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Davisite Banner. Left side the bicycle obelisk at 3rd and University. Right side the trellis at the entrance to the Arboretum.

Month: September 2023

  • Be a Climate Upstander: Join Friday’s Climate March

    By Alan Hirsch

    We are now in a (not so slow moving) crisis of civilization brought on by climate change.  It trumps all other issues as the earth is the stage all other human endeavors play out on.  Marches, protests gatherings for other issue will fall by the wayside due to heat waves, brown outs, hurricanes, wildfire & smoke. Even the infrastructures that support the food security, housing construction and access to health care is threatened.

    It also clear many good people- even  in Davis — are in denial of the crisis: not in theirs word but their actions that signal climate change is a secondary consideration in their decisions. 

    Planet Upstander gently question all these nice people– friends and local politicians — who mouth words and even pass crisis resolutions, but continue to doing the same old things that are killing our planet: Elected bodies in Yolo county and California are filled with business democrats- the Herbert Hoovers of our era when we need FDR’s and a Green New Deal.

    Consider the case of a Davis Democratic Party leader who proudly posted to her hundreds of Facebook she flew to Antarctica and from there took a cruise.   Upstander might post the gentle question: “Did you buy carbon offsets?”  Or a friend or family member who admires a low MPG car?  You could raise a concerning for them question about cost of gasoline  (and BTW GHG) due to  low mileage?  Or at least roll your eyes.   Or how do to you respond to friend who drives to school to when it is  only 1 mile from their home? You might ask what type of bike they own?

    The Davis Climate March-part of the international climate strike movement –   a chance to show you are one of the growing number of Upstanders for the Planet, It includes march this weekend  In Sacramento and SF this weekend of you can’t make the Davis event.

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  • Top reasons to Join the Climate March

    By Alan Hirsch

    1. The Return of the Urban Firestorm

     What happened in Colorado was something much scarier than a wildfire.

    By David Wallace-Wells LIFE AFTER WARMING  https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/colorado-saw-the-return-of-the-urban-firestorm.html

    2. 244 People died heat related causes in Phoenix: Lose your AC, lose your life? And what about homeless?

    https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/life-and-death-in-americas-hottest-city#:~:text=Phoenix%20is%20the%20fifth%2Dlargest,by%203.8%20degrees%20since%201970.

    3. Heat threatens Children: a fall on blacktop playground on can mean severe burns. Forget about walking your dog.
    Pavement surfaces 140-160o when air temperature over hundred

    4. Farming Deadly to workers as Heat Index Reaches 120 plus in corn fields.

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/22/2188793/-Heat-index-of-150F-in-the-shade-from-Heat-Doom-and-corn-sweat-Climate-crisis-seemingly-everywhere

    “….120 degree heat index in Iowa? Yes, because corn sweats in the heat, just like humans do. A single acre of corn can pull 4,000 gallons of water each day out of the ground and release it into the air, making Iowa feel like Bangkok.” https://t.co/ep1mcWFBLj

    5. Air Quality August 2023: Continent spanning smoke from wildfires again

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  • Joining – Friday 9/15 march and rally

    Thank you for joining with Davis Fridays for Future End the Fossil Fuel Era march and rally.

    Those that come to add their voices are joining a movement where it is up to them to make more of it than the protest they attend on Friday.

    For 9-15 march

    The September 15th End the Fossil Fuel Era Davis Fridays For Future March and Rally

    Gather at 14th and B at 12:00 noon (in front of Veterans Memorial)

    Student leaders will be organizing intake and ask that adult allies gather as well and have some fun practicing chants around the theme “End the Fossil Fuel Era”.  This is a family friendly event.

    At about 12:20 the youth will lead us along B street to Central Park Social Justice Stage for a short rally. Those that can't walk should meet the marchers at Central Park.  The rally will likely start just before, or at, 1:00. At the rally you will hear from 3 of the Davis Fridays for Future members and perhaps one additional speaker. Speakers will be asking you to register your support with an End the Fossil Fuel Era petition (a QR code will be provided) and to participate in a group skit – demonstrating the impact of climate change.

    The goals of the Davis climate action is to see and be seen in support of the Global Climate Strike to End the Fossil Fuel Era.  You will be part of thousands of protests worldwide. This sends a message (bring your cell phone to conduct your personal social media campaign).

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  • I-80 News: Two Projects on Causeway, DEIR Release, Woodland

    Traffic Congregation not relevant in EIR

    By Alan Hirsch

    All the weeks News on I-80, as best I understand it – The Headlines:

    • Draft EIR out Monday(?) – YoloTD Board meeting  comments needed
    • Two projects on causeway at once!  Pavement Rehab is not the Widening!
    • Yolo TD Chair Takes on UC Davis Transportation Experts
    • Does anyone remember NISHI? Will City of Davis ignore full I-80 impact?
    • What to watch For in Draft EIR
    • Is Causeway bike trail maintenance being hostage to road improvements?
    • Does City of Woodland’s New Tech Park  Project turns it back VMT in EIR?
    • Woodland says road Congestion is a “social inconvenience” and not relevant in EIR.

    Draft EIR out Monday(?)

    YoloTD executive director Autumn Bernstein wrote Friday she expects DED (aka Draft EIR+ other doc) will be released before the September 11 Board Meeting..  YoloTD has had earlier draft(s) for months so they likely will have slide prepared (which are not in Agenda Packet. I note YoloTD staff and board is OK with chair picking early DEIR traffic study to prove we need a wider freeway…seeming to ignore Caltrans long patterns of Understating Induce Demand Effects in its EIR, per UC Davis ITS studies.  The Caltrans website still post a promise the EIR will be out in Winter of 2021.

    How to Comment at YoloTD meeting Monday 6pm.

    Call or write/ What to say:  express concern the Caltrans may be continuing to understate Induce Demand impact in their models- as UC Davis ITS studies has shown . Express concern not enough priority is not being put on climate change.   Ask YoloTD to hire an independent expert to review and comment on Caltrans EIR VMT studies due to past UC Davis studies that show the agency has underestimate it.  

    PLACE:  YoloTD Board Room, 350 Industrial Way, Woodland, CA 95776

    ZOOM & Live comments: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81573305113?pwd=VmFiZWNtSzZleVVGRVpmQ0swWnhpZz09

    PHONE to zoom; : (669) 900-6833 Webinar ID:  815 7330 5113 Passcode:  135087

    AGENDA  & Packet: https://yolotd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-11_YoloTD-BoardAgendaPacket.pdf

    EMAIL  in advance: public-coment@yctd.org:

    Phone comment in advance (will be transcribed/ not read or played):  530 402-2819

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  • Yolo water up for supervisor vote on Tuesday

    9018906362_22fe798eebWater water water

    By Scott Steward

    The Yolo County staff report from Elisa Sabatini, Manager of Natural Resources, has noticeably left out any specific recommendation for water policy in Yolo County.  This leaves the decision to place a much needed well moratorium entirely up to our Yolo County supervisors.

    Yolo residents should be very concerned about Item 35 Groundwater Conditions and Well Permits being heard at Tuesday, September 12th Board of Supervisors Meeting.

    On July 11th, ten citizens, comprised of farmers and residents, testified to Yolo County about water table depletion. They were unified in their call for a moratorium on new wells and regulations to rebalance the water pumped from new and existing wells.

    Anne Main – farming Good Humus for 47 years "…there is over 6,000 acres of perennial plantings on previously un-irrigated land in Hungry Hollow alone.  … 60% of Hungry Hollow land is (now) in permanent orchards and vineyards."

    Our late Gary Sandy, about a year ago, placed the sole vote against the renewal of the Teichert aggregate mine due to his concerns about our local water quality and quantity.  We need to apply Sandy's resolve now to protect our water.

    The water pumping operational efficiencies (borrowing from fracking technology) draws water from hundreds of feet deeper, and draws water from every level of aquifer in between, to bring water to land not previously irrigated, to feed tens of thousands of acres of perennial export crops (trees and vines). Our beloved table crop farms need your help now.

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  • ChatGPT Asked to Write a Country Song about the Library Incident

    I typed a 150 word description of the library incident into ChatGPT.  I then asked ChatGPT to write a country song about the incident.  With no further prompting, and in about five seconds, this is what ChatGPT wrote:

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  • Upcoming, Global Call to End the Fossil Fuel Era

    By Scott Steward

    As the climate careens towards more severe atmospheric carbon derived weather, the stakes couldn't be higher.  Preserving Yolo County's resilience becomes job number one for any public official. Arable land, access to food, health and safety all need more attention and everyone is required, if we are to create a resilient community for the foreseeable future.  We elders agree and will join the youth led Fridays for Future Climate Strike September 15th at noon at the 14th street side of Veterans Memorial for a march to Central Park. "End the Fossil Fuel Era" signs provided.

    FridaysForFuture

    Fridays for Future September 15th preparation  – – End the Fossil Fuel Era signs displayed.

    Thousands of strikes will be occurring around the globe on September 15th.  Davis Fridays for Future is the local version of this international event.  Here, and across the US, Biden is being asked to Declare a Climate Emergency. In California, Newsom is being asked to follow through on his commitment to stop issuing fossil fuel drilling permits.  Petitions will be available at the march.

    We have our own drilling driven extraction climate crises in Yolo County, along with fire and heat, our water table is dropping at an unrestorable rate.  The aquifer that resides in the 1000 ft deep loam soil, our subterranean valley lake, is being sucked dry.  At the current pace, half the farmers that show up at the Davis farmers market will be gone in a few years.

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  • Al’s Corner – September 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    This volume of Al's Corner is dedicated to the celebration of the Davis Vanguard's National Issues Open Discussion Page.  Of course, this page isn't open to me, or several other banned people.  Nor, in practice, is it a discussion.  Let's do some stats and declare a winner:

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  • The Davisphere returns to Central Park on Oct. 26

    DavisphereSept2022beer

    Crowds gather in Davis’ Central Park on Sept. 29, 2022, for one of the Thursdays in The Davisphere events. The next concert is set for Oct. 26. (Courtesy photo)

    (From press release) Thursdays in The Davisphere, the concert series launched in 2022 by Davis Downtown, will return to Central Park on Oct. 26.

    The spooky-themed, family-friendly event is from 4 to 9 p.m. in Central Park. 301 C St. It will include food, drink, craft, art, retail and other vendors. Attendees are encouraged to dress in costume. The entertainment lineup will be announced soon.

    The inaugural season of Thursdays in The Davisphere was weekly in September and October 2022, thanks to funding from a city of Davis grant to revitalize local businesses emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. A follow-up survey showed a nearly 90% approval rating of the event, citing the energy and vibrancy it brought to the downtown. Davis Downtown provided a designated nonprofit beneficiary to receive a portion of proceeds from beer and wine sales.

    The 2023 event welcomes UC Davis students who are back in town. It will include mobile food and beverage vendors as well as a beer and wine garden. Patrons are also welcome to bring food and nonalcoholic drinks purchased from downtown businesses.

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  • Wingnut Advocates for Nuclear Mosquito Control

    Screenshot 2023-09-02 071056by David Abramson
     
    Steve, who previously spoke to the City Council advocating that we ban all the leaves from Davis returned this past Tuesday to give public comment in support of the pesticide spraying of the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito Vector District, particularly supporting the aerial spraying over our cities and encouraging them to develop even larger pesticide bombs to eliminate the mosquitos once and for all.
     
    I am personally outraged that Steve and the Sacramento Yolo Mosquito Vector Control District believe that mosquito activity warrants dumping pesticides on our heads several times per weeks.