So Called “Green Activists” Trash San Francisco Park On “Earth Day”

Dolores Park Trashed on Earth Day

A reader and neighbor of Dolores Park sent some pictures of what he woke up to this morning at the park. This was after Recreation and Park Department staff had consolidated much of the trash into piles. He also described plastic bags drifting down Dolores, trash cans overturned, and trash covering the entire hill south of the tennis courts.

“I’m not sure who angers me more, the people who came to enjoy the park on Saturday and left this mess or Rec and Park, which continues to ignore the complaints and warnings of neighbors about the park’s abuse,” the reader wrote.

There was an Earth Day program this morning in Dolores Park, where volunteers helped clean up.

Volunteers Clean Park!

Fun days at Dolores Park? Much better when it’s clean!

Dolores Park Works celebrated Earth Day on Sunday by cleaning the park. Volunteers and students from the Bureau of Jewish Education and the Girls Club from Edison Charter Academy met with the park’s gardeners at 9 a.m. to learn how to take care of the park.

Teacher Paula Ginsburg shared the story of One Simple Thing, an educational project that features public school students and encourages people to reduce their waste — starting with not grabbing too many napkins in cafes.

The morning ended with a picnic from local merchants Bi-Rite Market, Morning Due Cafe and Rhea’s Deli & Market, with Rosemary Cameron, board chair of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, as a guest.

Tom in NC

Seattle Green Jobs Bust: $20 Million = 14 Jobs

Last month Seattle PI reported that the highly touted $20 million stimulus grant that would create 2,000 green jobs in weatherization is a major failure.  And, in my opinion, a criminal waste of money!  ~LTG

Seattle Green Jobs Program is a Bust

Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy – able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint – and the announcement came with great fanfare.

McGinn had joined Vice President Joe Biden in the White House to make it. It came on the eve of Earth Day. It had heady goals: creating 2,000 living-wage jobs in Seattle and retrofitting 2,000 homes in poorer neighborhoods.

But more than a year later, Seattle’s numbers are lackluster. As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of for low-income workers. Some people wonder if the original goals are now achievable.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Seattle-s-green-jobs-program-a-bust-2031902.php#ixzz1Y7EGeIv3