Take a Hike Week: Scott's Run Nature Preserve

If you're looking to take an easy trail walk to a beautiful spot, Scott's Run Nature Preserve in Fairfax is the place for you.

I visited Scott's Run last fall and got to see it near the peak of fall colors. While the walk wasn't very challenging and I didn't see any wildlife, the concrete post bridges were interesting. And the view of the waterfall where it meets the Potomac River was worth the trip:

TheGreenMiles.com's Take a Hike Week

Tuesday: Old Rag Mountain

Wednesday: Catoctin Mountain

Thursday: Scott's Run Nature Preserve

Friday: Virginia's Great Falls North

Did you know National Trails Day is Saturday, June 4th? DC, Maryland & Virginia are loaded with fantastic hikes just a short drive away. Find a NTD event near you at AmericanHiking.org, or explore local trails & climbs at HikingUpward.com.

Better To Run Your Commute With Your Paycheck or With Your Biofuel?

What's worse than sitting all day at the office? How about sitting the whole time on your way to and from the office?

From Australian artist Peter Drew:



Via Andrew Sullivan

Take a Hike Week: Catoctin Mountain

The Green Miles recently made the 75 minute drive from the DC area up northwest of Frederick to Maryland's Catoctin Mountain. It was one of those days that thunderstorms were a constant menace, but surprisingly the rain held off long enough to make the full 8-mile loop around the top of the mountain.

Part of the Bull Run Mountains, a subset of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Catoctin's highest peak is only about 1,900 feet. But the hike provides a great range of views, from Cunningham Falls all the way up to the Blue Ridge Vista:


Like Virginia's Old Rag Mountain, the peaks feature exposed ancient granite, providing some fun rock-hopping at Chimney Rock:


I decided to start a new tradition this hike, bringing two beers for my friend Dan & I to crack open on top of the mountain. Of course, after lugging the beers up the mountain I then realized I'd left my bottle opener in the car. Fortunately, at the Hog Rock overlook Dan found a sign with some exposed screws that made a great bottle opener. After a long slog up & around the mountain, Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre had never tasted better:


TheGreenMiles.com's Take a Hike Week

Tuesday: Old Rag Mountain
Wednesday: Catoctin Mountain
Thursday: Scott's Run Nature Preserve
Friday: Virginia's Great Falls North

Did you know National Trails Day is Saturday, June 4th? DC, Maryland & Virginia are loaded with fantastic hikes just a short drive away. Find a NTD event near you at AmericanHiking.org, or explore local trails & climbs at HikingUpward.com.

Best Idea To Promote Drunk Driving Ever

Have a beer and bourbon festival at a place you have to drive to.

Take a Hike Week: Old Rag Mountain

The Green Miles hadn't hiked Virginia's Old Rag Mountain since my first trip there back in 2008. Back then, my friend Dan & I took the relatively easy back route to the summit to reach the 3,291-foot peak's spectacular views.

This month, we took the front way up - much steeper and with a series of challenging rock scrambles. I'm not sure we'd have made it up if not for the church & scout groups that were hiking up around the same time - each had an experienced hiker with the group who explained the best way to tackle tough stretches & gave helping hands when needed.

Despite the tough hike, the trip was well worth it. The summit, composed of exposed billion-year-old granite, provided spectacular views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park:


If you're looking to reward yourself on the way home, stop by Pearmund Cellars in Broad Run.

TheGreenMiles.com's Take a Hike Week

Tuesday: Old Rag Mountain
Wednesday: Catoctin Mountain
Thursday: Scott's Run Nature Preserve
Friday: Virginia's Great Falls North

Did you know National Trails Day is Saturday, June 4th? DC, Maryland & Virginia are loaded with fantastic hikes just a short drive away. Find a NTD event near you at AmericanHiking.org, or explore local trails & climbs at HikingUpward.com.

Quick Train Tip for Wildlife Watchers

After a weekend in Massachusetts visiting family, The Green Miles is riding the Amtrak Northeast Corridor Regional train from Providence to DC today. It's about twice as long as flying and just as expensive, but I like the relaxing ride, the ability to get up & walk around, and the view of the shore as the train hugs the Atlantic coast.

I decided to try riding the cafe car this trip. Not only has it given me extra room to spread out my laptop & assorted gadgets, but it gives a much more wide-open view of the shoreline & wetlands to the east. Just this trip, I've spotted:

• Ospreys
• Egrets
• Night herons
• Mute swans
• Cormorants

And of course the usual assortment of crows, Canada geese, sea gulls, etc.

New Nissan Leaf Ad: Electric Cars = Common Sense

This new ad for the Nissan Leaf turns the conventional wisdom surrounding electric cars on its head. Is it really such a revolutionary idea to run our cars on electricity when we rely on so many gadgets we wouldn't power with anything else?

The Story of Stuff (Video)

My buddy Everyday Father asked me to post an oldie but a goodie that has somehow never made its way to The Green Miles - The Story of Stuff:

Buzzkill: Does Climate Crisis Mean We've Hit "Peak Coffee"?

Lots of stories in the news today about skyrocketing coffee prices. As with oil, commodity speculators share some of the blame for pushing up prices. But coffee production has been devastated by extreme weather linked to global warming:

But in the last few years, coffee yields have plummeted here and in many of Latin America’s other premier coffee regions as a result of rising temperatures and more intense and unpredictable rains, phenomena that many scientists link partly to global warming.

Coffee plants require the right mix of temperature, rainfall and spells of dryness for beans to ripen properly and maintain their taste. Coffee pests thrive in the warmer, wetter weather.

Bean production at the Garzóns’ farm is therefore down 70 percent from five years ago, leaving the family little money for clothing for toddlers and “thinking twice” about sending older children to college, said Mr. Garzon’s 44-year-old son, Albeiro, interviewed in a yellow stucco house decorated with coffee posters and madonnas.

The shortage of high-end Arabica coffee beans is also being felt in New York supermarkets and Paris cafes, as customers blink at escalating prices. Purveyors fear that the Arabica coffee supply from Colombia may never rebound — that the world might, in effect, hit “peak coffee.” [...]

“Coffee production is under threat from global warming, and the outlook for Arabica in particular is not good,” said Peter Baker, a coffee specialist with CABI, a research group in Britain that focuses on agriculture and the environment, noting that climate changes, including heavy rains and droughts, have harmed crops across many parts of Central and South America.

And it hasn't gotten any better since this New York Times piece was written in March - last month, torrential rains triggered landslides in Brazil.

Scientist Pwns Climate Deniers

Via ClimateCrocks.com, scientist Dr. John Abraham destroys climate deniers to the point they have to bail out with a meek "we're gonna have to leave it there"-type cut-off before he can answer their last question:

Polluting Your Brain: Science Deniers Say Mercury's Just Dandy

Famed science deniers Willie Soon and Paul Driessen, both of whom have worked for groups that accept cash from Exxon Mobil to pretend global warming isn't happening, have a new crusade: Mercury denial!

That's right: They have an op-ed in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal claiming that breathing toxic mercury isn't bad for you.

Willie Soon, astronomer. And Paul Driessen, lobbyist with a degree in geology. Expertise in public health? Limited. Willingness to take cash from the coal polluters that pump tons of mercury into our air every year? Extensive.

What's that? You want to know what actual medical researchers have to say about the subject? Fine, have it your way:

For fetuses, infants, and children, the primary health effect of methylmercury is impaired neurological development. Methylmercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother's consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can adversely affect a baby's growing brain and nervous system. Impacts on cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills have been seen in children exposed to methylmercury in the womb. Recent human biological monitoring by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999 and 2000 shows that most people have blood mercury levels below a level associated with possible health effects. More recent data from the CDC support this general finding.

Outbreaks of methylmercury poisonings have made it clear that adults, children, and developing fetuses are at risk from ingestion exposure to methylmercury. During these poisoning outbreaks some mothers with no symptoms of nervous system damage gave birth to infants with severe disabilities, it became clear that the developing nervous system of the fetus may be more vulnerable to methylmercury than is the adult nervous system. [...]

In addition to the subtle impairments noted above, symptoms of methylmercury poisoning may include; impairment of the peripheral vision; disturbances in sensations ("pins and needles" feelings, usually in the hands, feet, and around the mouth); lack of coordination of movements; impairment of speech, hearing, walking; and muscle weakness.

The Environmental Protection Agency is acting right now to limit mercury pollution. Please take a moment to tell the EPA you support its efforts.

The Disastrous Results of Unlimited Deer

A hundred years ago, humans hunting for food had nearly wiped out local populations of deer, turkey and even squirrels in the Mid-Atlantic region. And humans protecting their livestock or hunting for trophies wiped out bear and wolf populations.

Deer were eventually reintroduced - and their populations exploded. While black bears have made a comeback, they're too slow to hunt adult deer. Wolves are great deer hunters, but reintroduction efforts in the eastern half of the United States have had limited success. And deer hunting is restricted on private property & on federal parkland, where deer thrive dashing through backyards and parks.

Today WAMU reports on the disastrous results for both people & our environment:

As an ever-rising population of white-tailed deer have bumped up against their human neighbors in the D.C. area, the results haven't been pretty. There were an estimated 88,000 deer-vehicle collisions in Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and Delaware last year.

But beyond the roads, experts say the deer are also having a major impact on forests, which are unable to replenish themselves to nurture the next generation due to the deer population's eating habits.

Nationwide, those deer collisions result in 140 deaths and $3.8 billion in property damage every year. And it's not as if overpopulation is great for the deer, which can face starvation and disease.

This isn't a problem only in rural areas - Rock Creek Park is being stripped of plants below shoulder height. Even if deer populations came into balance today, it could take generations for trees to recover.

But the good news is that proper population management can deliver results right away. In Yellowstone National Park, a combination of hunting and wolf reintroduction have helped drive a rebirth - not just for trees, but for the birds, beaver, and dozens of other species that depend on a balanced ecosystem.

The bottom line is that unlimited, unchecked deer population growth isn't good for anyone - not for deer, not for humans, and not for our ecosystems.

Update: My friend Max points out, "And how about deer ticks? Since I work in Reston, I walk through approximately eleven billion deer ticks every day between the bus and the front door of my office."

Update #2: WAMU has corrected its number for vehicle-deer collisions & this post has been updated to reflect that.

Police Cars With Lights On & Horns Honking Are Lousy At Catching Goats

I appreciate that these police officers in Gaithersburg wanted to be able to keep up with this goat & make sure it didn't harm itself or others, but ... chasing it probably isn't the best way to get it to settle down:


Why didn't anyone give it a minute to calm down & offer it some food?

A group of well-meaning citizens then came up empty handed when the goat wandered into a courtyard of a nearby apartment complex.

“I done grew up with goats,” said one hard-breathing man. “All you need is some bread.”

That's good thinking, Hard-Breathing Man!

And if all else fails, you know who I'd call? A cowboy monkey riding a border collie horse:

Via Gaithersburg Patch

How To Make Sure No One Pays Attention To The Good Stuff You Do

Now that the Westover Market Beer Garden's conditional live music permit has been approved, up next on the Arlington County Board's agenda of unsolvable issues: At what temperature should we set the thermostat?

I kid, and I don't mean to dwell on a hyper-local issue. But I do want to point out that while The Green Miles, the Examiner, ArlNow.com, and TBD were focused on whether Arlington County would really ban the playing of Jack Johnson covers in Westover, a much more critical action by the board has gotten far less attention. (Notable exception on that list of media outlets: The Washington Post, which apparently covers Arlington County so little it's forgotten the "C" is capitalized.)

Last night the County Board also accepted the Arlington Community Energy & Sustainability Task Force's final report:

The Community Energy and Sustainability Task Force’s comprehensive long-term energy planning vision for Arlington includes 18 recommendations and strategies covering many energy-related issues. Among those recommendations and strategies:

• Improving energy efficiency in new and renovated residential and commercial buildings
• Managing building operations to reduce energy costs
• Deploying district energy and combined heat and power systems in the County’s high-density areas
• Investing in alternative energy sources such as solar photovoltaics
• Continuing the County’s efforts to encourage use of mass transit and to work with employers to encourage cycling, walking, public transit and vehicle pooling

The task force recommended a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from today’s 13.4 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent per capita per year to 3.0 metric tons per capita per year by 2050. If a regional energy plan is put in place, the task force advocates achieving 2.2 metric tons per capita per year.

That's what everyone should be talking about today. Arlington County will cut its carbon pollution, jobs in energy efficiency will be created, and Arlington residents will save boatloads of money on their energy bills.

But when you do stuff that's really ridiculous & silly at the same time you do stuff that's really good & important, people tend to focus on the ridiculous. Like, say, trying to ban kids from dancing.

No, really - the Westover Market Beer Garden live music permit includes this: "Patrons and performers will be prohibited from dancing, unless the Market applies for and obtains a Dance Hall Permit."

The Footloose jokes are already flying fast & furious over on Facebook.

The Dangers of Regulating Things That Annoy Some People

UPDATE: The Arlington County Board has approved a conditional live music permit for Westover Market Beer Garden

During the more than two hours of discussion on Saturday by the Arlington County Board over a live music permit for the Westover Market Beer Garden, there was a brief moment of clarity. County Board Member Chris Zimmerman pointed out that the Arlington County code on noise control (PDF) doesn't just provide decibel limits. It also prohibits any noise that "Annoys or disturbs a normal person of reasonable sensitivities." Zimmerman shook his head and said, "How is county staff supposed to enforce THAT?"

The hearing displayed the constraints of using the law to limit things that are impossible to measure. Much like trying to determine the height at which neighbors will cease to be annoyed by windmills or the number of stories at which a building fits a neighborhood's character, trying to write a law that will prevent everyone from being annoyed by all forms of noise in an urban area is a quixotic effort.

But that's not stopping the Arlington County Board from trying! At Saturday's meeting, the Board neither accepted the county staff's recommendation to deny the live music permit nor accepted the compromise plan endorsed by all four local civic associations and supported by a vast majority of local residents. Instead, at today's meeting the Board will apparently continue twisting itself into knots in attempts to placate the literal handful of neighbors still opposed to the compromise.

Barbara Favola complained the board could not better regulate the noise from a crowd that was singing along or clapping to the music. Walter Tejada lamented the board could not legislate the effect of wind on noise. And a recurring theme was that board members wished they could regulate people talking loudly as they walked home - as if that wasn't simply a part of living in an urban area, but a nuisance that could be legislated away.

The craziness might've peaked when an anti-live music neighbor claimed he could hear the music in his living room with the windows closed over his television ... 1/5th of a mile away. Keep in mind 65 decibels (the level proposed in the compromise plan) is barely above conversation level.

One civic association president who testified in favor of the live music permit at the Beer Garden pointed out that if there was no live music in Westover, there would still be plenty of the same noise we all accept in choosing to live in an urban area - cars, trucks, planes. It would just be much less pleasant.

What there would be less of is the unique sense of culture and community that live music offers. "There's just no substitute for live music," a Westover-area violin teacher told the board. And a speaker at Saturday's hearing pointed out that children just don't respond with the same joy to taped music as they do to live music.

Look, I'm a firm believer in the ability of the law to protect consumers and safeguard our health. But when you try to use the law to regulate people's happiness, you're going to wind up creating rules that are impossible to enforce and leave no one happy.

How Should Metro Balance Its Budget? Make Your Voice Heard This Week.

DC's Metro system continues to go without a dedicated source of funding. Not coincidentally, DC's Metro continues to come up short on operating funds. So now the agency faces some unpleasant options: Cut service, hike fares, or go hat in hand to DC, Maryland and Virginia asking for more cash?

Metro is proposing a series of cost-cutting measures (PDF), including reduced service on several bus routes in DC. But as a Virginia resident, this is what caught my eye:

Rail Service

• Widen Saturday headways from 12 minutes to 18 minutes until 9:30 PM and to 25 minutes after 9:30 PM until closing; and
• Widen Sunday headways from 15 minutes to 20 minutes until 9:30 PM and to 25 minutes after 9:30 PM until closing.

As Greater Greater Washington has detailed, late-night service is no longer a perk - it's a key part of the system. Metro has shifted from a system mainly serving commuters & tourists to one that serves a mix of riders in all parts of the day. Ridership may be lower at these times, but given how valuable the service is and how infrequently trains already run, these cuts look like trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

You have several ways to let Metro know what you think of the proposal. The easiest way is through an online survey. Some key questions:

• Q5 - Local jurisdictions absolutely should be asked to provide more funding to continue existing service. Whether you ride Metro or not, we all see its benefits in reduced traffic and lower air pollution. Why shouldn't we all be asked to support it? 
• Q6.1 - Again, of the options in the survey, I'd most support "Asking local jurisdictions to provide an increase in financial support."
• Q7 - Given that taxpayers currently subsidize parking at many Metro lots through artificially low rates, raising parking fees where lots are currently full every day would be a great way to raise needed funds.

Additionally, you can let Metro know your opinion in person. There are two public hearings in Virginia this week:

Tuesday, May 17
George Washington Middle School Auditorium
1005 Mt. Vernon Ave
Alexandria, VA

Wednesday, May 18
Arlington County Board Room, 3rd Floor
2100 Clarendon Blvd
Arlington, VA

All sessions start with an open house at 5:30pm, a town hall at 6pm, and a public hearing at 6:45pm. You can see the full hearing schedule (PDF) and learn how to sign up to speak at WMATA.com/Hearings. You can also submit written statements until 5pm on May 24, 2011 by emailing writtentestimony@wmata.com (note that submissions are considered public records).

Ask The Arlington County Board To Support Live Music

There's a compromise on live music at the Westover Market Beer Garden that both the Beer Garden owners and the Westover Civic Association support. But will that be enough for the Arlington County Board to give its approval?

A fan of the Beer Garden writes with details of the compromise:

The basic compromise is that the Beer Garden would have live entertainment Fri and Sat nights (6-10) and some Wednesday open-mic nights (6-8), so long as the Market complied with the decibel limits set out by the county noise ordinance. It was decided not to focus on what type of noise is permissible (TVs or no TVs, drums or no drums, acoustic or amplified), but rather the decibel limit. Also it is the responsibility of the Westover Market to ensure that its entertainment comply with those limits or risk losing their permit.

The compromise was approved at a Westover Civic Association meeting with an astounding 90 out of 109 votes. Another 13 people supported live music with additional restrictions, and 6 people voted to oppose music under any circumstances.

With that kind of overwhelming community support, what is the county worried about? The fan of the Beer Garden gives his take on what a county liaison told the meeting:

Even though the Westover neighborhood is strongly in favor of the Beer Garden's music permit, the county is most concerned about setting precedent for the rest of the county by allowing live music at the Beer Garden. [...]

What was most frustrating is that the members of the community debated with each other at length to find a compromise that nearly everyone supports only to learn that the county is more concerned with the precedent than what the neighbors want.

Given that Westover Market Beer Garden is bending over backwards to be a good citizen (there's talk of having a decibel meter on hand in the Garden at all times), I can't imagine the County Board rejecting this compromise. Especially given that over the last year Arlington County has been accused of being hostile to everything from businesses to music to fun, this vote will be a key bellwether of whether the County Board is backing up its conciliatory words with progressive deeds.

Please email the Arlington County Board right now to let board members know you support live music in the Westover Market Beer Garden. Then if you can, attend Saturday's Arlington County Board meeting and speak at 8:30am during the pre-meeting public comment session.

Photo via Flickr's ThunderCheese

"They Say That Oil And Water Don't Mix. But Dammit If We're Not Trying!"

Hey, maybe we just haven't been looking on the bright side of oil disasters. The ocean gains new traits ... like being able to light it on fire! And maybe new species will evolve, like birds that ... uh ... enjoy being sticky!

From IFC's The Whitest Kids U' Know:

Climate Scientists Go All Beastie Boys On Deniers

The Australian TV show Hungry Beast teamed up with climate scientists to point out what the media won't - while scientists may debate the degree & speed of change, the people who completely deny the reality of global warming aren't climate scientists:

Coal Shows It Cares, Offers Free Justin Bieber Inhalers

Hey, coal pollution may cause millions of asthma attacks and kill thousands of Americans every year. But that doesn't mean the coal industry doesn't have a heart! Peabody Energy is now offering free asthma inhalers for kids. Get yours at CoalCares.org.

“If I See A Shark Or An Alligator, I Will Stab It.”

I went for a trail walk with my friend Every Day Father and his two children last weekend, check out the story of the secret dinosaur trail over at the National Wildlife Federation blog.

Metro Bus Saves Me From Myself

The Green Miles is always late. Always. You could give me two hours' notice to get to a place that's a 10 minute walk away, and I'd still leave home late & come stumbling in a few minutes past due. When I ran for House of Delegates, I'd make sure to plan on being at events at least 15 minutes in advance (the community centers usually appreciated the help setting up the folding chairs anyway).

So with all that being said, I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that I went stumbling out the door to Wednesday's Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting 20 minutes late. I'd originally planned on walking from my apartment building in East Falls Church at Roosevelt & Wilson down to the meeting in Ballston, but that would take about 45 minutes. I thought about walking down to EFC Metro, but that wouldn't be much faster.

Then I realized there are Metrobuses that run down Wilson to Ballston that I'd never taken before. I walked to a stop to get its ID number, then used my Blackberry's internet browser to get to Metro's Next Bus service. Sure enough, there was a bus coming in less than 10 minutes. The ride was smooth and I didn't just make it to the meeting on time - I was a couple of minutes early. Really weird feeling for someone who's chronically tardy.

Growing up in Boston, I always had to deal with buses that were loud and smelled like exhaust and had no shocks and you never knew when they were coming. Plus, my first experience with Metrobus didn't exactly endear me to it.

But the pleasant ride and Next Bus feature made the trip a lot smoother. Maybe I'll give the bus another shot as the evenings get nicer and I'm looking for a way to get from Upton Hill Regional Park to Clarendon without a car.

Bob McDonnell Wants To, Uh, Y'Know, Do The Thing That Gets The Oil

For someone so anxious to drill for oil just miles from Virginia Beach, Bob McDonnell is awfully terrified to say the word "drill." In his op-ed today in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Gov. McDonnell never uses the words "drill" or "drilling" - not even once.

And with good reason! You might remember the image at right, produced in the very early days of the Deepwater Horizon disaster to show what the slick - just a fraction of the size it would eventually become - would look like if it happened off the Virginia coast.

As much as Gov. McDonnell would like us to forget about those thousands of dead birds, hundreds of dead endangered sea turtles, and more than a hundred dead dolphins, he's wrong dismiss the Gulf oil disaster as an "accident." The Gulf oil disaster was no random twist of fate - the bipartisan commission that investigated the blowout said it was the result of a series of bad decisions by the people doing the oil drilling, called the disaster "avoidable," and warned that without significant reform (which we're still waiting on), it could happen again.

But even if oil drilling was less dangerous than it is, would drilling off Virginia do us any good? The U.S. consumes 22% of the world's oil but holds only 1.5% of global oil resources. During the Obama administration, U.S. oil production is up sharply - but that hasn't done a thing to stop gas prices from rising sharply as well. The same story is true on a global scale - worldwide oil production is up, but oil prices are up too. Worldwide consumption is up and the dwindling supplies of oil left underground are getting more & more expensive to drill.

We can't drill our way out of our energy problems. The only way we can reduce our oil costs over the long term is to use less oil - fuel-efficient cars in the short-term, renewable energy-powered electric cars in the long term, and building more transit options & more walkable communities over the really long haul so our lives aren't tethered to the gas pump.

But hey, Bob McDonnell didn't get $33,150 from Exxon Mobil by pushing for hybrid school buses! He got it by promising to open up Virginia's coastline to drilling & leaving it to some future governor to worry about apologizing for how no one could possibly have predicted an oil disaster here.

The Environemntally Sensitive Climage Candidate

Arlington County Board Member Barbara Favola kicked off her campaign for Virginia State Senate with a series of embarrassing gaffes - hiring a campaign consultant only to see her reportedly quit soon after, falling victim to a fake Twitter account, announcing the wrong date for her campaign kickoff, and letting her Facebook account get phished. Not the kind of stuff that makes you think she's a bad person or lousy candidate - but does make you wonder if she's running a tight ship.

At last night's Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting attended by 250 local Democrats, Favola's campaign clearly didn't bother to proofread her campaign flyer. It had not one but two typos under "Protecting the Environment":

Favola is giving the appearance that she isn't worried about dotting "i"s and crossing "t"s because she thinks she's guaranteed to coast to victory in the primary thanks to her support from the Virginia State Senate Democratic establishment.

At the same meeting, another candidate entered the race - one who isn't afraid to challenge Virginia's failed Democratic State Senate status quo. Watch the announcement speech of Jaime Areizaga-Soto:

Maryland's Montgomery County Passes Bag Fee

Following in the footsteps of DC's successful bag fee, the Montgomery County Council has passed a 5 cent fee on disposable bags. The fee applies to both paper and plastic bags at nearly all retail establishments.

The fee is a win-win:

• If consumers keep using disposable bags, the county will now have an additional $1 million to help fund cleanups of streams & rivers
• If consumers switch their habits to reusable bags, the county will have dramatically reduced its need to clean up streams & rivers

The Virginia General Assembly has not only refused to pass a disposable bag fee, it's refused to even let communities like Arlington impose their own. So we don't get the funding to clean up waterways and we don't give consumers a nudge to change their habits - a lose-lose.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has also introduced a national bag fee with proceeds going to fund conservation programs, but House Republicans seem way too busy trying to protect Big Oil subsidies to act on a bag fee.

Learn more about why a bag fee makes economic & environmental sense at TrashFreeVirginia.org.

Bay Oysters Held Hostage: Virginia Demands Everything For Nothing

It's not something you'd expect to hear from a government run by people who claim to be fiscal conservatives: Virginia is threatening to pull out of oyster restoration work because federal officials won't give free handouts to Virginia businesses.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is objecting to federal rules that say oyster reefs restored with federal money can't be commercially harvested. It's also balking at the $500,000 contribution to receive $2 million in federal oyster reef restoration money.

But those federal rules exist to protect taxpayers. After all, why should public tax dollars be used to subsidize an oyster reef, only to have those oysters turned over to private watermen as a political favor? If Virginia officials want to enrich private businesses with public dollars, why not just save the time & effort and hand tax dollars directly to the watermen? Oh, right - because that would make Gov. Bob McDonnell look like a tax-and-spend socialist. Much better to demand the feds do it for him!

Of course, there are plenty of benefits of healthy oysters besides their commercial value. They'll make new oysters, provide food for other tasty things like crabs, and filter Chesapeake Bay water that's in desperate need of cleaning. So why not chip in the 25% to get a federal windfall?

Despite Gov. Bob McDonnell's claims that Virginia's in the money, Virginia is so short on cash it's basically collecting bottles to return for the deposit:

Lacking cash, the state has been using the value of old oyster shells as its matching share; shells are the building blocks of new reefs.

But the state is running out of oyster shells and already is being forced to mine ancient shells buried within river beds to keep pace with construction needs.

You see, ever since they cut a deal in 2004 with then-governor Mark Warner to raise taxes to fund things like roads & schools and Warner got the credit, Virginia Republicans refuse to raise taxes for any reason ever. Then, thanks in large part to George W. Bush's economic policies, the economy crashed, dramatically reducing tax revenue. Combine the two and, well, Virginia's now literally scraping the bottom of the river.

Forced to pay our bills with oyster shells - and now demanding a free ride because we've run out of even those. Is this any way to run a state? Why won't Gov. McDonnell put aside politics and figure out how to sensibly raise the cash we need to pay our bills?

Mystery Monster By The Meadowlands Unmasked

For years, I've driven past the Meadowlands on the New Jersey Turnpike wondering about the absolutely humongous building next door. First it was under construction ... then it seemed finished ... and since then it's just sat there completely unmarked (unless you count the multi-colored aluminum siding, which, in the immortal words of Wayne Campbell, looks like a plate of hurl). I'd asked friends in New York City about it and they'd had no idea what it was.

Finally today I learned the answer at Andrew Sullivan's blog - it's a massive, unfinished shopping mall, formerly known as Xanadu, currently known as American Dream Meadowlands.

In this era of new urbanism, walkability, and online shopping, what better idea than a multi-billion dollar shopping mall in the middle of nowhere that you literally can't walk to with terrible traffic that makes you wish you'd just gone to Amazon.com?

Atlantic Wind Connection: Energy Playing Field Tilting Towards Windmills?

David Roberts writes in Popular Science about the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC), a proposed $5 billion undersea power grid. The plan by Maryland-based Trans-Elect would provide the infrastructure for wind farms stretching hundreds of miles down the Mid-Atlantic coast, from northern New Jersey to southern Virginia. David walks through the technical aspects in easy to understand way and talks about how the AWC would ease strain on our existing power grid, concluding its biggest advantage would be its scale:

It would tie together wind farms distributed over hundreds of miles of coastline, and because the wind will usually be blowing somewhere, its breadth would compensate for the unpredictability of wind at any individual site. Together, the steadier flow of power, combined with the money that wind-farm developers will save by feeding electricity into an existing network, could make wind power cheaper than electricity generated by natural gas or, in some cases, even coal.

Obviously, there is a long way to go. Multiple regulatory authorities will have to sign off before the AWC becomes reality. But the large-scale, holistic approach to offshore wind power that it represents is already echoed by at least two undersea power-transmission proposals being considered in Europe. And if the AWC succeeds in delivering predictable, low-cost, low-carbon power to the mid-Atlantic, expect the number of imitative projects to grow.

That $5 billion price tag may sound like a lot at first, but let's put it in context. The AWC would support wind power equivalent to 10 coal-fired power plants, which cost $1-2 billion each, if not more. (Cost overruns have just pushed the price tag of a new coal-fired plant in Wisconsin up 9% to $2.4 billion.)

Some 5/1/11 Closure for 9/11/01

Every night as I fall asleep, I turn on the old analog TV in my bedroom to SportsCenter and set the sleep timer to 30 minutes. Usually I don't make it 30 seconds before the dulcet tones of Neil Everett have me out cold.

But tonight before I could set the timer I noticed the "BREAKING NEWS" icon on the ESPN Bottom Line news ticker. Some major hockey injury news? I wondered. I didn't have my glasses on so I had to sit up and lean in close to see the tiny letters: "President Obama announces U.S. Special Forces have killed Osama bin Laden."

I haven't literally leaped out of bed like that since I was a little kid waking up on Christmas morning.

Killing bin Laden can't bring back any of the innocent victims of the September 11th attacks. But I do hope justice finally being done provides some comfort to their families. From the crowds in front of the White House & at Ground Zero to the U.S. Special Forces that carried out the near-flawless operation to President Obama, we all deserve to celebrate this very good news.

Parody Becomes Reality: Exxon Mobil Profits Up 69 Percent

Considering how much we're getting screwed by high gas prices, dangerous oil & hydrocarbon gas drilling, it seems only appropriate that Exxon Mobil's $11 billion profit in just the first three months of 2011 represents a 69 percent increase from last year.

I'm sure the number is just a coincidence (or is it, Donald Trump???). But it's depressingly reminiscent of BP's new name from last year's South Park parody (NSFW):

Coon 2: Hindsight
Tags: SOUTH
PARKEric Cartman,more...

Why Does Arlington Fight New Highways?

Because Arlington (and DC, Fairfax, etc.) continues to get failing grades for air quality that can be linked directly to excessive pollution from cars, SUVs & trucks.

The American Lung Association gave DC and every Virginia suburb an F for ozone pollution. What effects can humans expect from ozone and other smog-inducing photochemical pollutants?

Ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide are especially harmful for senior citizens, children, and people with heart and lung conditions such as emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma. It can inflame breathing passages, decrease the lungs' working capacity, cause shortness of breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It can cause eye and nose irritation and it dries out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interferes with the body's ability to fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness. Hospital admissions and respiratory deaths often increase during periods when ozone levels are high.

DC and Loudoun got Ds for particle pollution, while Arlington and Fairfax got Cs. And what does that mean for your health?

[Particulate] pollution is estimated to cause 22,000-52,000 deaths per year in the United States (from 2000) and 200,000 deaths per year in Europe. The effects of inhaling particulate matter that have been widely studied in humans and animals now include asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues, and premature death.

Why does Arlington fight new highways and distant coal plants? To steal a line from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, in the contest between pollution and children's lungs, there's a case to be made that someone should be standing up for children's lungs.

Of course, debates about air quality will be nothing more than hot air if Republicans on Capitol Hill succeed in gutting the Clean Air Act. Democrats and several moderate Republicans in the Senate have already beaten back several attacks, but please make sure your members of Congress know you support strong clean air protections.

Arlington GOP Loves Subsidies For Cars But Not For Bikes

Cars pollute our air, leading to our nation's capital having one of the nation's highest asthma rates, particularly among children. Subsidized space for cars disproportionately benefits those who can afford cars in the first place and probably don't need a handout. And let's not forget that cars hit, in declining level of frequency, people, homes, and Rhodeside Grill.

Bike sharing, on the other hand, leads to zero pollution or childhood asthma, takes up very little space, and is free for the first 30 minutes of each trip (though you do need a credit card to register).

But somehow the Arlington Republican Party thinks cars are more in need of taxpayer support. As Matt Yglesias writes, ‎"It's all just a reminder that sincere devotion to free markets plays almost no role in economic policy debates. It's identity politics all the way down."

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining: Dumber Than Rocks

Check out this Mark Fiore cartoon.

SomeECards.com Manages To Combine Earth Day, Easter Into Single Card

Green Groups Giving Up Carrying The Torch For Carbon Pollution Limits?

In yesterday's post on how we need a climate bill not just individual action on Earth Day, I wanted to include a link to email your member of Congress to ask them to pass clean energy & climate legislation.

So I checked the website of the Sierra Club ... then Repower America ... then NRDC ... then the National Wildlife Federation ... then Greenpeace ... then Friends of the Earth ... and there could have been more ... before I finally found a climate bill action alert at the Environmental Defense Fund. I'm not saying there are definitely no climate bill email links at those groups' sites, but I couldn't find them with a few clicks & quick scanning.

If national conservation organizations aren't going to keep talking about limiting carbon pollution, who will?

I understand House Republicans aren't going to do much of anything that's positive on energy or environmental issues at all this year, never mind try to solve our biggest problems. When it comes to protecting public health & wildlife, we're playing defense this year, beating back attacks on the Clean Air Act & Clean Water Act. And after years of rallying around a climate bill, I can understand mixing in some other issues as well to keep people's eyes from going crossed.

But what I don't understand is the conservation groups' continued focus on compromises like renewable energy standards. If we're in a political climate in which nothing is achievable, why focus on the achievable? If you're going into a negotiation and you know the other person's going to say no, why water down your ask? Why not ask for what you really want?

The next milepost in this debate is January 2013. The House can only get more friendly to tackling the climate crisis, the Senate has about a 50/50 chance of staying where it is or getting friendlier, and President Obama is a good bet for reelection against a weak GOP field.

Now is the time to push the reset button and set the goal for the debate after the 2012 election (there can be plenty of watering down after that). Where do conservation groups want the carbon pollution debate to start? A carbon tax? Cap and trade? Cap and dividend? In a dreary time, let's dream big.

Fallen Fruit

Via NRDC's Jessica Lass, check out this cool new website for making sure fruit doesn't go to waste, called FallenFruit.org. It has maps for cities in California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, but nothing out east (yet).

Earth Day Can't Solve Our Biggest Challenges - But We Can

What's Earth Day 2011 about? Consuming!

That's right, new AOL subsidiary Huffington Post declares, "There's no better way to celebrate the planet than with free goodies!" Because nothing says conservation like using more than you need.

Shameless corporate co-opting aside, I'm cynical about Earth Day for one reason: No major environmental problem has ever been solved through voluntary individual action. Voluntary individual actions didn't solve DDT, water pollution, air pollution, ozone destruction, or acid rain - federal government action did.

Right now, our biggest environmental challenge is our addiction to dirty fuels and all its destructive effects - a climate in crisis, polluted air and water, destruction of communities & habitats thanks to oil drilling & mountaintop removal, the list goes on. But on EarthDay.org, you have to make two clicks to get to anything about legislative action, and that's only an ask to sign a petition ... which feels more like it's about collecting your email address than driving action.

What Earth Day CAN do is raise awareness, especially among Earth's newest residents, about our environmental challenges. You can join an event in Arlington on Saturday, or find an event near you at EarthDay.org. And there is one giveaway worth checking out - Capital Bikeshare is giving out bike maps & membership coupons in Rosslyn today.

But none of that is a substitute for the concerted action needed to change our national policies and keep energy & environmental issues at the top of the political agenda.

If you too find yourself feeling a bit cynical this morning and are in need of an Earth Day laugh, you can watch last year's NWF Climate Capsule Earth Day flashback. Or join Stephen Colbert some Earth Day jingoism by yelling SUCK IT, OTHER PLANETS:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Earth Is Awesome
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Sheraton Shares Savings With Guests Who Make "Green Choice"

UPDATE 6/16/11: Should've said this is a Starwood Hotels program, so you may find it at a Westin, a W Hotels, etc.

Forget 5 cent fees and rewards - Sheraton Hotels are putting some real weight behind their effort to get customers to buy in to conservation efforts. And since hotels can save big bucks on staff time and water costs if they don't have to strip and wash your still-clean sheets every night, why shouldn't conservation-conscious customers share in the savings?

With the Sheraton's Green Choice program, guests who decline housekeeping service get a $5 voucher per night towards food and non-alcoholic drinks:

Worth noting that Sheraton has also been a leader in going smoke-free.

I would show you a picture of the food I purchased with the vouchers, but it's long gone. After a long couple of days on Louisiana's Bay Jimmy, I was in no mood to conserve the freshly-fried fish in front of me.

The Green Miles Back In The Gulf

I'm in Louisiana this week for the National Wildlife Federation as the one-year mark of the Gulf oil disaster approaches. Here's my first post at NWF's blog.

TVA Moves Away From Dirty Power As Coal's Long Sunset Continues

I wrote last year about how, by helping kill clean energy & climate legislation, politicians claiming to be on coal's side were actually helping accelerate coal's inevitable decline. Without a Congressional mandate to pretend "clean" coal is real and massive subsidies for technology research, coal wouldn't be able to compete against natural gas, solar and wind power.

States like Colorado have already begun shuttering coal plants and moving to cleaner energy sources. Dominion Virginia Power is switching coal plants to natural gas & biomass. And now the Tennessee Valley Authority is announcing plans to phase out 18 units at three dirty, coal-fired power plants and install modern pollution controls on three dozen additional units:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at 11 of its coal-fired plants in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The settlement will require TVA to invest a TVA estimated $3 to $5 billion on new and upgraded state-of-the-art pollution controls that will prevent approximately 1,200 to 3,000 premature deaths, 2,000 heart attacks and 21,000 cases of asthma attacks each year, resulting in up to $27 billion in annual health benefits. TVA will also invest $350 million on clean energy projects that will reduce pollution, save energy and protect public health and the environment.

"This agreement will save lives and prevent billions of dollars in health costs. Modernizing these plants and encouraging clean energy innovation means better health protections and greater economic opportunities for the people living near TVA facilities,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Investments in pollution control equipment will keep hundreds of thousands of tons of harmful pollutants out of the air we breathe, and help create green job opportunities that will reduce pollution and improve energy efficiency."

But coal state politicians continue to insist all is well. Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston (WV) Gazette's Coal Tattoo blog has a must-read post on West Virginia politicians denying the reality of coal's decline:

Never mind that a handful of West Virginia counties account for the vast majority of the state’s coal production, while at the same time being home to a very small share of our population. Or that many of those same counties areamong the poorest in West Virginia. Or that coal is a very small share of West Virginia’s gross state product. [...]

As so often seems to happen with coal, though, the answer to that is not to follow the law, but to try to change it. And that’s what Sen. Rockefeller is trying to do with his legislation to block EPA action. [...]

[Rockefeller] oddly refers to EPA’s “rush to regulate” greenhouse gases. Rush to regulate? Seriously?

Come June, it will have been 23 years since Dr. James Hansen warned Congress that global warming was already underway … and with a GOP-controlled House, does Sen. Rockefeller really believe there’s much chance of a comprehensive climate change bill becoming law — or would the success of his EPA-blocking legislation just be a way to again protect coal from having to "embrace the future"?

My only question is, why won't politicians like Barack Obama, Tim Kaine & Mark Warner level with voters that the age of coal is ending? Instead, we get lots of empty rhetoric about how "clean" coal will someday appear out of thin air. Do they really think voters can't handle the truth?

Arlingtonians Want Hyper-Restrictive Zoning, Except When They Don't

According to Charlie Clark of the Falls Church News-Press, it looks like Arlington's zoning administrator is holding up yet another improvement in Arlington's Westover neighborhood, this time a proposed farmers market:

[John] Reeder's vision, which he says is backed by Westover merchants, would start with 20 farmer-vendors on McKinley St., on the grounds and parking lots of the Reed School/Westover Library. He and 25 fellow enthusiasts foresee the market as being open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., supervised by a new nonprofit created with civic associations. The newly renovated Reed, he says, was designed with a front plaza and sidewalks with just such a use in mind.

This November, Reeder won verbal approval from the School Board, which has jurisdiction over the Reed property.

But there's a snag. "The county zoning staff has indicated they will not issue a use permit until after an elaborate change in the county ordinance pertaining to farmers markets," Reeder says. Officials asked for detailed plans that require the blessing of school board and superintendent. "The staff told us it will likely not be till September or later this year before we could get a use permit," Reeder says. "That means essentially there will be no Westover farmers market in 2011."

What, do you expect Arlington's zoning administrator to go rushing in blind to something as dangerous and controversial as (gasp!) a farmers market! Won't someone think of the children???

But Arlingtonians have asked for this type of hyper-restrictive regulation. At the same time Westover residents are shaking their heads at the regulatory maze to set up a simple farmers market, Lyon Village residents are asking for new ways to restrict parking on their streets. And while the project is finally moving forward, it took a concerted community effort to overcome citizen & County objections to the Westover Market Beer Garden.

Look at the East Falls Church redevelopment plan and the top citizen complaints about the area - "Lacks unifying identify or central focus," "Has underused land and prevalent surface parking," "Lacks neighborhood-serving retail." Historically, Arlingtonians haven't see those as bugs - they were features. In 1986, EFC residents had the county create zoning bans on business or multifamily homes to keep those loud young people out of their neighborhood. And now 25 years later they're wondering why their neighborhood is boring and isolated.

Photo via Arlington Green Party

"God Seems To Will That The Creeks Rise A Bit More Often"

Via Andrew Sullivan, a great post on the impact of mountaintop removal on Appalachian communities.

Metro's Olden Days: When We Were Willing To Pay For Nice Things

Do you think some day, my grandkids will temporarily turn off their GoogleApple iMmersion Suits 2053 and say, "Grandpa Grant, will you tell us the story again of how Metro used to have carpeting and nice seats?"*

Since DC, Maryland and Virginia (well, mostly Virginia) can't get on the same page about a dedicated funding source for Metro, the transit agency continues to cut wherever it can. Most of the changes aren't visible to riders, like slashing funding for maintenance & long-term improvements.

But last night I got to experience one of the most visible changes for the first time - new cars with dark wool fabric seats instead of the usual orange/brown fake leather and hard floors instead of carpeting:

When Metro first opened, carpeting & padded seats were seen as a good investment to lure finicky DC commuters out of their cars. Now, the theory goes, Metro has plenty of customers and can scale back on the luxury items.

I'm torn on the carpeting - while it does seem unnecessarily expensive, the car felt cold & barren without it. The fabric seats were a bit more alarming. How can I put this? I'd much rather my seat repel whatever was spilled on it rather than absorb it.

* - Of course they'll never turn off their iMmerison Suits. If anything, I'll have to turn on mine to talk to them. Right after I make sure the sea wall's still holding. I told you people about the global warming! But you didn't listen! (Shakes fist at cloud.)

Update 9:11am: Michael Perkins of GreaterGreaterWashington.org adds on Twitter, "I'm telling my grandkids how we used to run trains more than once/hr outside of peak of the peak of the peak of the peak time." But running trains more often, getting more people to work on time & getting more cars off the road would require raising taxes on Virginians each year by $1! SOCIALIST.

An April Reminder of the Anthropocene

DC's had an odd spring - stretches of cool, damp weather mixed with record highs. After Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport set a record high of 81 on March 18, Monday's forecast of 88 threatens the records of 91 at National, 87 at Dulles and 85 at BWI. Then we're right back down to lows in the 40s on Tuesday & Wednesday.

Globally, the trend remains clear - NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reports January-February temperatures were 0.72 degrees F above the average for the 1900s. That means that the first 2 months of 2011 tied for the 17th-hottest on record.

The March edition of National Geographic took an in-depth look at the Anthropocene: Age of Man. This NOAA graphic highlights some of the extreme weather events around the world in February:

Why Do Bird Types Show Up at My Feeders in Twos?

Interesting that I haven't been getting new species at my bird feeder one at a time - they've shown up in twos.

The tufted titmouse & Carolina chickadee made sense - similar habitats, similar feeding strategy, safety in numbers (especially given the toughs that hang out around here).

But this week two very different birds showed up on the same day. A White-breasted Nuthatch flew up to the suet feeder:

Then a Dark-eyed Junco came hopping along looking for stray seeds from from my sunflower seed feeder:

While I've seen rabbits, hawks, and even a bald eagle in this area, I hear I haven't met some of the most interesting neighbors. A National Wildlife Federation coworker who lives in Arlington's Madison Manor tells me he regularly sees foxes ... and on trash night, has heard a coyote yipping in the darkness.

Read all my backyard birding posts under my birdwatching tag.

Will GOP Shut Down Government Over Mountaintop Removal Mining?

We already knew Republicans might be willing to shut down the government to de-fund family planning & block enforcement of the Clean Air Act. But in a surprise turn, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) now says it looks like the GOP might be willing to furlough nearly a million federal workers to keep blowing up mountains:

"Curiously enough, mountaintop mining was put on the table late in the game. Who knew that was going to lead to the shutdown of the federal government?" Conrad said on CNN.

The move comes on the same week that over 150 citizens with the Alliance for Appalachia converged on Capitol Hill for the Week in Washington to end mountaintop removal:

Mountaintop removal mining relies on heavy explosives to blast off several hundred feet of mountain to expose coal seams, and has impacted over 500 mountains in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee to date. According to the EPA, the practice has also buried or destroyed more than 2,000 miles of streams in those states.

Residents who live in proximity to mountaintop removal mine sites complain of orange and black tap water flowing from their faucets, breathing in coal dust floating in the air outside their homes and higher-than-normal cancer rates.

“If we are serious about moving America toward a clean energy future, banning mountaintop removal must be the first step,” says Jane Branham of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards. “For our economy, for our health, and for our heritage—we need this administration and this Congress to act.”

Watch my interview with Matt Wasson of Appalachian Voices:

From That Day On, If I Was Ever Needing Beer, I WAS RUNNING

I was in the beer aisle of Harris Teeter last night when a guy next to me in his 20s shook his head ruefully and said, "Man, I'd kill for some good, strong beer. Any chance you know anywhere like that around here?"

"Absolutely," I said. "Go to Westover Market up on Washington Boulevard. Three of the four walls are packed with beer."

His eyes lit up. "Is that far?"

"Nah, about two miles from here," I told him.

"Thanks!" he said, then spun around - and I am not making this up - and RAN DOWN THE BEER AISLE AND OUT OF THE STORE. Hey, when you need good beer, you need good beer.

I tell this story only as an excuse to link to this ArlNow.com story updating the progress of Westover Market Beer Garden in clearing Arlington's regulatory hurdles. So far, so good!

Genuine or Greenwashing: Carbon-Neutral Domino Sugar

Was in Harris Teeter last night looking for sugar & noticed Domino has gone carbon-neutral with CarbonFund.org:

Going carbon-neutral definitely gets filed under genuinely green - other than switching to 100% renewable energy, I can't think of much that'd be higher on the green list.

And this seems like a great example of an opportunity to use a legit environmental effort to differentiate your product in a category where brand loyalty probably isn't very high. I mean, if Skippy peanut butter goes carbon-neutral & you're a Jif man, you might not want to give up the taste that reminds you of mom's kitchen. But I can't imagine anyone being like, "Screw you, Domino! I'll never leave Dixie Sugar! Do you hear me, Domino? Never!"

DC Metro vs. NYC Subway

The Green Miles spent last weekend in New York City. Riding the subway, I couldn't help but notice the comparative advantages of DC's Metro:

• Much smoother
• Much quieter
• More seats
• Padded seats
• Most seats face forward or backward instead of the constant sloshing of sideways seats
• Carpeted floors
• Vastly cleaner due to the ban on food & drink
• Escalators (I only took one escalator on the NYC subway all weekend, at Times Square, and of course people stood on both sides of the escalator so you couldn't walk up)
• A lot less in-car advertising
• A lot fewer construction detours & delays

Obviously the NYC subway is a much older system tasked with carrying a lot more people on a lot more lines that service a lot more stops and they're doing the best they can. But it was a good reminder that, for all the complaining, we have it pretty good here in the DC area.