In N.J., perhaps due to lots of small towns, planning seems to have no critical mass, no substantive overview; focused on zoning applications; master plan has no real standards;
Safe Routes to School
Amsterdam, 3 level of bike parking completely full
recycling not helped when towns take everything in dumpster, regardless of whether it is appropriate
first amendment rights at malls; The Green Party vs. Hartz Mountain; malls are public fora, modern town squares; hypothetical risks can not be considered
for-profit private prison industry; three strikes laws
Colorado and Washington, passed recreational marijuana laws, what about federal laws requiring antidrug policies for funds (much as speed limit laws are required for funding); they may be test cases for breaking those federal laws
wedges been driven between sectors of society
CohousingUSA (monthly newsletter) J. Cloud, ISE (Institute for Sustainable Enterprise), Fairleigh Dickinson, Madison. Attempting to try to put together community, purchase land, etc., for cohousing project
1980s Delaware, concept started
project with individual apartments, common washer/dryer, common kitchen (round robin meals)
community-based enterprise, unity economics; many models
why does every bride feel that she needs to own a gown; why not borrowing or rental?
one regular attendee is looking to create community compost site in Hackensack
(Sally stopped taking notes to get on Occupy Sandy NJ nightly conference call, 9 p.m.)
Raw milk saves family farms & maybe your health too
So much happens to your milk before it jumps onto the shelf of your local market and waits for you to buy it. For one thing, your milk might travel clear across the country before it gets there, even though there are plenty of dairy farmers right near you, and it gets pasteurized. The New York Times, in an article about the growing demand for raw milk, explains that liquids like milk and orange juice are subject to the pasteurization “process of heating and quickly cooling to kill pathogens,” but it, “also destroys beneficial bacteria, proteins and enzymes.” This is a different process than homogenization, which uses force to disperse fat molecules throughout milk so the fat doesn’t just sit on top in a layer separate from the lighter liquid underneath.
Small farmers – except in states where the sale of raw milk is allowed – are also, never able to sell their milk to the public and cannot set their own prices when they sell it, because they are obliged by law to sell to aggregators which truck it to a plant having a pasteurization machine, which is a huge piece of equipment very costly to purchase, maintain and operate. We should care about family farms because their owners care about us: they care about producing real, authentic, food that’s healthy to eat, and doing it using sustainable farming methods and by treating their animals well. Whereas on corporatized, or factory, farms, cruelty to animals is the norm and it is taken for granted that the environment and people’s health will be damaged as a natural consequence of their operations. Small farms are vital parts of a healthy food chain, a healthy economy and a healthy small business community.
Big farms are the ones that own the pasteurization machines and represent the organized dairy industry, which “contributed $4.8 million to federal candidates during the 2008 election cycle, with 60 percent going to Republicans. The top contributor was the Dairy Farmers of America, a dairy farmer cooperative.” About DFA, Mother Jones says, “…both the soybean lobby and dairy lobby are powerful presences on the Hill, as the fracas over last year’s climate bill showed,” and at a Syracuse conference held in 2004, Peter Hardin explained about this organization that forces family farmers to join their cooperative by refusing to give them access to pasteurization if they refuse to join,
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) – the nation’s largest raw milk marketer – and Dean Foods (the nation’s largest fluid milk processor) have rigged a system that controls sale of one-third or more of U.S. farm milk. In areas where DFA has far greater control of all farm milk, such as the Southeast, producers’ milk prices suffer dramatic underpayments. DFA’s “market power” is a tool used against farmers.
This video is the Harvard Law School Food Law Society-sponsored debate on raw milk. Proponents of raw milk – not boiled at home – refer to surveys showing that 82% of lactose intolerant people are able to drink raw milk without problems and that when compared with pasteurized milk it is shown to build greater bone density in children. Children raised on raw milk have perfectly healthy teeth and, it was recently discovered that raw milk offers protection against asthma. Raw milk advocates claim that modern milk safety was made possible by faster transportation (cars over horses), better refrigeration and better hygiene – not by pasteurization as the big dairy farms claim.
If your state doesn’t allow the sale of raw milk, you can still have it if you own your own share of a milk-producing animal. Farmtoconsumer.org tells you how:
How Cow or Goat-Share Programs Work
The consumer purchases a share in a milk cow, goat or dairy herd. The farmer and the consumer enter into a contract whereby the farmer feeds and boards the animal and provides the labor to milk the animal and store the consumer’s milk. Such contracts are legal and valid, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. The consumer does not buy milk from the farmer. Rather, they pay the farmer for the service of keeping the cow or goat and his labor for milking and processing the milk into value added products such as butter, cream, cheese, etc. However, they may directly purchase other products from the farm, such as eggs, vegetables and meat.
Other resources
farmtoconsumer.org/
realmilk.com
NJ Raw Milk Group
Japanese car runs on water
This Japanese car runs on water or tea at speeds up to 80km/hour (50mph) for up to an hour at a time per liter of water. It’s about the size of a smart car and is not yet in production.
Proposed NJ State Master Plan not good for nature or people
Christie seems hot at the moment, but New Jersey residents don’t have much reason to put our faith in him. Since becoming Governor, Christie has made war on the most vulnerable residents of the state and on the environment, and he is still moving full steam ahead. In fact, the new Master Plan his people are about to approve calls for major development in the same areas recently devastated by Superstorm Sandy. Jeff Tittel, Director the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter, shares this chilling thought with a New Jersey public just beginning to grapple with the long-term recovery implications of Superstorm Sandy, “Instead of trying to protect critical infrastructure and site it in safe locations, under this plan, our investments will be washed out to sea or flooded.” Tittle elaborates:
This Plan clearly violates the Highlands, Pinelands, and State Planning Act. If this Plan gets adopted in its current form we plan to challenge it in the courts. This plan ignores science, capacity planning, protection of natural resources, and sound planning. The plan promotes development in the wrong places and does nothing to protect people in the future from flooding, storm surges, sea level rise, and other consequences of climate change. We … hope significant changes are made before it comes before the Commission again.”
We cannot afford to let ourselves be fooled by Christie’s highly theatrical public personna. Transparent government remains a concept anathema to this man and his administration. Tittle told me yesterday, “The Master Plan wasn’t adopted because they violated OPRA and didn’t give 48 hours advance notice of meeting to approve it (and they haven’t yet scheduled a new date).” He adds,
This plan actually promotes growth in areas that have just been devastated by Superstorm Sandy. It designates as priority and alternative growth areas places that are still feeling the aftermath of Sandy and feel time and time again the impacts of flooding. The plan does not exclude environmentally sensitive areas, but actually promotes growth there. Sea Bright, Mantoloking, Bound Brook, Little Ferry, Lincoln Park, Toms River, Seaside, and Wayne are all growth areas under the plan. There is no hazard planning or adaption planning to address storm surges and sea level rise. A study by Rutgers University four years ago found that given the storm surges as a result of climate change, 9% of New Jersey’s land area could be under water. We should be increasing protections in those areas, not promoting more growth.
A NJ Spotlight story quotes Bill Wolfe, director of the New Jersey chapter of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), says: “This plan cannot be a framework for coastal recovery.” He criticized the revision as an economic development strategy that ignores the land-use mandates at the core of the prior state plan. “It’s a wakeup call to deal with global warming,’’ Wolfe said, referring to the storm while suggesting the state needs to set up a coastal commission to oversee the rebuilding of the Jersey Shore.
I’m looking into how New Jersey residents can influence the Master Plan review process at the state and local levels, but it isn’t so easy to understand. Mr. Tittle suggests “Write to the Governor and the State Planning Commission to protest the currently proposed plan.” Watch out for more information – as I find it, I’ll share it.
Is Climate Change real?
It is, according to more politicians, academicians, public figures and the United States Government: the EPA predicts coastal sees to rise and extreme weather events like Hurricanes to become more frequent.
Bloomberg.com reports
Here’s what we know: an overwhelming majority of scientists tell us that the Earth’s climate is heating largely due to rising greenhouse gas emissions, which, in turn, is driving more extreme weather and climate events. The underlying changes–warmer oceans, more intense precipitation events, and rising sea levels–are significant contributors to storms like Sandy…
U.S. politicians’ silence on climate change is not only out of step with the rest of the world, but also with the American people, the vast majority of whom are concerned about climate change.
The human and economic costs of Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather events are abundantly clear. In 2011, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there were 14 extreme weather and climate events of more than $1 billion in the United States, totaling approximately $55 billion. Looking at the bigger picture, a recent report found that the failure to act on climate change is likely to cost the world economy 1.7 percent of GDP, approximately $1.2 trillion per year in the near term, with the figure expected to double by 2030.
Shifting to clean energy opens new economic opportunities, including taking advantage of the $2.3 trillion global clean energy market expected to emerge in the next decade (pdf).
CNN seems to have become a believer since Sandy, too, and they’ve brought in heavy hitting guest writers to tell the public about it. MacArthur Fellow, Stony Brook University professor and president of Blue Ocean Institute, Carl Safina, writes as a CNN special guest
Reporters share their photos with CNN Obstacles and challenges after Sandy Mom can’t get help; two sons die NY mayor: Marathon won’t hurt recovery Search for gas gets more desperate
Sea levels are rising. They’ve been rising since the last ice age and that rise has been accelerating since the Industrial Revolution. We’ve had fair and continual and increasing warning. And yet, small coastal communities and cities as large as New York have done essentially nothing to prepare.
Over decades, we filled many wetlands that are the natural buffers to floods. Shrinking the area of our wetlands has left adjacent areas more prone to flooding.
As the world continues warming, the warming tends to intensify storms. New York has been hit with two hurricanes in two years. That’s unusual. And since at least Katrina, scientists have warned that hurricanes take their strength from the heat of the ocean’s surface.
And Chris Field, Global Ecology Department Chair of the Carnegie Institution for Science and co-chair of a working group tasked with assessing climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), writes as another CNN special guest,
Climate change is occurring now. We see its consequences in hotter temperatures, higher sea levels and shifted storm tracks. In many parts of the world, we are also seeing an increase in the fraction of rainfall that comes in the heaviest events. When it rains, increasingly it pours.
Climate change over the next couple of decades is already largely baked into the system, but changes beyond that are mostly in our hands. As we learn more about the links between climate change and extreme events, it will benefit all of us to think hard about the opportunities and challenges of getting a handle on climate change, so we control it and not vice versa.
We have just the answer. It’s not a new idea, but as the two parties face off over the federal budget, it could be the path forward. There’s a tool we can use to answer the public’s call for more jobs – without cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security: a carbon tax.
One analysis by the Congressional Budget Office says a moderate, $20-per-ton tax on carbon emissions could raise $1.25 trillion over 10 years. And the savings don’t stop there. For decades, the oil and coal industries have passed along their costs to the rest of us, in the form of asthma treatment, emergency room visits, doctor bills and missed days of school and work. Combined with droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and severe weather events like Superstorm Sandy, rising levels of carbon in the atmosphere cost our nation an estimated $70 billion each year.
Everybody has to make up her own mind about what to believe, but I have no problem all believing that climate change is real, and making changes in my living habits to reverse global warming, and I want my government and business to do the same.
NY Food Dialogues live or streamed on 11/15
NY Food Dialogues 10am-3:30pm EST live at Time Square Center 242 W. 41st Street, streaming live online or follow along at Twitter #foodd. Check the site to read more about the event.
Odd-even gas rationing in NJ post-Sandy
If you have any numbers at all in your license plate, then the LAST NUMBER defines you as odd or even. If your license plate is 3A7F2C the letters are irrelevant – you are even because the LAST NUMBER is even. However, if you have no numbers and only letters on your plate, such as on a vanity plate, then your vehicle is considered odd.
Municipalities can set their own rules, so you might want to check with your town. WPIX news reports, “Montclair Township Council passed an ordinance specifying that license plates ending in letters A-M would be considered odd, while letters N-Z would be considered even.”
With help from Facebook friends James Brown and Angel LaBoy.
Portable Generator Safety
To avoid carbon monoxide hazard/poisoning when using a portable generator:
• Always use generators outdoors, away from doors, windows and vents.
• NEVER use generators in homes, garages, basements, crawl spaces, or other enclosed or partially enclosed areas, even with ventilation.
• Follow manufacturer’s instructions.
• Install battery-operated or plug-in (with battery backup) carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in your home, following manufacturer’s instructions.
• Test CO alarms often and replace batteries when needed.
To Avoid Electrical Hazards:
• Keep the generator dry. Operate on a dry surface under an open, canopy- like structure.
• Dry your hands before touching the generator.
• Plug appliances directly into generator or use a heavy-duty outdoor- rated extension cord. Make sure the entire extension cord is free of cuts or tears and the plug has all 3 prongs, especially a grounding pin.
• NEVER plug the generator into a wall outlet. This practice, known as backfeeding, can cause an electrocution risk to utility workers and others served by the same utility transformer.
• If necessary to connect generator to house wiring to power appliances, have a qualified electrician install appropriate equipment. Or, your utility company may be able to install an appropriate transfer switch.
To Avoid Fire Hazards:
• Before refueling the generator, turn it off and let it cool. Fuel spilled on hot engine parts could ignite.
• Always store fuel outside of living areas in properly labeled, non-glass containers.
• Store fuel away from any fuel-burning appliance.
FEMA Assistance for Sandy Victims
Get general aid information and FEMA application information for specific counties in states Sandy hit hardest – Connecticut, New York, New Jersey & New Hampshire – that can apply right now. After a resident applies for assistance, a FEMA inspector will be assigned to assess the damage and determine what assistance the resident qualifies for. Then a check can be issued, or in the case of business owners, a referral will be made to the Small Business Administration for low-interest loan assistance.
- Apply for FEMA Aid
- Apply Online at DisasterAssistance.gov
- Apply via a smartphone at m.fema.gov
- Apply by Phone: Call (800) 621-3362
These are the kinds of assistance available from FEMA:
- Rental payments for temporary housing for those whose homes are unlivable. Initial assistance may be provided for up to three months for homeowners and at least one month for renters. Assistance may be extended if requested after the initial period based on a review of individual applicant requirements.
- Grants for home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance to make damaged dwellings safe, sanitary, and functional.
- Grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, state and charitable aid programs.
- Unemployment payments up to 26 weeks for workers who temporarily lost jobs because of the disaster and who do not qualify for state benefits, such as self-employed individuals.
- Low-interest loans to cover residential losses not fully compensated by insurance. Loans are available up to $200,000 for the primary residence and $40,000 for personal property, including renter losses. Loans are available up to $2 million for business property losses not fully compensated by insurance.
- Loans up to $2 million for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private, nonprofit organizations of all sizes that have suffered disaster-related cash flow problems and need funds for working capital to recover from the disaster’s adverse economic impact. This loan, in combination with a property loss loan, cannot exceed a total of $2 million.
- Loans up to $500,000 for farmers, ranchers, and aquaculture operators to cover production and property losses, excluding primary residence.
Emergency help in New Jersey towns (post-Sandy)
As we learn of help and resources available in New Jersey towns for victims of Hurricane Sandy, we’re posting them, along with special information about school closures and other important local information.
- Please also check
- Sandy in New Jersey – News & General Resources
- Special voting arrangements in New Jersey for 2012 election
- FEMA assistance & how to apply
- Huracán Sandy en New Jersey – Recursos y Noticias (en español)
-
Very Important Tips/Announcements
- If you bought a generator from Costco DO NOT USE IT! Its causing FIRES!
- School Closures: College & UniversityPublic School
- Road Closures: Call 511 or visit 511 websites 511 NJ or 511 NY
- Shelters: Shelters
Municipal Closures and Enforcement Changes
-
Fair Lawn
- Emergency Information: Overnight parking restriction suspended (you may park on the street) until Monday, Nov. 5 2012. Check for parking updates at 201-794-5399
- Garbage pick-up is suspended temporarily. Residents may bring household garbage and recyclables to the DPW at 20-05 Saddle River Road
- Charging Stations
Fair Lawn Community Center on Kipp Street and Berdan Road on Thursday 11/1 Friday 11/2 7am-9pm Sat 11/3 9am-9pm & Sun 11/3 9am-5pm. Fair Lawn High School has charging stations from 10am-2pm Fri on 11/2 - Showers
Showers available at the Community Center on Kipp Street and Berdan Road - Contacts
Kurt Peluso 201-410-1558
-
Hackensack
- Emergency information: for all emergencies call 911. City offices re-opened Thursday, Nov. 1 2012. They are experiencing limited telephone service. Curfew is in effect from 6pm to 6am daily until further notice. Schools are closed until Monday, Nov 5 2012.
- Local businesses open
Target on Hackensack Ave
Home Depot on Hackensack Avenue
Costco on So. River Street
Burger King on Hackensack Avenue
711 on Main Street & State Street
Deli Mart on Main Street
Farmers Market on Passaic Street
Lucky Farms on South Summit Avenue
-
Hoboken
- FOOD
A food truck capable of serving hundreds of meals will be at the Capital One Bank parking lot (3rd and Washington) serving free meals to the public this afternoon. Food trucks from throughout the region are invited into Hoboken to help feed our community. - The Elks Club will also be serving food to the public this afternoon. The Fire Department pumped out the loading dock for the A&P supermarket, which is expecting a delivery and hoping to open today.
- Water tankers are available at 1st & Washington and 315 Hudson St (bring your own container)
-
Irvington
- Resources are being organized and communicated by Mayor Wayne Smith. Call his cell at 973-219-5245 or text him a number so he can call you back. Mayor Smith’s Facebook Page
- CITY CONTACT INFO (may not be working)
-
- Fire Dept: 973-399-6555
- Police Dept: 973-399-6600
- Mayor Office:973-399-6639
- SHELTERS
First Congressional Christian United Methodist Church at 1240 Clinton Avenue Irvington Ave (off civic Square). Call if you have mobility difficulties and need transportation. - Chris Gatling Center at 285 Union Avenue Irvington 973-399-6597
- STORES
There are food stores open on Springfield Avenue in Irvington from Grove Street up to the Maplewood line
-
Jersey City
Emergency information: Curfew is in effect from 7pm to 7am daily until further notice.
-
Newark
- Resources and advisories are being communicated by the mayor via Twitter @corybooker or for non-emergency assistance call 973-266-4111 (if not working try 973-877-9323, 973-733-9326, 973-733-9321 or 973-733-9325)
- FOOD
- Hot meals are being served daily to residents in Newark affected by Sandy at these locations
- 502 Summer Avenue
- 595 Mt. Prospect Avenue
- 444 Mt. Prospect Avenue
- 136 Tiffany Boulevard
- 1 Court Street
- 2 Speedway Drive
- 285 Burnett Street
- 1060 Broad Street
- Shabazz High School
- JFK High School
- SHELTERS
NPS is hosting shelters for those in need at West Side, MX Shabazz, and Samuel Berliner. You can go to a shelter to stay overnight or just to warm up, and you can shower at some of them. Some serve food too. - SCHOOLS
-
- Newark Public Schools closed Monday and Tuesday (Nov 5&6) for CHILDREN
- STORES OPEN
- Xtra Super 930 Broadway; meat counter open till 8pm store open till 9pm (973) 484-7200
- Pathmark Supermarket 281 Ferry St Open 24 hours (973) 589-3922
- Met Food Market 514 Ferry St Open till 8 pm (973) 817-9333
- Extra Supermarket 125 Avon Ave Open till 8 pm (973) 504-9696
- C Town Supermarket 120 Clinton Ave #Newark Open till 6 or 7. Call (973) 642-3363
- Brothers Supermarket 525 Springfield Ave #Newark (973) 481-6499 Open till 8 pm
- Bravo Supermarket 260 Roseville Ave Open till 8 pm (973) 485-6170
- Twin City 611 Broadway open till 8 pm.
- Fatima Supermarket 111 Wilson open till 10 pm, lines are not long.
- Pathmark 167 Bergen St. restocking shelves now. Open 24 hours with average lines.
- Seabra’s Ferry Street & Wilson Ave. locations are open. Chestnut Street is closed
- MORE INFORMATION
- Newark Pulse website and Facebook Page
- On Twitter: @newnewark @sustainablenwk Newark Green Drinks/Green Wei
- CHARGING STATIONS & WIFI
- Newark Museum Free to public Sat/Sun Nov 3&4 12-5pm
- Nubian Flavor Restaurant at 410 Springfield Avenue 973-242-2238 – Free coffee and charging stations till 7pm
- A BREAK & A BIT OF FUN
- Newark Museum writes: As we deal with the aftermath of the storm, we invite you to come in, relax, get warm, and enjoy the beautiful art in our 80 galleries. The Museum is offering free admission this Saturday and Sunday, and we welcome you to participate in art and science activities for children, and group tours; charge your smart phone; and enjoy free WiFi.
-
New Brunswick
- New Brunswick Elks Lodge is hosting a FREE SOUP KITCHEN to help those that would like a warm meal and something warm to drink.
-
Passaic
- Street parking enforcement suspended through 11/4
- UPO on Myrtle Avenue by #11 school is open Fri/Sat/Sun Nov 3-4 12-5pm. All are welcome to come and drink coffee, charge your phone or plan a meeting.
-
Plainfield/Fanwood
- Emergency information: Curfew is in effect from 7pm to 6am daily.
- CONTACTS
Rebecca Williams on Facebook - SHELTERS
- Washington School 427 Darrow Street between West 7th & West 4th Streets! (hot food, charging stations, cots)
- CHARGING STATIONS & RESOURCE CENTERS
- Fire Division Engine 3 Station (1147 West Third Street) has been set up as a food distribution center and charging station.
- Emerson School is being used as a resource center
-
List of other shelters throughout New Jersey
- Bergen County: Bergen Community College, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus
- Cumberland County: Red Cross Shelters at: Cumberland County College, 3322 College Drive., Vineland
- Cumberland County: Vo-Tech, 601 Bridgeton Ave., Bridgeton
- Essex County: Codey Arena at the Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex in West Orange can house 150 people.
- Maplewood: DeHart Community Center in DeHart Park, 120 Burnett Road
- Caldwell Community Center, 1 Provost Square – is open as a warming center from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Livingston High School and Seton Hall University are open as overnight shelters
- Red Cross Shelter: JFK Recreation Center, 211 West Kinney Avenue, Newark
- Middlesex County: Carl Sandburg Middle School, Route 516, just off of Route 9 North in Old Bridge.
- Woodbridge Community Center 600 Main Street – for area residents in need of continuous supervised medical care. Pets accepted.
- Carteret: Carteret Middle School, Carteret Ave.
- Nathan Hale School, Haywood and Roosevelt Avenues
- East Brunswick, Trinity Baptist Church, Cranbury Road
- Edison: Edison Senior Center, 2963 Woodbridge Avenue
- Milltown, Firehouses on Cottage Avenue and South Main Street
- Monroe High School
- Sayreville Historical Museum, 425 Main Street, Sayreville
- Medical-needs and special needs shelter has opened at Woodbridge Community Center, 600 Main Street
- Monmouth County: MAC Center at Monmouth University in West Long Branch
- Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center, 4240 Allaire Road, Farmingdale
- Salem County: Salem Community College
- Somerset County: Hillsborough Municipal Building, 379 South Branch Road, Hillsborough
- North Plainfield High School, 100 Brooks Blvd. – accepting pets but owner must stay at separate location.
- Somerville Branch of the Somerset Valley YMCA, 2 Green Street – open to all who lost power from 5 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. call (908) 722-4567
- Union County: Cranford Community Center, 220 Walnut Street – pets accepted
- Emerson Elementary School, 305 Emerson Avenue, Plainfield
- Ralph Froehlich Public Safety Building, lower lobby, 300 North Avenue East, Westfield – free public mobile phone(only) charging station, laptops and other devices cannot be charged here.
- Warren County: The Trinity Church, 213 Main Street – overnight shelter for Hackettstown residents only, bring own pillows, blankets, food, medicines, books, games, or sleeping bags. Charging station – NO PETS