Dear friends,
As I was coming of age, the phrase the personal is political shaped my outlook. This helps to explain why this publication is often so personal.
Today is Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday. If you live near an Olmsted-designed park, as I am lucky to do, then you know that his vision of parks — as scenic landscapes beneficial to individuals and communities, places that restore health, vitality, and mutuality — is one that calls across the centuries to those of us who are committed to the commons.
If you can, spend some time in an Olmsted park today. If you can’t, find another park or a beautiful tree and allow it to work its magic on you.
Stanley Greenberg, the extraordinary person with whom I live, has made a new book, Olmsted Trees. The book is a celebration of dynamic lives; Olmsted planned for the maturing landscape. He lived what historian Kevin Baker calls “a whirlwind of a life,” which seems relevant to our own experience in these agitating times.
Sign this petition from the Climate Forests Campaign to call on the Biden Administration to make a new climate rule to protect old-growth forests from logging.
Each day, my dearest people head out into city streets to get to where they’re going on two feet, two wheels, the subway, or some and some. Mostly, I try not to think about how dangerous it is, although the sharp increase in traffic fatalities this year means that it is never far from my mind.
Read Reeves Wiedeman’s “Who’s Afraid of the Subway?” in which he notes that one is more likely to be hit by a car than pushed in front of a subway in NYC.
Here’s some good news: the city is making a big investment in safe street design.
The City Council’s specific $3.1-billion, five-year budget ask apparently worked (somewhat). The city will put $904 million into building out hundreds of miles of protected bike and bus lanes and car-free plazas over the next five years.
The mayor has also decided to reduce the size of the city’s fleet of cars by more than 850 vehicles, reversing the increases under the previous administration and saving the city $13.7 million. This is a small but important step in the right direction.
US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced student loan debt relief for some. An administrative change to correct mismanagement will likely result in
immediate debt cancellation for at least 40,000 borrowers who qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
PSLF was intended to relieve people of the burden of student debt if they accept full-time jobs with non-profit organizations or local, state, federal, or tribal governments.
Another few thousand borrowers will also qualify for student debt cancellation under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans that were mishandled by the department and by loan servicing companies. And the hope is that, going forward, the IDR plans will be managed appropriately.
There is more to do on the subject of student debt, which affects tens of millions of Americans. It is, of course, a deeply personal issue for anyone who must make tough economic choices circumscribed by debt.
Take action to join the student debt strike with Debt Collective! Pass this on to anyone you know with student loans.
Bill McKibben recently wrote to counter skepticism about renewable energy.
One threat constantly raised by skeptics is that we will run out of the minerals necessary to build out these new technologies. It’s a reasonable fear—but not an insuperable one, as Tesla demonstrated when they announced that they’d built half the batteries in their cars last quarter without using nickel or cobalt.
Another area for skepticism is biofuels, which can contribute to deforestation and the use of cropland that would otherwise be used to grow food. But biofuels produced from
"genuine waste" such as whisky by-products is "probably the best possible kind of biofuel,” [according to] Alison Smith, a senior research associate at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford.
Zero Waste Scotland notes that every liter of whisky generates tremendous waste. Since whisky is one of Scotland’s most important exports, Celtic Renewables has found a way to ferment whisky by-products into fuel. The same process could be applied to waste from food production, such as dairy.
Glenfiddich is now using the biogas in some of its trucks. Sláinte!
We know that bees and other pollinators prefer native plants or so-called weeds to manicured lawns. One community in Wisconsin refrained from mowing and allowed
weeds to flower [to] create a feast for the bees. And the trend has spread -- by 2021, over a dozen communities throughout Wisconsin were adopting No Mow May campaigns. Now, other states are recognizing the benefits and joining in, too!
Sign the pledge to do less! Commit to No Mow May. If you don’t have a lawn, tweet about #NoMowMay to spread the word. Be a pollinator!
more than 100-fold increase over the previous year’s total.
This may not signal a long-term reversal, but it has offered a ray of hope. Tora Rocha, a supervising gardener at Oakland’s Gardens of Lake Merritt oversaw the planting of more than 1,100 square meters of milkweed, to create a monarch-friendly corridor. She now runs Pollinator Posse, a group that educates the public about insect conservation.
Volunteer with the Pollinator Posse (if you’re in Northern California) or consider a donation to support their work!
Because I don’t believe in sacrifice zones, I love to report good news from Texas (and other reddish states). Yesterday, Melissa Lucio, a Mexican-American woman, was granted a stay of execution by the Texas court of appeals.
Lucio’s execution had been set for tomorrow and there has been a long campaign to vindicate her. A lower court has been ordered to consider new evidence in the death of her daughter Mariah, who died at age two in 2007.
A Republican lawmaker led the effort to win support for Lucio in the Texas legislature; 100 state lawmakers, including 40 Republicans, wrote to the Board of Pardons on her behalf.
Support the Innocence Project, which has built a strong case that Melissa Lucio was wrongfully convicted because of a coerced confession.
Voters rejected Marine Le Pen’s bid to unseat Macron and Janez Janša’s effort to retain power in Slovenia. A Michigan state legislator, Mallory McMorrow, called out the hateful politics of a right-wing colleague on the floor of the state capitol.
Have a great day!
with love,
L