Hi Everybody!
Here's the walking update:
Hours Walked 2/18/08: 2
HoursWalked, total: 12.5
Houses Visited 2/18/08: 42
Houses Visited, total: 303
Today was pretty great. No snow. No rain. Cold as as a welldigger's hat (as my father would have said), but still pretty great. I really do love the door-to-door.
I had lunch with Nick Peckham, an architect in town who was educating me on sustainability. He's really kind of a modern-day philosopher with a lot to teach me. More and more, I'm coming to understand that state policy should be viewed through a lense of sustainability. Is this something that will help us preserve the Missouri that we have built and love? Are we doing everything we can to leave something better for our children?
Nick asked me a question that he apparently poses to groups on a fairly regular basis, "What is one thing you would do today to encourage sustainability in your community?"
Nick's answer was to establish a "Sustainability Museum" that would teach children about their environment in a fun, engaging way (like the discovery/science centers found in many larger communities, like the rockin' one in St. Louis). I like that -- finding ways to get kids excited about making a day-to-day change from the earliest age. Weaving it into our culture.
For my part, I said I would find ways (perhaps tax incentives) to encourage the creation and use of bio-diesel engines in automobiles. Check out this article from Fast Company (one of my two or three favorite magazines) -- http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/motorhead-messiah.html
Here's the lead: Johnathan Goodwin can get 100 mpg out of a Lincoln Continental, cut emissions by 80%, and double the horsepower. Does the car business have the guts to follow him?
Seriously, you really need to check this article out. It is a fun read, and awfully important.
While you're at it, please let me know your thoughts on the question of the day (originally posed by architect Nick):
What is one thing you would do today to encourage sustainability in your community?
As always, thanks for reading. See ya!
- sean
Sean Spence
Candidate, Missouri's 25th Legislative District
573-823-1308 (Sean's personal cell phone)
seanspence@earthlink.net
http://www.spencecampaign.com/
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3 comments:
I was at the forum on climate change at the library last week, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, and they talked about how the biggest drains on our environment are home energy uses and transportation costs (i.e. gasoline from personal car use).
It has to be one of those. Less driving is key as well as taking the extra time in our daily lives to turn off computers, televisions, surge protectors, et cetera.
I totally wanted to be at the LCV forum and then wasn't able to make it. Glad to hear you were there.
Just the other day, I heard that most household appliances (TV's, toasters, radios, etc.), when turned off, use an average of 40% of the energy they would use if turned on. If we all took the simple step of unplugging most of the applicance that aren't in use, it would make a huge difference in our overall energy consumption. This is one of the new things I'm trying to do.
Whoops. I meant "LWV" forum. League of Women Voters. Gotta stop typing so fast...
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