Editorial

When a tree falls …

When the first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970, Sonoma County was a very different landscape with a very sick Russian River, a deadened Laguna, lead-spewing automobiles, tons of highway litter and a county land use map poised for massive suburban sprawl from Petaluma to Geyserville.

The current controversy over changes to the Meat Market project is part of a larger discussion. Open government gives us, the public, a voice in decision-making. One of the most important issues here is whether the public can or should be left out of the decision-making process on a project like the Meat Market.

Millions of gallons of oil have been spilled across the United States through ship, rail and road collisions, explosions, pipeline ruptures, storms, etc. Big oil disasters continue to reverberate through the environment and through our news cycles: the BP oil rig explosion that wreaked havoc in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the ship Cosco Busan that crashed into the Bay Bridge in 2007 dumping oil into San Francisco Bay, and the famous Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989. While we watch the ongoing analysis, litigation and attempted cleanup from these high-profile events, there are measures we can all take to reduce a lesser but still very serious threat.

There is an energy bill before Congress that needs your

—Rollie Atkinson

Welcome to summer, the season of growing light, relaxed purpose and new opportunities. Summer dreams. Summer breaks and summer vacations. Summer of our youths, summer play. Let’s do it.