[Mpls] ...Hooverville Transportation Plan & Ward 2 race

[Gary Hoover]

Cam Gordon wrote, in part:
>>>>>
> I am running for Minneapolis City Council to help make Minneapolis a great 
> city that we can all be proud of and where our children and our 
> grandchildren can lead healthy and fulfilling lives.
>
One of my top priorities is to make Minneapolis a national leader of 
environmental sustainability.
<<<<<

Kudos to Cam!  your pro-active approach is so much needed.  The Falls church 
News-Press has been running a fine series of articles on Peak Oil in 
particular.  Please read the latest article linked below:

http://www.fcnp.com/530/peakoil.htm

Congressman Bartlett hosted a Peak Oil conference attended by Kenneth 
Deffeyes and Matt Simmons, and Richard Heinberg, amoung others.

Simmons noted that we face an energy crisis which is the result of 50 years 
of energy planning mistakes.

We will see very high prices for gas, diesel, anhydrous ammonia, plastics, 
various solvents, and pharmaceuticals derived from fossil fuels.

We will see gas rationing and possibly spot shortages of refined products 
and natural gas.  We are in "the long emergency" as Kunstler describes it 
and "the bottleneck" as Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson describes it.

We are bumping up against the limitations of our environment on many fronts, 
folks. Minneapolis has been planned like the rest of the country -- to suck 
up energy from diverse sources around the planet as though these sources 
will increase infinitely.  we are about to be shown that these sources are 
finite and are shared by many.

How to plan now that it is too late to avert crisis?  We need to inventory 
our design to find every possible way to save energy and to direct the 
energy we have to the best possible use.  Some specifics are:

***Walkable-bike-able lifestyles and neighborhoods.
***Shift to car-pooling & -sharing, mass transit
***Urban and relocalized organic farming
***Shift to local energy sources
***Develop an energy budget based on local energy harvested
***Educate people on the necessity of sustainability

We are at a teachable moment.  I urge everyone to "read up" on the energy 
crisis and contribute to the discussion of how to turn the crisis into an 
opportunity to develop a better way of living in our city.

By the way, I've ordered two more Organicengines SUVs.  I'll be selling my 
current pedicab and trailer soon.  I suggest that we all begin to invest in 
low-petroleum transportation such as this.  There are also many very fine 
"adult trikes" such as the Sun bikes "EZ-3" which are good on slippery 
surfaces and can carry groceries or tow a small trailer as well.

The sooner we make radical changes, the less painful this will be for all of 
us.

-- pedaling for peace and ecojustice from Lynnhurst for now -- Gary Hoover