Schreiner’s Media Landscape

The excellent on-line publication NewWest and the Associated Press report that the hacks at Bush’s EPA have put out the gag order on their employees. The question is not what the EPA has done to prompt a governmental or independent investigation but what they HAVEN’T DONE that doesn’t require closer scrutiny if not prosecution.

From falsifying documents, to contempt of Congress to breaking their own rules protecting the environment, this department, like Justice, Defense, Education, Energy, etc. has followed the Bush/Cheney formula to the letter: do everything you can to help law breakers including breaking the law yourself, screw your own department’s guidelines and the American people, then do everything you can to cover your trail. And whatever you do, don’t let it get back to W and The Dick.

Ever wonder how an organization can be so inept, corrupt and arrogant? The Bush Administration has rewritten the book.

Once again, money and fear have prevented our so-called leaders in Washington from helping Americans achieve their stated wish of more renewable energy sources. Congress has failed to extend the renewable energy tax credit (I got mine in 2006). The bill was probably doomed anyway, facing a promised veto by Bush/Cheney Inc. who get their money and power from Big Oil, the coal and utility industries.

Why our “leaders” are helping Big Oil and the utility companies maintain their monopoly and enslavement of Americans is incomprehensible. The newly-announced windfall profits of the Usual Suspects are not “raising all boats” as the financial fortunes of our mega-corporations purport i.e. “what’s good for General Motors is good for the country.” Bush’s war for oil has nearly bankrupted our country, making him, his friends and family and our enemies/their friends in Saudi Arabia even more powerful and wealthy. Our coal barons and utility moguls continue to successfully use their influence and money to keep polluting, exploiting public lands for their private gain and pushing our country farther and farther behind the rest of world in developing new, cleaner energy technology.

The miniscule amount of money given back to investors in renewable energy would have helped regular Americans afford solar, wind, geothermal and other energy sources that would ease their dependence on our antiquated fuels and grid. But it was clearly the principle that Congress, Bush and their benefactors objected to. Apparently, the needs and wishes of the American people are too trivial to bother Washington as they continue our dizzying spiral downward.

But as I’ve posted here before, WE WILL DO THIS WITH THEM OR WITHOUT THEM. Doing the right and sensible thing is beyond their reach. But it is well within ours.

The departure of a veteran, respected reporter from a TV station in Rhode Island is merely the latest surrender of integrity to the wave of desperation which has already swamped the wasted world of broadcast news. We can only hope that he finds something better: which is just about anything.

It was as if Salt Lake City had suddenly become the capital of Mars. I watched the front ooze into the valley from behind the Oquirrhs last night. With it came high winds, clouds and the distinctive smell of wood burning. It was smoke from Yosemite where the fires there burn on and the tourists keep coming anyway.

Ironically, and perhaps superfluously, I puffed on my cigar as the sky and eventually everything turned a grimy shade of pinkish-red (or is pink reddish?). I hadn’t seen sky like that since the Great Inversion of January 2007. This too demanded pictures for posterity.

At the same time, I found out on the 10 p.m. news, wildfires were burning near our own airport and up City Creek Canyon to our north. As the the aromas and plumes converged along the Wasatch, I felt an eerie oneness: a sense that a fire just up the road and another hundreds of miles away affect us all. Nature is so big, vast and powerful that it overwhelms us when it wills so without having to think, plan, choose or execute anything. No matter how we try we are incapable of taming or totally destroying it. We are only capable of destroying ourselves while Nature continues disinterested.

Bush has finally won the ultimate victory: over America. His budget deficit is a record, he’s disgraced and devastated the federal legal system, people are losing their homes at a rate unseen since the Great Depression, the value of people’s homes- their biggest investments- continues to fall faster than his latest popularity poll, gasoline prices are hurting everybody- even the rich, his vaunted Homeland Security department is a mess, the Iraq war is no closer to being won than when it started, and W is doing what? He’s handling the big issues: the Burmese Jade Act and a campaign swing through Ohio.

You win, George. America surrenders. We can’t take any more. BTW: where’s your pal Cheney? Off writing his reconstructionist memoirs, no doubt. Better start working on yours too, W. Altering the history of the worst presidential administration ever is going to be a BIG, BIG JOB.

It’s sad to see Yosemite in California, one of America’s premier national parks, threatened by fire. It was sad in 1988 when Yellowstone, our largest and most popular park, was similarly devastated. No matter that it was a human (shooting a gun) that touched off this blaze. It could’ve been lightning or a number of causes. The dry conditions due to persistent drought in the southwestern U.S., people building luxury cabins and towns too close to and actually in Yosemite, and too many people driving into and around the park have turned Yosemite into a massive tragedy no longer waiting to happen.

We should take this time to recognize humanity’s role in not only starting the fire but creating the conditions that led to it causing so much damage and threatening so much more. Forests burned millions of years before humans walked the Earth. It was part of the natural process forests need to replenish themselves and stay healthy. But because humans demand consistency and predictability from Nature, the natural processes of our planet including floods, storms, fires, earthquakes, eruptions, droughts, etc. become DISASTERS. The ultimate disaster is that without an awakening to the devastation we have caused and a reversal of our destruction, there will only be more disasters- with no one to blame but ourselves.

As if it’s really necessary to apologize to the makers of Scarface for this infamously stupid and pervasive quote, I’m sorry. But this is a special time of year around our neighborhood. The numerous old and beautiful apricot trees are delivering another perfect crop. It might be a little early but the cool, wet spring gave way to a hot, dry summer so these members of the plum family are ripening rapidly.

The apricot is not exactly an American staple. But there are lots of them in Utah. They’re historically a treatment for cancer and tumors (with questionable results), constipation and contain great amounts of carotenoids which do all sorts of good things from fighting heart disease to helping you look younger.

We don’t have our own apricot tree. We have several neighbors who do though. While walking last year, we simply asked them if we could have some (most of them were lying on their lawns rotting anyway). The neighbors gladly obliged. We only got a few last year because it was late in the season. But this year, we were ready. We brought a step ladder around to pick the best ones before they fell, brought them back and quickly began dehydrating and storing them.

Frankly, they’re delicious but inconsistent. One tree bore sweet but mushy fruit. Another’s are firm but almost tasteless. Regardless, it’s comforting to be able to take advantage of Nature’s bounty right near our house without having to drive anywhere or spend anything. We get to see our neighbors and indulge in their generosity. Perhaps that’s one of the natural attractions of the harvest. Sharing and celebrating the fruits of the Earth. And hopefully remembering how good the simplest and purest things in life truly are.

If you were one of the 4,000 people who lost power during Sunday night’s storm in the Salt Lake area and elsewhere, ask yourself: WHAT IF THE POWER DIDN’T COME BACK? Sound crazy? Ask the people Quebec and New England who lost power for more than one month at the height of winter back in 1996 after one of the worst ice storms in history. One of the kept promises of distributive, renewable energy is that it provides as much back-up power for your house through battery storage as you can afford as well as restoring those batteries during the day, whether it’s solar, wind, geothermal or whatever. So you can go on living normally regardless of the failings of the local utility.

When there’s a power outage at our house, we find out about it by looking out at our neighbors’ darkened windows or by email alert from our solar/utility integration unit, Gridpoint. We typically carry 30-40 hours of back-up power in our batteries which will power virtually the entire house for that time, longer if we cut back on a few things. The batteries are then replenished when the sun comes out.

Talk about security and independence. We’re happier now because we don’t worry about the power going out. We don’t curse the power company nearly as much as we used to. Not that they don’t deserve it.

This blog is now nearly three years old. When I started writing it in August, 2005 (honestly, I swear someday I will put the original Blogger posts here so you can read those) I felt lucky if I got ten people to click on it. Now, according to my statistics service Urchin, I’m averaging 2,000 hits per day. Pageviews, indications that people are also viewing my company website, and sessions which show that people are clicking on a number of things in your site while they’re there, are also way up. The reason I say this is not to show how great I am. It’s to show that PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THIS SUBJECT MATTER AND THEY WILL COME SPECIFICALLY HERE TO FIND WHAT THEY WANT. I like to consider it a mandate for common sense. But it’s also just the inspiration I need to continue writing and improving. As you might know, I’ve threatened a couple of times for different reasons to end the blog. But thanks to you all, I’ll probably keep doing it until they tear it from my cold dead hands.

As word of stalemate comes out of Congress over energy legislation, it should be evident that the responsibility for conserving energy, creating more efficient systems for our homes and businesses, and finding new sources of energy falls directly on the shoulders of the American people. Don’t expect the utility companies or your state legislatures to do their share- especially in Utah. They’re only interested in what’s in it for them, not you- the people who keep them in business and pay their salaries.

As I showed in reader Todd’s paper from his site ecomind, THE THINGS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR UTAH GETTING 95% OF ITS CHEAP AND PLENTIFUL POWER ARE AIR CONDITIONERS AND LARGE HOUSES. Admit it: as most of you read this right now, you’re sitting in your 3,000 sq. ft. home with the AC set at 72 and the entire family inside. That’s the problem. People create heat requiring lower AC temp settings, etc. Set the thermostat at 78, throw the kids outside, shut off the computer and take a walk. Get an evaporative cooler, spray your face with mist from a spritzer bottle in the fridge, sit under a tree.

You’ll enjoy it, your power bill will enjoy it, and Earth will thank you- not verbally, of course- but by not burning your lungs or giving your child asthma.