Oregon...too green for its own good

I'm all for saving the environment. In Oregon, we're all about the environment. People actually take ownership of their roads and highways, picking up trash and keeping Oregon green. I learned extremely early that littering is almost as severe an offense as spousal abuse. We recycle our aluminum cans, turn off lights when we leave rooms, etc. etc.


However, many people take this love of the earth a little too far. Not Cal-Berkeley "you can't cut down these 70 year old trees to build a building, so I'm going to live in them for 10 months" love, but we do try and live on both sides of the fence.

Here in Oregon, we have some of the cheapest energy in the country. This is in large part to the hydroelectric energy we get from dams on the Columbia. However, people are all up in arms about the salmon not being able to get past the dams. So we need to look elsewhere.

How about wind energy? The gorge is full of wind. Well, nobody wants turbines in the gorge because of its aesthetic beauty. Nobody wants to look around a windmill to get a view of Mt. Hood after a long hike. And we love our hikes here in Oregon.

What else is there? Well, there's geothermal energy. Build a power plant on a volcano and pumping superheated water and using the steam to spin the turbines. 100% clean, and totally renewable because the steam cools, turns back into water and is pumped back down into the ground to be reheated. Well, can't do that. The volcano is in a campground.

Wave energy is also an option. Use the tides and the ever-present open ocean waves to create energy. Well, our coastline is sacred and we don't want to look at these things bobbing up and down in the water. Plus, you have to anchor them to the ground, and what'll that do to the ocean's ecosystem?

Bottom line is that there's got to be some give and take. There's no solution that's going to be perfect. Use biodiesel? Well then there's less corn available for food stores and also to feed farm animals, now the prices of those things go up, hurting the agricultural economy. Nothing's perfect. Stop demanding cleaner energy if you're not willing to meet people halfway.

I kind of got off track here. I really wanted to talk about bicyclists. These champions of two-wheeled travel have an over inflated sense of self. They're doing their part for the environment and as such think that everyone who uses motorized transportation is raping the environment. I guess it's because of this moral higher ground they live on that they feel exempt to the traffic laws that pertain to every other mode of transportation. They don't stop at stop signs, they blow through unprotected left hand turns, and ride on sidewalks, forcing pedestrians - who are using the sidewalk for its intended purpose - to get out of their way. They aren't called sidepedals. That's what a bike lane is for. If a person on foot were strolling down a bike lane, can you imagine the hatred they would get from the bikers......or cyclists as they prefer to be called.

Anyways, what started this whole blog was this article I read on oregonlive.com this morning. I realize you've read this whole thing and are probably ready to check your facebook account right now, but I'd encourage you to read it. It's about a motorist who called a cyclist on his disregard for traffic laws and ended up getting beaten over the head by this guy's bike. It's pretty amazing, and the comments left by readers at the end are hilarious. Please check it out.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/drunk_portland_cyclist_used_bi.html

San Francisco

It's a very artsy city. The people there love their museums. Rachel and I felt like fish out of water just walking around the city most of the time. My aunt had a dinner party and they talked about things that I don't think have ever come up at a dinner party in the city of Albany. Ever.


If you feed your 8 month old baby pears, he will poop. Immediately. Pears are the best laxative ever for a baby. At least our baby.

There might be more Cubs fans than Giants fans in the city of San Francisco. IT was louder in AT&T Park when the Cubs scored than when the Giants did, and the Giants won.

The Golden Gate bridge is harder to take a picture of than any other large object. The first time we drove out there, it was so crowded that the viewpoints were closed and we couldn't get out of the car to take a picture. The next day, it was so foggy that you could be standing on the bridge and still not get a picture that would prove you were there. The only pictures we got were from the Wharf, and even those aren't that great.

In all, it's a fun place to visit, but I don't think I'd ever want to live there. The people there treat yellow lights like green lights and red lights like yellows. I think I'd last about 2 days there before I got in some sort of wreck because I don't drive California-style.

I love public transportation....I just wish it was more convenient for me here in Albany.