Per Capita Davis: Fork in the road
Today, as I write this, is Nov. 2. When The Enterprise prints it, and you read it, it will be Nov. 4. Between now and then is Nov. 3, a day of great consequence for the climate crisis. I’m not sure how to characterize the…
Tuleyome Tales: Virginia opossum
Have you ever looked out your window at night and seen a long pointy nose and two eerie green reflective eyes staring at you? Did your heart skip a beat? Did your dog go berzerk? Not to fear, it’s just North America’s only marsupial, the…
Per Capita Davis: More about hydrogen
The prior column was about hydrogen, specifically hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles, but there wasn’t room, only 900 words, to talk about both the obstacles hydrogen faces and also some of the potentially positive developments for the future of hydrogen as a fuel. So, this…
Environmental update: Help protect stormwater quality by keeping water onsite
The fall is a good time to consider landscaping projects that will prepare your yard for the winter rainy season by reducing the amount of rainwater that runs off your yard and into the storm drains. Keeping rainwater onsite and allowing it to soak into…
Yolo Co Sups Declare Climate Emergency, Fund Climate Advisory Committee
With smoke still rising from one of California’s most massive wildfires on record, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to accelerate local climate action and to fund a climate advisory committee tasked with helping the county achieve just and equitable outcomes for marginalized…
Per Capita Davis: Whatever happened with hydrogen?
Every few years or so there seems to be a renewed excitement about the potential for using hydrogen as a non-fossil fuel. Usually, the conversation is about cars. Once you get it into a car’s fuel tank, it can power the car without producing any…
Per Capita Davis: Innovating for the future
I’ve been searching high and low for innovations that could help power a more energy-efficient and sustainable future. There’s a lot out there, some very much closer to being a concept than an actual product or process. Still, the sheer number of ideas being pursued…
Environmental update: Got stuff to throw away? Check your mail for landfill voucher
In April of this year, the annual Bulky Items Drop-Off event was postponed due to the shelter-in-place order from the county. Since it is unknown when Recology will be able to provide another drop-off event due to the pandemic, the city and Recology are offering…
Tuleyome Tales: Enjoy some summer hiking in the Berryessa Snow Mountain region
This area gets hot in the summer. Every year, in the extreme heat of summer, there are rescues of hikers in our region. Heat and dehydration can be life-threatening, but rescues, which put our emergency personnel at risk and keep emergency resources occupied, can be avoided with…
Tuleyome Tales: A hotspot for biodiversity
Biodiversity hotspots are regions where species numbers are unusually high. Most but not all are in the tropics. One that isn’t is the Californian region. In a 2000 Nature Conservancy inventory of state biodiversity, California stood out dramatically. Its 5,653 species of animals and plants…
Per Capita Davis: Speaking for the trees
Planting massive numbers of trees as a strategy to combat the climate crisis can be said to have its roots (groan) in a program begun in Africa but which has grown (groan) into a global effort involving governments and organizations all over the world. According…
Freedom from Fossil Fuels and Respect for the Animals
Greg Stoner and Kathleen Gill live in the modest North Davis home they purchased over a decade ago. In recent years, they made a decision to create a more sustainable homestead for themselves and their community. While motivated to simply “do the right thing,” Greg…
Part II: 2020 Article Series ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward’
Looking at the Cool Davis checklist through new eyes The converging crises of our present reality have changed the way we live and work and forced us to take a fresh look at the Cool Davis action checklist. On the bright side, telecommuting and reducing…
Food Fairy: Cooking while on quarantine
Well, here we are then, uncomfortably poised on the edge of history and waiting for the other shoe to drop. What should we do now? Probably cook — I subscribe to the sentiment offered by Madeleine L’Engle: “That’s something I’ve noticed about food: whenever there’s…
Per Capita Davis: Lessons learned can be easily forgotten
As a country, we periodically experience shocks, sometimes big ones that change our national psyche. The Great Depression, World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Great Recession, the attack on 9/11 come to mind as examples. In each case, our country was different after…
Tuleyome Tales: Nature is a healing force for PTSD
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of…
Cool Davis and Friends Earn City Recognition
April 21, 2020 Environmental Reconition Awards City of Davis
Judy Moores: A Lifetime of Dedication to the Environment
Editor’s Note: After a lifetime of dedication to the environment, primarily here in Davis but also in her home town in upstate New York, Judy Moores has moved to the University Retirement Community, where she has begun a new phase in her life. What follows…
Tuleyome Tales: Recovering from a Wildfire
Tuleyome, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, purchased the Silver Spur Ranch in 2016, located immediately south of Indian Valley Reservoir along the North Fork of Cache Creek in Lake County. This 1280-acre property is in the heart of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National…
Victory gardens are back
In turbulent times, people want agency over their own food supply. “My wife said maybe we need to plant a vegetable garden this year.” A tidal wave of demand swept over garden-supply stores in the last three weeks, as gardeners new and old turn to…
FACEBOOK FEED
There’s a new event coming up in the virtual series Netting Zero. Mark Landler, the Times’s London bureau chief, will speak with experts and opinion leaders about how the pandemic has changed our view of cities, and how that might present new opportunities for sustainable buildings and urban spaces. It’s on July 1 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern and open to all. You can sign up to join here.
Join Us for Netting Zero, a Virtual Event Series on Climate Change
nl.nytimes.com
Each episode of Netting Zero brings together New York Times journalists with climate experts from business, policy, government, and civil society to understand the challenges and lead the change.TWITTER FEED
And thanks @AutumnLabbeRenault for this link chock full of information, education, and celebration (if you missed it Saturday here's the video): Yolo County Virtual Juneteenth Celebration
https://youtu.be/XkxQ4p5JyPw
A message from Racial Justice Advocates from last Saturday June 19: People across the country are celebrating Juneteenth ... a celebration of Black American life, resilience ...
Smithsonian National Museum for African American History & Culture at
Juneteenth
nmaahc.si.edu
HUGE WIN! Maine just became the 1st state to pass a law requiring divestment from fossil fuels!
Other states should follow suit and ensure their public funds don’t drive the climate crisis.
Divestment goes Maine-stream - Grist
Maine just became the first state in the nation to pass an actual law requiring divestment of public funds from oil, gas, and coal companies.
grist.org
The City is opening a cooling center today (Wed.) from 1pm to 8 pm located at the Davis Senior Center at 646 A St. Please use the 7th St entrance to the West multipurpose room. The cooling center will remain open through Sat. (daily hours 1 pm to 8 pm). Masks are required.
http://this.is.huge
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/energy/keystone-pipeline-canceled/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1VPbrxMZkerHQn61bgudUuZM8FN_Kg4SSnvdUNgLdOAA8BkwEMtkhXQhU