Northern California’s Environmental Magazine
Fall 2004
Table of Contents
Simply Hydrogen
Elegant technology, but questions remain.
Measure H Clones Abound — But They’re GMO-free
Voters in four counties can take a step this November to make California a GMO-free zone, by banning genetically modified organisms within county limits.
One for the Tribe
The Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Trinity County Planning Department are hoping that their decades-long fight to restore flows to the Trinity River is finally over.
Burning Bridges
The City of Alameda feels misunderstood. Frequently lauded for its success at recycling and food waste collection, it is now fending off criticism of its plans to fire up an incinerator in the inner Bay Area.
UN Bans Caviar Trade
After two decades of plummeting numbers, Caspian Sea sturgeon will finally get a reprieve from the pressures of overfishing.
Eye on Target
If you’ve driven I-80 recently past Albany and were startled by the sight of a big new box with a bright red bull’s-eye peering at you from the side of the freeway, you’re in good company. Target’s new store was plopped down in what many longtime observers say is a seasonal wetland—before regulatory agencies knew what was going on.
CAR WARS
We’ve got lots of alternatives to those gas hogs barreling down the highway. Even better, we’re finally ready to make the switch.
It Aint East Being Fried
“What’s the stahry wit’ ya cah?”
Clean
Are Electric Vehicles Ever Really Ready?
Lean
Hungry for hybrids.
Carpooling: Anything but Casual
What’s cheap, fast, and smells like a wet dog?
The Scoop on Transit
On an average weekday, BART is used for over 306,000 trips, over 90 million trips a year, 60,000 more trips than ten years ago.
Unlocking Gridlock
Red brake lights flare as Interstate 880’s evening rush-hour traffic slows. Grimacing as she hits the brakes, high school teacher Sara Leslie, like the thousands ahead of her and the thousands behind, exemplifies the dilemma of how we move from one place to another. Why does Leslie, with a 30-mile round-trip commute, slog through Bay Area traffic every day instead of using public transit?
Contra Ka-Ching!
The Sierra Club has not taken an official position on the Point Molate casino, fearing that many residents may support it.
Wild Lands Take a Hit
Triple bars leave scars on the ground and in surrounding communities when tribes site casinos in open space and buffer zones
The Music Tree
Plant an elderberry for percussion and birdsong.
Trolling for Trash
Human detritus endangers birds already at risk.
Classroom with Pedals
On a July afternoon I watch a man named Paul rap in the park. His song, “I Am a Fossil Fuel,” is amplified by a sound system hooked up to his bicycle. Nate “The Juice Peddler” hands out smoothies, guacamole, and hummus made with a pedal-powered blender built onto his bicycle.
Alice Waters Sandwich
Eight years ago last month, I was hired to manage the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets, a thirty-hour per week job that paid ten dollars an hour.
Environmental Paragon
At age 77, South Bay Democratic State Senator Byron Sher is finally leaving Sacramento, forced out by term limits. Sher has been a part of every major piece of environmental legislation since he entered the Assembly in 1980.
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