Take action against theft
These economic times are really striking home; the number of
thefts is unbelievable! If it not a store, it is your mom’s next
door neighbor, or your childcare’s neighbor, or your car/tires, or
your student’s home and belongings, or your personal file from your
human resources manager’s car! As I see it, we all have this in
common
– it could be anyone!
The economy is a crisis
– but I believe our community can take positive action! We can
use our power of keen observation to neighborly watch out for one
another. We can be community watch. We can tip police to suspicious
behavior. A public tip-line would be nice – is there one? We can
lock up and go out with less. Thes
e are a few areas we can do something – we can help!
This is Hollister
– a lot can be done by word of mouth. By watchful eye. Let’s get
active and watchful, because if we pretend it is not going to
happen to us – it is too late. It is already us.
Mary Langstaff
Hollister
Take action against theft
These economic times are really striking home; the number of thefts is unbelievable! If it not a store, it is your mom’s next door neighbor, or your childcare’s neighbor, or your car/tires, or your student’s home and belongings, or your personal file from your human resources manager’s car! As I see it, we all have this in common – it could be anyone!
The economy is a crisis – but I believe our community can take positive action! We can use our power of keen observation to neighborly watch out for one another. We can be community watch. We can tip police to suspicious behavior. A public tip-line would be nice – is there one? We can lock up and go out with less. These are a few areas we can do something – we can help!
This is Hollister – a lot can be done by word of mouth. By watchful eye. Let’s get active and watchful, because if we pretend it is not going to happen to us – it is too late. It is already us.
Mary Langstaff
Hollister
Global warming? Think again
The Pinnacle staff report in the Dec. 5 issue about global warming as seen by our attorney general underscores why Jerry Brown is also known as Moonbeam. Brown complains of “shameful inaction” of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has been acting. Just last week, the comment period for a new regulation ended. The regulation addresses the air pollution generated by belching and flatulence from livestock. When enacted, it will impose a fee on livestock. For a dairy herd of 25 or more, the fee will be $175 per head per year. For beef cattle, it is only $87.50 per head per year with a threshold of 50 cows. For 200 or more pigs, it is $20 per head per year. That is shameful action that will not help San Benito County.
Brown requests the EPA to “make a determination as to whether greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare – as required by the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA.”
The most notorious greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. It is produced by animals and consumed by plants. Its concentration in the atmosphere is between 350 and 400 parts per million.
Sounds large. But 400 parts per million represents less than two people in San Benito County or 400 people in the city of San Jose. Not very large after all.
CO2 is a trace gas. It does not endanger public health. Consider the greenhouse gas water vapor. It can easily approach 50,000 parts per million on a hot, humid summer day. Even that is not harmful, just uncomfortable.
The postulate that greenhouse gases such as CO2 cause global warming and endanger public welfare does not hold up to scientific scrutiny.
Josh Willis of National Aeronautical and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been monitoring ocean temperatures to confirm global warming. He has reported the oceans have cooled ever so slightly during his observations over the last five years. Apparently his observations did not fit his preconceived opinion. Thus, he concluded it has been a period of “less rapid warming.” Maybe I can attribute my weight gain during the upcoming Christmas season to “less rapid weight loss.”
Dennis Avery of the Hudson Institute, along with climate physicist S. Fred Singer, published a climate review. Several of their interesting observations are: 1) 70 percent of the earth’s post-1850 warming came before 1940. It was probably not caused by human-emitted greenhouse gases or SUVs. The net post-1940 warming totals only a tiny 0.3 degrees F. 2) The Romans grew wine grapes in Great Britain during the First Century. Thus the global climate was warmer 2000 years ago than it is now. It is too cold to grow wine grapes in Britain now. 3) The earth’s climate variations are linked to the sunspot cycle, but the mechanism is not fully understood.
NASA has reported sunspot activity to be at a 50-year low. And the sun is ever so slightly dimmer.
Solar activity has an 11-year cycle superimposed on a 200-year cycle. The next 11-year cycle, Solar Cycle 24, may have started in January 2008. However, there has been little sunspot activity since then, raising a question as to the beginning of the cycle. That variation in itself is not unusual.
Russian astrophysicists at the Pulkoyo Observatory postulate that the Earth has passed the peak of its warmer period during the 200-year cycle. A fairly cold spell may set in within the next five years. Real cold will come when solar activity reaches its minimum, around 2040, and will last for 50-60 years or even longer.
The Russians conclude that CO2 is not to blame for global climate change. Solar activity is many times more powerful than the energy produced by the whole of humankind. Man’s influence on nature is a drop in the ocean.
Jerry Brown teaches bad science. Bad science makes bad policies which result in bad laws. SB32 (the California Global Solutions Warming Act) is an example of bad law.
I submit that manmade global warming is a larger hoax than the global cooling scare of the 1970s. But then again, individuals preaching global warming have received a Nobel Prize, received an Oscar and others have received large federal grants to conduct “scientific” climate studies. Follow the money.
Marvin L. Jones
Hollister
This is the face of democracy
Wednesday, Dec. 4, Hollister People for Peace held an event at the library. A prize-winning documentary was presented called “Save Our Land Save Our Towns.” After the presentation there was a discussion among the groups and a coming together to write down ideas and opinions from everyone that attended. The 30 people there were from differing backgrounds, retired, city council, county planner, business owners and educators and bilingual community members. This made for a lively interchange of different opinions and ideas about the future of Hollister and San Benito County.
Here with is a brief summary of some of the issues discussed:
We need specific and firm urban growth boundaries for the city and county. Recycling developed city land that is deteriorating may be more costly initially than building on land outside the urban growth area, but in the long run it will benefit our community.
We need a network of bike paths in town and on the outskirts to encourage bike riding and walking that will contribute to individual health and cut down on car pollution for everyone.
Why do we have so many walls and fences that hamper neighbor-to-neighbor conversation? Why not use innovative and modern building designs and materials for our new projects? Make renovation of historical buildings a priority. We also need ongoing cultural activities that will draw residents to the downtown area.
Besides trying to attract new business to Hollister and San Benito County, why not capitalize on the assets that make our county unique: our scenic beauty, our Pinnacles Monument that is trying to achieve national park status, our vineyards and organic farms that could work together to promote seasonal tours and on site dining experiences. This would draw tourists from other counties.
We need less regulation on developing city land. It was pointed out that we all must follow state guidelines but have some leeway when it comes to the city and county regulations.
When it comes to attracting new business, do we want strip malls in our county? The downside of these projects for cites like Hollister needs to be thoroughly investigated.
There is ongoing tension between those who own property in the county and those who have city land. Greenbelts may not compensate county landowners in the same way as a city lot or business that is sold for redevelopment. How can we get together on this issue? Should open space be valued equally as developed urban space for the health and wealth of our county?
Finally, we need a new vision. How can we change attitudes to preserve farmlands and rebuild our city? Telling landowners what they are not permitted to do sparks resistance and anger. We need both urban and rural residents to involve themselves in creating a new vision for our county. This means city and county officials must network and collaborate. There has been too much competition between city and county. We need to build a cultural infrastructure that is based on the farming history of San Benito County.
How can we start planning now to benefit from SB375 that mandates greenhouse gas reductions? If our county can cooperate in this we will be rewarded for our smart growth policies by infrastructure dollars from the state.
All in all, a very productive evening in my opinion. This is what democracy looks like!
Natasha Wist
Mary Zanger
Hollister
