Key West columns or pages knows I started my career working on the Space Shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center. My LPS (Launch Processing System) code aided in Shuttle checkout and launches, and I was fortunate enough to be able to watch up-close and personal the launches of the first dozen shuttle missions (through the first launch of Discovery). Ultimately two of the Shuttles I worked with were tragically lost, but Discovery flew 39 missions over the next quarter century.
There were many “firsts” during those early years, but other than the first Shuttle launch itself, the most significant was (more…)
GREEN Reactions
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on June 7, 2013.]
GREEN Reactions
Over my years of writing for various Key West newspapers, from time to time I have found that I could not restrain myself from responding to anonymous blabbermouths (like me, sometimes) who post their (usually anonymous) thoughts to local forums like the Voice, local Facebook pages, website comment sections, etc. Thoughts they express with such vigor that one would think they considered themselves experts on a topic. They’re thoughts that cry out for a second look.
Once again I am at that juncture. Following are representative of statements made recently in those kinds of places, selected here because of their emphasis on GREEN issues. Naturally my reactions follow in each case….
“So Key West wants to go to garbage pickup once a week. Are they crazy? Has anyone thought about how bad the garbage is going to smell?“
Uhhhh, do you think that maybe – just maybe – the people who (more…)
“Been through the DISTORT on a KEY with No Name…”
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on May 24, 2013.]
“Been through the DISTORT
on a KEY with No Name…”
In the Keys there are two “mainstream” newspapers: the daily Key West Citizen (owned by the Cooke family, previous owners of the LA Daily News and the NFL Redskins, nowadays owners of over a dozen smaller papers in FL and NC); and the twice-a-week KeyNoter (owned by the McClatchy Company, 3rd biggest US newspaper publisher, including the Miami Herald). Though various incarnations of The Blue Paper have been around for almost 20 years, its reach currently pales in comparison to these bigger corporate papers.
Their reach grants them significant impact on local affairs. Quite often government wonks bow to their editorial pronouncements. At a minimum their opinions reach a lot of people who get little other “authoritative” input on local affairs. (more…)
Paging Doctor GREEN
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on May 10, 2013.]
Paging Doctor GREEN
After the elections last year I made it clear that I no longer consider myself a Democrat (see “Farewell Democrats”). No, I didn’t jump to the dark side — but I no longer trust that the Dems as a party are willing to push hard enough toward the goals that we as a society must reach to
provide what mankind needs to survive and thrive. I’ve turned to the Green Party to fill that void, and I will do everything I can to increase its viability in our political process.
The Green Party isn’t just for tree-huggers, it’s a full-platform political party with a slate of 10 values backing its positions. Among them is the value that I hold most dear: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY. And it is hard to find a better example of LACK of social justice/equal opportunity in today’s world than this one: Access to health care. This absolutely is a GREEN issue.
Here in Florida the situation is atrocious. (more…)
Shades of GREEN
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on April 25, 2013.]
Shades of GREEN
Too many hear “GREEN” and instantly think “tree hugger” or “eco-warrior” or “occupier” or other extremist or radical viewpoint. Of course there are lots of GREENs that proudly carry those tags, but in today’s world virtually all sensible people are painted with at least SOME shade of green. For a lot of them that shade is a really soft pastel, but it does show through from time to time.
Many of us try to be GREEN, but are mostly fair-weather fans. Watch the water consumption, try to recycle at least the aluminum cans, don’t needlessly burn a lot of gasoline, etc. Efforts at this level shouldbe second nature to all of us. Failure to even bother with the easy stuff like this is totally lazy or even narcissistic. But doing so at least gets you a GREEN primer coat.
Lots of us have gone well beyond that, to exercising great care in (more…)
Yes Michael, Sustainability is possible
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on April 12, 2013.]
Yes Michael, Sustainability is possible
Is sustainability possible in the Keys? Blue Paper columnist Michael Welber asked this question in a recent column in this paper. From that starting point he proceeded to look at the Keys’ water, electricity and food consumption, then answers his own question with “…let’s not kid ourselves. It’s not sustainability.”
Since the article called out a board that I’m on – Key West’s Sustainability Advisory Board – I’ll take that as solicitation for a response….
The first issue I have with the piece requires me to invoke Clintonian protocol and assert that you need to define just what “is” is. IS sustainability really narrowly focused on communities’ ability to produce their own water, electricity and food? I would say: Not really. Those are components of SELF-sustainability. Sure, to be self-sustaining a community would have to be able to survive cut-off from the rest of the world. But a real-world GREENy doesn’t (more…)
King of the road
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on March 29, 2013.]
King of the Road
Listening to “citizen input” at the Key West Sustainability Advisory Board’s workshop on bicycling this week, I was presented with the idea that Key West should be a town were automobiles take a back seat to the island’s bicycles. Interesting concept. It’s not entirely new, since there are other bicycle-centric communities out there. Some are also islands, most without road access from the mainland. Others are small subsets of larger towns. Up to now, millions of Key West tourists each year (with cars being the most popular way to get here) have obscured this vision from me, but I believe it deserves a closer look.
Bicycling has always been my main transportation here (closely followed by walking, then occasional car-treks with the wife). There are plenty of bicyclists more avid than I, but (more…)
Blue is the new GREEN
GREEN Reactor column
[Published in The Blue Paper newspaper on March 15, 2013.]
Blue is the new GREEN
After over 50 local articles in most of the local papers (not to mention all those letters to the editors), I’ve happily come aboard the brand new local journal: The Blue Paper. The old “Blue Paper” was just the nickname for “Key West The Newspaper” or “KWTN”; this new journal is really named “The Blue Paper”. This paper won’t be limiting itself to any one topic at a time, it’s ready to follow any important breaking issue at any time. The Blue Paper takes investigative journalism to the next level. I look forward to adding my activistic and educational exposition to the mix. (Did I meet my syllable quota in that last sentence? :- )
For those who haven’t caught my “intro” columns in other local papers, a quick synopsis: My “internet handle” has been Reactor for 20 years. The roots of that nickname come from: 1) my relentless work ethic; 2) my strong social media reflex impulse; and 3) a not-so-well-known album (Re-ac-tor) by musical sage and peace and environmental activist Neil Young. To my fellow Neil Young Fans – the Rusties – I have been known as RE*AC*TOR. When I became a full-time Keys resident, the handle expanded to Key West Reactor. Later my column in another local paper shifted that to KONK REACTOR.
But after five years on the board of Last Stand and four years on Key West’s city Sustainability Advisory Board, (more…)