The current issue of UQI (#14 - Summer 1999)
        includes the following (and more):

*Measuring Urban Walkability (4 parts):
       The Popsicle Indicator
       Bradshaw Index of Walkability
       INDEX’s Pedestrian Indicators
       Adding Geography to Pedestrian Indicators (through GIS)
*Boston City Culture Map
*Core indicators of neighborhood sustainability
*Outside Magazine’s Dream Towns of North America
*Maureen Hart’s Critique on "pedestrian-friendliness"
*Dan Burden’s most walkable towns, 1999
*(world) City Development Index:  high & low scoring cities

[Note:  The "Urban Quality Indicators" newsletter was developed
to share information on various efforts in North America
measuring the quality, health and sustainability of
its communities - from neighborhoods to regions.]

For contents of the features and five departments
(CRITIQUE, SURVEY, LIBRARY, DATA, CITY CULTURE MAP)
in the back issues (#1-13), please see partial listing below.

Best wishes,
Cy Yoakam, editor

To Order UQI:  Subscription (Issues #14-17) first year:
         U.S. -$21.75US dollars   -  $29 thereafter;  Canada: $29US & $39US;
         Other Countries:  $49US & $65US.
         **Single issues (#1, 3-14), each $7in U.S.; $10US in Canada; $18US
              elsewhere.
(Note:    We can bill with first issue if you live in the U.S. or Canada.)
Order by: *email (CYoakam578@...),
                *phone/ fax (734-996-8610), or
                *postal mail (UQC, 1756 Plymouth Rd., #239, Ann Arbor, MI
48105)



Index of Issues (by Departments)

Urban Quality Indicators:  April 1996 to April 1999

Features by Issue:
1-Pioneer Jacksonville, FL:  Targets for the Year 2000
2-*SOLD OUT*- Sustainable Seattle:  Creating a city of lasting value
3-FunkyTowns, USA:  Best alternative, eclectic, irreverent, and visionary
places.
4-Attitude Surveys:  How do we know when "Good" is good?
5-Measuring the New Urbanism: Land use indicators as clues to urban quality
6-Post Materialistic Indicators of urban quality
7-Neighborhood Quality Indicators:  Projects organized around action
8-Canadian Urban Quality Indicators:  As Canadian as………..
9-Retail Quality Indicators: the suburban shift, reinvestment, & "de facto"
trends
10- Environmental Footprint:  Your community’s environmental sustainability
11-  Community Sustainable Welfare Index:  Your community’s economic
sustainability
12-  Measuring Your Community’s Cultural Quality, and ….  What Makes a City
Romantic?
13-  Healthy Cities Approach:  Acknowledging the contribution of nonmedical
factors to health

City Culture Map by Issue:
1-Detroit;  2-*SOLD OUT*-Baltimore,  3-New Orleans, 4-San Francisco,
5-Lower Manhattan, NY, 6-Miami, 7-Seattle, 8-10 Chicago-Parts 1-3,
11-Brooklyn, NY, 12-Houston, 13-(evaluative image)Tokyo & Vancouver

Survey, Data, & Library (issue sampling  -   last 3 issues):
11- best cities for new businesses, urban income inequality & mortality, more.
12-  the 13 cities most threatened by sprawl (Sierra Club); downtown
residential populations (Brookings    Inst.), more.
13-  best cities for mountain living, and for business; scoring "Residential
Friendly Spaces", more.


Urban Quality Communications
website:  http://members.aol.com/CYoakam578/UQIHomePg.html

>George Mokray wrote:
>
>>from EnviroNews Service <newsdesk@...>:
>>Local Chinese officials propose to make water a commodity like any other
>>-- It's the new face of environmentalism: Make water a commodity like any
>>other, subject to market forces, and it will benefit everybody--nature,
>>the government and even the poor. It's a controversial idea, but one that
>>is rapidly gaining ground. (Earth Times)

Martin Witberg replied:
>Commodity markets are focused on short term gain
>and maybe short term balance of supply and demand. If it's gone it's gone
>then move on never look back. Or forward, for that matter.
>Good water management should focus on long term availability. Never the
>twain shall meet.

I remember a lecture that John Todd gave near a decade ago.  He talked a
little about the water system in one of the Indonesia islands (Bali?) where
for centuries the irrigation had been overseen for centuries by Buddhist
(?) priests, a sacred commons.  Recently, engineers had tried to manage the
irrigation system and screwed it up.  They had to ask the priests how to
fix it.

It is interesting to me that the water was managed for centuries as a
commons within a sacred context.  Hard to find that in the marketplace.
Hard for the marketplace to recognize it when it runs into it.

>I remember a lecture that John Todd gave near a decade ago.  He talked a
>little about the water system in one of the Indonesia islands (Bali?) where
>for centuries the irrigation had been overseen for centuries by Buddhist
>(?) priests, a sacred commons.  Recently, engineers had tried to manage the
>irrigation system and screwed it up.  They had to ask the priests how to
>fix it.

Couople of minor facts:

Bali does have a vast irrigation system that is very old. The Dutch
looked at when they took over the island around 1900 and decided
that they couldn't improve it.

The prevailing religion is Hindu.

The Indonesian government built several dams, which the locals
have either blown up or opened the sluice gates.

Finally, to the best of my knowledge, there are organizations based
on watersheds that manage the distribution of water. I believe that
every farmer is a member and that decisions are taken by consensus.
In years when there's enough water (most of  them, I think), most
farmers get two crops of rice a year. To a Balinese, if you haven't
eaten rice, you haven't eaten.

>It is interesting to me that the water was managed for centuries as a
>commons within a sacred context.  Hard to find that in the marketplace.

I'm fairly sure that this was a secular context. It must be said, however,
that religion flows through everything in Bali, and that nothing important
is done without there being a religious component.



                       ###

J.H. Crawford    joel@...    http://www.carfree.com/

George Mokray wrote:
>
>It is interesting to me that [on Bali] the water was managed for centuries as a
>commons within a sacred context.  Hard to find that in the marketplace.
>Hard for the marketplace to recognize it when it runs into it.

J.H. Crawford:
>I'm fairly sure that this was a secular context. It must be said, however,
>that religion flows through everything in Bali, and that nothing important
>is done without there being a religious component.

Maybe what we're seeing here is common interest management at the right
level: that of the community (villages within a watershed), with a common
rule book for neighboring watersheds
(political-religious-cultural-traditional-whatever). Sounds like the right
way to do it.
Trouble is that these things seem to blow up in your face once you try to
apply them to large cities instead of small farming communities.


greetings,

Maarten Witberg

PS: Reflecting on common goods as commodities: why not make breathable air
a commodity too? Air futures at NYSE would go sky-high...




-first, you got to be at peace-

In a message dated 8/3/99 11:10:41 PM, gmoke@... writes:

>Local Chinese officials propose to make water a commodity like any other
>-- It's the new face of environmentalism: Make water a commodity like any
>other, subject to market forces, and it will benefit everybody--nature,
>the government and even the poor. It's a controversial idea, but one that
>is rapidly gaining ground. (Earth Times)
>
>

This approach only works well up to the point where everyone has equal use of
as much water as they need and where demand is less than overall supply. The
Warren Irrigation District concept used around the beginning of this Century
works better. It helped turn CA into a leading agriculture producer instead
of desert. It is a variation of Land Value Tax; you could call it a Water
Value Tax.

Some kind of system like this would charge an equal commodity price up to an
equal percapita average use rate but would charge a premium rental fee for
excessive use. It would allow unequal use but the unequal users would have to
ante up to feed a capital fund set aside to build facilities which would
increase water supply capacity in the area. I'm not saying they have to rely
on a mega dam per se. Recycling, purification, pumping. grey water and other
storage alternatives are possibilities.

Chris T.

89 year old Granny D is walking to Washington to promote campaign
finance reform. http://www.grannyd.com

We can't adequately deal with environmental issues if elected officials
are owned by money instead of truth.
Marty Kraft

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 21:15:15 -0500
From: Kevin Little <klittle@...>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Organization: Informing Ecological Design
Precedence: bulk
Sender: owner-tns-consultant@...
Subject: SCIENCE 30 July 1999 special section on Energy
To: "'tns consultant list'" <tns-consultant@...>

FYI, a series of reports on state of Energy in the next century-mainstream,
plausible view of prospects and limitations for renewables and their
application. Thru midnight 5 August I believe you can browse the articles
without needing a subscription (on Friday, the new issue is posted and you can
only get to earlier issues if you subscribe electronic service) by going to
www.sciencemag.org

Related articles in Science:
A Responsible Energy Future.
Rush Holt
Science 1999 285: 662. (in Editorial)
ENERGY:
Bright Future--or Brief Flare--for Renewable Energy?.
Kathryn S. Brown
Science 1999 285: 678-680. (in News)
ENERGY:
Solar Homes for the Masses.
Alexander Hellemans
Science 1999 285: 679. (in News)
NEXT GENERATION AUTOMOBILES:
U.S. Supercars: Around the Corner, or Running on Empty?.
David Malakoff
Science 1999 285: 680-682. (in News)
NEXT GENERATION AUTOMOBILES:
Toyota's Hybrid Hits the Streets First.
Dennis Normile
Science 1999 285: 681. (in News)
HYDROGEN POWER:
Bringing Fuel Cells Down to Earth.
Robert F. Service
Science 1999 285: 682-685. (in News) [Summary] [Full Text]
HYDROGEN POWER:
Company Aims to Give Fuel Cells a Little Backbone.
David Voss
Science 1999 285: 683. (in News) [Summary] [Full Text]
INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY:
Turning Engineers Into Resource Accountants.
Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 1999 285: 685-686. (in News) [Summary] [Full Text]
INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY:
In This Danish Industrial Park, Nothing Goes to Waste.
Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 1999 285: 686. (in News) [Summary] [Full Text]
A Realizable Renewable Energy Future.
John A. Turner
Science 1999 285: 687-689. (in ) [Abstract] [Full Text]
Underinvestment: The Energy Technology and R&D Policy Challenge.
Robert M. Margolis and Daniel M. Kammen
Science 1999 285: 690-692. (in ) [Abstract] [Full Text]
Photovoltaic Technology: The Case for Thin-Film Solar Cells.
A. Shah, P. Torres, R. Tscharner, N. Wyrsch, and H. Keppner
Science 1999 285: 692-698. (in Review) [Abstract] [Full Text]
Ceramic Fibers for Matrix Composites in High-Temperature Engine Applications.
Peter Baldus, Martin Jansen, and Dieter Sporn
Science 1999 285: 699-703. (in Review) [Abstract] [Full Text]
Thermoelectric Cooling and Power Generation.
Francis J. DiSalvo
Science 1999 285: 703-706. (in Review) [Abstract] [Full Text]
Environmental Engineering: Energy Value of Replacing Waste Disposal with
Resource Recovery.
R. Iranpour, M. Stenstrom, G. Tchobanoglous, D. Miller, J. Wright, and M.
Vossoughi
Science 1999 285: 706-711. (in Review) [Abstract] [Full Text]

Kevin Little, Ph.D.
Informing Ecological Design, LLC
2213 West Lawn Avenue
Madison, WI  53711
Tel 608.251.4355 Fax 608.251.0399
Email  klittle@...

Commodification of water most likely means a few people will make fortunes
selling water and aquafers will be depleted to the detriment of local
populations. Also that h2o will likely go out to end users in plastic
containers which cause environmental problems in their production &
disposal.Better to look after local bioregions in such a way that everyone
has the waters they need delivered by springs, streams, ponds, rivers,
lakes and rain! California's agro oasis is & has been sucking water away
from distant areas at alarming rates in a most unsustainable way.

davidC

*******************************************************************

                      Check out our Website for
       wicked Psycho-Spiritual Adventures, Shamanic Counselling,
       Spirit-Guided Living programs and Cross-Cultural events!

                   http://www.auracom.com/~earthsea

David Cameron * EarthSea *Box95 * Riverport * NS * Canada * BOJ 2WO

                              902 766-4129

    If you find our comments useful you might be interested in a
  Free Sample E-Issue of NUZE 2 U--EarthSea's monthly (sorta) zine.
  It covers a lotta ground and helps The Memes of Change get around!

Technology just keeps making things easier don't it?

Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 11:15:20 -0400
From: Marla Rhodes <mrhodes1@...>
Subject: Food Stamp acceptance at Farmers Markets
X-Sender: mrhodes1@...
To: NE community food systems <nefood-l@...>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Sender: owner-nefood-l@...
X-Mime-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by ldapt.tufts.edu id
LAA01607

ACTION  ALERT
August 2, 1999

Subject:   THREAT TO NEW YORK FARMERSí PARTCIPATION IN FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

Enclosed you will find information on an urgent action alert regarding the
ability of farmers to participate in the Food Stamp program in New York
State. Support from out-of-staters is needed.  Moreover, since farmers in
two-thirds of the states are not able to participate in the Food Stamp
program, this is really a national issue.

Make your voice heard, so farmers can continue to accept food stamps at
farmersí markets, and low-income communities can continue to have access to
farm-fresh, affordable food.  Just Food in coalition with Greenmarket and
the Farmersí Market Federation of New York encourage you to create a
personalized letter by using talking points from sample letters (please
email me for these sample letters). Personalized letters are always more
effective than standardized ones. At the very least, we hope that you and
members of your community will sign and send in the enclosed petition.
Enclosed is a brief explanation of the problem and a petition in English and
Spanish (in case you know of anyone else who may want to sign on).  This is
an urgent issue.  Please send letters and any petitions directly to Governor
Pataki and Nathan Rudgers as soon as possible (addresses are on the bottom
of the petitions). Please be sure to also fax a copy of the petitions to
Just Food: (212) 677-1603 to the attention of Shana.  Please make copies as
needed!  Thank you for your support on this issue!

Sincerely,


Shana Berger                            Kathy Lawrence
CSA Coordinator                 Executive Director



ACTION  ALERT

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) and Farmersí Markets
August 2,  1999
Food stamps are being converted from paper coupons to an
electronic-benefit-transfer (EBT) system. For Food Stamp recipients to
access their food stamps, they will be required to debit money from their
card at supermarkets via a Point-of-Service terminal (like the ones you see
at supermarket check-out counters). Currently in NYC, areas in Manhattan
north of Central Park and Staten Island are already participating in the EBT
system. Although implementation of EBT is behind schedule, conversion is
expected to occur in Brooklyn, the Bronx and the rest of Manhattan by the
end of 1999. Already two-thirds of the states have converted to EBT, so that
farmer participation in the Food Stamp program in those states is no longer
possible.

PROBLEM
With the onset of EBT, New York State farmers selling in open-air farmersí
markets have been cut off from the USDA Food Stamp program. EBT poses a
problem for those farmers since processing food stamp requires access to
electricity and a phone line, which is not available. Unfortunately, the
federal government failed, before implementation of EBT, to initiate an
alternative way for farmers to process food stamps issued electronically.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets in cooperation with
USDA and the Farmersí Market Federation of New York, designed a pilot
project that when implemented would provide an alternative way for farmers
to participate in the Food Stamp program. The project allows Food Stamp
recipients to access food stamps at community organizations located near
farmersí markets. Food Stamp recipients would debit their EBT cards at
terminals located in the office and in return receive $20 booklets of
coupons called ìFarm Stampsî in denominations of $2.00. The ìFarm Stampsî
would be used to purchase foods from the farmers, who would then redeem
their food stamps through The Farmersí Market Federation. The community
organization would also provide information on the location of other farmers
í markets participating in the food stamp program as well as nutrition
education materials.
Despite support from farmers, nutrition educators and community
organizations, the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)
rejected the proposed pilot project.

SAVE THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM FOR FARMERS
The Food Stamp program was originally designed, in part, to support farmers.
Farmers selling in the Greenmarkets gross over $100,000 through their
participation in the Food Stamp program.  Farmersí markets have provided an
important outlet for many New York farmers to sustain their farm operations.
The federal governmentís failure to solve the EBT problem and the rejection
of a state-sponsored pilot project offering a remedy is a clear case of
discrimination against farmers.

SAVE THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM FOR LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES
The Food Stamp program has enhanced the ability of families to purchase
foods from farmersí markets since the WIC/Farmersí Market Nutrition Program
allows for only $20 worth of purchases per year from a farmersí market.
Also, since senior citizens are not eligible for assistance through the
WIC/Farmers Market Nutrition Program, the Food Stamp program is a
particularly important outlet for seniors trying to purchase fresh,
nutritious food.
If farmers are excluded from participation in the Food Stamp program, they
will be forced to find new markets in wealthier neighborhoods where they can
make a living wage. As farmers move to middle-upper income neighborhoods,
low-income communities will be denied a basic civil right to high quality,
nutritious food.

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets have presented a
workable proposal that should be piloted immediately.

Please write today to Governor Pataki and Nathan Rudgers, Commissioner of
NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, urge them to implant this pilot
plan.  See attached sample letter and petition.




SAVE THE FOOD STAMP
PROGRAM AT FARMERSí
MARKETS!

The implementation of electronic benefits transfer (EBT) has effectively
eliminated the ability of New York State farmers to participate in the USDA
Food Stamp program.  It has also eliminated the ability of food stamp
clients to purchase fresh New York State farm products at farmers markets.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has proposed a Farm
Stamp Project which provides a way for farmers to work successfully within
the EBT system.  We, the undersigned New York state farmers, consumers,
farmersí markets, community leaders, agencies and businesses hereby petition
Governor Pataki to implement, without delay, the Farm Stamp Project.

Name                    Occupation                               City/State
Tel
No.

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Send to:  Hon. George Pataki, Office of the Governor, State Capital, Albany,
NY 12224
  AND  Hon. Nathan Rudgers, Commissioner of NYS Dept. of Ag & Markets, 1
Winners Circle, Albany,
  NY 12235.   ALSO, Please Fax all copies of signed petitions to Just Food at
(212) 677-1603.










Proteja el Program de Cupones para Alimentos en el Mercado de Agricultores

Con la venida de EBT (Transferencia Electronica de Beneficios), los
agricultores de Nueva York vendiendo en el mercado al aire libre han sido
eliminados del  Program de Cupones de Alimentos.  El departamento de
Agricultura y Mercados del estado de Nueva York creo un proyecto que
permitiria la inclusion de los agricultores en el program de Cupones de
Alimentos y la propuesta  les permitiria utilizar el sistema de
Transferencia Electronica de Beneficios.  Este proyecto ha sido rehusado por
la oficina de Ayuda por Incapacidad Temporera.  Nosotros los agricultores
del estado de Nueva York, los consumidores, los lideres de la comunidad, las
agencias y negocios hacemos peticion al Governador Pataki para que ponga en
funcion, sin nunguna tardanza, el proyecto propuesto.


Nombre                            Empleo                         Ciudad,
Estado                             Numero de telefono

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Send to:  Hon. George Pataki, Office of the Governor, State Capital, Albany,
NY 12224 or fax Pataki at: (518)474-3767 AND  Hon. Nathan Rudgers,
Commissioner of NYS Dept. of Ag & Markets, 1 Winners Circle, Albany,   NY
12235.   ALSO, Please Fax all copies of signed petitions to Just Food at
(212) 677-1603.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Shana Berger, CSA in NYC Program Coordinator
JUST FOOD www.justfood.org
625 Broadway, Suite 9C
New York, NY 10012
tel 212/677-1602      fax 212/677-1603
shana@...

Can you please elaborate on the Warren Irrigation District concept, or point
to relevant literature? I am very interested.

Vasilis Patsilaras


>
>In a message dated 8/3/99 11:10:41 PM, gmoke@... writes:
>
>>Local Chinese officials propose to make water a commodity like any other
>>-- It's the new face of environmentalism: Make water a commodity like any
>>other, subject to market forces, and it will benefit everybody--nature,
>>the government and even the poor. It's a controversial idea, but one that
>>is rapidly gaining ground. (Earth Times)
>>
>>
>
>This approach only works well up to the point where everyone has equal use
of
>as much water as they need and where demand is less than overall supply.
The
>Warren Irrigation District concept used around the beginning of this
Century
>works better. It helped turn CA into a leading agriculture producer instead
>of desert. It is a variation of Land Value Tax; you could call it a Water
>Value Tax.
>
>Some kind of system like this would charge an equal commodity price up to
an
>equal percapita average use rate but would charge a premium rental fee for
>excessive use. It would allow unequal use but the unequal users would have
to
>ante up to feed a capital fund set aside to build facilities which would
>increase water supply capacity in the area. I'm not saying they have to
rely
>on a mega dam per se. Recycling, purification, pumping. grey water and
other
>storage alternatives are possibilities.
>
>Chris T.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Urban Ecology's Website of the Month:
>Center for a New American Dream at: http://www.newdream.org/
>----------------------------------------
>Visit Living Room at http://www.living-room.org
>
>
>

Chris Toto wrote:
>Some kind of system like [the Warren Irrigation District concept] would
>[...] >allow unequal use but the unequal users would have to
>ante up to feed a capital fund set aside to build facilities which would
>increase water supply capacity in the area [...].

David Cameron wrote:
>[....]
>Better to look after local bioregions in such a way that everyone
>has the waters they need delivered by springs, streams, ponds, rivers,
>lakes and rain! California's agro oasis is & has been sucking water away
>from distant areas at alarming rates in a most unsustainable way.

Perhaps Chris's concept should only be applied if and when the watershed
and the watersystem are fully known and "facilities to increase water
supply" don't deplete aquifers. Environmental impact analysis seems
necessary. Detailed hydroecological knowledge of local/regional system and
its relevant surroundings also.

It's not just a question of rules&taxes, not just of managing and building
facilities, not just of knowing your regional eco/watersystem, but of all
three and of how they interact. Oh, and remember Bali: common interest
management at  community level (villages within a watershed), with a common
rule book for neighboring watersheds.
Now, again: how about big cities?


greetings,


Maarten Witberg

-first, you got to be at peace-

George

This issue must have come out in hard copy. Do you know which issue.
Perhaps it's still on the stands? It is one I would like to buy. Any
info?

Marty

maarten witberg wrote:

> It's not just a question of rules&taxes, not just of managing and building
> facilities, not just of knowing your regional eco/watersystem, but of all
> three and of how they interact. Oh, and remember Bali: common interest
> management at  community level (villages within a watershed), with a common
> rule book for neighboring watersheds.
> Now, again: how about big cities?
Big cities can work very well if they serve to concentrate population in
a bioregion, leaving plenty of room for agriculture, wildlands, and
water- and air-sheds.  I explored this is general in an article called
"A Paradigm for Sustainability"; I refer you all to it so as not to
repeat myself.  It is at:

	 http://www.living-room.org/sustain/paradigm.htm

The problem we have with many big cities now is that they overlap each
others' hinterlands, and also that (in the Western US esepcially) they
make inefficient use of land, spreading small numbers of people over
large areas, and of course the asphalt necessary for their
automobile-centered development destroys watershed.  Typically, rainfall
in cities is seen as a disposal problem rather than an ecological
benefit.  This attitude is something we're atruggling against in Los
Angeles right now, with our river development issues (Friends of the Los
Angeles River, at http://www.folar.org and, if you want, my essay
"Imprisoned Rivers" at http://www.living-room.org/sustain/impriv.htm).

Properly-built cities can help FREE UP land.  And open land increases
water supplies.

Richard
--
Richard Risemberg
rickrise@...
Living Room Urban Ecology webzine: http://www.living-room.org
"There is more to life than increasing its speed."  (Gandhi)

They are also linking health problems to water stored in the plastic
containers.
*Noquisi*

David Cameron/Nancy Sherwood wrote:

> Commodification of water most likely means a few people will make fortunes
> selling water and aquafers will be depleted to the detriment of local
> populations. Also that h2o will likely go out to end users in plastic
> containers which cause environmental problems in their production &
> disposal.Better to look after local bioregions in such a way that everyone
> has the waters they need delivered by springs, streams, ponds, rivers,
> lakes and rain! California's agro oasis is & has been sucking water away
> from distant areas at alarming rates in a most unsustainable way.
>
> davidC
>
> *******************************************************************
>
>                      Check out our Website for
>       wicked Psycho-Spiritual Adventures, Shamanic Counselling,
>       Spirit-Guided Living programs and Cross-Cultural events!
>
>                   http://www.auracom.com/~earthsea
>
> David Cameron * EarthSea *Box95 * Riverport * NS * Canada * BOJ 2WO
>
>                              902 766-4129
>
>    If you find our comments useful you might be interested in a
>  Free Sample E-Issue of NUZE 2 U--EarthSea's monthly (sorta) zine.
>  It covers a lotta ground and helps The Memes of Change get around!
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Urban Ecology's Website of the Month:
> Center for a New American Dream at: http://www.newdream.org/
> ----------------------------------------
> Visit Living Room at http://www.living-room.org

--
Back To The Blanket Journal:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/BackToTheBlanket

Heroine Mu Gui-Ying
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/7111

Just read a great book on urban development issues, _Times Square Red,
Times Square Blue_ by Samuel R Delany (New York University Press, 1999).
Delany is a great science fiction writer who has become an astute and
engaging critic and memoirist.  He has a kind of Victorian erudition
coupled with all the tools of post-modern deconstruction and political
discourse.

He relates his experiences over nearly thirty years in Times Square talking
with the homeless and the hustlers, the small businessmen and their
customers, the denizens of the porno theaters he frequented and makes a
strong case that the "redevelopment" that has pushed most of these folks
out of the area is based upon a fear of contact (as opposed to networking)
and especially any contact across class lines.  By remaking Times Square
into something like a mall that is always tourist-friendly, Delany believes
that all of us will become tourists even in our own communities.  As a
black homosexual, he has an unique perspective based upon his survival
observations of a mostly white, heterosexual culture.


pages 149 - 152:
"The generally erroneous assumption about how new buildings make money is
something like this:  A big company acquires the land, clears it for
construction, and commences to build.  After three to five years, when it
is complete, the company rents the building out.  If the building is a
success, all the offices (or apartments, as the case may be) are leased,
and the site is a popular one, then and only then does the corporation that
owns the building begin to see profits on its earlier outlays and
investments.  Thus the ultimate success of the building as a habitation is
pivotal to the building's future economic success.

"If this were the way new office buildings were actually built, however,
few would even be considered, much less actually begun.

"Here is an only somewhat simplified picture of how the process _actually_
works.  Simplified though it is, it gives a much better idea of what on and
how money is made.  A large corporation decides to build a building.  It
acquires some land.  Now it sets up a n extremely small ownership
corporation, which is tied to the parent corporation by a lot of very
complicated contracts - but is a different and autonomous corporation
envertheless.  That ownership corporation, tiny as it might be, is now
ready to build the building.  The parent corporation also sets up a much
larger construction corporation, which hires diggers, subcontracts
construction companies, and generally oversees the building proper.

"The little ownership corporation now borrows a lot of money from a bank -
enough to pay the construction corporation for constructing the building
proper.  The small ownership corporation also sells stock to investors -
enough to pay back the bank loan.  The tiny ownership corporation (an
office, a secretary, and a few officers that oversee things) proceeds to
pay the parent construction corporation with the bank funds to build the
building.  it uses the stock funds to pay back the bank.  Figured in the
cost of the building is a healthy margin of profits for the construction
corporation - and for the large corporation that got the whole project
started - while the investors pay off the bank, so that _it_ doesn't get
twisted out of shape.  Meanwhile both the ownership corporation and
construction corporation pay the parent corporation as their controlling
stockholder.

"Yes, if the building turns out to be a stunningly popular address, then
(remember all those contracts?) profits will be substantially greater than
otherwise.  But millions and millions of dollars of profits will be made by
the parent corporation just from the construction of the building alone,
even if no single space in it is ever rented out.  (Movies are made in the
same manner, which is why so many awful ones hit the screen.  By the time
they are released, the producers have long since taken the money and, as it
were, run.)  Believing in the myth of profit only in return for
investments, public investors will swallow the actual cost of the
building's eventual failure - if it fails - while the ownership corporation
is reduced in size to nothing or next to nothing:  an office in the
building on which no rent is paid, a secretary and/or an answering mahcine,
and a nominal head (with another major job somehwere else) on minimal
salary who comes in once a month to check in ... if that.

"Two facts should now be apparent.

"First fact:  The Forty-second Street Development Project (I use this as a
metonym for the hidden corporate web behind it) _wants_ to build those
buildings.  Renting them out is secondary, even if the failure to rent them
is a major catastrophe for the city, turning the area intoa glass and
aluminum graveyard.

"A truth of high finance tends to get away from even the moderately
well-off investor (the successful doctor or lawyer, say, bringing in two to
four hundred thousand a year), though this truth is, indeed, what makes
capitalism:  In short-term speculative business ventures of (to choose an
arbitrary cutoff point) more than three million dollars, such as a building
or civic center, (second fact) the profits to be made from dividing the
money up and moving it around over the one to six years during which that
money must be spent easily offset any losses from the possible failure of
the enterprise itself as a speculative endeavor, once it's completed.

"The interest on a million dollars at 6.5 percent is about 250 dollars a
_day_;  on a good conservative portfolio it will be 400 dollars a day.  The
interest on ten million dollars is ten times that.  Thus the interest on
ten million dollars is almost a million and a half a year.  The
Forty-second Street Development Project is determined to build those
buildings.  The question is:  How long will it take to convince investors
to swallow the uselessness of the project?

"Far more important than whether the buildings can be rented out is whether
_the investors think the buildings can be rented out_.  In the late
seventies, three of those towers were tabled for ten years.  The ostensible
purpose for that ten-year delay was to give economic forces a chance to
shift and business a chance to rally to the area.  The real reason,
however, was simply the hope that people would forget the arguments against
the project, so clear in so many people's minds at the time.  Indeed, the
crushing arguments against the whole project from the mid-seventies were,
by the mid-eighties, largely forgotten;  this forgetting has allowed the
project to take its opening steps over the last ten years.  The current
ten-year delay means that public relations corporations have been given
another decade to make the American investing public forget the facts of
the matter and convince that same public that the Times Square project is a
sound one.  It gambles on the possibility that, ten years from now, the
economic situation might be better - at which point the developers will go
ahead with those towers, towers which, Stern has told us, _will_ be built."


page 121:
"Given the mode of capitalism under which we live, life is at its most
rewarding, productive, and pleasant when large numbers of people
understand, appreciate, and seek out interclass contact and communication
conducted in a mode of good will.

"The class war raging constantly and often silently in the comparatively
stabilized societies of the developed world perpetually works for the
erosion of the social practices thorugh which interclass communication
takes place and of the institutions holding those practices stable, so that
new institutions must always be conceived and set in place to take over the
jobs of those that are battered again and again till they are destroyed.

"While the establishment and utilization of those institutions always
involved social practices, the effects of my primary and secondary theses
are regularly perceived at the level of discourse.  Therefore, it is only
by a constant renovation of the concept of discourse that society can
maintain the most conscientious and informed field for both the
establishment of such insitutions and practices and, by extension, the
necessary critique of those institutions and practices - a critique
necessary if new instittuions of any efficacy are to be established.  At
this level, in its largely stabilizing/destabilizing role, superstructure
(and superstructure at its most oppositional) _can_ impinge on
infrastructure."


pages 123 -124:
"Contact is the conversation that starts in the line at the grocery counter
with the person behind you while the clerk is changing the paper roll in
the cash register.  It is the pleasantries exchanged with a neighbor who
has brought her chair out to take some air on the stoop.  It is the
discussion that begins with the person next to you at a bar.  It can be the
conversation that starts with any number of semiofficials or service
persons - mailman, policeman, librarian, store clerk or counter person.  As
well, it can be two men watching each other masturbating together in
adjacent urinals of a public john - an encounter that, later, may or may
not become a conversation.  Very importantly, contact is also the
intercourse - physical and conversational - that blooms in and as 'casual
sex' in public rest rooms, sex movies, public parks, singles bars, and sex
clubs, on street conrerns with heavy hustling traffic, and in the adjoining
motels or the apartments of one of another participant, from which
nonsexual friendships and/or acquaintances lasting for decades or a
lifetime may spring, not to mention the conversation of a john with a
prostitute or hustler encountered on one of another street corner or in a
bar - a relation that, a decade later, has devolved into a smile or a nod,
even when (to quote Swinburne) 'You have forgotten my kisses/And I have
forgotten your name.'  Mostly, these contact encounters are merely pleasant
chats, adding a voice to a face now and again encountered in the
neighborhood."


pages 128 -129:
"There is, of course, another way to meet people.  It is called
_networking_.  Networking is what people have to do when those with like
interests live too far apart to be thrown together in public spaces through
chance and propinquity.  Networking is what people in small towns have to
do to establish any complex cultural life today.

"But contemporary _networking_ is notably different from _contact_.

"At first one is tempted to set contact and networking to opposition.
Networking tends to be professional and motive-driven.  Contact tends to be
more broadly social and appears random.  Networking crosses class lines
only in the most vigilant manner.  Contact regularly crosses class lines in
those public spaces in which interclasss encounters are at their most
frequent.  Networking is heavily dependent on institutions to promote the
necessary propinquity (gyms, parties, twelve-step programs, conferences,
reading groups, singing groups, social gatherings, workshops, tourist
groups, and classes), where those with the requisite social skills can
maneuver.  Contact is associated with public space and the architecture and
commerce that depend on and promote it.  Thus contact is often an outdoor
sport;  networking tends to occur indoors."

page 127:
"[Jane Jacobs] dismisses 'pervert parks' as necessarily social blights
(largely understandable in the pre-Stonewall 1950s when she was collecting
material for her book, but nevertheless unfortunate), though she _was_
ready to acknowledge the positive roles winos and destitute alcoholics
played in stabilizing the quality of neighborhood life at a _hgiher_ level
than the neighborhodd would maintain without them.

"I would recommend her analysis, though I would add that, like so much
American thinking on the left, it lacks not so much a class analysis as an
_interclass_ analysis."

Editorial Comment:  These words drove me to take Jane Jacobs' _Life and
Death of Great American Cities_ out of the library.

> Could someone please give a concise explanation on the reasoning behind the
statement quoted below. I guess I do not quite understand the theory behind the
idea that making water a commodity would benefit nature, the poor, etc.
> Dave Stack
> >----------------------------------------------
> >-----Original Message----- George Mokray gmoke@... wrote >or
quoted:
> > ".....Make water a commodity like any other, subject to market forces,
> >and it will benefit everybody -- nature, the government and even the
poor. ....."
> >----------------------------------------------
I interpret it as...let the "clever" profit from exploiting water until
water becomes so  scarce that there is public outrage about the inability
of most of the masses to afford water, then use public funds to "fix"
the shortage problem. This will be said to benefit the poor because the
poor will be provided minimum wage jobs at government subsidized water
plants. It will be said to benefit nature because people just might begin
to realize the value of natural resources (maybe).
Colette

30 July 1999


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: [urb-eco] Re: Science Magazine Special Section on Energy
Author:  <urban-ecology@egroups.com > at internet
Date:    8/6/99 8:11 AM


George

This issue must have come out in hard copy. Do you know which issue.
Perhaps it's still on the stands? It is one I would like to buy. Any
info?

Marty


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Urban Ecology's Website of the Month:

Center for a New American Dream at: http://www.newdream.org/

----------------------------------------

Visit Living Room at http://www.living-room.org

Dave wrote:
> Could someone please give a concise explanation on the reasoning
> behind the statement quoted below. I guess I do not quite
> understand the theory behind the idea that making water a
> commodity would be> Dave Stack
> >---------------------------------------------- >-----Original
> Message----- George Mokray gmoke@... wrote >or quoted:
> >".....Make water a commodity like any other, subject to market
> forces, >and it will benefit everybody -- nature, the government
> and even the >poor. ....."
> >----------------------------------------------

I don't know how concise this will be, but I'll try.
For the statement to be true, two assumptions need to be made:
1.) that the commodity is priced properly
and 2.) that as a former common, ownership of the newly created
commodity is distributed among all the users of the previous commons.
Both of these assumptions are highly suspect in the real world,
although something along this line was attempted with the Colorado
River.  Back in the late 60's or 70's, it was recognized that the use
of the Colorado River's water was exceeding the amount available.  To
ensure a "fair" distribution, the annual "creation of water"
(rainfall, snowmelt, input from springs, etc.) was estimated and
apportioned to all the states through which the Colorado
flowed...each state being allocated to draw off no more than a fixed
number of acre feet per year, according to a formula that
included population, industrial development, historical useage at
the time the compact was signed. The amount did not change over time,
although in the early years, most states used less than their
allocated amounts, it was expected that as time went on, and some
states needed additional water, they would "purchase" the unused
water rights from those states that still had "unused" water.  During
the 1980's, two new factors entered the picture...first, it appeared
that the "inflow amounts" (the rainwater, snowmelt, etc.) were
over-estimated,because the calculations were  based on a group of
years that now appear to have been "wetter" than normal, and the
second factor was that they had failed to account for a
significant historical user of the Colorado, the Country of
Mexico, where the mouth of the river is located.   The allocations
for all the states was then reduced and the compact re-written as an
international  treaty.  (there is still some doubt as to the accuracy
of the allocations, and discussions on how to apportion water during
"wet" years ... does every state get a bonus?...or is that left to
flow into the sea unused.
And there have been ongoing disputes about the "quality" of the water
by downstream states, as a result of upstream usages the were within
the allocation limits.  (I may have only used my 5 gallons per day,
but when I finished with it, I dumped it back into the river where it
contaminated my neighbor's 5 gallons... )
back to the China example in part 2
Hugh

> >---------------------------------------------- > >-----Original
Message----- George Mokray gmoke@... wrote >or quoted: >
>".....Make water a commodity like any other, subject to market
forces, >and it will benefit everybody -- nature, the government and
even the >poor. ....." >
>----------------------------------------------
Now for the China example.....and how it might work to make this a
true statement......
Let us make the following assumptions for simplicity sake
1.)  that the population of the watershed for our river is 1 million
people
2.) that rainfall is the only source of water for the river basin (no
significant springs, lakes, or snowmelt)
3.) we'll be generous and assume that water for normal domestic
activites is used  at a rate comparable to the US average of  165
gallons per day (drinking, cooking, washing, sewerage, lawn
watering etc.....in the US, this also includes most commercial and
some light industrial uses) (From the Statistical Abstract of the
UnitedStates 1993-1994)
4.)  that the annual rainfall in the basin is equal to 36 inches per
year (130,680 gallons per year per acre...or 358 gallons per acre
per day) and again....for simplifying purposes, lets assume that 350
of these daily gallons are "run-off" that feeds the river (not
absorbed by the ground).
Now....If every member of the population is given a certificate good
for 5,000 gallons per month and we allow them to sell any water they
don't use, I can both encourage conservation and create an additional
source of income for all residents.  The poor being more likely to
have surpluses (no lawns to water) can sell their excess to
industrial users who get no basic allocation, or to farmers
who only get 5,000 gallons per month per family member...making the
urban poor better off.
The government retains title to 185 gallons per person per day that
were not distributed to the public, can sell a portion of this to
industrial users and or farmers, or can use this "surplus" to ensure
a minimal flow in the river.  making the governemnt better off.
An industrial firm (or city) that returns its effluent to the river
as clean, or cleaner than it was when taken out, might be rewarded
with some credits from the governments pool, thereby making the
environment (and everyone downstream) better off.

From a more practical standpoint, in an urban area, instead of
issuing you a credit for your 5,000 gallons...the local water
authority (usually a municiple agency) can charge cheaply for the
first 5,000 gallons per month of residential useage, and higher
afterward, (which is pretty much how water in the US cities is
priced) but to encourage conservation (making the environment better)
we might also include a credit on the bill for every gallon under
5,000 that wasn't used (making the individual (family) better off).

The key to making that statement true is to first distribute the
ownership as widely as possible...and second, that the pricing
include all the costs....the cost of cleaning the water up front and
the cost of treatment afterwards, some fee related to the impacts on
the river for every gallon not returned....a fee to compensate, or
mitigate other changes in the river caused by changes to the flow
that are the result of water usage....if a commodity is properly
priced to include all those externalities, then by definition, any
use of that commodity if creating a benefit for the user, and either
a benefit, or at least no detriment to all others in
society....resulting in a net benefit to society as a whole.

Like a lot of things, this works very well on paper, but rarely works
that well in the real world, primarily because the real world is a
lot more complicated than our simplifying model.

Here is an excerpt from a Los Angeles Times article that openly connects
the suburban development model with the recent spate of school
shootings.  This one refers specifically to Littleton, Colorado, and
includes some sad and telling statistics.

> If the community seeks resolution, official closure will not come
>                       soon. The Jefferson County sheriff's office said the
final report it had
>                       hoped to release next month is not expected until early
next year.
>                       Much of Jefferson County presents itself as a kind of
freshly waxed
>                       Stepford, with tidy subdivisions and curving streets
lined with
>                       parallel-parked SUVs. But its apple-cheeked facade masks
>                       pervasive problems the task forces are trying to
address.
>                       The suicide rate in Colorado is 40% higher than the
national
>                       average, according to state figures, and mental health
officials say
>                       the rate among teenagers in Jefferson County is one of
the highest in
>                       the country. Mental health workers report a marked
increase in
>                       adults seeking assistance since the tragedy. Littleton's
family values
>                       are familiar: Eighty-seven percent of households are
headed by a
>                       single parent or both parents work outside the home.
Parents often
>                       commute to jobs in Denver and have scant time to spend
with their
>                       children. Many have recently moved here and have no
local
>                       extended family. Schools are in unincorporated areas
that have no
>                       unifying government, city center or even a neighborhood
hangout.
>                       "The suburbs can be a lonely place to live," Poos-Benson
said.
>                       "There's no such thing as a downtown. There's no such
thing as a
>                       community center. There's nothing." Some community
leaders are
>                       concluding that contemporary suburbia is a breeding
ground for
>                       youthful alienation, if not violence.
>                       "We've become a garage-door society. We come into our
homes
>                       with a click of a button. We close the door and our
porches are in
>                       our backyards," said Lori Hoffner, executive director of
a Parents
>                       and Community Connecting Together, formed five years
ago. "As
>                       adults, we put up this front that all is well--our front
yards are
>                       immaculate, but don't look in the backyard."


The entire article is at the following URL for the next week or so:

http://www.latimes.com/search/findcgi?action=View&VdkVgwKey=%2E%2E%2F%2E%2E%2Fvo\
l7%2FCNS%5FDAYS%2F990807%2Ft000070268%2Ehtml&DocOffset=1&DocsFound=1&QueryZip=co\
lumbine+carnage&Collection=Hunter&SortSpec=Modified+Desc&ViewTemplate=search3%2E\
hts

Richard
--
Richard Risemberg
rickrise@...
Living Room Urban Ecology webzine: http://www.living-room.org
"There is more to life than increasing its speed."  (Gandhi)

>George
>
>This issue must have come out in hard copy. Do you know which issue.
>Perhaps it's still on the stands? It is one I would like to buy. Any
>info?

All I know about it is in the information I sent.  Generally, that is the
way I try to operate, giving references to those who want to backtrack to
my sources.  Mostly that means folks email me, even when it shoudl be clear
I am not the contact person but only the conduit.

Here's the essential info from the posting once again:

>SCIENCE 30 July 1999 special section on Energy

>Thru midnight 5 August I believe you can browse the articles
>without needing a subscription (on Friday, the new issue is posted and you can
>only get to earlier issues if you subscribe electronic service) by going to
>www.sciencemag.org

Perhaps if you look at sciencemag.org, you can order a copy.  Or check with
your local library.  I am assuming that SCIENCE is the publication of the
AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) and should be
readily available in most good libraries.

> Back in the late 60's or 70's, it was recognized that the use
>of the Colorado River's water was exceeding the amount available.  To
>ensure a "fair" distribution, the annual "creation of water"
>(rainfall, snowmelt, input from springs, etc.) was estimated and
>apportioned to all the states through which the Colorado
>flowed...each state being allocated to draw off no more than a fixed
>number of acre feet per year, according to a formula that
>included population, industrial development, historical useage at
>the time the compact was signed.

Last I heard, the Colorado River no longer reaches the sea but dribbles out
into the desert in Mexico.

>As a sidebar to the rainwater in cities issue, the concept of
>"rain-gardens" seems to be slowly gaining a toehold in the Minneapolis
>area. Raingardens are the opposite of ‘raised-bed’ gardens -- they are
>‘lowered-bed’ gardens. They are the opposite of berms -- they are swales.
>I have heard some people refer to them as "rain-catcher gardens".

My garden next to the sidewalk is fenced in with chain link and raised
about 12 inches above the sidewalk with a concrete footing all around it.
I garden with a lot of mulch, scarfing up all the leaves from around the
neighborhood I can find during the fall and dumping them on the garden.
Even my corn husks when I buy corn from the farmers market go into the
garden.  Over the past couple of years, I have installed black plastic
garden edging along the inside edge of the concrete footing so that all the
rain that falls on the garden goes into the garden.

from Wind Energy Weekly (http://www.awea.org):

SCIENTISTS ZERO IN ON SIGN
AFTER SIGN OF WARMING
___________________________________________

         Although global climate change has been knocked off the front pages
by Monica Lewinsky and, more recently, Kosovo, research continues to turn
up new indicators that confirm its existence.

         A summary of reports from recent weeks:

*       A two-mile-long ice core drilled out of an ice sheet on Antarctica
by U.S., Russian, and French scientists shows that greenhouse gas levels in
the atmosphere are the highest by far that they have been during the past
420,000 years.  Ice core analysis uses trapped air bubbles to determine the
composition of the atmosphere in the past.  According to the scientists,
carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere ranged from 180 parts per
million (ppm) during ice ages to 280-300 ppm during warm intervals--today's
level is about 360 ppm.  Methane concentrations ranged from 320-350 parts
per billion (ppb) to 650-770 ppb--today's level is about 1,700 ppb.

*       Studies of atmospheric circulation patterns by the Goddard
Institute for Space Studies in New York, N.Y., indicate that they are
changing in response to global warming, with a primary result being warmer
winters in the Northern Hemisphere.

*       The Marine Conservation Biology Institute of Redmond, Wash., and
the World Wildlife Fund report that warming ocean temperatures are
apparently responsible for sharp declines in Pacific salmon populations
over the past few years.

*       Scientists studying butterflies in Europe report that a number of
species are extending their ranges northward, with changes ranging up to
150 miles.  During the same time period, temperature isotherms have shifted
northward in Europe as well.

*       Researchers in India warned that glaciers in the Himalayas are
melting rapidly, creating the possibility of a catastrophe if lakes fed by
meltwater overflow into downstream valleys.

         On the diplomatic front, a two-week conference concluded in Bonn,
Germany, June 11, with modest progress toward an international agreement on
emissions trading.

Editorial Comment:  Every glacier that I've heard about recently (Alaska,
the Alps, and South America as reported in this week's _Time_) has been
receding.  Does anybody know of any glacier that is growing anywhere in the
world?

--
Richard Risemberg
rickrise@...
Living Room Urban Ecology webzine: http://www.living-room.org
"There is more to life than increasing its speed."  (Gandhi)

Last night in the pub, someone mused how in a few years time, the
government would be holding its own street parties, with ministers
opening them and coca-cola sponsoring them... Oh how we laughed.  And
then today the following story appeared in the Guardian...


The Guardian
Thursday August 5, 1999

Home zones reclaim the streets
-   Sue Quinn


Junior drivers with a dubious knowledge of road rules caused traffic
chaos in a wes London street yesterday, but the transport minister, 
Lord Whitty, was unperturbed by the tailback of scooters, tricycles  
and assorted pedal toys.

He had come to Broughton Road in West Ealing to take part in an
open-air  tea party  complete with armchairs, tables, and a
television dragged out into the road - to mark the launch of a scheme
that, it is hoped, will see residents reclaim at least some of the
streets outside their homes from  the motor car.

Ealing is one of nine areas that will pilot the "home zone" project,
which puts the rights of residents and their children before cars by
means of a series of traffic, parking, and design changes.

Based on a scheme in the Netherlands, where there are 6,000 home
zones,  Ealing hopes to  limit vehicle speeds to 10 mph, install
traffic-calming measures, pedestrianise at least one street, and
level the footpath and road in others, to make the area safer and
more accessible for residents and their children.

Other such streets in Lambeth in south London, Leeds, Manchester,  
Nottingham, Sittingbourne in Kent, Peterborough, Monmouthshire, and  
Plymouth have been  included in the project, which will be monitored
by the government and councils for three years before the scheme is  
introduced more widely.

Charmian Boyd, spokes woman for the Five Roads Forum, which  
mustered support  for the Ealing project, said that residents had
been "enclosed" within  their houses for too long.

"We would like to reclaim the streets for people, because the bias is
totally toward cars." she said.

"We aren't anti-car - many of us have them - but we are afraid to let
our kids out, and it's become an area where we've become completely 
threatened by cars.                                                  

"Now, when cars come into this area, they should respect the fact 
that this is where families and people live."

Schneill Styles-George, nine, said that she was looking forward to
the changes outside her home in  Broughton Road, which will begin  
early next year at  a cost of at least £100,000.

"I will be able to use my roller skates more easily and have more
space to skate," she said.

"Now, I can't go near the edge of the footpath because cars go
zooming past."


-----------------------------
Mad, huh?!  The story in the paper had no mention of its more radical
predecessors, but the website had a link (one of about 20) to the RTS
website, straight to the article by Andre Gorz. 

Yours from an "enclosed" house somewhere in North London,  E xx

from: eirlys@...
------------------------------------

"The interests of the rich and powerful are being rich and... being powerful."

"In the new world with a better order, they may have better parties ... "

This seems like a fascinating group, do we do intros???  Oh well, I
will anyway.  I'm Julianne, I'm a 34 year old New Zealander, we live in
the north island.  Is there anyone else here from the southern
hemisphere?  I am a mother on one, a four year old girl

For my work, I operate an artwork service over the internet which
provides print-ready art quickly and cheaply to anyone, I also design
fonts which I give away for free from my website, illustrate children's
books and do the odd website for other people.  Until recently I worked
as an artist for a screenprinter, but now I do basically the same
thing, only freelance.

I love self-help books like Steven Covey's Seven Habits for Highly
Effective People.  I am right into efficiency, mainly so my daughter
and I can have more fun together doing the stuff we like most.

I try and stay as healthy as possible.  We eat zonefully, and take cod
liver oil every day which seems to do the trick, and we also try to
take a daily walk, admiring other people's gardens in our neighbourhood.

Take care
Julianne

--
Urgent Artwork/Free Fonts http://www.urgentartwork.co.nz
pre-print artwork or webgraphics
FAST (often overnight your time)
ECONOMICALLY (due to the weak NZ$)
CONVENIENTLY (delivery by email, payment by credit card)
ONLY when YOU need the services of an artist.

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 19:14:10 -0400
To: NE community food systems <nefood-l@...>
From: Tetrad <garlicgr@...>
Subject: Book Review:  The Consumer's  Guide to
  Effective Environmental Choices:  Practical Advice from The Union of
  Concerned Scientists


Hi, Folks!

Here's my latest book review!  Enjoy! :-)

The  Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices:  Practical Advice
from The Union of Concerned Scientists by Michael Brower and Warren Leon,
Three Rivers Press, 1999.  ISBN:  0-609-80281-X, $15.00.

You've probably heard of this book.  Within days after its publication,
reviews and interviews with the authors poured forth, in a slightly shocked
stream, from both local and national media. Even the Philadelphia Inquirer
broke precedent and published its review on the front page of a weekday
edition instead of waiting for the usual Sunday "Books" Section.

Live in a place that reduces your need to drive.  Eat less meat.  Install
efficient lighting and appliances.  Bother "50 Simple Things You Can Do to
Save the Earth" - the Union of Concerned Scientists has reduced the list of
"essential" environmental activities that save the environment to 11!

Well, yes.  And, of course, no.  Life, like a Shaker chair, is always
startling us with a surface simplicity which upon reflection, becomes
dizzying in its complexity, yet remains a unified and complete whole. Sure,
the book contains lists such as The Four Most Significant Consumer-Related
Environmental Problems  and The Seven Rules for Responsible Consumption that
are short, pithy and to the point.  You can type them up for the sound-bite
outlet of your choice and be fairly certain that if your audience follows
them, the day after tomorrow, the planet really will be in a better state
than when you started.  This is comforting for media folks, but the
attending hype and seemingly oversimplification of yet another environmental
issue tends to induce nausea in those of us who have followed planetary
health over the years. So we decide to pass on the book.

Ignore the hype.  Read the book, regardless of snide comments from the
national media (we all know how much THEY want us to drive less and eat less
meat!).  Brower and Leon know how to package a sound-bite, but they've done
their homework and it's all right there in the book:  charts, graphs,
methodology, endnotes and an excellent list of resources for further action.
Not only is the book about effective choices, but it's laid out so
effectively that you can either jump right into the chapters on "Priorities
for Personal Action" or "Avoiding High-Impact Activities" (where all nice
lists ready for media transcription reside, along with excellent
explanations of how the authors came to these conclusions and why taking
these actions really will help the planet) or take a leisurely stroll
through histories of American consumerism and garbage. (As a resident of
Southeastern Pennsylvania, I wish the authors had profiled the Khian Sea,
Philadelphia’s infamous garbage ship, rather than New York City’s Mobro, but
that really is quibbling.  The section on the pros and cons of recycling
should banish any lingering doubts that it really is a beneficial activity.)

Yes, this book takes a few swipes at some cherished activities of the
environmental movement (the paper vs plastic bag debate and the utility of
cloth diapers over disposal ones), but they are well-thought-out swipes
based on data, rather than hope or conjecture.  Brower and Leon really want
you to spent your time, money and effort where it COUNTS for the planet, not
on what be trendy or "popular" and it shows throughout the book.  The most
effective use of your time, and the most effective choice for the planet, is
for you to read this book and put as much of its advice into practice in
your own life, as soon as possible.

Reviewed by Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's Organic Community Garden
Phoenixville, PA

Lots of interesting stuff from the Sustainable Energy Coalition Weekly
Update (kbossong@...).  I sense a trend here in the following energy
stories.

Energy Research Funds Cut by Most Industrialized Countries:

"Science Magazine" (July 30) reports that industrialized nations have
dramatically reduced their research into energy technology and the reduction
is jeopardizing the world's ability to cope with environmental problems and the
growing demand for energy. While investments in other types of research
have soared over the past 20 years, money spent on improving the use of
energy resources has dropped to a 20-year low. Since 1980, spending on
energy-related research and development among the 10 nations that conduct
a significant amount of that research declined 39%. U.S. energy research and
development rose from $7.6 billion in 1976 to a high of $11.9 billion three
years later; investments in energy-related research then started a long
decline,
bottoming out at $4.3 billion in 1996, the last year figures were available.

Electricity Demand Sets New Record:

PRNewswire (July 30) notes that the U.S. electric power industry last week
set a new record for electricity output as the nation's utilities responded to
customers' need for power to fight the summer's continuing intense heat.
The weekly electric output for the week ending July 24 reached 81,144 GWh
surpassing the previous record of 80,335 GW set in August 1998, according to
the Edison Electric Institute.

  Study Grassroots Role in Promoting Green Power:

The Renewable Energy Policy Project has issued a new report, "The
Grassroots Are Greener: A Community-Based Approach to Marketing Green
Power" examines an innovative partnership between the Land & Water Fund
of the Rockies and Public Service Company of Colorado, in which the
environmental group helps market the electric utility's green power product.
The paper notes that this approach to renewable energy development
presents both risks and potential benefits, but may offer a model for other
organizations in other states.  For details, see <http://www.repp.org>.

Climate Change Control Is Less Costly to the Economy:

The "Wall Street Journal" (August 2) acknowledges that despite a booming
economy, emissions of man-made CO2 remained almost flat in the U.S. last
year and global emissions appear to have dropped. That has led some experts
to believe the economic shock of complying with international pollution curbs
at stemming global warming may not be so jolting. The 3-page article includes
quotes from recent American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and
Worldwatch Institute reports making the same observations. Let me know if
you would like me to fax you a copy. A similar 3-page report appears in the
July 26 issue of "Business Week" which notes: "During the 1990s, the link
between prosperity and growing fuel use led many to conclude that efforts to
limit CO2 emissions--to forestall global warming--would stifle economic
growth. Now is seems the connection between economic growth and CO2
emissions is not so strong." Let us know if you would like us to fax you a
copy of this article. [Contact kbossong@... for further information.]

Gore Releases Climate Change Data and Study:

On August 2, Vice President Al Gore announced the declassification and
release of 59 satellite images of the Arctic Ocean to better understand the
interaction between polar ice caps and global warming. Preliminary findings
show that the Arctic ice sheet is roughly 5% smaller and one meter thinner
than in the 1970s. Gore also released a new report by the President's
Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, "The Federal Role in
International Cooperation on Energy Innovation" which recommends a
strengthened partnership between American business and the federal
government to maintain scientific and market leadership in energy technology.
It identifies opportunities to improve energy efficiency in buildings,
industry,
transportation, and clean energy generation.

  DOE Launches Renewable Energy Projects:

Reuters (August 2) reports that DOE has offered EnerTech Environmental
Inc. (an Atlanta-based renewable energy company) $5 million to help build a
pilot plant that would process up to 100 tons a day of sewage, food wastes,
manure, and agricultural residues into an energy-rich combustible slurry.  The
fuel slurry could then be used cleanly in conventional coal burning power
plants and industrial settings, including cement kilns and paper mills.
Reportedly, it will produce less greenhouse gases than straight coal when
burned and rid communities of waste disposal problems although there are
remaining questions about potential odor problems.

The "New York Times" (August 4) reports that DOE has unveiled a project
in Chicago in which the agency, the city, and the local electric utility
Commonwealth Edison will announce that they have induced solar panel
manufacturer Spire, Inc. to set up shop on a 17-acre former dump site. The
city and utility have promised to buy $8 million worth of solar panels, some of
which will cover derelict sites and feed energy into the local electric grid.
Chicago plans to use some of its cells to light parks, municipal buildings, and
transit stations. The program is part of a larger plan to use solar panels at
polluted sites to make much-needed electricity without disturbing buried
contaminants. DOE is reportedly discussing similar projects in Los Angeles,
Stamford, CT, Washington, DC, and other cities.

Governor Bush Raises Dollars From Energy Industry:

The "Washington Post" (August 1) reports that GOP presidential hopeful
George W. Bush is winning over big business with help from a college chum,
Thomas Kuhn, head of the Edison Electric Institute. Trade associations have
traditionally kept quiet during presidential nomination battles, but this
year they
are speaking out early and declaring their allegiance to Bush. Lobbyists
for oil
producers, logging companies, paper manufacturers, and chemical companies
have announced their support and money is pouring in from corporations and
CEOs to Bush's campaign.

"The possibility of infrastructure rupture is NEVER too remote to ignore, but
it is no more a possibility on 1/1/2000 than any other day."
This is the last 2 lines of Lee's argument. I put it here so that you may
know a little of what this discussion is about.


>Dear Lee,
>         I don't want to take up your time quibbling about small things.
But,
>in the interest of a fair discussion, that should hopefully lead to a
better
>understanding, I ask that you either agree or refute the simple logical
>conclusion I sent you below. Speculation about what might or might not
>happen, doesn't interest me. But if the following is wrong, then I may be
>wasteing my time, I would hope that you would show me what I am missing.
>
><<>Assumption 1: All computers and embedded chips will not be fixed by
>1/1/2000.
>>Assumption 2: No one can know what percent of non-compliancy it would take
>to
>>set off some form of collapse of the infrastructure.
>>Conclusion: The possibility of infrastructure rupture is not remote enough
>to
>>ignore.


Assumption #1 is correct.  All computers will not be fixed on time.
However, from there the logic breaks down, although I can understand why
people who aren't involved with computers might think that #2 and #3 would
be true.

There are 3 misconceptions that people have about the Y2K problem that make
it seem as if your assumptions would be logical:

1) That all computers and embedded chips are vulnerable to the Y2K bug
because they all have internal clocks, 2) that many computerized systems no
longer have manual backup procedures, and 3) that if a computer with a Y2K
problem has not been fixed, it will fail or crash altogether.

All three of the above statements are false under the circumstances we're
discussing - that is, critical infrastructure like the power and water grid,
train systems, medical equipment, communications satellites, etc.

First let's look at myth #1.  It's true that all computer systems have
internal clocks, and those clocks are capable of tracking the date.
However, a programmer has to go out of his way to make a computer aware of
the date.  All a computer's clock does is measure sequential time in
milliseconds.  It does math based on that.  For example if a pacemaker has
to give your heart a jolt of electricity every 3 seconds, it just counts out
3000 pulses of the clock, does its task, then starts again for another 3000.
It has no clue what the time or date is.  The programmer would never have a
reason to give it that information.

If an application DOES have to keep track of the date, a day is likewise
however many milliseconds equal a day.  At that point the computer's clock
increments the date.  This is called a "Julian Day Number".   Just as an
example, most personal computers use January 1, 1900 as the beginning of the
Julian calendar - day number 00000 (they decided in the case of PC's to
standardize on 5 digit Julian dates).   So at the end of each 24 hours the
clock just increments another number.  Under that scenario, December 31,
1999 is day number 36525, and January 1, 2000 is day number 36526.  Nothing
special.  Just another day.  A computer may *display* a date in the format
MM/DD/YY, but in the types of applications we are talking about
(infrastructure), very few store their dates that way internally, which is
what would cause a problem on 1/1/2000.  Satellites, power plants, train
systems, and the like use this Julian calendar, not the Gregorian calendar
that we are used to thinking of, which is the only type of system that would
be affected.

The types of computer systems that do use Gregorian calendars are *business*
applications.  Your power company's billing department might have some old
systems with Y2K problems.  In that case, you might get a bill saying you
are 100 years overdue!  But this is obviously an error and will not cause
system rupture - just headaches for the poor folks who have to straighten
out the billing problem.   Businesses may lose money because their reporting
or billing is inaccurate, but that's hardly the end of the world.

Now let's look at myth #2.  Most people think that many infrastructure
systems that are computerized have no manual backup.  People like Gary North
have really worked hard to scare people by telling them things like the
trains will stop running because train systems are computerized and there
are no longer any manual switches on many lines.  This is completely false.
Talk to any actual railroad line foreman and they will tell you there are
manual switches and they have to use them all the time.  Nobody builds
critical systems like these without manual backup, for the simple reason
that (like I said earlier) computer systems crash *every day.*  Some of the
problems with them are harder to find and fix than Y2K.  Right now, I'll bet
there's at least one embedded chip or system down somewhere in your power
grid and you'll never know it.  ALL critical systems have manual backup.
Again, the people who will be affected by the problem are mostly businesses
who are running non-critical systems.  If somebody's online store crashes,
it might be disastrous for their business but not for the world at large.

Now we'll talk about the last myth: that "non-compliance" equals complete
failure.  It doesn't.  All a Y2K bug means is that the system doesn't know
the correct date.  This could be a drag in the case of something like your
bank, which might calculate the interest wrong on your mortgage.  But the
computer won't lose your balance or any other data.  The only thing it will
lose is the ability to do date related calculations correctly.  In any case,
banking systems have been compliant for a long time because they've had to
deal with loans that won't expire till after 2000 ever since 1970.  Social
Security and Medicare have to deal with beneficiaries born in the 1800's, so
they've had 4 digits in their dates too.

So, to figure out whether Y2K is going to cause major infrastructure
rupture, the questions need to be asked really are:

1)  What percentage of computers are running critical infrastructure?
2)  Of that percentage, how many use the Gregorian date system?
3)  Of that percentage, how many will fail if they don't know what day it
is?
4)  Of *that* percentage, how many do not have manual backup procedures?

Based on what I've told you, I hope you can see that the final number you
would arrive at is infinitessimally small.  In fact, just as big on that day
as any other day.   A Julian clock is like an odometer on your car - when it
will become inaccurate depends on when it was set, how much you drive your
car and how many digits the odometer has.  Lots of Julian clocks on older
systems have already rolled over, and that can happen on any day.

Even the financial systems that some people have worried about are not
having many problems.  You know, the fiscal year 2000 started on July 1 of
this year.  Lots of wags predicted major losses for banks and other economic
problems on that day.  Nothing happened that anybody noticed.  The next day
that people worry about will be September 9th, because a lot of programmers
used to enter 9/9/99 as an indicator that a process should continue
forever - not realizing that some of their systems would still be in
operation on that day!  I'll wager nothing much will happen on that day
either, at least that you or I will be able to discern.  Sure, there'll be
some frantic programmers working overtime to fix it.  There may be some
hassles and headaches, some lost business, some lawsuits.  But Armaggedon?
Hardly.

The possibility of infrastructure rupture is NEVER too remote to ignore, but
it is no more a possibility on 1/1/2000 than any other day.