Nations’ Stone Age Energy Policy Washes AshoreQuestPoint

The Deepwater Horizon

The tragedy of the oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana is unfortunately just beginning to impact a region already devastated by Katrina. As of this writing the size of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is almost the size of Texas. The magnitude of the engineering project that created this oil well under 5000 feet of water is truly a technological fete that can be marveled upon. Now though the big challenge is how to stop it. British Petroleum and Transocean the operators of Deepwater Horizon are attempting a number of low tech solutions to cut off this undersea gusher that already has dwarfed the size of the Exxon Valez oil spill in Prince Edward Sound Alaska back in 1989.

Updates from the Gulf of Mexico Here

Photos, video and stories of this horrific event are beginning to spread around the world. The thing about disasters – natural or man made, they always have victims. But the victims aren’t just wildlife, fragile coastlines or the economic hit which one way or another we’ll all feel; it is the staggering assault to our lack of initiative, imagination and creative capacity to move away from petroleum as the key source of our energy supply.

The new green age offers alternative clean and renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, wave, geo, hydro and biomass. How many more oil spills have to happen, how many more embargoes, and oil wars need to be fought before we get it? As the country begins serious debate on a new energy direction; it could be interesting to look at some of the old clips from the 1962 TV sitcom of Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies.

“Out one day shootin for some food and up from the ground comes a bubbling crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.” Are our policies, behaviors and thinking any different from the cast of characters in that show? Read the plot summary here.

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NEN Clean & Green Summit 2010

How can you make your house and your neighborhood greener? This all-day event is your chance to find out with some of San Francisco’s biggest green leaders and organizations. Join us for an environmental resource fair; a Mission-based green walking tour; and practical workshops on rainwater harvesting, growing food in your neighborhood, identifying spaces for greening, and more.

Date: Saturday, May 8th Time: 9am to 3pm Location: Cesar Chavez Elementary School, 825 Shotwell St

Workshops include: • Urban Agriculture: Growing Food in Your Neighborhood (Department of the Environment / The Parks Trust) • How to green your neighborhood’s open spaces through Pavement to Parks and Street Parks (Department of Public Works / The Parks Trust The Mayor’s Office) • Rainwater Harvesting: How to capture rainwater for use in your garden (Public Utilities Commission) • Demystifying the community challenge grant process (Community Challenge Grant Program) • Organizing your community to stop graffiti (Department of Public Works) • How to leverage “GreenFinanceSF,” San Francisco’s new green home improvement financing program (Department of the Environment) • Walking tours of the Mission (the NEN Team) Sponsors The Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom, City Administrator’s Office, Department of Public Works, Department of Emergency Management, Public Utilities Commission, 311, and Department of the Environment, San Francisco Parks Trust, Department of Recreation and Parks, and SFSAFE.

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