Tim Redmond writes (10/22/08) of how “there aren’t many locally-owned independent newspapers left in America,” noting that “even the alternative press has become chain-happy…. In… most of the nation’s biggest cities, the once-upstart weeklies are owned by big national chains.” But, to the great benefit of Northern Californians, the San Francisco Bay Guardian that “Bruce Brugmann and Jean Dibble founded in 1966 is still the paper that Bruce Brugmann and Jean Dibble run in 2008.” Redmond relates how, when he “first started writing about sustainable cities in the Guardian, I was 28, the paper was 20, urban environmentalism was still considered an oxymoron in much of the mainstream political world–and we didn’t have a name for what we were discussing”–and gives us some more recent history:
Look at Proposition H, the Clean Energy Act on the November ballot. Prop. H is a prescription for sustainable energy; the measure would not only set aggressive goals for renewables, it would shift control of the city’s energy agenda away from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and give it to the people of San Francisco….
So where is [Gavin] Newsom, who likes to call himself a green mayor? He’s against it. Where are the business leaders in town? Standing with PG&E. Where is the power structure? Fighting to prevent a sustainable energy future for San Francisco.
And the big chain-owned daily newspaper is right there with them.
Me and Earl were thinking about acquiring a number of solar panels for our home this past year. The only problem was the cost. The lowest priced system we identified was around ten thousand bucks. It could have taken us years to recoup that amount of money. Anyway, we came across these directions for making your own residential solar panels. We ended up going that route. It saved us a great deal of dollars, and the totally free, eco-friendly power is wonderful! :) We run a number of of our kitchen appliances off this source of power.