This is the first week strike letter, the second week of the actual strike, which started early March, 2019. For context, see this story. For an annotated Table of Contents for the strike letters, see this story.
STRIKE FOR THE PLANET
while we can still make any difference at all, cause it’s now or never
It won’t be cheap, or easy, or politically feasible, or pro-capitalist, or any of the rest of the nonsense we’ve let blind us to both the science and the screaming of the biosphere as it dies.
But we have to do it, and we have to do it now.
So let’s talk about WATER.
We’re facing:
increasing drought with periodic devastating floods and slides
the poisoning and depletion of the groundwater that’s left
increased toxic algae blooms
heat waves in the ocean and bay destroying water ecosystems like forest fires
plastic everywhere
and much more.
So what do we, in SF, have to do?
We must:
recycle 100% of our water in SF
dramatically increase permeable surface area in SF
save the bay and delta – no tunnels to ship water south for a start
all organic gardening and farming in SF
give up Hetch Hetchy – it’s not sustainable and it hurts N CA’s survival options
immediately bring to the surface all streams and rivers in SF
eliminate all single use plastics immediately
eliminate reusable plastic entirely by 2021
no combustion motors in use for any purposes in SF by 2021 at the latest
establish rain gardens throughout SF
establish biologically diverse green spaces throughout SF (look at roofs, too)
make the city into an urban forest
divest entirely from every fossil fuel connection or entanglement
give financial incentive for victory gardens (aka a fee for not having one)
strict enforcement so everyone recycles and composts 100% correctly all the time
eliminate all surface pollutants that blow or are carried by rains into the ocean/bay
establish aggressive pick-up of toxins (from paint to unused medicines)
rebuild shore ecosystems
And get our scientists involved in figuring out how to do as much as we can as fast as we can while we still have the possibility to do anything at all. Now.