John Mott-Smith
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This post is written by John Mott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis, and cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise. I recently had the opportunity (two, in fact) to learn what the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has done on its Cache Creek lands to increase energy efficiency, develop renewable energy and generally promote sustainability.
Representatives from the tribe made a presentation to the Climate Change Compact of Yolo County on April 13. The compact is an ad hoc association of most of the jurisdictions in Yolo County, including the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. Each of the jurisdictions has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the compact meets once every two months to discuss and share ways of doing so.
The presentation generated a tremendous amount of interest among compact members and the Tribal Council was gracious enough to approve a tour. Twenty members of the compact showed up for a tour on April 14. Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This column, by John Mott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise. Today’s column is filled with lots of little things culled from the news and various other sources.
GUESS WHO SAID THAT: See if you can identify the author of the following quote (answer at bottom). “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait til oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.” Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This column, written by John Mott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise. Is this a great town, or what? Even after living here for 30-plus years I keep finding new reasons to be impressed. We may not live near the ocean, or enjoy the clear mountain air, but this is a special place. Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This article, written by John Mott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise.
About a month ago, there was an article in the paper about the high temperatures in March in the United States. Of course, the usual disclaimer is still necessary: It’s not possible to draw a straight line between climate change and any one weather event. However, scientists have been warning from quite early on that one of the first observable effects of increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be “weird weather” characterized by more frequent extreme weather events, and, whether we “connect the dots” between them or not, we’re certainly seeing some humdingers. Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This fortnightly column by John Mott-Smith is cross-posted from Davis Enterprise.
About a month ago, there was an article in the paper about the high temperatures in March in the United States. Of course, the usual disclaimer is still necessary: It’s not possible to draw a straight line between climate change and any one weather event. However, scientists have been warning from quite early on that one of the first observable effects of increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be “weird weather” characterized by more frequent extreme weather events, and, whether we “connect the dots” between them or not, we’re certainly seeing some humdingers. Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This regular column by John Mott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis, is reposted from the Davis Enterprise
Bill McKibben, founder of the 350.org movement, spoke at the university on Monday. The place was packed, with all 400 seats full. McKibben is a writer and author of “The End of Nature” one of the first, if not the first, book warning about climate change.
As I took my seat, I noticed a mom with her young daughter on her lap, their attentive profiles a picture capturing the generational significance of what McKibben was there to talk about: the urgency for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This problem affects all of us. Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
John Mott-Smith is a member of the Cool Davis Initiative core group. This article is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise
I really appreciate readers sending ideas for columns. Other ideas come from meetings, talks, conversations on the street and out of thin air. Although it may not be obvious from the columns I write, many take some thinking about, and I keep these ideas in mind for the future.
Some folks offer an interesting factoid, or short news item, not enough for a column. This last group I collect and periodically string together into a single column, like today’s, generally around something approaching a theme, in the hope others might find them as interesting as I do. Read more
John Mott-Smith Credit: Davis Enterprise
This post by John Mott-Smith, a member of the Cool Davis Initiative is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise where this originally appeared.
A statistic can be revealing — conveying in a number what it may take paragraphs to describe in words. Of course, statistics also can be deceptive. A statement (usually) attributed to Mark Twain sums it up, so to speak: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
It used to be that the aphorism “A picture is worth a thousand words” captured the belief that what we could see with our own eyes carried more information and truth than words or numbers, but that was before Photoshop.
At any rate, below are a few statistics, some of which may benefit from augmentation with a dash of salt, but which serve as a doorway to a discussion of televisions and energy use. Read more
