Category — COMMERCE

Our country – and the rest of the World for that matter – is under the thumb of an enemy a thousand times more vicious than the “Red Coats” ever were in 1776.

This enemy systematically destroys our rivers, our forests, our water tables, our oceans… even the sky over our heads and the air we breathe.   This enemy is taking our livelihood away by sending our jobs overseas while plunging every one of us in debts too huge to ever be paid back, hence the steady economic erosion we are now seeing.

We all know by now that  our future and our children’s future are more than compromised.

Who is the culprit ?   This enemy is everywhere; it is a vampire that has infiltrated itself into our very own blood stream and now controls almost all of our actions and decisions.   GREED !

Greed is this infectious disease that kills the goose that lays golden eggs: by wanting more and more and more of any and everything, we are all guilty of blowing up mountain tops, of drying up water tables that were keeping the land alive, of poisoning rivers and water supplies…  It is not BP that is now destroying the Gulf of Mexico, it is our relentless thirst for comfort and convenience much beyond what is needed to live a happy and productive life.   It is us turning on our AC when it is not absolutely necessary who are killing dolphins and sea turtles;  it is us by mindlessly speeding on the road who are destroying the livelihood of all the people who somehow make a living off the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, and in many other places around the world that have similar problems we simply don’t talk about.

The time of short-sighted delusion is over.   The time of reckoning is now.

If cure starts with proper diagnostic, then it is time that we identify the real problem and the real solutions.   The problem is that we all ask too much of our only planet;  and a cure won’t come from dreaming about “magical alternate technologies” that will somehow be implemented by “someone else” and let us continue reveling in self indulgence.  The cure is a return to the values that had kept society together until the rise of universal greed:  RESPECT – COMMON SENSE – FORTITUDE – HUMILITY – SELF-SACRIFICE – GENEROSITY – RESPONSIBILITY…

These values plaid a critical role in founding this country; they will now have to play a critical role in restoring it, on the condition that we get off our butts and steadfastly declare INDEPENDENCE from this cancerous greed tumor.   The REVOLUTION that has to ensue now is one of true action and true transformed behaviors.

Gerard Ungerman
Documentary Filmmaker
Founder of Green Transition Chico

The Esplanade League announces an important public hearing on June 22. The Chico City Council and Planning Commission will meet to consider the land use and sustainability components of the 2030 Chico General Plan update. This hearing is THE BIG ONE – the public’s best chance to influence our city’s guiding policies for the next 20 years.

Please read the following information and support our concerns at City Council chambers on June 22nd between 2:00 and 9:00 PM. Public input time is most likely between about 3 and 7.
 
The proposed new Plan needs a strong showing of public support because it includes great new sustainability policies, based on a sound, healthy, realistic community vision. However, for all its vision, many of its proposals are soft, with little assurance that they will be implemented. The expanded growth area proposals rely on unfounded assumptions that past housing demands will continue unabated and that the public’s funds will allow greater spending on freeways, big box stores and parking lots, even with a battered economy, massive debt, the looming impacts of climate change, and the ending era of cheap oil.
 
But most of the new policy language is weak, emphasizing words like “encourage” and “should,” rather than firm commitments backed by “will” or “shall.” It’s a great vision statement without a lot of teeth. Painful past experience has shown that General Plans seldom produce the desired results if they don’t include strong, enforceable commitments. Our planet’s failing life support systems can’t tolerate much more compromise, so the Council and Commission need to hear that mere encouragement is insufficient and that policies need to include much more “shall do” language.
 
Another major weakness is the assumption that retail consumption and housing demand for the next 20 years will continue much like the last, in spite of stagnant wages, overextended credit, tightened lending practices, and deteriorating public wealth and natural resources. Thus, the Plan assumes we’ll need thousands more large lot homes than already planned, more sprawl, and more regional shopping centers to accommodate an ongoing spending spree.

a)     In retail, there’s a sharp contradiction between a) the draft Land Use Element’s proposal for more regional shopping south along Highway 99 and b) the Sustainability Element’s emphasis on convenient neighborhood shopping, less need for driving, and reduced consumption of energy and resources. High consumption is fundamentally inconsistent with long-term environmental and social sustainability. Instead, sustainability requires a shift away from an oil-dependent, imported goods/exported jobs, consumption-based economy and toward more efficient, locally based production of food and goods. We don’t need more regional shopping malls on 99.

b)     In home buying patterns, the land use plan assumes that future demand for large lot houses will require thousands of lots sprawling into the Bell-Muir agricultural area in the northwest and the Schuster-Brouhard land in the foothills. However, past growth patterns no longer reliably predict future needs, given the rising cost of land and construction, reduced buying power, tighter lending, and shrinking household sizes. The National Home Builders Association expects aging baby boomers and younger generations on tighter budgets to demand cheaper, smaller, and/or attached homes; which recent building trends and the record number of undeveloped larger lots already reflect. The Sustainability Element, in contrast with the Land Use Element, wisely calls for more affordable compact growth and careful infill, with less sprawl, reduced auto dependency, and lower public maintenance costs.
 
Strong public support is needed for the Sustainability Element, scaling back the foothill and agricultural sprawl proposed by the Land Use Element, and firmer “shall” language throughout the Plan.
 
The draft General Plan update can be found on a link near the top of a City website at http://www.chicogeneralplan.com/.

Sincerely,

The Esplanade League – Supporting a Carefully Chosen Path for the Future

Hello,

My name is Kelly Sanders and I am introducing a new green energy saving amorphous metal heating technology to the North American market, that was developed for the Russian space program.

 These amorphous metal ribbons run on low voltage electicity and can be used under any type of flooring to heat indoors, and underground to keep ice and snow off of any surface.  We can heat agriculture, roads, ramps, bridges, runways, sidewalks, steps, roofs, fish ponds, sports fields, golf courses and more. This technology should effect many of the government depts like the dept of safety, dept of transportation, dept of defence, and the FAA to just mention a few. 

My company is called Americas Heating Solution and we are located at the Hwy 70 industrial park in Oroville in suite 5. We have a new web site to read about this technology and see the 15 countries in Europe that are using these products, you can also see some videos on under floor and underground installations.

We are currantly looking for local partners and or investors to help us to get this energy saving green heating solution to the people of North America. I have exclusive distribution and future manufacturing of these products for North America.

If you are interested in this technology please call me at (530) 532-0300. www.AHS-heating.com

Thank You Very Much.

Yoga, the ancient art of uniting one’s worldly body with higher consciousness is expanding in Chico.  Many of Chico’s gyms offer yoga classes and there is a growing number of yoga studios in town. 

Ziva Yoga Essentials is opening a studio next to the store on Main street.   From today until next Thursday (May 21-27) they will be offering free classes.   There are some classes that would be good for people who want an introduction to Yoga. 

Positive-I is another new local business that has yoga classes in addition to other healing practices and the first class you take there is free.

I encourage anyone and everyone to give Yoga a try and create positive change in their lives.

We will be accepting clothing  May4th – May 7th.

You will recieve 1 ticket per item which you can trade/redeem for alittle something special off our exchange rack the following week 11th – 14 th

We are also currently seeking Indie designers to participate in our big event coming up on Friday May 14th.  Please feel free to call for more information.

530 342-8752