By Glen Holstein

While collecting signatures at the Farmer’s Market for the initiative to facilitate Davis parking we found most folks taking the time to stop signed.  A few, however, were quite hostile and wanted walking and biking to be the only method of Davis travel by making driving so onerous by means like limiting parking that folks would abandon cars.  This war on cars supported by key city staff and partially enabled by the city council is what’s made our initiative necessary.  Its results are all around us:  traffic clogging structures causing gridlock at Mace Boulevard, meter schemes that reduce parking convenience, elimination of former parking areas, lack of the traffic light synchronization that eases traffic flow in Sacramento and Woodland, and new longer waits at signals that have increased red light running. 

All this has done nothing to eliminate cars.  It has only excluded from central Davis those too disabled to walk or bike and those wanting to use their vehicles to make purchases.  Meanwhile sprawl is facilitated by making free commercial lots at the edge of Davis or in other towns more attractive.

Extremists who want Davis transportation limited to walking and biking claim it’s about climate change, but it’s not.  Diverting traffic from the core to more distant places makes climate change worse, not better.  So does causing vehicles to idle at every red light as they inch across town.  Even those in hybrid or electric vehicles are frustrated by these unnecessary and harassing delays.

What it is about and only about is virtue signaling so the few in their spandex suits can feel morally superior to the rest of us.

Greetings Residents of Davis!

Let us introduce you to the Davis Post Carbon Association, a grassroots organization bringing together the community to address climate issues both locally and globally. We want to transition out of a carbon-based economy to a post-carbon economy by 2040. Post-carbon means (1) sequestering more carbon than we are emitting (also called being carbon negative), (2) designing our communities so that we regenerate natural resources, eliminate waste, and live in alignment with the needs of nature. We have six core goals to help the community fulfill this intention before it may be too late for our planet.

1. Include everybody in our community so we can transition together instead of having to figure it out on our own
2. Educate each other about the science of sustainability and how to apply it to our lives as individuals and members of a community
3. Work with homeowners and businesses to help private organizations transition. 
4. Work with government to help public infrastructure transition
5. Support labor unions, activist groups, faith-based groups, and other organizations in their efforts to transition
6. Raise funds to support the efforts of community organizers, educators, project facilitators, and to finance modifications of private and public infrastructure, lands, and operational systems (transportation, waste-management, energy utilities, etc)

(more…)

By Carey Ann Hunt

Quickly out of nowhere it hovered in the air

Not more than 3-4 feet away.

Me? I just sat there sipping tea.

The bird sipped too, though English Breakfast was not his flavor. 

Nectar for him as he lingered there.

Sipping the red abutilon flowers,

The hummingbird vibrated, stirring the air.

The whirr of those wings

I could tangibly feel it.

My heart was pounding,

Hovering.

Quivering.

I sat there beaming perched on my chair

I waited, stretching the moment as long as I could.

He chest was dipped in emerald

Ruby throated with opalescent wings.

His wings were see-through they fluttered so fast.

Grateful I was to him so close.

I was enamored of every part of that moment.

The morning, the sun, and sweet nectar. 

The breeze in my hair,

The last of the sweet smell of Jasmine until next year.

He finished his mission,

But, before he left

He flew in right close and looked at me

Startling me and causing me to splash my tea.

My heart was racing but my mind was still.

My body felt like it was vibrating just like those wings.

That little body, with that much power

Hovering.

Quivering.

The moment grew larger,

As did my smile.

His shiny bright eyes

Gazing right there at mine.

No more than my arm’s length away.

I was left stunned as his lifted off,

His wings left an impression as I closed my eyes.

Sipping the moment and hovering there.

Grateful to you little bird for your courage to look me in the eye.