First of all, we will never have clean air. This was the shocking statement made by a good friend of mine who monitors air for a living. “CleanER air is the best you can hope for.” OK. I guess the Utah Moms for Clean Air misnamed the group (in more ways than one, I have to say).

When I hear that no child who grows up in Utah will reach full lung capacity, I pay attention. When a mother stood up at a Utah MOMS for Clean Air meeting and said, “My baby breathed the equivalent of 11 packs of cigarettes last winter during 22 red-burn days,” I paid attention.

What to do? Obviously, raise hell and attempt to change the legislation that creates the regulations that allow belching coal plants and belching trucks. Also, change personal habits (what we drive, whether we fly, and a million other smalls steps) and encourage those around us to do that same without crossing the line to become evangelists. Can’t do that evangelism thing. Groups of mothers and physicians are doing a great job of raising hell and raising awareness, though. That’s good.

But, my friend went on, “We aren’t just monitoring Utah pollution. We are monitoring global pollution.” CO, NOX, NO2, Ozone, PM10, Lead, SO2. We know a little about those global pollutants as they cross paths with very few monitoring stations in Utah. What about mercury, chlorine, dioxin, VOC, PM2.5, PM1. WHAT ABOUT MERCURY? Is anyone willing to stand up and call for monitoring mercury in the air, in the water, in the fish, in the foul, in our children, in our breastmilk?

I can do the basic Think Global / Act Local thing.

What if these steps don’t result in CleanER Air?

What steps should I take to deal with dirty air, to prevent my babies from smoking 11 packs of Salt Lake inversion cigarettes every winter? Should I be more worried that my children wear baby gas masks when they go out bike riding than giant foam crash helmets?

The Utah MOMS list of what to do focuses on making change for the future. That’s noble. In the meantime, what can I do to deal with asthma, childhood cancers, SIDS, low birth weight, reduced lung function, and just plain collapsing dead on the street on a red-burn day?

I don’t have an answer to that one.

Yet again, this past week Utah geologists warned that a big earthquake is due along the 220-mile, active Wasatch Fault. The warning isn’t new. It’s due, it’s due, we keep hearing. This time, the warning comes not after minor tembling but after the digging of a deep trench along the fault. The history of the fault becomes more clear as geologists dig through the slipping layers. Five big earthquakes in the past 6,000 years, they say. When I look at the USGS map of most recent five big quakes (magnitude 6.5+), it looks like activity is moving southward. This would put the epicenter south of Provo.

When I look at the Utah Geological Survey map of specific fault zones, I’m in a clear area. I realize that doesn’t mean no earthquake damage. I did mention to my spouse last week that I remember a lot of earthquakes growing up in Hunter (now West Valley City), and I wasn’t sure whether I am less sensitive now, there aren’t so many earthquakes, or we just live in an area where we don’t feel them. Looking at the map, I hope it is the last one. I hope it isn’t just a matter of geologists not caring enough to place a seismograph station nearby. Apparently, there haven’t been any earthquakes in the past week closer than 15-20 miles away.

Resources:

• 29 things to help you survive an earthquake from the Davis School District.
• What to do after an earthquake from the American Red Cross.

FREAKY UPDATE:

Monday night, May 28th, I felt an earthquake. I heard it coming, sounded like a faraway train. It lasted ~2.5 seconds, during which the shaking and creaking of my house moved from the southwestern corner to the northeastern corner. Quite mild. I immediately went to the USGS map above of earthquakes in the past week, didn’t find this one listed (yet), then followed the link for “Did you feel it?” I filled out their “Did you feel it?” form in detail.

So, I guess I have to take back what I wrote about not feeling earthquakes. The key is to be sitting alone in the quiet, with children far far away.

It was a 2.3 magnitude micro earthquake.

Rob Hopkins, of the amazing Transition Culture in Ireland, lead a recent meeting on energy descent in Lampeter, Wales.

I talked about peak oil and the need to begin preparing for it at a community level. I talked about the experience of Cuba and of the process which gave rise to the Kinsale Energy Descent Plan. 

I happen to know a little (very little) about this town.  My mother’s grandmother was born near there, a fact which drew me to hike up and down the green hills to find my people in my mid-20s. I didn’t find many people, but I found the overgrown foundation of a house and a sense that these small towns didn’t have much need for the technology that shaped my life.

One of the points Hopkins makes fairly frequently is: older structures are already prepared for power down.  This is true for buildings as well as for human structures like governments.

Hopkins mentions the Cuban experience.  My local Post Carbon group recently showed “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.”  Wow.  What a film.  An article last summer in Yes! Magazine compares the post-Soviet power down in Cuba and in North Korea.  Guess who survived best.  How and why Cuba was prepared offers very interesting lessons to those of us who will meet (or whose children will meet) peak oil in the near future.

In Australia, the Permaforest Trust’s Centre for Sustainability Education teaches not just the ideas but the practice of sustainability on their 100+-acre property.

Too many people I know, particularly academics, are willing to learn and hear more about sustainability, toss out sarcastic comments, and then feign self-rebuke as they admit that the practice is too difficult for them. That is how my local sustainability group has been going lately.

Where is the action? How do I learn from those who are doing what we all seem to agree must be done to come down gently from our carbon high? I look to models like that at the Centre for Sustainability Education.

Permaforest Trust’s founder, Tim Winton, outlined seven steps to take in preparation for the changes to come. Because we can’t entirely prevent the changes we will see in our warmer, post-carbon world, “your approach to sustainability must now include preparations for life in a fundamentally different world.”

1. Integrate systems thinking
2. Increase self reliance
3. Economic disruption
4. Don’t despair
5. No fighting
6. Planetary emergence
7. Tell this story

His suggestions for action are short and clear. Just be sure you ACT rather than simply taking in more information. (And, yes, I’m telling myself as much as anyone.)

I find it extremely interesting that military and law enforcement officers are being trained in disaster preparedness. This isn’t just a matter of combat readiness. The Navy Compass has been reporting on “family readiness” recently, including The Family Emergency Preparedness Fair at Serra Mesa. The event was created to “help military families prepare themselves to survive on their own for as long as possible in the event of a disaster.”

• Develop a plan
• Update emergency contact information
• Identify mustering points
• Develop emergency kit

The report lists the basic elements of a family readiness plan.

Who knew vegetarians have different survival needs than omnivores?

Vegetarians in Paradise, a Los Angeles magazine, asked readers to respond and make suggestions for vegetarian survival kit.  The only vegetarian-specific suggestions I find there are “powdered rice or soy powder” and “canned beans and bean-based soups, tetrapak soup (Imagine), individual packs of soymilk, vegan (Clif) energy bars and crackers. SELECT LOW-SODIUM ITEMS, AS YOUR DIET MAY CONSIST ENTIRELY OF THESE FOODS. Since you may not have access to fresh fruit or vegetables for a while, also keep some vitamins or (my choice) Emergen-C packets on hand.”

One reader suggested single-serving prepared foods from Dr. John McDougall.

What this tells me is that there is no one-size-fits-all list of survival supplies.  Whatever list you create, whatever you stock on your shelves, make sure your emergency supplies fit your lifestyle, your preferences, and your specific needs.