The way Critical Mass should be

Dear Editors,

Friday inaugurated the first coalescence of a Durango Critical Mass movement. In short, Critical Mass is a flash mob of cyclists and other human-powered vehicles celebrating their right to share the public roadways with automobiles in the hope of raising awareness of the presence and vulnerability of cyclists on city streets while fostering discussion about the best way to provide safe thoroughfares for nonautomobile traffic.

The movement traces its origins to San Francisco, where, over its 13-year history, it has received mixed reactions from the people and government of that city. The stream of cyclists would stretch for dozens of city blocks at a time, often disrupting other traffic flows for extended periods of time. I wanted to ride with the Critical Mass to see whether Durango's incarnation would cause any similar antagonism. I'm happy to say it didn't, but much of that has to do with Durango.

First, motorists in Durango are quite used to seeing cyclists sharing their roadways - we do so frequently. That is not to say that motorists couldn't be more considerate of cyclists or that accidents with cyclists don't occur. I stopped taking Roosa Avenue to work in the mornings because when I would pull out of the bicycle lane to make my left turn onto the 9th Street bridge, more than once a motorist would ride only a foot or two away from my rear tire and lay on their horn. However for the most part, I feel comfortable cruising down Main Avenue or any other thoroughfare in Durango, and motorists by and large are quite considerate about sharing lanes and driving cautiously around me.

Second, cyclists in Durango have reciprocated, practicing respect and caution in the presence of motor vehicles. Whereas many of the videos and photographs I've seen of Critical Mass movements around the world show the cyclists obstructing intersections, ignoring traffic lights and occupying all usable lanes of traffic, the pack in Durango limited itself to one lane and stopped en masse when traffic signals insisted.

And so, though like San Francisco or New York City, we were surrounded by cars blowing their horns, in Durango those horns sounded in support of our ride. Friendly faces would lean out the window and wave as they drove past, often yelling in support of seeing so many enjoying a leisurely stroll down Main Avenue on a beautiful spring evening. And I will ride again with Critical Mass the last Friday of this month, hoping for an equally prolific exhibition of why Durango is the sort of place that I want to live.

- Josh Ginsberg, via e-mail

Get on board with Bio-Willie

Dear Editor,

Singer Willie Nelson's partner, Peter Bell, markets biodiesel - "BioWillie" - to truck stops. He reported the following: Ford's F350 V8 diesel pickup can be FAR MORE environmentally friendly than Toyota's Prius Hybrid. Biodiesel (mostly from oil feedstock plants like soybeans) is 78 percent carbon-dioxide efficient - gasoline is 0 percent CO2 efficient, meaning the Prius emits 3.5 tons of greenhouse gasses annually.

Oil well to vehicle wheel, gasoline production harvests 0.85 of the energy extracted from crude oil - with biodiesel the farm-to-wheel ratio is 3.2.

Spilled biodiesel is 10 times less hazardous than table salt. If 25 percent of prototypes' ideas are incorporated into vehicles, American fleet fuel efficiency could increase from 23 miles per gallon to 60 mpg, equating to more than all our Middle-East imported oil. America imports 12 million barrels per day out of 20 million barrels needed.

Compound this foreign policy problem by using 180 billion gallons of fossil fuel annually - that's roughly equivalent to flooding all of Rhode Island 1 foot deep in fuel and setting it on fire. Burning that much fossil fuel has to have an impact on our environment. We need to displace fossil fuels we use with renewables like ethanol for gasoline-powered vehicles and biodiesel in diesel engines. We could eliminate our dependence on imported fossil fuels within five years.

Willie's diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz E320 can zoom from 0 to 60mph in 6.6 seconds and gets 37 mpg highway mileage. Combine improved efficiency with displacing 25 percent of gasoline with ethanol and 25 percent of diesel with biodiesel and America would no longer need imported fossil fuels.

Implementing renewable fuel strategies would benefit farmers without taxpayer handouts - diverting $50 billion annually from global fuel markets into home-grown, renewables like ethanol and biodiesel along with increasing taxes on petroleum-based fuels and de-taxing renewables. Increasing taxes on fuel while reducing taxes in other areas equals a zero net-cost to American motorists.

The real price of America's gasoline is more like Europe's $5 to $ 6 per gallon due to America's oil-industry subsidies. The International Center for Technology Assessment identifies and quantifies many external costs of using motor vehicles and internal combustion engines that are not reflected in retail gas prices that, when added to retail prices, result in a per-gallon price of $5.60 to $15.14. These costs consumers pay indirectly by way of increased taxes, insurance costs and retail prices in other sectors: (1) tax subsidization of the oil industry; (2) government program subsidies; (3) protection costs involved in oil shipment and motor vehicle services; (4) environmental, health, and social costs of gasoline usage and (5) other important externalities of motor vehicle use.

Drivers faced with gasoline-usage costs up-front can't ignore harmful effects their addiction to automobiles and the internal combustion engine have on national security, the environment, their health and quality of life. The easiest way to avoid any downside of biodiesel use is to forget about trying to use pure (B100) biodiesel. If biodiesel is blended with regular diesel, there are no downsides, just upsides. Blending biodiesel with regular diesel at either a B5 (5 percent ) or B20 (20 percent) level turns the blended product into a premium fuel.

One hundred percent vegetable oil is too viscous (goopy) to be used directly in a diesel engine and needs to be made easier to pour, like water. A vegetable oil molecule is like a three-tentacled octopus. "Transesterification" chops off the head of the octopus, so the three tentacles dangling below are free to float about, therefore the entire ocean is less viscous.

Biodiesel, over time, will soften and degrade certain types of elastomers and natural rubber compounds used in older fuel hoses and pump seal systems. Precautions are needed when using high-percent blends to ensure the existing fueling system on older engines do not contain elastomer compounds incompatible with biodiesel. Manufacturers recommend that natural or butyl rubbers not be allowed to come in contact with 100 percent biodiesel, otherwise they turn sticky and fall apart. Most vehicles made after 1994 will have fully synthetic fuel lines and seals so will not suffer from this problem, but older vehicles need to be monitored.As there's no need to re-invent the distribution network, the oil industry can easily get involved - which will ensure a speedy adoption of biodiesel. The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel dates to 1895 when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel engine to run on vegetable oil.

- Susan Franzheim

via e-mail

Gone to the dogs

Dear Editors,

It's time for a reality check for the Humane Society Board of Directors. Since easing out Linda Dunaway as executive director, the board has attempted to manage daily shelter operations with disastrous results. As Dr. Phil would say "how's that working out?" Employees are being fired and quitting left and right. Staff and employees are stressed and morale is low. ACO Field Supervisor Dan Parsons is the latest victim. Frustrated with the unprofessional conduct of a few board members, he filed a letter of grievance as required to meet with the board. Instead they fired him immediately. What good is a grievance policy if the board has no intention of respecting an employee's right to use it?

I have a lot of respect for Dan Parsons. He had the guts to say "enough." It cost him his job, but his courage might save the Humane Society from imploding by bringing these problems out into the open. The Humane Society membership and government officials need to ask some very hard questions of this Board of Directors.

It's no mystery why a group with such a positive mission has turned into an internal cat fight of paranoia, secrecy and duplicity. It is lack of leadership. Clearly the management of the shelter needs be run by a trained professional. The board needs to embrace its moral, ethical and fiduciary responsibilities. Humane Society members need to be involved and insist on accountability, open communication and a full disclosure of "their" Board. Perhaps an independent task force of Humane Society members, government officials and respected community leaders should be formed to review these issues and the future role of the Humane Society and Animal Control. May 7 is the annual membership meeting. Let's get out the vote to elect some new faces with strong leadership skills, common sense and kind hearts. We can't afford to bury our heads in the sand any longer. If we all work together, we can solve these problems.

- Virginia Chase Elder,

Durango

Hard times at Humane Society

Dear Editors,

Who is protecting our animals?

With the loss of Linda Dunaway as executive director, the Humane Society has lost its rudder. The Board of Directors has become involved in the day-to-day management of the shelter. This is NOT the role of a BOD. We need board members that understand the role of a board, that know the value of the employees. The employees and volunteers are afraid of the BOD. The employees have effectively gotten the message (through the example of the firing of Dan Parsons) that if you have a grievance and follow the procedures of the personnel manual, you will be fired BEFORE the board even hears your grievance (without the board actually personally hearing your grievance). Is that any way to run an organization? It is time to make some changes. We need new board members. Then we need an executive director.

If we can't count on our local Humane Society to be the protector of our beloved animals, then where do we turn? It is my understanding that the Board of Directors has decided that Animal Control is to enforce only the City and County Ordinances and laws (as per contract). As there are no county Cruelty Against Animal laws, the result is that Animal Control will not be enforcing the state Cruelty Against Animal laws. This is a reversal of previous policy. The BOD needs to take a look at the Mission Statement for the organization included as part of the bylaws: "The purpose of the LPCHS is the prevention of cruelty to animals, the relief of suffering among animals, and the extension of humane education." The Animal Control officers are supervised by the Humane Society's Board of Directors. The officers are the law enforcement personnel trained to deal with these issues. If they don't, who can?

I speak as a previous president and board member and also as a current involved volunteer. The employees need to know that you care. Come to the annual meeting May 7, 10 a.m. at the Fairgrounds to vote and express your concern.

- Sue Binkley,

Durango