Ron Hardy, member of the Environment and Energy Board, has an excellent blog today on the Northwestern site concerning plans for a new north side school. The piece can also be found at the Main St. Oshkosh site.
The piece identifies the four sustainability planks of the "Natural Step" program:
1. Use less fossil fuels
2. Use less chemicals
3. Preserve existing green space and eco-systems
4. People should be able to meet their needs
Applied to the proposal to build a new school on Ryf Road, Ron concludes:
"Although a new elementary school could be built at this location with the latest in environmental building technology, passive solar power, geothermal heating, LEED certification and more, the location of the school fails every sustainability test. "
I think Ron would make an excellent school board candidate.
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Just read the whole Ron Hardy piece. I agree and shared with one of the local supporters/ organizers for the Natural Step principles.
Ron shows how citizen action should follow from the understanding of the principles.
My focus is on local self reliance which takes me in other directions than just pointing out where not to do things.
Local self reliance can take the form of community investments that replace those held in failed and failing institutions and instruments on the national scene.
The Natural Step is one meme (catch phrase that can multiply.) Another is Financial Permaculture.
This means growing a local economy with local money, increasing dollar multipliers and including small investors with new kinds of financial instruments.
Think Green Bay Packers or Appleton Corp where the stockholders are members of the community or a business.
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