Post hurricane Maria sustainability

SUBHEAD: Puerto Rican movements are rebuilding their island in a way that enhances climate resilience.

By Celia Bottger on 12 July 2018 for Foreign Policy Focus -
(https://fpif.org/this-hurricane-season-puerto-ricans-are-imagining-a-sustainable-future/)


Image above: Illustration of Puerto Rican flag, island outline and alternative energy solutions. From original article.

Nine months after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean island faces another potentially devastating hurricane season, while much of its infrastructure and land still remain in tatters.

The category-5 hurricane that ripped through the Caribbean last fall not only caused nearly 5,000 deaths, but also exposed the fragility of the island’s social, political, and economic underpinnings.

The truth behind Maria’s devastation and the United States’ laggard response to the hurricane lies in centuries of colonial exploitation — first by Spain and then by the United States — and in its perpetual subjugation to the whims of American elite.

There is little that distinguishes Puerto Rico from an American colony. Since its acquisition of the island in 1898, the United States has gradually stripped Puerto Rico of any political agency through a web of legal cases, laws, and arbitrary categorizations intended to keep Puerto Rico politically weak and economically dependent on American products — and its poor, brown, “foreign” population distanced from their mainland compatriots.

Hurricane Maria exposed for the world to see what Puerto Ricans have known for centuries: that Washington treats Puerto Rico as little more than a captive market from which the U.S. extracts profits.

Although Puerto Rico is an island bathed in sunlight and lashed by winds and waves, it imports 98 percent of its energy from American fossil fuel companies. And despite its fertile soil and lush tropical landscape, Puerto Rico buys around 90 percent of its food from U.S. agribusiness companies.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last September, it eviscerated fields of monocrops and shattered Puerto Rico’s already derelict electric grid.

Many of the almost 5,000 deaths that resulted from Maria were due not to Maria’s whipping winds or flash flooding, but to the mass power outages and food shortages that ensued, a result of the government’s closing of hospitals and neglect of the electric grid necessitated by U.S.-imposed austerity measures.

Despite its catastrophic impacts, Hurricane Maria provides a kind of tabula rasa upon which a new, economically regenerative, and politically empowered Puerto Rico can be built.

Several international and local organizations are already working in Puerto Rico to transition it away from an extractive and U.S.-dependent economy towards a self-sufficient, socially just, and ecologically sound one — while at the same time enhancing local economies, reclaiming sovereignty, and boosting climate resilience.

“When Puerto Rico experienced the effects of Maria,” says Angela Adrar of the Climate Justice Alliance, “it was clear that we had a one in a lifetime opportunity to unite communities together and have a vision for a just recovery.”

That vision incorporates “food sovereignty, energy democracy, self-determination, and a real justice approach…to building power.” A just recovery for Puerto Rico not only means rebuilding what Maria destroyed, but reclaiming the political and economic agency stifled by American colonialism.

Resilient Power Puerto Rico, a grassroots relief effort that began hours after Maria hit the island, promotes energy democracy in post-Maria Puerto Rico by distributing solar-powered generators to remote parts of the island. The Just Transition Alliance, Climate Justice Alliance, and Greenpeace have also sent brigades to install solar panels across the island.

Solar energy reduces the carbon emissions that fueled Maria’s intensity and makes Puerto Rico more resilient against the next climate-charged storm. A decentralized renewable energy grid — which allows solar users to plug into or remain independent of the larger grid as necessary — combats Puerto Rico’s dependence on U.S. fossil fuels.

It also democratizes Puerto Rico’s energy supply, placing power (literally and metaphorically) in the hands of Puerto Ricans rather than American fossil fuel corporations.

Another aspect of Puerto Rico’s “just recovery” is food sovereignty, a movement to promote community-controlled agricultural cooperatives that grow food for local consumption and thus counter Puerto Rico’s reliance on the American food industry.

The Organizatión Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica encourages food sovereignty through “agroecology,” a method that revives local agriculture through traditional farming methods, rather than the monoculture system put in place by American colonists.

According to Corbin Laedlein of WhyHunger, who visited the Organizatión in 2016, “food sovereignty and agroecology are grounded in an analysis of how U.S. historic and structural settler colonialism and racism have shaped and continue to manifest in the food system today.”

By rejecting the larger food system and focusing on self-sufficiency, agroecology allows Puerto Ricans to reclaim the political and economy agency the U.S. denies them. The Organizatión sends brigades that deliver seeds for community members to plant.

By stimulating local production, agroecology also reduces the carbon pollution emitted from ships transporting food to Puerto Rico, and moreover acts as a local carbon sink.

As the Atlantic Ocean incubates another hurricane season, the people of Puerto Rico are rebuilding their island in a way that not only enhances climate resilience, but also reclaims their political power.

The island they are creating — one that is socially just, ecologically sustainable, and politically empowered — is an inspiring model for a just, sustainable future. One that is definitively not American-made.
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Get in the lifeboat now!

SUBHEAD: There is not much time left to find a way off this sinking ship. Find a seat soon.

By Juan Wilson on 19 June 2018 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2018/06/get-in-lifeboat-now.html)


Image above: Abandoning the Costa Concordia that capsized and sank in 2012 off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, Italy. From (https://paullaherty.com/2015/01/05/lessons-from-the-costa-concordia/).

I know it's comfy in the First Class State Room on A Deck but that won't be for long. As Americans we've grown accustomed to having "the best". However, now in the first part of the 21st century we are beginning to realize that we all are not "on board". An increasing number are in steerage... already below the waterline.

People around the world in places that have been trashed by over population, war,  bad agriculture, eco-collapse and fanaticism have been rushing to the exits - primarily to Western Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world held together by some combination of modern technology, advanced military, historic plunder, natural resources  and/or isolation.

Those "safe havens" likely won't be able to handle the additional load. This is particularly true if those escaping intend to live in the style that "western civilization" has become accustomed:

Automobiles for everybody, highways to everywhere; universal electric grid, internet, and cell service; air conditioning, refrigeration, supermarkets, frozen food;  jet travel and fresh fruit on the table from another hemisphere, next day Amazon delivery service - total security... etc.

Those services cannot be provided for the eight billion people that inhabit the planet now. At this point of degradation of the ecosystem it is probably not possible for even a tenth of that number. That's about what the population of the world was when America became nation independent in 1776.

Basically, this human population explosion is a function of the consumption of fossil fuels. See the chart below:


Image above: World population from US Census Bureau inj blue, overlaid with fossil fuel use (red) by Vaclav Smil from Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects. From "Human Population Overshoot: What Went Wrong?"2/15/12 (https://ourfiniteworld.com/2012/02/15/human-population-overshoot-what-went-wrong/).

What is the solution?
Back away from your dependence on fossil fuel (and all that it supports) as soon as you can. Make your life livable (and hopefully enjoyable) off the grid as soon as you can. Get in a lifeboat now! By that I mean have at your immediate disposal a place where you can survive, and even thrive, without dependence on "The Mother Ship" (The System, The Grid, Civilization, the United States of America. etc.).

There is no time for any delay. My wife and I have been working towards this goal for over a decade and we are not quite there. If the container ships and tankers were to stop coming to Hawaii we would face drastic changes, but likely our homestead could support human habitation.

Are you in such a place now? If the lights go out can you be in such a place securely within a couple of days? I say that because that is about as long as most people have the resources at hand to survive.

For starters, you will need your own sources for water, food, energy and shelter.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Settling into a Collapse Rant 11/15/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Oases on a future Eaarth 6/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Tales of a Dark Kauai 5/23/14
Ea O Ka Aina: The New Game 11/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Food, Water, Energy & Shelter 1/31/13
Ea O Ka Aina: The Titanic or Noah's Ark 3/4/12
Ea O Ka Aina: The Hero's Way 1/13/12
Ea O Ka Aina: Time to Stop Pretending 4/27/11
Ea O Ka Aina: All Aboard 12/9/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Here the Deal!  7/5/09
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Grow food for collapse

SUBHEAD: Getting ready for a sustainable lifestyle takes more practice than most people suspect.

By Juan Wilson on 6 August 2017 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/08/grow-food-for-collapse.html)


Image above: "Occupy the Farm -  Take Back the Tract". From a film "The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community" From (http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/27313).

A few decades ago back on the mainland in rural north-west New York state my wife Linda and I did a website named The Gobbler. See TheGobbler. It followed a printed version that we put out eight times a year and distributed to local businesses and to subscribers through the 1990s: 

The Gobbler was a seasonal & regional journal from
the Chautauqua Lake area of New York with a
Green Philosophy towards nature, spirit, art and politics.
The Gobbler was been part chronicle, part almanac,
part journal of fiction and even environmental newsletter.

The area we focused on was within what used to be called "courtin' distance" to our place in Panama, New York. "Courtin' distance" was how far a boy might travel to visit a girl and get back home to finish his chores before dinner. We thought that covered an area of about 50 square miles.  

A lot of that area around our place was either state conservation land, trailers on old lots,  and Amish or "English" farms. Some gravel covered roads near us had no power or telephone lines. You might see a horse and buggy there.

The point is that that is where we are headed back to - that is if we can survive the times we are in right now. Printed local publications, some telephone and maybe even telegraph communication. If we're lucky there will be some ham radios left too.

What there will not be are high resolution small portable screens with stereo sound and motion and touch detection that absorb hours of our days and know more about us than we do. We will more likely be using those Samsungs, iPhones and tablets for drink coasters and sushi plates.

Here in Hawaii, where there is close ground water (until the rain cycle fails,) all the added sunlight, humidity and CO2 which have created an environment that is causing the plants to grow like crazy.

Find a place and grow food now!
The moral of the story is to start growing as much food as you can immediately. Don't wait for the kids to be gone or retirement. Don't wait for the money to buy that homestead or farm.  Join a community garden or start one.

We are getting closer to that time when the shipping containers crossing the the Pacific (on the water or in the air) won't be coming cheaply and reliably. When that occurs we will really be on our own.

A worldwide reset is on the way. When completed there will be far fewer people and much less available energy for getting work done. We will all be on our way to a life like the indigenous Hawaiians or the faithful Amish.

We will all be on a path back to something like the 17th to 19th century - if we're lucky. And it is going to take quite a bit of practice to get along in that world.

Getting a headstart is not only fair, it is required.

Hone your skills. As Dmitry Orlov said on several occasions "Collapse now and avoid the rush!"

Below is a video of a talk given by Orlov about that subject (less than two weeks after "3/11" the Fukushima Daiichi triple meltdown).


Video above: "The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community". From (https://youtu.be/7QLIOuRS1n4).


Video above: "The Collapse -Dmitry Orlov". From (https://youtu.be/Ecfxl1wZDpE).

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Find and Limit Ourselves 2/17/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Capitalism is a form of Cancer 10/7/16
Ea O Ka Aina: How about a "Grown" economy? 10/11/16
Ea O Ka Aina: From Here on Down 8/4/15
Ea O Ka Aina : Oases on a future Eaarth 6/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: The Last Straw 12/17/14 
Ea O Ka Aina: Worse than you think 5/21/14
Ea O Ka Aina:Things won't get back to normal 2/10/14
Ea O Ka Aina: The New Game 11/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Food, Water, Energy & Shelter 1/31/13
Ea O Ka AIna: Embrace the Change 7/24/12
Ea O Ka Aina: Trick or Treat! 10/31/11
Ea O Ka Aina: Last Trip to the Moon 5/10/11
Ea O Ka Aina: The Five Year Plan 3/4/10
Ea O Ka Aina: All Aboard! 12/9/09



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We Are Still In!

SUBHEAD: Two reasons why this American climate alliance "We Are Still In" could save the world.

By Tegan Tallulah on 19 June 2017 for The Climate Lemon  -
(http://theclimatelemon.com/we-are-still-in-climate-coalition/)


Image above: Supporters of Paris Climate Accord gather to demonstrate on the Andy Warhol Bridge over the Allegheny River in down town Pittsburgh after Trump rejected world climate agreement. Pittsburgh continues its plan to power itself with 100% renewable energy by 2035. From original article.

There are many reasons why Donald Trump is dangerous. His egotism, his authoritarianism, his disregard for facts, his bigotry towards women, Muslims, Mexicans, disabled people… There’s quite a few contenders.

But arguably his most dangerous quality is his views on climate change. Because this is an area where he can damage the whole world, and that damage can reverberate for centuries.

Scary, huh? All through Trump’s campaign he promised to pull the USA out of the Paris Climate Deal, and sure enough, after a period of intense um-ing and ah-ing, he confirmed he would do so. Queue an impressive display of horror and condemnation from leaders around the world.

I was all prepared to be severely depressed about this, but then something amazing happened.
American business leaders, city mayors, state governors and university principals, stood up and said ‘no, we’re not going to put up with this shit’. (I’m not sure that’s a direct quote, I’m paraphrasing).

This unprecedented alliance – known as the ‘We Are Still In coalition’ has formed around support for the Paris Agreement and recognition that climate action is their obligation to the world, and is good for America anyway.

This is incredibly powerful, for two main reasons: the science and the symbolism. By that I mean the physical direct impact on the carbon emissions of America and the world, and the psychological, cultural and political impact that such a move has on the rest of the world, and the indirect climate effect of that.

But before we dive into these two main points, let’s just recap on why the USA’s response to climate change is so crucial for the world, and what this new American climate alliance actually is.

Quick note on why USA is so crucial to climate action

The USA has by far the biggest historical carbon emissions and one of the highest emissions per person in the world. This means they are one of the countries most responsible for causing this climate crisis. Quite frankly, it’s amoral to walk away from your responsibilities. If you make a mess, you should at least help clean it up.

Even if the USA wasn’t a heavy polluter, there would be a strong argument that they should be a key player in sorting out the mess anyway, just because they have the power to do so.

They are the richest country in the world and are routinely regarded as the most powerful, due to immense wealth and military might and ‘cultural power’ – a more fuzzy concept that includes everything from having the most UN diplomats to Hollywood movies dominating the global media market.


Image above: Pie chart of percentage of cumulative CO2 emissions between 1850 and 2011 by country. From World Resource Institute (http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/11/6-graphs-explain-world%E2%80%99s-top-10-emitters). Click to enlarge.


Image above: Bar chart of per person carbons emissions in metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2014 per person by country. From original article. This chart was adjusted from the 2011 data from the World Resource Institute (http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/11/6-graphs-explain-world%E2%80%99s-top-10-emitters). It separates countries in the European Union. Note, the United States past Canada in CO2 emissions per person. The world average is about what Britain's emissions are (less than a third of USA's. Click to enlarge. 

So what is the "We Are Still In" coalition?

The We Are Still In coalition is a loose voluntary group of city mayors, state governors, CEOs, investors and university principals who have signed a pledge, on behalf of their communities and organisations, and an open letter to the UN, stating that they are still committed to the Paris Agreement.

They have promised to use their respective powers to lead climate action in their communities and businesses, aiming to meet or exceed the USA’s commitments under the Paris Agreement. (Which by the way is a 26-28% cut in emissions compared to the 2005 level by 2025, and even under Obama they were likely to miss that target).

So who’s actually signed up? The pledge has 1219 signatories so far, and growing. This includes:

• 9 states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington
• 125 cities. Including Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Pittsburgh…
• 902 businesses and investors. Including Amazon, Apple, Google, Gap, Mars, Nike…
• 183 universities and colleges.

You can check out the full list of signatories and their open letter here.

The cities and states represent 120 million Americans and a GDP of $6.2 trillion. The businesses together have combined revenue of $1.4 trillion.

This means 38% of the American population and at least 35% of their GDP is covered by this new alliance. If just the 9 states were a country, that country would be the fifth richest and sixth highest polluter in the world. So it’s a pretty big deal.

The philanthropist, business investor and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg has been instrumental in coordinating this alliance, and he has even pledged to donate $15million from Bloomberg Philanthropies to the UN, to replace funding from Washington they’ll now miss out on thanks to Trump.

Although he’s certainly been a leader, it has also been a collaborative effort between 21 nonprofit groups, including C40 Cities, CDP (who I am starting a new job with next month!), WWF and others, who really pushed this forward.

The coalition wants to participate in the Paris Agreement, but there is currently no formal way for them to do so on America’s behalf, as it is an agreement between sovereign nations. However the Accord does call for ‘non-state actors’ to be involved. How this would work in practice is still being worked out.

The two big reasons why this is so incredible

Okay. Now into the real tofu and potatoes of this post. "Science" and "Symbolism"

The science

As this Alliance covers 38% of the American people and at least 35% of their GDP, they have significant power to influence the carbon emissions of the country. Due to the USA’s federal structure, states and cities have fairly extensive powers. The large companies have huge power through their supply chains.

However, even under Obama, the USA was not on track to meet its climate targets. With Trump’s hostile regressive stance and deregulation of pollution, it’s going to be even tougher to meet them.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t.

I’m fairly optimistic about their chances, as it looks like the hostility of the federal government is actually acting as an effective motivator to people who would have just sat back and done little otherwise. There really is a huge groundswell of support for the Paris Agreement emerging from the bottom up, and it’s not clear how far that momentum will go.

It’s difficult to estimate what percentage of the USA’s carbon emissions are represented in this coalition, because many of the members are overlapping – so you can’t just add up all their emissions. But the nine states alone represent 17% of USA emissions – and that’s without all the major cities and businesses outside of those states.

The symbolism

Direct cuts in carbon emissions are not even necessarily the most influential thing about the We Are Still In coalition. The symbolism is incredibly powerful. Here are cities, states and businesses directly defying Trump by saying: ‘You made the wrong decision. You do not speak for us. We are still in the Paris Agreement’.

The fact that Washington and New York were two key signatories will be a particular slap in the face for Trump. The small city of Pittsburgh is also notable because in his speech he declared ‘I was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris’.

The mayor of Pittsburgh resented his city being used as an excuse like this, especially considering they already had a climate action plan to go 100% renewable powered. He publicly disagreed with the decision to leave the Paris Agreement, and joined the We Are Still In coalition instead.

The President also argued that climate action is bad for business and he would prioritise business. And what response did he get?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Disney CEO Bob Iger promptly quit his presidential advice council in protest. The ‘climate vs business’ position has become more discredited than ever, as over 900 businesses have joined the coalition.

Many of the most outspoken members are American-based tech giants, like Google, Apple and Amazon. They argue that in the short term, there are great business opportunities to be had from clean energy and greener products – and in the long term all business depends on a stable climate.

When Trump said he was going to exit the Paris Agreement, a real worry was that other countries would lose motivation and think ‘if the richest most powerful country, that has some of the highest emissions, is going to walk away, then there’s no point me doing anything.

Screw it, I’m out’. For some, that was an even bigger problem than the USA’s actual emissions. Because it posed the threat of unravelling the delicate international consensus that had been pieced together –finally, painfully- on this global issue.

Luckily, other national leaders were keen to reconfirm their support and to condemn Trump’s decision. (Even Kim Jong-un, who called the move “the height of egosim”, with zero self-awareness).
What this coalition does, is it assures the international community that America is still at the table. Even if the central government pulls out, America will still be informally committed to the Paris Agreement, through this broad and growing coalition.

Conclusion – Thank you America!

It’s imperative for the whole world’s future that America does not walk away from tackling climate change. Despite Trump’s damaging and regressive decision, it now looks like this will not be the case. Where the government steps down, leaders from local government, business and civil society will step up.

This has given me hope for the future. Thank you to everyone involved – thank you to the signatories, the organisers, and to all the everyday Americans who support it.
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Real Wealth and trusting No System

SUBHEAD: We are into the Anthropocene Age. Previous systems that provided wealth are bankrupt.

By Juan Wilson on 23 May 2107 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/05/real-wealth-and-trusting-no-system.html)


Image above: A dwarf lime tree in Hanapepe Valley produces hundreds of limes throughout the year. Photo by Juan Wilson.

If you have not noticed already I'd be surprised. What you say? You have not gotten whiff of the acrid smoke has been coming off the carcass of "Our American Way of Life".  It's happening. 

For me 'resistance" has been going on for three generations. Back to the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protests during Kennedy and Johnson years; on through Nixon and Reagan's soulless "Christian" operations, into Bush & Son's CIA 911 psychosis and now through sly Obama's and clueless Trump's endless robot wars against the Middle East.

For much of that time I thought I was dealing with individual moral and social issues. That each issue could be dealt with and we could get back on the track to a fairer and friendlier future for all Americans.

It did seem like much was still right with the country - and if we could only get a handle on some of  the mean spiritedness, selfishness, etc that things would be okay... Not to happen.

It has become clearer and clearer that our institutions are creating the problems and not dealing with the results... in fact they use the problems created with one policy to feed the fire to create more bad policy.

As it stands our legislatures, judiciaries, regulatory agencies, government service departments, banking institutions, fuel energy sector, corporations, insurance operations and just about anything else you can think of is part of the problem. They are in self denial and cannot get a grip on the underlying systemic failure we face.

In fact, since Trump's rise to power it seems any marginally positive service the government might provide (like measuring and identifying environmental problems) are being reduced or systematically eliminated and uncontrolled profiteering on limited resources is being encouraged. We are poring our blood and sweat into increasingly useless and self destructive behavior. 

However, an economic phase change is about to occur.

For America to "thrive" the intercontinental container shipping, along with the interstate trucking, and long haul rail shipping systems must run smoothly and continuously.

That is how the Walmart, Costco, Amazon and Home Depot remain operational. These corporations will stop operating when it is not profitable. And those underlying transportation systems are far more delicate than most people realize - and no! roboticized semi-tractor trailers is not the solution.

This moment it is really clear that;

GROWTH IS DEAD!
THE RESOURCES ARE GONE!
THE ENVIRONMENT IS MORTALLY DAMAGED!

will mean we are really into the Anthropocene Age. Previous systems that provided wealth are bankrupt. We are on our own.

It means the future of "The American Way of Life" no longer exist. Then it will be our responsibility to make America coherent again... and feed ourselves.

Remember when America gloated as the Soviet Union came apart at the seams and went through collapse. Well, now it's our turn. We will find out, as the Russians did, how fragile wealth and security are.

So get used to it... but more importantly realize that your salaried pay, or pension deposit or Social Security check, or Electronic Benefit Transfer Card could simply evaporate. From now on you should see that it is coming and act appropriately to have an alternate future available.

Real wealth is having food, water, shelter, energy information and safety. In the future you will have to provide these things for yourself, or have something real to trade acquire them... like gold, tobacco, alcohol or bullets.

Almost all of us run from task to task oblivious of the sources wealth. We work to create credit that we can use to purchase those things that constitute real wealth.

• We buy bottled water by the case. 
• We buy bags of organic produce flown across the ocean. 
• We subscribe to information systems that are equivalent to a monthly car loan.

Many are totally underwater on our home, education and car payments. Others owe it to the healthcare systems.

Our job should be creating our own real wealth at home. Think of it as a slo-mo transition away from the current system.  

Growing food; collecting water; making things; providing service. It's not complicated. Just get good at it and it will pay off.

As an example is the dwarf lime tree in our back yard.  We planted it about six years ago. It produces enough fresh juicy limes that we on average consume at one a day in beverages, on salads, cooking. We are able, as well to share several with friends and neighbors.

The small, shriveled, yellowish limes we see at our local supermarket (shipped in from God knows where) are priced with tax at over a dollar a piece.

That dwarf lime is "earning" us about $400 a year, over $30 a month, just sitting in the sun enjoying itself.

Over the last several years we have become macadamia nut independent with one mature tree (and two coming on)

And with about ten small cacao trees producing fruit, we are about to become chocolate independent. We've made a few batches and the last competed with commercial dark chocolate in taste.

As John Michael Greer wrote so prophetically in 2012:

"Collapse now and avoid the rush!"
(http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2012/06/collapse-now-and-avoid-rush.html)

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Pulse of Oahu Neighborhoods

SUBHEAD: Elections are underway for Oahu's volunteer advisory neighborhood boards.

By Natanya Friedheim on 28 April 2017 for Civil Beat -
(Ihttp://www.civilbeat.org/2017/04/why-oahus-neighborhood-boards-are-the-pulse-of-the-community/?mc_cid=2f9693aed7&mc_eid=28610da3ab)


Image above: Representatives of the the Waianae Neighborhood Board during public meeting. From original article.

[IP Publisher's note: Oahu has neighborhood boards that are publicly elected and have significant power, even though they are not a legislative or regulatory body. Their scale and and location are not dissimilar to the traditional ahupuaa of Hawaiian culture. After the disaster of Kauai's recent clueless update of the Kauai General Plan effort by the Planning Department, maybe we should consider neighborhood boards for more local input . Kauai has no village, town, or city level government bodies for local governance. Unfortunately, our county government has shown itself to be a place that has produced incompetent planning for the rest of the island.  It offers opportunities for grifting speculative developers while providing secure jobs with benefits for those centered in Lihue overseeing our "growth". We need the communities of our island to have structured positions in governing. We recommend looking to Oahu's Neighborhood Boards as a possible means.]

Every month, Michael Eli stands up to address military officials at the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board meeting.

When will the United States end its illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Islands? he asks.

“No comment,” Army Maj. Richard Bell always responds.

Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board members have probably never heard that question, but they’re used to disputes about noise, alcohol consumption and street closures from block parties sponsored by Chinatown’s young entrepreneurial class.

For the record, Oahu’s 33 active neighborhood boards (two are proposed and not yet formed) can’t grant liquor licenses, or evict the American military. They are strictly advisory, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have impact.

They can pass resolutions supporting or opposing government action, but they don’t create policy or choose where public funds are spent. Topics discussed at board meetings include trees that need trimming, potholes that need repair and sometimes bigger issues like proposed high rise developments.

And if you think neighborhood board meetings are just platforms for people to gripe, it could be that you’ve never been to one.

“Some people feel that they just go there, bitch and complain, and nothing ever happens,” said Amanda Ybanez, a member of the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board. “But if it’s done correctly and you have the right people on the board that are voted in, not only are the politicians being held accountable and doing things, but the board members make sure that there is follow-up.”

Public outcry followed a proposed charter amendment last year that would have done away with the boards. A separate amendment that calls for periodic reviews of all city boards and commissions was approved.

While the measure to end the board system never made it to the ballot, it prompted a discussion over how effective the boards are as platforms for democracy. Sometimes the meetings are sparsely attended, and 18 of the boards have at least one vacancy.

The Neighborhood Commission Office, which oversees the neighborhood boards, is ramping up its public outreach efforts this year in hopes of drawing more people to the meetings and to vote in the upcoming board elections.

The elections, which occur every two years, take place online beginning Friday and continuing until May 19.

You’re really in touch with the pulse of the community going to the neighborhood boards,” said Shawn Hamamoto, executive secretary of the Neighborhood Commission Office.



Image above: Flora Obayashi, chair of the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board urges members of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board to pass a resolution opposing aspects of a master plan for the Koolau Poko moku area. From original article.

‘You Don’t Need To Be An Expert’
Honolulu voters created the neighborhood board system in 1973 to give residents a stronger voice in issues and policies that affect them.

“The best training for a neighborhood board member is simply living in their neighborhood,” said Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, a member of the Neighborhood Commission. “You don’t need to be an expert in all the policy issues.”

The meetings provide a forum for residents to present their concerns to elected officials — if those officials show up. Some politicians send office representatives who may take an initial shot at answering questions, then return the following month with fuller responses.

Some board members say the information they get at meetings is inadequate, and that officials need to be more transparent.

In recent years, “the city has not been responsive,” said Stanford Yuen, who has served on the Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board for 18 years. “They’ll give a halfway answer that’ll raise more questions … a lot of times they’ll just leave it open and walk away.”

Some officials respond to questions with highly technical language. Wilson Koike of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board said that’s a tactic.

“They have substitute, flowery answers which have no yes or no, and that’s the game they play,” Koike said. “We want a simple English answer, not technical, legalese answer.”

Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s office referred questions about neighborhood boards to Hamamoto, who said it may take a while for the city to thoroughly respond to inquiries and technical terms are sometimes appropriate.

“I don’t think it’s a case where the mayor’s representatives are trying to deceive,” Hamamoto said.
The boards also provide a forum for business owners, developers, nonprofits and other community organizations.

Dos Santos-Tam would like to see more small businesses get involved with the boards. While some owners might not live in the area where their business is located, he said, they may spend as much of their waking lives in the neighborhoods as residents do.

The boards are places where government agencies, businesses and residents can intersect.
“Government agencies rely heavily on what neighborhood boards say,” Hamamoto said.

The Honolulu Liquor Commission, for example, must notify the local neighborhood board before granting a liquor license.

If residents want a park to close at night, the Department of Parks and Recreation must get the OK from that area’s neighborhood board prior to implementation.

Last month, the Manoa Neighborhood Board meeting drew a crowd because Robert Kroning, the director of the Department of Design and Construction, attended to talk about road conditions in the valley.

While boards can’t create policy, they can wield influence through resolutions.

Over the last few months, Amy Perruso attended one board meeting after another to represent the Hawaii State Teachers Association. At each meeting, she urged board members to pass resolutions supporting Senate Bill 386, which died at the Legislature last week but would have generated more money for schools through a constitutional amendment to raise some property taxes.

Democracy if ‘Real People’ Show Up
Kakaako - Ala Moana Neighborhood Board Chairman Ryan Tam has two categories for the people who attend his board’s meetings: “real people” and “fake people.”

“Real people” are local residents who choose to participate. “Fake people” include contractors, consultants, city and state officials and their representatives, and the occasional reporters who attend because they have to.

Tam has sat through meetings where as few as two “real people” showed up. When the turnout of local residents is low, the meetings become just a conversation between board members, he said.
It can be difficult for people to commit to a meeting that might last two-plus hours on a weeknight.

Location also plays a role in turnout.

Waianae board meetings are held at the district park, a building complex that’s accessible by bus and buzzes with activity after work hours. The April board meeting drew more than 30 people.

Down a windy road with no street lights, the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board meeting at the National Guard Training Auditorium on the grounds of Bellows Air Force Station isn’t easily accessible for those without a car. Less than 10 people showed up for last month’s meeting.

Some boards struggle to retain members and attract young people. Forty percent of board members serving two-year terms in the 2014-2015 period were 64 or older. Only 6 percent were 18 to 30 years old, according to Neighborhood Commission data.

Boards have a minimum of nine members and a maximum of 19. The number is determined by a district’s population and geography.

As the current terms come to a close, some have as few as six members while others have all 19. As the first board ever created, Mililani/Waipiu/Melemanu board has an exception that allows it to have 23 members.

Hamamoto links low participation on neighborhood boards with Hawaii’s record low voter turnout. He and his staff of 13 people have made it their mission to reach out to the nearly 1 million people who live on Oahu.

They’ve visited more than 1,000 establishments islandwide to inform people about the boards, including doctors offices, golf courses, service clubs and cultural festivals.

“We’re boots on the ground,” Hamamoto said.

Elections begin Friday. They are conducted online and are open to all registered voters on Oahu. Mail-in ballots are also available, but require voters to call the ballot request hotline at 768-3763, with more directions at the city’s website.

Political Launching Pad

Sen. Karl Rhoads spent 10 years on the Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board before becoming a state representative. He’s now a state senator.

“It was neat to see him work his way up through the ranks,” said Hamamoto, a former member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board.

Dos Santos-Tam has similar sentiments about Rep. Takashi Ohno and Rep. Kaniela Ing, now a Maui leggislator, both of whom served alongside him on the Liliha Neighborhood Board.

Rhoads, Sen. Laura Theilen, Rep. Tom Brower, and City Councilman Brandon Elefante are among the elected officials who started their political careers on a neighborhood board.

Mayor Caldwell served on both the Kaimuki and Manoa neighborhood boards.

Marcus Paaluhi, now the chair of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board, ran for the state House last year but lost to Rep. Cedric Gates, who also once served as the chair of the board.

“It’s a good way to get your feet wet,” Paaluhi said.

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Record Votes for Neighborhood Boards

By Rui Kaneya on 14 May 2015 for Civil Beat
(http://www.civilbeat.org/2015/05/record-number-of-votes-cast-for-neighborhood-board-election/)


Image above: Map of Oahu Neighborhood Boards. From original article.

A record number of Oahu residents have cast their vote for the 2015 Neighborhood Board election, according to the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission Office.

With a day still left before the ballot closes, nearly 18,500 people have already voted in the all-online election, surpassing the previous record set during the last election in 2013 by nearly 20 percent.

This year, 598 candidates are vying for 437 seats in the biennial, all-online election, which received an innovation award from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government for cutting costs by switching to a digital format.

Any Oahu residents who were registered to vote in the 2014 elections or newly signed up with the Neighborhood Commission can still cast their votes until 11:59 p.m. on Friday.

Oahu’s Neighborhood Boards serve as advisory councils that help decide what happens in their community in terms of development, business and neighborhood laws at all levels of government.

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Ninth Ward fights freeway

SUBHEAD: New Orleans plans traffic onto new interstate route through the black neighborhood.

By Michael Stein on 20 March 2017 for Truth Out -
(http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39900-new-orleans-ninth-ward-fights-freeway-through-historic-black-neighborhood)


Image above: Public meeting attendees raise their hands to question Arcadis consultant representative Scott Hoffeld. Photo by Michael Stein. From original article.

[IB Publisher's note: You might not think this article touches your life if you live on Kauai, but the events in this story are echoed in our experience on Kauai. You've seen it before -  a consultant advocating a plan your community doesn't want and obfuscating answers from residents and promising all concerns will be handled later in the process. Bullshit! Right now the Kauai County trying to adopt an "update" of our General Plan that will not keep Kauai rural but suburbanize it with double the current population. It will hit the westside hard with a tripling of population and an increased dependence on GMO/Pesticide experiments and further militarization of PMRF to support that population. This will mean a greatly increased presence of Navy, Marine and Air Force activities and personnnel. It's just going to be shoved down our throats. Only pushing back will slow this process to a halt.]

"You say you come to inform, but there's no information. You're playing games with my home." Schoolteacher and Ninth Ward resident Derrick Anthony Renkins Jr. was standing at a rancorous public meeting, passionately opposing the proposed Florida Avenue Roadway, a project that would funnel truck traffic through the Ninth Ward from neighboring St. Bernard Parish.

There were about 200 Ninth Ward community members in the Saint Mary of the Angels church that night to see what the Department of Transportation had planned for their home.

This situation was unfortunately familiar for them. Ninth Ward residents continuously contend with infrastructure projects that disregard their well-being and ignore their input.

It's these polices that isolated the Lower Ninth Ward from the rest of the city, robbed it of public resources and caused it to suffer the worst devastation during Hurricane Katrina.

There was national recognition after Katrina that much of the storm's destruction was human-made, and the US has moved closer to acknowledging the devastating impact of racist infrastructure projects and city planning.

Former Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx admitted that "urban renewal" and highway building have harmed poor Black neighborhoods and recommended that future infrastructure projects benefit communities that "have been on the wrong side of transportation decisions."

Louisiana and the city of New Orleans have left this advice unheeded, and the Ninth Ward now faces another infrastructure project that would damage the community and uproot families.

At the front of the church stood Scott Hoffeld, a representative from the private consultancy firm Arcadis. Many in the crowd watched Hoffeld with frustration while he explained the proposal. When he was finished, he asked the crowd if they had any questions. Dozens of hands shot up.

Most Ninth Ward residents are already fed up with the existing truck traffic saturating their roads. Activists have been working to divert St. Bernard trucks away from the Ninth Ward, but they're now threatened by a plan that would permanently establish a truck route through their community.

"The fact is, freeways ruin neighborhoods," explains Beth Butler, the executive director of A Community Voice, a local nonprofit organization. "It's astonishing that in this day in time they would put a freeway through a Black neighborhood."

Residents complain that trucks pollute their communities, damage their roads and reduce their property values.

There is also concern about the source of these trucks, namely the Chalmette Refinery. This large petrochemical plant ships out an array of dangerous materials, and many worry about toxic spills and contamination. "They've already experienced environmental racism," says Butler. "It shouldn't keep happening."

Then there is the issue of eminent domain. A 2013 environmental assessment concluded that the project requires the acquisition of up to 105.4 acres of land, including 128 residences, nine water resources, six commercial structures and a church.

"Before we rebuilt [after Katrina], we had a big meeting, why didn't y'all tell us then that you were putting the roadway here?" asked Vernice Lyons, a homeowner in the Lower Ninth Ward. "Because we wouldn't have rebuilt it.

We built our houses from the ground up. We had nothing but lots there. But y'all waited till after we rebuilt and now y'all want to take us away again?"

"I'm sorry, that was before our contract," Hoffeld responded. "These projects are sometimes imperfect."

Hoffeld tried to assure the crowd that the roadway was intended to benefit the Ninth Ward, not damage it. But the original iteration of this roadway was a raised highway that didn't include a single onramp in the Ninth Ward, casting doubt among residents that this project was intended in any way for their benefit.

Hoffeld admitted that a central purpose of the new high-speed roadway would be to provide interstate access to trucks coming from St. Bernard. The audience rejected this justification on two grounds. The first was a general refusal to suffer damage in their community for another's gain.

The second demurral came from people who have lived in the neighborhood their entire lives and have a comprehensive understanding of the street grid. They insisted that this road isn't necessary because there is already a freeway that provides interstate access.

The existing freeway takes St. Bernard trucks downriver away from the city, instead of west into the Ninth Ward. Truckers familiar with the area attest to the convenience of this route, and say a new Florida Avenue roadway wouldn't do much to truncate their commutes.

When asked if he would utilize the new roadway once it was built, veteran trucker Lloyd Gaimer said it wouldn't be much quicker. "It's all about the same, I'll take either one."

Randy Guillot, vice chairman of American Trucking Associations and member of the Louisiana Trucking Association, insists that this roadway isn't consistent with New Orleans' contemporary infrastructure needs. "It would be much more appropriate to spend the money elsewhere," he says.

Ninth Ward residents agree, citing a long list of desired infrastructure developments in their community including levee improvements to protect them from future flooding.

Many activists on the front line of the opposition say the Louisiana Department of Transportation appears to be trying to deceive them as to its true motivation for pursuing the plan. "We're not getting the whole picture," says community activist Rev. Willie Calhoun Jr. "You're dealing with ignorance here. I'm not calling the people ignorant, but they lack the knowledge of what the overall game plan is."

At the meeting, the audience continued to push Hoffeld about the roadway's true purpose.
"From a legislative standpoint, there are components of this plan that must be constructed," he told the crowd.

He was referring to a 28-year-old piece of legislation that mandates the construction of a new bridge on Florida Avenue. It's called the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development (TIMED) program, created by the state legislature in 1989. It was the single largest transportation bill in state history, allocating $1.4 billion for 16 infrastructure projects.

TIMED projects have already cost an estimated $5.2 billion and two of the projects were never completed. One of these unfinished projects is the new Florida Avenue bridge.

Today, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Ninth Ward residents agree on at least one thing: There is still a pressing need for a new Florida Avenue bridge. The Lower Ninth Ward is cut off from the rest of New Orleans by a canal, and the existing bridges that link the Lower Ninth Ward are often unavailable, regularly closed for construction or raised to allow boats to pass.

This keeps the Lower Ninth Ward isolated from the rest of the city, restricting access to hospitals, jobs and supermarkets.

Louisiana State Sen. Wesley T. Bishop, a native of the Lower Ninth Ward, attended the public meeting and told the crowd, "There is a need to have another way to get out of the Lower Ninth Ward, but the way it's being proposed to us is unacceptable. We're trying to find a way to keep the project."

The current proposal from the Louisiana Department of Transportation combines the Florida Avenue bridge and Florida Avenue Roadway projects.

Butler believes that the current composition of the proposal is meant to force the community to accept the unwanted roadway in order to get the much-needed bridge.

"This is an optional program, that has not been made clear to people," she says. "People were told things that made them think that you had to take the freeway with the bridge."

Calhoun reported that an Arcadis representative told him the bridge wouldn't be built without the roadway. Calhoun and Butler are working to inform people that the state is required by law to build a new bridge, whether or not the Florida Avenue extension project is approved.

This roadway has been proposed many times in the past. As Calhoun recalls, "My father talked about this in the '60s -- this is way more in-depth than you think."

The idea for a thoroughfare from New Orleans into St. Bernard can be traced back to the 1927 New Orleans Master Plan. But the city's needs are very different than they were in 1927, 1989 or even 10 years ago, and some question if this plan is a prudent use of government funds.

The original TIMED program allocated $30 million to build the new bridge. An assessment from 2013 estimated that the entire Florida Avenue extension project could cost over half a billion dollars.

Southern Louisiana is in great need of infrastructure development. Not only are its streets crumbling, but its coastline is also experiencing erosion at a rate of one football field every hour.

The state recently created a $50 billion plan to combat this subsidence, but there is still a $30 billion budget shortfall.

Louisiana is also dealing with one of the largest budget deficits in state history, and many are perplexed as to why the Louisiana Department of Transportation is focusing on an expensive plan that is not only opposed by the community, but offers limited commercial value.

So the question remains, who benefits from the roadway's construction? Calhoun said he doesn't know, but wouldn't be surprised if "this is just more of Bobby Jindal's people getting money," referencing the rampant corruption in Louisiana politics.

But he also suggested that perhaps this is just an infrastructure project that has floated around the state's bureaucracy for so long that it's attained a weight of its own, being pushed by nobody in particular, but advancing nonetheless. "I don't even think our elected officials have been told the real deal on this," he said. "They're trying to promote it just to promote it."

Ultimately, what many Ninth Ward residents say is most frustrating is that they feel ignored. Those attending the public meeting said they believe the state is withholding information and that even if they were fully informed, there isn't anything they can do to stop the project.

Many saw the meeting as only a façade of public outreach, meant to check a bureaucratic box rather than truly hear and integrate community concerns.

"For the Department of Transportation to allow you to come and stand in front of us and not prepare for your presentation lets me know that once again, my life does not matter," Renkins Jr. told Hoffeld at the end of the meeting. "The task at hand is for you to reach out to me, not for me to reach out to you."

The highway authority is scheduled to make a final decision on the future of the project in January 2018. Between now and then, there is only one public meeting and a final public hearing scheduled. It remains unclear whether community leaders have any recourse to stop a project that is so ubiquitously derided in the Ninth Ward.

"Do we have any say as a community?" asked one frustrated meeting attendee. "At the end of the day, ya'll gonna do what ya'll want to do. I don't know anywhere else in the city where they would allow this to happen."

"They don't understand New Orleans," says Butler. "These are communities that are working class. It's the only affordable housing in the city almost.

The history of these communities; they are families that have built this city. They are strong African American families, working class, who just did everything right and were never rewarded for it.

But at least they had their own community, their own churches. This plan is going to pulverize this Black neighborhood that they know nothing about."

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