Tag Archives: francisco

Can Balkan Beat Box Bring Us Together?

by jp19gkx Posted on November 18, 2013

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Ori Kaplan/DJ Shotnez

It’s 3 p.m. on a foggy August day at San Francisco’s Outside Lands music festival, but inside the Heineken Dome it feels like an after-hours party. Ori Kaplan, a founding member of the contagiously high-energy ensemble Balkan Beat Box, and formerly of the popular gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello, had just performed as his solo alter ego, DJ Shotnez. Festival goers writhed and cheered to his mix of cumbia and Balkan horns, an amalgamation of sounds he calls Global Crunk Base.

In his trailer after the set, Kaplan sparks a cigarette and kicks his feet up on a table. His appearance at the fest was one stop on a short West Coast tour to test out his new material on a non-European audience. A local promoter stops by the trailer to offer praise. “Today was really excellent,” Kaplan says, grinning. “It was a super crowd, really open and excited. I love San Francisco.”

The Israel-born, Vienna-based DJ and multi-instrument has had a love affair with the City by the Bay since his early days with Gogol, and before that with the New York band Firewater, a pioneer of the immigrant punk sound. This week, Balkan Beat Box launches a new mini-West Coast tour before heading into the studio to work on a new EP. With its members spread to the winds—Kaplan in Austria, other members in New York and Tel Aviv—the band keeps its sound fresh by “meeting on airplanes” and bringing the sounds and influences they’ve collected from their side projects back into the studio. At Outside lands, we chatted about the virtues of DJing and the origins of melting-pot music at Mehanata, a little black hole of a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Continue Reading »

Link: 

Can Balkan Beat Box Bring Us Together?

Posted in FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Can Balkan Beat Box Bring Us Together?

Could This New "Church" Make Atheism Cool?

by Cindy Lin Posted on November 15, 2013

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Last Tuesday in the basement of a bar in San Francisco’s Financial District, more than 50 people united to celebrate the universe’s godlessness. The group—mostly white, mostly hipster, and one kilt-wearer—congregated over drinks as pop-electronica played in the background. It was San Francisco’s first-ever gathering of the Sunday Assembly, a recently formed organization of atheists who want to participate in “all the best bits of church” but without the believing in God part, according to the Assembly’s co-founder and event facilitator, British comedian Sanderson Jones.

The only prayers to be heard at the event were during a karaoke-style sing-along to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Later in the evening came a YouTube viewing of Carl Sagan’s atheist anthem, “Pale Blue Dot.”

The Assembly was the idea of Jones, who wore a plaid shirt, a long, scruffy beard and and thick-framed black aviator glasses to the meeting, and his friend and fellow British comic, Pippa Evans, who wasn’t in attendance. The two founded the Assembly to create a global community based on the belief that “we are born from nothing and go to nothing,” according to the group’s website. The Assembly—which has been called by Salon and Time an ‘atheist mega-church’—is currently traveling around the world on its road show. The meetings have already attracted hundreds of attendees and a barrage of media coverage.

Sanderson says that the group has already gotten some flack from “fundamentalist, evangelical” atheists, as he put it, who’ve told him “the way we don’t believe in God is not the right way to not believe in God.” There is some evidence that atheism is becoming slightly more popular in the United States: In 2012 an estimated 2.4 percent of Americans said they were atheists, up from 1.6 percent in 2007. However, according to the Pew Research Center, the meaning of the word atheist is a source of confusion: Although ‘atheist’ is defined as a person who does not believe in God, “14 percent of those who call themselves atheists also say they believe in God or a universal spirit.”

Although San Francisco’s Sunday Assembly did have some serious moments—including a speech by Pixar’s Daniel McCoy about how, like science, storytelling can reveal truth—the overall tone was light and tailored to the crowd, with plenty of Twitter and tech jokes. Sanderson and Evans believe that Sunday Assembly’s tongue-in-cheek tone is part of what will attract followers. At one point during their crowd-funding campaign video, the duo assures viewers that Kool-Aid will not be involved and that “It’s not a cult!” Though, they admit while wearing togas and carrying large glasses of wine, “That’s exactly what we’d say if it were a cult.”

Visit site:

Could This New "Church" Make Atheism Cool?

Posted in alo, ATTRA, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Could This New "Church" Make Atheism Cool?

California, on track for record dry year, is ready to seed clouds

by wjtydf3g Posted on November 12, 2013

California, on track for record dry year, is ready to seed clouds

By

cdrin

California, already parched and fire-scorched following two consecutive snow- and rain-deprived winters, is on track to experience its driest year on record.

“It’s absolutely dry,” Bob Benjamin, a National Weather Service forecaster, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We just went through October where there was no measurable precipitation in downtown San Francisco. That’s only happened seven times since records started.” From the article:

The state’s reservoirs are all well below their normal carrying capacity, according to Arthur Hinojosa, the chief of hydrology and flood operations for the California Department of Water Resources.

“Generally speaking, it has been dry across the state, and it has been remarkably dry where the population centers are and where the bulk of the water storage is,” Hinojosa said. “Most operators plan on multiyear dry years, but nobody plans on as dry as we’ve seen.”

The dry weather is also extending the fire season. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to 6,439 fires this year, almost 2,000 more fires than during an average year, said Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson. That doesn’t include fires on federal land like the Rim Fire, which burned 400 square miles in and around the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park.

As winter approaches, water officials are getting ready to take matters into their own hands: They plan to step up cloud seeding. The Sacramento Bee reports:

As California concludes a second drought year and water managers hope eagerly to avoid a third, utilities across the state are poised for that first mass of pillowy gray clouds to drift ashore from the Pacific Ocean.

When it arrives, if conditions are right, they’ll be ready with cloud-seeding tools to squeeze out every extra snowflake, with the goal of boosting the snowpack that ultimately feeds the state’s water-storage reservoirs. …

As practiced in California and elsewhere in the West, cloud seeding involves spraying fine particles of silver iodide into a cloud system to increase snowfall that is already underway or about to begin. Silver iodide causes water droplets within the clouds to form ice crystals. As the crystals grow larger, they become snowflakes, which fall out to create more snow than the storm would have generated on its own.

Cloud seeding is done only when temperatures within the clouds are between 19 and minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the range at which silver iodide does its best work, as demonstrated by decades of research.

“It enhances precipitation that’s already occurring,” said Dudley McFadden, a civil engineer at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District who manages the utility’s cloud-seeding program. “Once you’ve got snow, you can make more with this approach.”

Of course, cloud-seeding only works when there are clouds in the air to begin with. It’s certainly not a real fix for climate change, which is drying out the American West and fueling wildfires.


Source
Cloud seeding, no longer magical thinking, is poised for use this winter, The Sacramento Bee
California on course for driest year on record, San Francisco Chronicle

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Climate & Energy

Visit site: 

California, on track for record dry year, is ready to seed clouds

Posted in ALPHA, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, ONA, Uncategorized, wind energy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on California, on track for record dry year, is ready to seed clouds

West Coast leaders team up on a new climate plan

by vctdqz7pwv Posted on October 29, 2013

West Coast leaders team up on a new climate plan

By

Shutterstock

The left coast just got more lefty. Leaders from California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia gathered in San Francisco on Monday to sign a climate action plan [PDF].

But this is no Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative; that’s the legally binding carbon-trading program among nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. Rather, the West Coast leaders agreed that their states and province would work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but only in non-binding and somewhat vague terms that commit no actual funds. So specific outcomes from the agreement are about as clear as a summer morning in California’s polluted Central Valley

The deal grew out of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a group formed in 2008 that counts the three states and one province as well as Alaska as its members. The collaborative describes the agreement in a press release [PDF]:

Through the Action Plan, the leaders agreed that all four jurisdictions will account for the costs of carbon pollution and that, where appropriate and feasible, link programs to create consistency and predictability across the region of 53 million people. The leaders also committed to adopting and maintaining low carbon fuel standards in each jurisdiction. …

California and British Columbia will maintain their existing carbon pricing programs along with their respective clean fuel standards, while Oregon and Washington have committed to moving forward on a suite of similar policies.

That last item will be an uphill climb, as the legislatures of Oregon and Washington have in the past rejected cap-and-trade plans, but the states’ current governors say they’re optimistic about prospects going forward.

Here’s more about the deal from the San Jose Mercury News:

Each state and the Canadian province promised to take roughly a dozen actions, including streamlining permits for solar and wind projects, better integrating the electric power grid, supporting more research on ocean acidification and expanding government purchases of electric vehicles. …

In a wider sense …, the agreement was a strong political statement. The three Western states and British Columbia have 53 million people and an annual GDP of $2.8 trillion — representing the fifth largest economy in the world.

Green groups praised the pact. “This agreement will show the world that the Pacific Coast states aren’t waiting for Congress or governments worldwide to tackle climate change,” said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.


Source
Climate change pact signed by California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, San Jose Mercury News
British Columbia, California, Oregon & Washington join forces to combat climate change, Pacific Coast Collaborative
West Coast states and BC to link climate policies, Associated Press

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

,

Politics

Original article:

West Coast leaders team up on a new climate plan

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LG, Northeastern, ONA, PUR, solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on West Coast leaders team up on a new climate plan

Can’t afford a Tesla? Rent one in California

by bestpage Posted on September 26, 2013

Can’t afford a Tesla? Rent one in California

By

Tesla MotorsCan’t afford to buy a Telsa Roadster? Head over to California and rent one.

Next time you’re visiting California, you can race along famous Highway 1 without making a sound: Hertz is adding electric vehicles manufactured by Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors to its fleet. (Catch: You can only rent them from San Francisco and Los Angeles.)

You might want to book in advance, though. Hertz is starting with just five vehicles and two models: the Model S sedan and the Roadster.

Rentals start at $500 a day, plus extra for mileage over 75. From CNN:

“[S]hould customer demand warrant it, we will consider expanding availability to other locations,” Hertz spokeswoman Paula Rivera said in an email. …

The plug-in Model S has garnered rave reviews in recent months. It aced its first crash test last month, and Consumer Reports called the Model S the best car it had ever tested.

A Tesla spokeswoman said the automaker had “seen interest from rental car companies and fleet buyers who want to provide their customers access to a high-performance sedan, which also happens to be electric.”

You can be sure that a car has gone mainstream once Hertz offers it — though it should be noted that the Teslas are being offered through the company’s ”Dream Cars” line, which also offers Ferraris. But at least dream plug-ins are one step closer to becoming standard fare at rental car outlets across the country.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Living

Continue at source:

Can’t afford a Tesla? Rent one in California

Posted in alo, ALPHA, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, ONA, Oster, solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Can’t afford a Tesla? Rent one in California

Super foodie Alice Waters launches anti-fracking fight

by Donekola Posted on September 26, 2013

Super foodie Alice Waters launches anti-fracking fight

By

David Sifry

Alice Waters loves natural food and hates fracking.

Some of California’s best-known chefs and restaurateurs are whipping up a fight against fracking in the Golden State.

High hopes that California would impose a moratorium on fracking, a process in which chemicals are injected into the ground to extract oil and gas, were dashed on Friday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that regulates the process but does not stop it. Opponents say fracking pollutes water and threatens farms. California is the source of 15 percent of the nation’s crops.

On Wednesday, foodies led by slow-food movement champion Alice Waters launched an anti-fracking “cook’s petition” to pressure the governor and legislature on the issue. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Chez Panisse chefs Alice Waters and Jerome Waag today launched a chefs’ petition urging their colleagues to take a stand against fracking in California. Working in collaboration with Food & Water Watch, founding member of Californians Against Fracking, the chefs are concerned about the threat fracking poses to the world-renowned food and wine that is grown, served and sold in California. The petition includes a letter calling on Governor Brown to place a moratorium on fracking.

In New York, the highly successful Chefs for the Marcellus has been instrumental in keeping fracking from putting that state’s agricultural bounty in jeopardy. Top chefs there, including Mario Batali and Bill Telepan, have been active and vocal on the matter.

Here’s more on the petition from KTVU:

The petition contends the practice hurts farmers and agriculture by depleting water supplies, increasing water costs and polluting groundwater.”

We … are concerned about the potential impacts of fracking on our livelihoods and those who grow and produce the food we offer our customers, guests and families,” the petition says.

Food & Water Watch spokesperson Anna Ghosh told KTVU that by the end of the day, 92 chefs, restaurant owners, winemakers, and authors had signed the petition. Perhaps Californians will think twice about giving frackers free rein when they realize it’s not just their water that’s at stake, but their prized local food as well.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

,

Food

Link to article: 

Super foodie Alice Waters launches anti-fracking fight

Posted in ALPHA, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, ONA, Oster, solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Super foodie Alice Waters launches anti-fracking fight

Levitating train breaks speed record in Japan

by charlenedean Posted on September 3, 2013

Levitating train breaks speed record in Japan

By

P.S. Lu

This train goes fast.

It sounds like something from a Japanamated techno-fantasy. But a real-life maglev train in Japan just passed its latest real-life test, levitating using magnets as it surpassed speeds of 310 miles per hour — faster than any other train in the world.

Journalists aboard last week’s 27-mile test run could see on overhead screens how fast the train was traveling, but they said they could barely feel a thing. From Phys.org:

The train does have wheels — it rides on them when the train is at low speed — then rises up above the track when it reaches approximately 93 mph. On the test run, the train reached its peak speed just three miles into the trip, which would suggest riders would feel pushed back into their seats, but those on board reported no such sensation. …

Maglev trains are able to travel very fast all while using less energy than conventional trains because they allow the train to ride on a cushion of air — friction from the wheels on the track is eliminated. Most in the field expect they will require less maintenance costs as well.

The train might be fast, but the project is moving slowly. The first leg of the new railway, between Tokyo and Nagoya, is supposed to open in 2027. The full line between Tokyo and Osaka is scheduled to be completed in 2045, at a cost of $90 billion. From Bloomberg:

Faced with the challenge of tunneling under Tokyo’s skyscrapers and the Japanese Alps, the project is unlikely to be completed on time even as Japan’s population is projected to shrink, eroding travel demand.

“I think it’s going to be finished very, very late,” said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo, which manages about $3 billion in assets. “If the population projections are correct, then the use of the bullet train will go down.”

Meanwhile, America’s first bullet-train project, which is still in the planning phase in California, is getting bogged down in lawsuits. The $68 billion California High-Speed Rail project is expected to link San Francisco with Los Angeles by 2029, carrying passengers at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour.

Why is the U.S. lagging on bullet trains? Slate ponders that very question:

There were once plans for a California-Nevada maglev train, but they never left the station, and the money for planning them ended up being reallocated to a highway project.

Why are we so far behind Japan in transportation technology? The reasons are many, and perhaps the biggest is that the United States has been built around the automobile. Sprawling suburbs make mass transit really difficult. But it’s been clear for years that our McMansion-and-SUV version of the American Dream isn’t sustainable in the long term. And as our cities grow denser and our existing infrastructure ages, it’s just silly that we aren’t making more of an effort to replace it with something better and more futuristic.

The real obstacle today is a lack of political will to plan for the future, especially from the Republicans who torpedoed President Obama’s high-speed rail plans in his first term. Those plans were far from perfect, but they would have been a great start.

The following Reuters video shows the train traveling freakishly fast and Japanese dignitaries on board managing to look stoic and bored:

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Cities

See more here:  

Levitating train breaks speed record in Japan

Posted in ALPHA, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Levitating train breaks speed record in Japan

Arkansas tar-sands spill was an accident 60 years in the making

by sssaa Posted on July 11, 2013

Arkansas tar-sands spill was an accident 60 years in the making

By John Upton

National Wildlife Federation

Cleanup crews at a marsh covered with oil from the Mayflower spill in April.

The pipeline spill that flooded Mayflower, Ark., with up to 290,000 gallons of tar-sands oil in March was an accident that had been waiting to happen — for more than 60 years.

The pipeline that ruptured beneath the town was defective, with manufacturing flaws going undetected since it was laid in the 1940s, according to independent laboratory tests. ExxonMobil released a short summary of test results Wednesday.

The findings bring into question the integrity of the entire Pegasus pipeline system — and other oil pipelines that crisscross the nation. The Pegasus system, which runs from Illinois to Texas, was laid in 1947 and 1948. The pipeline manufacturer, Ohio-based Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., is no longer in business but was reportedly one of the leading suppliers of pipelines in the 1940s.

The Pegasus pipeline remains shut down following the spill. Cleanup efforts are still underway. ExxonMobil is being sued over the spill by the federal and state governments.

From ExxonMobil’s press statement about the lab results:

Based on the metallurgical analysis, the independent laboratory concluded that the root cause of the failure can be attributed to original manufacturing defects — namely hook cracks near the seam.

Additional contributing factors include atypical pipe properties, such as extremely low impact toughness and elongation properties across the ERW [electric resistance welded] seam.

There are no findings that indicate internal or external corrosion contributed to the failure.

A seam is the welded part of a pipeline, either running along its spine or holding two pieces of piping together. By the American Petroleum Institute’s definition, a hook crack is caused by flaws at the edge of the metal plate used to create sections of pipeline.

The lab tests were required [PDF] by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), but the agency did not release the full results, nor did it comment to the press, citing the ongoing investigation. All we got was ExxonMobil’s five-paragraph statement summarizing the results.

Based on the laboratory findings, though, PHMSA officials will likely want to scour ExxonMobil’s records to determine which other sections of pipeline were provided by the same manufacturer, and find out where else the manufacturer’s pipelines are still being used in the vast networks that snake through the nation.

PHMSA will also be asking questions about Exxon’s apparent failure to adequately test the line when it was installed, or to detect the flaws during tests in more than six decades of operations since.

The pipeline was last inspected in February, but the company is not releasing the results publicly, claiming that would reveal trade secrets. (Yes, the old trade secrets excuse again.)

Electric resistance welded pipe like that which tore open beneath Mayflower has welding along its spine that is particularly vulnerable to rupture. The Pegasus pipeline at Mayflower suffered a 22-foot tear when it burst. From PHMSA’s website:

A failure in the weld seam of this type of pipe can propagate for a distance along the pipe and can quickly release large quantities of product to the environment. Low-frequency (LF) ERW pipe installed prior to 1970 in particular can be susceptible to such failures.

The new lab findings call to mind the natural-gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in the San Francisco exurb of San Bruno in 2010. Federal investigators found that PG&E’s gas pipeline had welding and manufacturing flaws when it was laid in 1956, causing it to tear open along a faulty seam and explode. PG&E was faulted for failing to inspect the pipeline and was subsequently ordered to inspect and replace pipes throughout its entire gas network.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Climate & Energy

Also in Grist

Please enable JavaScript to see recommended stories

View original post here: 

Arkansas tar-sands spill was an accident 60 years in the making

Posted in alo, Anchor, Citizen, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Arkansas tar-sands spill was an accident 60 years in the making

Solar plane completes cross-country trip despite torn wing

by Beatriz Kasser Posted on July 8, 2013

Solar plane completes cross-country trip despite torn wing

By John Upton

Solar Impulse

Solar Impulse approaches John F. Kennedy Airport.

You know a plane is hot when wing damage actually hastens its arrival.

That happened Saturday night, when the solar-powered Solar Impulse completed a historic stop-and-start transcontinental voyage across America that began May 3 in San Francisco.

Total flying time: 105 hours and 41 minutes
Distance flown: 3,511 miles
Average speed: 33 miles per hour
Gasoline consumed: 0 drops

From Reuters:

The Solar Impulse, its four propellers driven by energy collected from 12,000 solar cells in its wings to charge batteries for night use, landed at John F. Kennedy Airport at 11:09 p.m. EDT, organizers said.

The experimental aircraft had left Dulles International Airport outside Washington for its last leg more than 18 hours earlier, on a route that took it north over Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

The spindly aircraft had been expected to land in the early hours of Sunday, but the project team decided to shorten the flight after an 8-foot (2.5 meter) tear appeared on the underside of the left wing.

The wing damage forced organizers to cancel a planned Statue of Liberty flyover, but it wasn’t enough to prevent them from achieving their dream of coast-to-coast solar-powered flight.

Between San Francisco and New York, the plane stopped over at Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Washington D.C., holding public events and meeting public officials.

Solar Impulse

Solar Impulse’s pilots, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, celebrate after reaching New York.

“Flying coast-to-coast has always been a mythical milestone full of challenges for aviation pioneers,” Solar Impulse copilot and chairman Bertrand Piccard said. “During this journey, we had to find solutions for a lot of unforeseen situations, which obliged us to develop new skills and strategies. In doing so, we also pushed the boundaries of clean technologies and renewable energies to unprecedented levels.”

Read more about the Solar Impulse: Solar plane crosses U.S., injects sexiness into the green conversation

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Climate & Energy

Also in Grist

Please enable JavaScript to see recommended stories

View the original here:

Solar plane completes cross-country trip despite torn wing

Posted in Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Solar plane completes cross-country trip despite torn wing

How climate deniers are like ignorant patrons of ’80s gay bars

by LynetteF1 Posted on June 24, 2013

How climate deniers are like ignorant patrons of ’80s gay bars

By Lisa Hymas

Ryan Cannon

Writer and gay-rights activist Dan Savage has a provocative piece in the Seattle alt weekly The Stranger, comparing today’s climate deniers to gay men in the early ’80s who refused to face up to the reality of AIDS.

He starts out discussing a recent This American Life segment on ranchers in Colorado who won’t acknowledge that climate change is happening, even as it’s ravaging their land and livelihoods.

Listening to the ranchers in [reporter Julia Kumari] Drapkin’s report—hearing the anger, denial, and fear in their voices—took me back 30 years. They sounded like another group of people whose world was on fire and who also couldn’t bring themselves to face reality. They sounded like people I used to know. They sounded like those faggots who stood around in gay bars in 1983 insisting that AIDS couldn’t be a sexually transmitted infection. Even as their friends lay dying, even as more of their friends and lovers became sick, they couldn’t accept that sex had anything to do with this terrifying new illness.

So what was AIDS if it wasn’t a sexually transmitted infection? It was a conservative conspiracy, they said. Or the science was wrong. Or rigged. Or inconclusive. The medical establishment was homophobic and couldn’t be trusted. The federal bureaucracy was dominated by religious conservatives and couldn’t be trusted. Messengers were shot. Larry Kramer, the founder of ACT UP, was called a fearmonger and a drama queen. Randy Shilts, a gay journalist who called for the closure of San Francisco’s bathhouses, was spit on in the Castro. The first grassroots AIDS activists who tried to pass out condoms were chased out of bars.

Stupid, stupid faggots. Insisting that it wasn’t true—insisting that AIDS couldn’t be sexually transmitted, or insisting that AIDS wasn’t that serious because “only” 1,500 gay men were sick in the summer of 1983—didn’t prevent a pandemic. It was true. It was deadly serious. We would have to live very differently if we wanted to survive in this world. We would have to fight back. We would have to transform ourselves sexually, socially, and politically. And we did that, all of that, but precious time was wasted before gay men began to make the changes that had to be made, and countless lives were lost as a result of the denial and delay that paralyzed us in 1983. …

[T]he conservatives, the poor conservatives, they’re like those faggots in gay bars in 1983. They’re standing around, drinks in hand, insisting that the conflagration currently engulfing them—the conflagration that is engulfing us all—isn’t happening. That it can’t be happening. But just as denial and anger and shooting messengers didn’t save those gay men in Chicago’s bars in 1983, denial and anger won’t save Colorado’s ranchers in 2013. Nature is exacting an awful retribution.

The only question is how much time will be wasted and how many lives will be lost as a result of denial and delay this time.

Lisa Hymas is senior editor at Grist. You can follow her on Twitter and Google+.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

,

Living

Also in Grist

Please enable JavaScript to see recommended stories

Continue reading: 

How climate deniers are like ignorant patrons of ’80s gay bars

Posted in Anchor, bamboo, FF, G & F, GE, LG, Mop, ONA, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How climate deniers are like ignorant patrons of ’80s gay bars