A good time was had by all on Saturday at Bridge Square as a tremendous crew of RENew Northfield volunteers unloaded a semi-load of Kentucky whiskey barrels and proceeded to turn many of them into RENew Your Place on Earth Rain Barrels. By day’s end about 55 barrels had been sold, and the orders continue to come in. The live music from Earth Jam 2006 musicians made for a festive atmosphere all afternoon and evening.
Steps to make Northfield a more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly community will be discussed at RENew Northfield’s Transportation Committee meeting Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
Topics will include implementation of a formal Action Plan for Bicycle-Friendly Communities developed by the League of American Bicyclists; a local “Happy Feet” campaign to encourage people to get out and walk or bike; and an upcoming “Commuter Challenge” event designed to reduce reliance on single-occupant car trips to work.
All are welcome–all you need are ideas and enthusiasm!
The meeting will be preceded by RENew Northfield’s monthly Energizing Conversation and Happy Hour Salon from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Join us for refreshments and general energy-related conversation.
Call me un-American if you want, but I’m one of those folks who gives a cheer every time oil, gasoline and diesel prices go up. While I realize that these price increases can hurt consumers (especially lower income folks who pay a disproportionate amount of their income for transportation), higher prices are an essential ingredient in getting people to wake up and pay attention to energy issues. After paying around $6.50 a gallon for gas on a family trip in Scotland last year, it’s hard to get too exercised about “high” gas prices here in the US of A.
I’ve had a lot to cheer about recently. On my bike commute to and from work every day, I’ve been watching the prices on the Holiday and Conoco signs on Highway 3 climb steadily from a low around $2.069 per gallon several months ago to the $2.799 I saw yesterday.
Another reason I cheer: My family burns biodiesel in our two vehicles (Otto Klaus and Baby Blue, our ‘98 and ‘01 VW Jetta TDIs), and the price of biodiesel is much more stable than that of petroleum diesel.
A number of local pioneers founded the Northfield Biodiesel Buyers’ Club in January, and we just received a delivery of B99 (99% biodiesel; the 1% petroleum diesel is included in the blend so the distributor can take a federal tax credit for biodiesel blends…) on Monday.
I was thrilled to pay just $2.60 per gallon for this 500-gallon delivery, as pump prices for petroleum diesel have now climbed to roughly $2.739 in the Northfield area, and are likely to go much higher as the summer driving season approaches. It’s a banner day when a clean, renewable, locally produced fuel (from the Glenville, Minnesota biodiesel plant, made from midwestern soybeans) is cheaper than its petroleum-based alternative, for which wars are fought, innocent Americans, Iraqis and others die, and hundreds of billions of military protection tax dollars are spent.
I hope and expect that biodiesel, and diesel vehicles, are poised to play a major role in the US transportation future. Diesel vehicle sales make up about 50% of passenger vehicle sales in Europe, where fuel has been very expensive for decades because of tax policies. This is so because diesel engines are intrinsically about 30% more efficient than gasoline engines. The Jettas my wife, daughter and I drive, for example, are comfortable five-passenger sedans with plenty of get-up-and-go, yet average about 45 miles per gallon year around in all types of real-world driving, and get around 50 to 54 MPG on highway trips, depending on how conservative the driver is. (My PR is 58.7 MPG on an overnight drive at about 55 MPH from Twin Falls Idaho to coastal Reedsport Oregon–a highlight of the family road trip, to give you a sense of just how strange I am!)
There was an interesting story in today’s Star Tribune about the perhaps excessive hype surrounding hybrid vehicles . Don’t get me wrong: I’m a fan of hybrids, at least the efficient ones (the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, for example), but, as the author of the story in the Strib correctly points out, many of the hybrids being introduced are primarily more powerful and little more efficient than their conventional alternatives. I’m also a huge fan of the concept of efficient plug-in hybrids that can burn biofuels (although no one is talking about what I’d LOVE to see, a biodiesel-powered plug-in hybrid).
Anyway, if you want to drive a car (which most of us do, even those of us who think you can do most of your in-town travel on foot and by bike!), I think the facts speak for themselves if you ask yourself the following questions:
-How much do you want to pay for fuel?
-How much fossil fuel do you want to burn?
-How much do you want to contribute to global climate chaos by emitting carbon dioxide?
Think about it.
RENew Northfield has partnered with 
(a department of 
Cooperative) in a new educational initiative.
Just Food has graciously provided display space in the Mercantile
that RENew Northfield will use to inform and educate consumers about opportunities to live abundantly while using energy more wisely.
RENew Northfield energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives will be highlighted, along with information from other sources, such as the 
State Energy Office.
Stop by to check out the display, and do some shopping at the Mercantile and Just Food while you’re at it! If you walk or bike to the store, or bring your own bag(s) and/or other container(s), you can also register at Just Food to win fabulous prizes, including a RENew Your Place on Earth Rain Barrel (on display at Just Food).
I’ve always regretted missing Woodstock, 
but hey, I was only 11 in the summer of ‘69, playing Little League baseball right here in River City, riding my lime green 3-speed Schwinn Sting-Ray
around town and country, and generally having a good time, so I can’t complain.
Years from now, many people will regret that they missed Earth Jam 2006. I’m here to tell you YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM! Among many other wonderful things, Earth Jam 2006 will include a veritable horde of volunteers assembling the RENew Your Place on Earth Rain Barrel.
