Two Pieces of Good News and One of Bad?

Tags

Enbridge, Line 3, MPUC, Pipeline

While I was at Rec Lab last week, there was a major step forward in the Minnesota pipeline fight as the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), Ann O’Reilly, issued her recommendation on the Enbridge Line 3 “Replacement” Pipeline request.  While I have yet to read the entire 368-page document, I have read enough to provide a bit of a commentary. Here is her SUMMARY OF FACTS AND RECOMMENDATION:

Applicant has proposed, what it calls, a “replacement project” – a project to replace Line 3 in Minnesota. In reality, Applicant is asking to abandon its current Line 3 and construct an entirely new pipeline – one that is longer and wider, has the capacity to transport more oil, and opens a new corridor through northern Minnesota for nearly half of its route. For Applicant, the new line would replace existing Line 3 within Enbridge’s Mainline System. For Minnesota, as proposed, the Project represents a new oil pipeline and the abandonment of an (old) one.

Line 3 was constructed in Minnesota in the 1960s. Through the years, and as recently as 2009, Enbridge has added additional pipelines alongside Line 3, such that Line 3 is now located within a corridor with five to six other Enbridge lines. This corridor of lines runs through two Indian Reservations: the Leech Lake and the Fond du Lac Reservations. Regardless of whether the Project is approved, five other Enbridge pipelines in the Mainline corridor will continue to run through those two Reservations.

The evidence in this case establishes that Line 3 is currently being used and remains an integrated part of the Enbridge Mainline System. This system of pipelines delivers crude oil to Minnesota and various other states. Line 3, however, is old, needs significant repair, and poses significant integrity concerns for the State. Accordingly, the Judge finds that replacement of the line is a reasonable and prudent action.

The evidence also establishes that “apportionment” on the Enbridge Mainline System currently exists for heavy crude oil, has existed for some time, and will continue to exist if this Project is denied. “Apportionment” means that Canadian oil shippers who use the Mainline System to transport their products are unable to ship all of the crude they seek to export into the United States. Apportionment shows that demand for shipment of oil on the Mainline System exceeds Applicant’s capacity to ship the oil through its pipelines.

The evidence shows that, due to its age and condition, existing Line 3 cannot transport more than 390 kbpd (thousand barrels per day) of light crude oil. Therefore, without significant repair or replacement, Line 3 cannot assist Applicant in resolving apportionment on the Mainline or meeting its customer’s demand for oil transportation services.

A new Line 3 would solve two problems. First, it would remedy the integrity issues related to the old line. Second, it would allow the Mainline System to meet the current and future shipping demands of Applicant’s customers (i.e., shippers), who are predominantly Canadian oil producers.

Based upon these facts, Applicant has established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the probable result of denial of a Certificate of Need would adversely affect the future adequacy, reliability, or efficiency of the transportation of crude oil by Applicant’s customers; specifically, Canadian crude oil shippers.

Applicant has not, however, established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Minnesota refiners or the people of Minnesota would be adversely impacted by denial of the Project. The evidence shows that Minnesota refiners are currently receiving sufficient amounts of crude oil to meet their production needs. Therefore, denial of the Project would not result in harm to Minnesota refiners.

While a denial of the Project may not result in harm to Minnesota refiners, granting a Certificate of Need would likely result in benefits to Minnesota’s refiners and refiners in the region. These refiners would benefit from access to more crude and different crude mixes. This increase in supply options would likely yield benefits to the people of Minnesota, as consumers of refined petroleum products.

Based upon this evidence, the Administrative Law Judge concludes that Applicant has met its burden of proof in establishing the first criterion of need under Minn. R. 7853.0130(A).

Applicant has not established, however, that the consequences to society of granting the Certificate of Need are more favorable than the consequences of denial when evaluating the Project, as proposed. As proposed, the Project requires the creation of a new crude oil pipeline corridor through Minnesota for approximately 50 percent of its route (from Park Rapids to eastern Carlton County). The Administrative Law Judge finds that, based upon Applicant’s Preferred Route, the consequences for Minnesota outweigh the benefits of the Project, as it is proposed.

This cost-benefit analysis changes, however, if Applicant replaces Line 3 in its current location. That is, if the Commission were to select Route Alternative 07 as the pipeline route in this case. In such a circumstance, the benefits to Minnesota refiners, refiners in the region, and the people of Minnesota slightly outweigh the risks and impacts of a new crude oil pipeline.

In-trench replacement of the line allows Minnesota the benefits of the Project, including the replacement of an aging and infirm line; elimination of apportionment on the Mainline System; and the economic benefits of removal and replacement. (Note that removal of the line will substantially increase the economic benefit to Minnesota.)

Moreover, in-trench replacement mitigates, to a large degree, the detrimental impacts that abandonment of an old line and creation of a new oil pipeline corridor would have on the State.

In-trench replacement will: (1) allow Applicant to utilize its existing pipeline corridor where at least five other Enbridge pipelines currently operate; (2) isolate the environmental risks of an oil pipeline to an existing, active oil pipeline corridor; (3) prevent the abandonment of nearly 300 miles of steel pipeline; and (4) avoid establishing a new oil pipeline corridor in a particularly sensitive region of the State that could be used, in the future, for additional pipelines.

In 2029, Enbridge’s easements with the federal government, allowing it to run six pipelines through the two Indian Reservations, will expire. Thus, sometime before 2029, Applicant will need to either renegotiate those easements with the Tribes and the federal government; or remove those lines from the Reservations. Approval of the Project, as proposed, would result in a partially new oil pipeline corridor being created in the State where Applicant could someday request to relocate its other pipelines. This is especially true if negotiations with the Tribes before 2029 are unsuccessful.

Applicant seeks to decommission and abandon its old Line 3 in place. That would mean nearly 300 miles of steel infrastructure being abandoned in Minnesota, where it will remain for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In addition, the easements that Applicant has obtained from landowners for the new Line 3 allow it to “idle in place” the new line, thereby signaling to the Commission that Applicant also intends to someday abandon the new Line 3 when it no longer serves Applicant’s needs.

The abandonment of the old Line 3 and the creation of a new corridor leaves open the possibility of thousands of miles of Enbridge pipelines someday being abandoned inplace when they are no longer economically useful to Applicant. This is particularly true in a carbon-conscious world moving away from fossil fuels; a move that Minnesota aspires to follow.

To that end, the Administrative Law Judge recommends that the Commission GRANT Applicant’s Application for a Certificate of Need but only if the Commission also selects Route Alternative 07 (in-trench replacement) as the designated route. The ALJ finds that Route Alternative 07 best satisfies the legal criteria for selection of a pipeline route, as compared to Applicant’s Preferred Route and the other route alternatives.

An approval of Route Alternative 07 does not, in any way, infringe on the sovereignty of the various Indian Tribes to disapprove permits or other approvals required for construction of the Project through land over which the Tribes maintain jurisdiction. Just like the Commission cannot bind the federal government, the Commission does not have the authority to require the Indian Tribes to permit the replacement of Line 3 within the Reservations. It would, however, likely encourage the Tribes and Applicant to accelerate discussions that must inevitably occur prior to 2029 related to the five other lines.

Absent the existence of five other lines within the same corridor, and absent Applicant’s request to abandon its old line, the Administrative Law Judge may have made a different recommendation. But under the facts as presented by the parties, this result best balances the public interest in the transportation of energy and the protection of Minnesota’s people and environment.

Applicant states that it is seeking a “replacement” of Line 3. This recommendation endorses such an approach – it provides for a true replacement of the line.

So basically, there is a need to replace the leaky pipeline as a prudent way to eliminate the integrity concerns if crude transport is to continue in Line 3.  However, because of it’s fragility, Line 3 is unable to supply Enbridge customers, predominantly Canadian crude oil shippers, their desired demand. So Enbridge has shown that they cannot safely transport to meet the needs of these customers.  What they haven’t done is prove that Minnesota refiners or Minnesotans NEED the project. In fact, denying this project would not harm Minnesota though she finds that granting the Certificate of Need “would likely” benefit Minnesota refiners and refiners in the region…  BUT, she finds issue with their proposed new corridor, which if approved would have consequences that outweigh the benefits for Minnesota.  IF they do an actual replacement of the current Line 3, the benefits “slightly outweigh” the risks and impacts of a new crude oil pipeline. She does note that pipeline removal will substantially increase the economic benefit to Minnesota, something Minnesotans for Pipeline Cleanup have been saying for some time now, including in their recent March 8th Press Conference.  When Dan gave his testimony for the ALJ last year, he noted that the number of jobs for pipeline removal was three times the number for pipeline construction.  Looks like his point got good coverage here with the ALJ!  Unfortunately for me, and more importantly our future generations, there is little in her summary referring to the massive effects on climate change.

And the tribes are, once again, given a back seat with the ALJ’s conclusion that more pipeline work on both the Leech Lake and Fond du Lac Reservations would be her recommendation, at least through 2029 when the easements expire, though she does note that they have the right to deny the new construction.  Red Lake has made it clear that Enbridge needs to remove their lines from the Band’s land immediately so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

It is possible that Dan may have an idea of what might happen.  One scenario is to put in a new terminal in North Dakota who would likely be very supportive of new fossil fuel infrastructure and thus eliminate Clearbrook, MN. [Boy!  They’d never see that one coming!!  “Enbridge is our friend!”]  By following the Red River (as Friends of the Headwaters had suggested), they can bypass much of the Minnesota issues and route more directly into Joliet, IL.  The good news for the U.S. is that, should there be a rupture into the Red River, it flows north to Canada so their dirty oil would then cause issues for them, not us.

Enbridge originally made clear that they would not proceed unless their proposed new corridor route was approved.  So this may be a line in the sand from the ALJ.  Enbridge will have to decide how truly important it is to build a Line 3 Replacement… a true replacement that is.

The second piece of good news this week was that the State of Minnesota has supported the use of the Necessity Defense by the Valve Turners in the trial pending in Clearwater County.  MPR did a summary story that explains the history – it’s worth the four minutes to update yourself by listening to the embedded link in this story on what may be the case of the century in the little county seat of Bagley, Minnesota, population 1574 according to the signs at the edge of town (though the 2016 census puts the population at 1400).

The gist of the case is that the activists admit to their attempt to shut down the pipeline but they argue that this is Necessary because all other efforts to prevent climate change have failed.  Our legislators and corporations continue business as usual, pumping fossil fuels from the ground and into our atmosphere while millions are dying from the effects of climate change.  None of our marches, letters, or actions have been able to stop the increasing dangers and loss of life due to climate change.  Thus, these types of civil disobedience are the only way to bring the issue to light so that real efforts to mitigate climate change are implemented.  This is a Climate Emergency!  The use of the Emergency Shut Off Valves on the pipeline was the proper response to the emergency.

This cross-country shutdown of the Tar Sands pipeline last October was done as a sign of solidarity with the people of Standing Rock.  Thus far, three other activists in the action have been tried and sentenced with varying degrees of punishment:

• Ken Ward ~ time-served along with community service and supervision in Washington.
• Michael Foster ~ currently serving a one-year sentence in North Dakota. (Got my second letter of response from him while at Rec Lab too!!)
• Leonard Higgens ~ received a three-year deferred sentence with probation. He was also ordered to pay $3,755.47 in restitution.  [Note that Leonard’s attorneys filed two appeals which may keep this issue in the public eye – the true goal of the non-violent civil disobedience – to persuade as many people as possible that we must address climate change now… and in a massive way.]

Personally, we’re hoping to provide housing and support for those coming to defend the four in Bagley: Annette Klapstein (activist), Emily Johnson (activist), Benjamin Joldersma (support person), and Steve Liptay (documentarian videographer).  Maybe I can even get Bill McKibben to sign the giant poster I have of him in our kitchen!  Rumor is that he and James Hanson could be brought in to testify.

The one bad piece of news – though maybe another ugly angel that turns out to help the pipeline fights – were the explosions at the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin.  At first there was no urgency in evacuation but it soon became clear that an evacuation would be needed.  Which makes me ponder, “what do you do when you get this notice?”  Hell, how do you even KNOW there IS a notice?  And how far away do you have to go to be “safe”?  Is Duluth far enough away?  How long do you have to be gone?   If you’re at work, do you go home to rescue pets and take them with you to a safer place?  What if you have no where to go?  Does Husky Energy have to foot your bill for a hotel in Duluth?  So much to consider – one of the many things most of us don’t give a second thought to in our day-to-day operations.  But perhaps these citizens were better prepared as some may have also survived the 1992 “Toxic Tuesday” event when a train carrying benzene gas derailed just south of the city forcing the evacuation of about 30,000 people.  It’s important to remember that benzene is part of the chemical concoction that will be mixed with the Tar Sands to allow them to “flow” through the Line 3 Pipeline Enbridge is proposing…

In 1992, the situation was a disaster of unknown proportion when it happened.

From the Duluth News Tribune “20 years later, benzene spill still stings in Duluth-Superior memories” by Mike Creger,  June 30, 2012:

It was a flammable liquid mixture that was 45 percent benzene, which, splashing into the river, created the cloud.

Another car had liquefied petroleum gas, which made cleanup extremely difficult and dangerous. Another contained crude butadiene, a compound used to make synthetic rubber and also dangerous to handle.

But in Superior and Duluth, no one knew any of this.

At command headquarters at Duluth City Hall, Lyons’ staff was having a difficult time getting answers.

“Communication was the hardest thing,” he said. “You had an incident in another state.”

Finally, frustrated, a team went to the site. A call was made to Canada and the manufacturer of the benzene. More than 21,800 gallons of it had spilled through a foot-wide gash in the tank. Officials wanted to know what it was and what health dangers it possessed.

“They were evasive,” Lyons said of the manufacturer. “Either they didn’t want to tell or they didn’t know.”

The command center certainly knew it was an irritant, given the reaction of the officers on Park Point as the cloud passed over. Lightheadedness, flushed faces.

Finally, chief deputy Bob Larson made it plain, Lyons said. He asked the company representative what he’d do if his family was in Duluth with the cloud looming.

“He said he’d get them the heck out of there,” Lyons said.

Now, an extensive evacuation was on.

“It was a movement of 30,000 people with one sentence,” Lyons said, still praising Larson, who died last year.

Of course, Enbridge is assuring everyone they are not affected… but the fact is, they supply this refinery.  Thanks to Ellen Zoey Holden Hadley for this FB post:

“Confused about Enbridge’s role in yesterday’s disastrous Husky refinery fire? See the large white storage tanks to the left and right of the black plume? Those are Enbridge’s. Husky refinery gets its oil from the Enbridge terminal across the street. The Enbridge pipelines that cross Minnesota deliver the oil to the Enbridge terminal. And see that dark line of trees behind the big white tanks? The Nemadji River is behind those trees, and flows into Lake Superior, about 1/2 mile to the left of this picture.  THIS IS WHY WE MUST STOP LINE 3!!!!”

And there’s this from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press:

HYDROGEN FLUORIDE A CONCERN

The Superior refinery is one of about 50 nationally that uses hydrogen fluoride to process high-octane gasoline. An acid catalyst, hydrogen fluoride is one of several federally regulated toxic chemicals at the refinery, such as propane and butane.

The refinery can handle about 78,000 pounds of hydrogen fluoride, according to federal Environmental Protection Agency records.

Schade, the refinery manager, would not answer specific questions on hydrogen fluoride Thursday, only saying its presence at the refinery was one reason the evacuation was underway.

A Superior Fire Department official said having the fire spread to the hydrogen fluoride tank would be the worst-case scenario for the situation to worsen, with other experts saying the fumes could spread a toxic cloud of gas for miles downwind.

A 2011 report from the Center for Public Integrity called hydrogen fluoride an “extremely toxic” chemical that, if released into the atmosphere, can spread rapidly.

“It’s like chlorine gas. It’s an extremely toxic gas cloud that can move for miles downwind,” Fred Millar, a Washington, D.C.-based independent consultant and activist on refinery toxicity issues, told the News Tribune. “If your local officials aren’t explaining how concerned they are about that, then they should be. It would be a disaster. That’s what the evacuation (distances) should be based on.”

So, is it worse to be a dictator in Syria purposefully releasing chlorine gas to kill citizens or to purposefully build infrastructure that could literally cause the same end result?  This article makes clear that the corporations involved realize the danger they have created.  If they choose to continue business as usual, and it seems there is no reason to think they would do otherwise, are they not just as culpable as Assad?

It is perhaps time we all begin contemplating what we might need to do should some similar type of event happen in our community.  And maybe that consideration will lead us to discovering less hazardous ways of living, safer ways of life, and more sustainable methods of enjoying each day.

Advertisement

I’m at Rec Lab!!!

Tags

Rec Lab

Taking the week off to thoroughly invest in Rec Lab.  See you all next week… hopefully with a report on all the fun I had, things I learned, people I saw, and clay art I made.

Rec Lab 2017 ~  Clay work and Instructor Laura Burlis

Update: This is the $2 jacket I picked up on the way to Rec Lab – hoping to decorate it in Jenifer Burlis-Freilich’s Upcycling Clothing class!!  (I can tell you it’s turned out great… you’ll see in next week’s blog.)  I also got a $2 olive colored shirt that I’m turning into quite the get-up.  I’ll be wearing it at the next Corey Medina and the Brothers show…. I’m really loving upcycling clothes.  But my first love of Polymer Clay is still taking a BIG part of each day at Lab…

See you next week!!

Rec Lab 2018 Prep

Tags

Rec Lab

It has been a whirlwind time since getting back from Indiana.  First I had to finish a book on Dan and my First Year at the Harn because a Shutterfly coupon I had was going to expire March 31st.  Then, I decided I’d made it so big that I should go ahead and use the 50% off coupon instead which had a deadline of April 2nd.

After getting that done, I could play a bit.  I headed over to Connie’s to work on tote bags we’re making for the Rec Lab auction.  Got partway through that work and then headed to Angie’s where she planned an Alcohol Ink on Tile craft day.

Now I thought this would be REALLY fun.  It turns out, it’s kind of frustrating.  There is NO CONTROL.  Just when you think it’s almost perfect, you add another drop and the whole thing turns to shit.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some really cool effects and Angie was pretty good at the perfect tile work.  She made flowers and landscapes and designs.  Meanwhile Connie made wonderful abstract flowers, rose, iris, etc.

Meanwhile, I was like a hippie clown on acid.  All my stuff was just rainbows of weirdness.  You can see Angie’s work in the top four left tiles below (and the far right solo one), Connie in the bottom four left corner tiles, and me in the line dropping down from the crazy alien fried egg thing.  I just kept adding stuff like an ink spritz, an alcohol spritz, another drop of ink.  Nothing really seemed to fall into place.

So… I started taxes.  Yes, I know, it was late.  But we had the Turbo Tax and I figured I could do it quick.  And you know what?!?  I DID!  It only took a couple days and it was SO MUCH easier than loop-de-looping through all those circular tax formulas in the book.  Now, let’s just hope we don’t get audited cause that program is kind of a black box…  Dan took a pic of me as I was immersed in the process.  I had two computers, three screens, a bunch of paper records, and two TV trays beside the desk.  And I survived.  Barely.

We had a Grant Writing class for a couple days and THEN I figured I could really start working on the Rec Lab preparations.  And what did I decide to do?  More alcohol inks.  (Yes, the tote bag I started at Connie’s is still awaiting a lining.)  I don’t know if it was that I thought I could make it work if I just tried harder or if I didn’t want to admit the project had bested me!

The second round of ink on tile went a bit better.  But I also realized that the clear coat spray had something in it (acetone, I think) that was causing the tiles to bleed as I coated them.  I had one only bleed halfway and I think this was because it was painted while not lying flat.  Half the tile remained as it had been originally painted, half turned into a tie-dye wash.  Weird.  But I decided this whole set could be a “Wake Up from the Blur/Party Until Blurry” coaster set.  You can just use them all the time if your a real alcoholic.  It’s like a progression of clear to blurry work it seems, or blurry to clear, depending on how you look at it.  But they still look kind of cool.  Who knows.  Maybe no one will bid on them.  But I’ve had a couple compliments so… we’ll see.

The new tiles I got are smaller as I thought I could make some little magnets out of them.  And they are turning out OK.  Here’s a Beach Bum set I made for the auction.

I also still have to get packed for Rec Lab.  It should be a fun year with my neighbor Connie coming as the Discussion Leader.  I’m hopeful she has an enjoyable time.  I am pumped up about the stuff she will present – something for almost anyone.

And I am really looking forward to seeing many of my Rec Lab friends as this is the one time of year I get to visit with some of them. And, of course I’m looking forward to the crafting.  And the food – Cheryl and the kitchen staff are pretty amazing at Camp Wapo.  Just hope it also decides to warm up a bit before we get there!!

I’ll see you in a couple weeks.  Next Monday is Rec Lab.  And I hope to have lots to show you from there after I return home.

Is Spring Here Yet?

Tags

Birthday

We’re in the middle of Third Winter here in the North Woods.  It just keeps staying cold.  And it’s April!!  But we see more snow in the forecast in the coming week…

We did get a brief respite from the cold with a trip to Indiana last month.  It was a Birthday Fest and we partied til we dropped.

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Dan and I decided that we’d break up the trip by stopping in Wisconsin for a quick overnight on the way down and the way up.  This made the trip so much easier on the body.  But it also made it more enjoyable for the soul!

On the way down, we were going to stop in Eau Claire.  But I noticed on FB that Stewart Huff was going to be in Madison the very night we were travelling through!  SO AWESOME!!!  Wait.  You don’t know Stewart Huff?  Oh, Lord, you NEED to!

Dan and I met Stewart at the Indy Fringe in… heck, maybe 2011 or 2012.  Anyway, I think the show was titled Uncle Baby Daddy and we thought that sounded fun.  And boy, was it.  Stewart comes on stage and, when you’re living with the Yankee bias that I do, you hear his southern accent and think, “Uh-oh.  This might suck.”  But you stay and you realize… that he’s BRILLIANT!  [We tell him he is the Smartest Hillbilly we know.]  If you EVER get a chance to see him.  Go.  Do not hesitate.  Just Go.  Seriously.  GO.

So when I saw his Madison show coincided with our trip south through Wisconsin, we were ON IT.  I contacted the venue because you couldn’t get tickets online.  The response was basically that they are first come-first serve, day of the event. So I told the guy we were driving eight hours and REALLY needed to be at the show, if he could help us out… (plus, I mentioned that it was my birthday week – can’t hurt!) Well Al Rasho who runs the North Street Cabaret hooked us up.  He was super awesome and we will definitely go back to this venue if in Madison again.  They have a small space but they fill it with great drinks & fresh, local food (heck, it’s Madison, People), along with great entertainment.  Give them a try if you’re in the neighborhood.

The show opened with newcomer to comedy, Allie Lindsay and I have to tell you, a tag line in her show has become a tag line in Dan’s life.  She gave us a great gift with her fart jokes that night.  And Nick Hart was amazing too.  IN a short set, he conveyed a story that linked McFast McFood, cocaine, and scallions.  It was phenomenal.

Since the first show where we saw Stewart, I’ve had this thing of sharing treats with him.  We were snacking on Freaky Fritos as he prepped for the Indy show as I recall and we offered him some.  He loved them.  So now, every time we see him, I bring him treats.  For this trip, I made him an ice cream bucket of Freaky Fritos, or as we call it “Krack”.  He was stoked!  [“This is ALL for me?”  He was incredulous.]  And he made me feel so special.  Like, I don’t know how many people this dude must meet but he really remembered me and Dan.  At the end of the night, after an amazing show full of laughs and even a few tears – cause Stewart speaks from the heart – he’s super smart and makes you think about stuff, often in a compassionate way so, yes, I cried – he asked Al if he could have a few more minutes… to tell a story that he recalled was my favorite from our days in Indiana.  How nice is that???  And then he told the Penguin Story.  Perfect night.

On we head to Indiana and it was SO GREAT to see friends and family.  Even though we planned an extra long stay – a whole week – it was not long enough to see but a few folks.  But we really enjoyed the warm-up and the green grass.  And it was Birthday Fest!  First was Steph and Chris, then me, and then Rookie.

Fran and I started with Chris – which, of course, involved CRAFTING!

I so miss my Crafty Ladies – Jackie and Shayla joined us today too!! – so we made some cards with really shiny embossing powder embellishments.  Chris’ cards are always so much better than mine but I enjoyed learning the process and I very likely will be doing more embossing powder, now that I’ve hung out with it for a while.  Crafts are kind of like that.  When I get a taste of one, I like to hang with it for a while and play.  We also had a lovely meal at the IHOP (Near Ft. Ben on 56th) – nice staff and good food (except the chicken wraps – don’t get the chicken wraps).  I had the corned beef omelet and it was smashing.  BTW, if you’re GF, be sure you tell them NO PANCAKE BATTER in your eggs – this is a normal thing they do apparently at IHOP.

So Steph’s Birthday required a do-over due to stress and overwhelm on the first one, but… Hey, we’re up for another party any day!  For her second birthday, I made the Red Wattle Ham that Merry Gardens had given us and, WOW, was it delicious.  I told Farmer Randy, “It’s like a total different kind of food!”  It was melt in your mouth delicious and, as it was accompanied by organic mashed potatoes, also from MGF, it was a big hit with Steph.

The next birthday was ME!!  Dan had a BIG PLAN that he’d been working on for weeks.  He’d organized a team of people to contribute to a BIG birthday surprise for me and it was Wonderful.  I especially loved the card from Tommy.  Sometimes you wonder, as a parent of a grown child, just how much and what they might think of you.  Well, I felt super special after reading his card.  It was lovely.  And made me cry.

We had a beautiful sunny day to go to City Market where Dan got his hair cut at Jack’s Barber Shop – you simply MUST go for the cut-and-a-show.  Brenda is a RIOT and if you don’t gather a few laughs while you’re getting handsome (or beautiful, as the case may be), it’s your own damn fault.  We had a bite of lunch with Steph and then headed to Fran and Ed’s where we REALLY Enjoyed sitting on the warm, sunny porch!  So beautiful.  And such a nice thing to be in that space again – a place full of so many fun times and good memories.  One of the hardest things about leaving Indy was knowing it meant not seeing Fran and Ed every couple days…

But today was a HAPPY DAY!  We had cake – yummy GF cake – Fran, you are TOO GOOD to me!!  And GIFTS!  The man really outdid himself with his Team of Birthday.  He and Tom actually had a code name for this venture so they wouldn’t have me catch them in their planning – though I remained oblivious throughout.

Then the BIG Party happened.  Little Rookie turned Three!!  And it was a whole Boss Baby thing.  He looked dashing in his Boss Baby Suit and I hope he liked the Boss Baby and (brother) Tim puppets that Connie, Char and I made for him as much as I enjoyed making them for him.  That was a real project but the three of us made it happen and I think they turned out real nice.

We were also able to catch up with friends Jill and Markus and that was super fun.  Dan got to check off a Bucket List item as we ate at Wheatley’s.  It’s kind of funny about the name.  I ordered bacon and eggs there, as well as some hash browns that the serving lady advised against… “Everything we have has Gluten in it.  I wouldn’t risk it.”  […to which I replied, “even those eggs and bacon?  they have gluten?” Seriously lady… you’re ignorant.]  But seeing the Robinsons was wonderful and it was good to hear about how grown the kids are now.

I guess the birthdays do start to pile up faster each year now.  But it sure was nice to have such a great trip full of birthday fun.

Oh, the place we stayed on the way home was an AirBnB in Eau Claire that we HIGHLY recommend.  We were their second hosting and these two Tech School Instructors were great fun.  We chatted up the evening and Kristi noted that she thought, on seeing our names, that we might be their first lesbian couple! When I told Dan later (as he’d stayed in nap mode after all that driving, his response was, “I’m a lesbian.” 😀  So I guess they CAN say we were their first lesbian couple. Anyhow, their place is comfy & cozy, fun, and quiet.  We got a great deal being one of their first stays – less than $25 as I recall – but they are worth the visit no matter the cost.  Check them out.

See you next week!!!

 

Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Acceleration ~ A Review and Commentary

Tags

books, common sense

Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Acceleration was was my first full read of a Thomas Friedman book.  [Probably a good thing to accomplish, now that I’m officially a Minnesotan.]  His writing style was efficient, packing in loads of detail and information.  But it was also full of story and flowed along, bringing you to each new point in a very logical and entertaining way.  I was especially impressed with the early discussion on technology.  Though I grew up with computers as a young girl, Bitcoin is still a mystery to me, and I feel I’m losing in the race to keep up with the latest gadgets, software, and ideas.  But his explanations, including expert narrative from the field, made me feel like I could comprehend, in large part, what’s been happening in the last few decades of development.

Friedman’s book is laid out with two small bookends on two large areas of discussion.  His intro, Reflecting, is a wonderful story full of serendipity [one of my favorite topics] fueled by focused action.  His ability to see value, in those who others may not, led to a wonderful interaction and I feel like this has been a story throughout my life.  I’m amazed at the people I meet, some who others would typically dismiss, and the great gift I get from them.  It was heartwarming to read of Friedman’s good fortune resulting from his reaching out to a stranger who became the unlikely source for this book.

The meaty middle sections deal with Acceleration and Innovation.

In Accelerating we learn about three main areas, Technology or The Supernova, The Market, and Mother Nature, which are driving the pace of life faster and faster.  And we learn why the start of much of what is happening points back to 2007.  A fascinating read in hindsight, to consider the massive rate of change that we have seen in the last decade.  But a startling realization at what we are not giving enough attention to, as we rush forward, is a warning of our possible demise.

Moore’s Law, which originally predicted that the level of complexity of components would double every two years, with a corresponding reduction in cost, was proven with an improvement from sixty elements to sixty thousand elements in a single integrated circuit over ten years.  That rate being unsustainable, Moore’s Law was later revised to envisage the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubling approximately every two years; still a very rapid pace of development.

Friedman gives many examples of how technological development led to better and cheaper devices, pushing accessibility to the masses and resulting in the “The Cloud”, which offers an ever-expanding availability of data and resources via the Internet.  Friedman more accurately refers to this as “The Supernova” and he explains how it, along with Globalization, has changed our world, and also our Economies.  The Market chapter delves deeper into how this has been happening and then the chapter Mother Nature discusses some of the ramifications of our fast-paced, resource-depleting, way of life is affecting us environmentally.

Glenn Prickett from the Nature Conservancy sums it up nicely at the end of this section: “Nature doesn’t need us but we sure as hell need nature… Losing sight of that simple fact could be disastrous for the human species”. Amen.

In the end, there may be only one way forward.  To simply go on doing what we’re doing, until we find ourselves extinct.  Nature knows that life will go on, in fact will likely thrive again, once humanity is gone.  Or at least has its numbers reduced to a sustainable level.  The trees will take over and dominate much of the US east of the Mississippi.  The grasslands and herds will recover in the west. Coastal cities may well be submerged but most of the coast has been depleted of wildlife as urbanization and population grew, so much of Nature will remain unaffected.  Well, I guess sharks and fish and turtles will gain new real estate!

It will be interesting to watch over the coming decades… or as long as we get on this planet.  Though Dan and I know it’s not perfect, we are hopeful that our home is more sustainable than some.  And while life will be pretty rough if we lose the grid, gas, and stores, we hope to have a food forest in place to feed ourselves and some small livestock to keep us with enough protein.  And, if not, there are always the deer and other critters, wild plants and mushrooms, and white pine needle tea.

Friedman argues that now is the time for us to decide if we will use the powers we have to destroy… or to protect and preserve.  He noted that humanity has risen to the occasion following geopolitical upheavals in the past (Hitler, Pearl Harbor, 9/11) but this time the threat is of our own making and we will need to act on a scale never before imagined, for a generation not yet born, and before we reach the limits of our planet’s capacity to sustain us.  This is a monumental task and not one we can fix if we do too little or wait too long.  As he notes: “We cannot rebuild the Greenland ice sheet, the Amazon rain forest, or the Great Barrier Reef.” And there is no 3-D printer that can regenerate “rhinos, macaws, and orangutans”.

Friedman’s second large section, Innovating, covers the meat of his title – what Optimists need to do to Thrive in this Accelerated Age.

He begins by noting that things are just moving Too Damned Fast.  Yes!! Friedman argues that we cannot slow down – that putting our paddle in without continuing to pull hard is like dropping in a rudder and we will not be able to keep up and compete.  On this I am not so sure I agree. I believe a little slowing down and reverting to less technology may be our best way forward.

I am realizing that this fast pace is, in part, what drove me from the Rat Race.  I was getting lots done for my job and crafting as much as I could, but I never truly had time for a full focus on either.  Or time to reflect.  And I never got enough time to really develop what I felt in my heart was most important… me.  If we all spent more time in personal development, I believe we’d all find ourselves working together more compassionately and effectively.

I realized that in moving to rural Minnesota, I took an even bigger step back from the Acceleration.  People living here still have a sense of taking time.  Things are not so rushed.  And you see it in how they often care for one another.  I worried I would not be able to adjust but I have LOVED the slower pace (in large part).  I have seen since leaving the Rat Race that I still have access to fast-paced life with Bemidji less than an hour away, but I can choose to stay secluded in nature, spend time on the farms of friends, craft with neighbors, and more enjoy LIFE.  Taking time to consider what is going on in the world at large has enabled me to blog about some of the happenings and this has deepened my experience and understanding.

Friedman’s first section on how we Innovate is entitled Turning AI into IA, where he addresses the changing nature of how we use robotics, computers and telecommunications and how they are ubiquitous in our lives. He discusses how life-long learning will be necessary and how technology has allowed more people access to learning at cheaper rates than ever before. And he argues that Intelligent Assistants will help us forward.

Interestingly, he depicts how sometimes, when we add automation (like weaving machines or ATMs) the result is not what we expect (less weavers or bank tellers).  In fact, the number of jobs increased in these arenas… but with new skills and responsibilities instead.  When automation drives up availability, more demand means we have more need for workers in a given area.  But with automation, there are new skill requirements, and often our old system of business hinders our next wave of workers.  For example, an executive assistant (EA) job now requires a Bachelor of Arts degree.  However, only 19% of current EAs have a B.A., meaning if any of them want to change jobs, we would require him to “quit, go into debt for eighty thousand dollars to get a BA, and then interview for another opening for the exact job (he is) already doing.”

It’s no wonder the new economy is becoming “badge-based”.  Organizations like LinkedIn and Opportnity@Work are offering jobs to people because of their skills, regardless of how these skills were achieved.  Brick-and-morter colleges are struggling to keep up with coursework development that keeps pace with the changing needs while online training courses are much more quickly providing the needed skills to those willing to invest their time (on their own schedule and typically at a much lower cost than traditional education) to earn badges they can use to denote skills on their resumes.

I finally started to truly see the Optimist aspect of Friedman’s book on page 255 in a section entitled Come the Revolution.  He explains that good middle-class jobs today are “stempathy” jobs – those which blend technology and human interpersonal skills.  He explains how we went from 19^th century jobs working mainly with animals and plants to 20^th century paper-pushing jobs to 21^st century jobs where we will mostly work with people… Dov Seidman (American author, attorney, columnist, and businessman) refers to it as moving from “hands to heads to hearts”.  While we automate so much of our work, there is always going to be a need for a “heart”, something machines cannot have.  I am hopeful this will bring us to a place of more humanity, more compassion, and more community.

After reading this section, I texted Jill (who loaned me this book), that page 255 was my favorite page and she replied:

Yes, and here’s where I think this is going:

– Comment to Captain Picard when he brings an Earthling aboard his ship from the 20th century: “Captain of a Starship. You must make a lot of money.”

– Picard: “In the 23rd century we don’t work for money. We work to better ourselves.”

We’ve got a few centuries to go, but I think it’s moving in that direction.

It will be the end of 4-year B.A. programs where your degree is obsolete on or just after graduation.  It will require a constant updating of skills to keep pace with change.  It will mean we no longer find our jobs, but invent them.  We will go from a time when the first question we ask someone is, “What do you do?” (as in, for a living) to, “What is your passion and how do you leverage it to make a living?”  In the long game, I foresee a time when we no longer rely so much on money exchange as we do on trading of products and services. Our lives will be more intimate as we work more locally and with stronger community to provide our sustenance, our housing, and perhaps even our healthcare.  But our lives will likely also become more global as technology allows interactions around the world to solve problems.  There will need to be some form of exchange to compensate efforts in these veins though I predict it will not be dollars, yen and rupees.

This section wraps with a call to look not to what we are losing (jobs to automation) but what we are gaining, which is yet to be revealed but could promise our becoming the people we want to be.  A 2014 Gallup poll revealed that the biggest factor in having a successful career was having mentors who had taken an interest in your aspirations and having an internship associated with what you were learning.  People helping people.  Imagine that.

In Control vs. Kaos, Friedman describes the changing geopolitics of the acceleration age.  With globalization, the interdependence of countries has resulted in the need for America to assure that its old (and current) enemies don’t fail.  He argues that a collapsing Russia or China could mean our own downfall.  I’ve said for years that maintaining our own manufacturing would be smarter than outsourcing everything to cheap labor countries.

If China fails, you’ll be wearing that same pair of shoes for a lot longer and much of the fear of nuclear threat will return if Russia loses controls over its nine time zones of warheads.  Do we stop propping up disintegrating states to prevent further disorder?  Or do we intervene and find ourselves stymied by bills we may not be able to pay? It’s no wonder we don’t see much progress… it’s hard to know what to do.

There was a long period of steady and stable growth following WWII but destabilization today, especially in the “straight line” border countries created by colonialism and imperialism, is seeing many stressed by the Market, Mother Nature and Moore’s Law.  Friedman reviews Madagascar, Syria, Senegal, and Niger to give examples of some of the effects taking shape in recent past.

The major issues?  Population growth that exceeds resources.  Deforestation that outpaces replacement capacity. Depletion of natural resources by political cronies and outsiders, made worse by the drought resulting from climate change.  The results?  Desertification. Mass migration of refugees.  And hungry people easily radicalized.  When a jihadist group can offer a couple hundred dollars a month and you are used to living on $2/day, you take the money and send all you can to struggling family back home.

But Friedman argues that the acceleration empowers not only “political breakers” bent on tearing down governments to install religious or ideological tyranny, but also “political makers” who want to remake autocratic (and I’d argue also democratic, or say… oligarchic) societies into more consensual ones. Though this gets complicated.  While most of the discussion was pretty pessimistic, it took me to page 313, another of my favorite pages in the book, where he talks about how radicalization happens when youth have few options.  He proposes a plan called ADD: Amplify, Deter, & Degrade.  Amplify talks about investing in “islands of decency and engines of capacity-building in countries in, or bordering on, the World of Disorder.” Whether it is education, gardens, chickens, or internet access, this investment pays big dividends for the US.

“When we invest in the tools that enable young people to realize their full potential, we are countering the spread of humiliation, which is the single biggest motivator for people to go out and break things.” ~ Thank You for Being Late, p. 313

The US is currently backward in our investment: Friedman cites $1.3B in tanks to Egypt’s military being far less productive than the $13.5M in college scholarships for Lebanese public schools. He quotes Jumana Jabr, an English teacher in Amman public school in Jordan who said:

One is for making people and the other is for killing people.

How simply and beautifully put.  It reminds me of something Dan and I keep saying, “They don’t hate us for our freedom.  They hate us because we are killing them.”

When it comes to Deter and Degrade, Friedman offers much less detailed guidance and, as a child of the Cold War, I’m not so keen on a nuclear deterrent as our best option.

Mother Nature as Political Mentor focuses on the fact that in developed democracies we have, in large part lost out pillars of stability:

• the expectation of the next generation being able to achieve a middle-class lifestyle with better standards of living than the previous
• steady flows of immigrants to provide low-skilled/high-energy and high-skilled workers
• equal opportunities for a decent middle-class life in rural and urban areas

This chapter focuses on the political innovation we will need, and which our current center-right and center-left politicians have been unable to navigate.  But I wasn’t feeling very optimistic at the outset as he said it would require a “brutally honest assessment” of climate change.

Maybe I shouldn’t lose faith.  Who will he go to as a mentor as he develops a list of solutions?

“I can think of no better political mentor than (Mother Nature)… a bio-geophysical, rationally functioning, complex system of oceans, atmosphere, forests, rivers, soils, plants, and animals that has evolved on Planet Earth since the first hints of life emerged.” Thank You For Being Late p. 328

His description of Mother Nature’s Killer Apps shows why she deserves our respect and why our best hope is to mimic her. And he expands into solutions around five of these apps:

• Being Adaptive When Confronted with a Stranger – listening to input from one who is thriving and then adapting this input, rather than simply feeling humiliated by someone who appears to have more success… basically, being able to adapt your culture.

Culture is defined (BusinessDictionary.com) as the “pattern of responses discovered, developed, or invented during the group’s history of handling problems which arise from interactions among its members, and between them and their environment. These responses are considered the correct way to perceive, feel, think, and act, and are passed on to the new members through immersion and teaching. Culture determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right or wrong, workable or unworkable.”

• Embracing Diversity – like Polyculture where diversity promotes resistance to disease and pests (unlike Monoculture), while also better maintaining the topsoil. Did I mention that Jared Diamond (among others) has found that almost all civilizations that collapse have failed to steward their topsoil?  Friedman compares how the monoculture of ideas pushed by Al Qaeda and the Tea Party (funded largely by fossil fuel money and oil billionaires) create susceptibility to “diseased ideas: climate change is a hoax, evolution never happened, we don’t need immigration reform” thus allowing an “invasive species” like 45 into the garden.
• Assuming Ownership of the Future and One’s Own Problems – because when we own something, we are invested in its success.  Ownership enables “adaptation, self-propulsion, resilience, and healthy interdependencies”.  Revolutions are always about owning one’s future.
• Balancing Between the Federal and the Local (Ecosystem Interaction) – because in the age of acceleration, locals will have a better finger on the pulse of needed change and we will need to reconfigure the interaction of local and national government forces to allow more local controls (where trust is higher) while also still supporting national programs (where we can reduce the bureaucracy by limiting it to higher level issues).
• Mixing and Coevolving Ideas to Create Resilience and Propulsion – basically allowing all kinds of ideas to coevolve, like plants and animals coevolve in nature.  After reminding us that our current two-party system is unable to think outside their entrenched ideas (which haven’t been working and which mainly just divide – Republicans with tax cuts, deregulation & opposition to immigration…Dems with more regulation, more social welfare, and more identity politics), Friedman gives us 19 ideas on how Mother Nature would make “the Future Work for Everybody”. While I don’t agree with all of his ideas, I definitely agree that thinking along Nature’s way could go a long way in making humans in the U.S. more successful.

Friedman next asks Is God in Cyberspace?, a laws-free, values-free, and seemingly God-free space. His answers are intriguing. Just be aware that, if you haven’t yet seen The Martian, like I haven’t, there are some spoilers…

Being raised in St. Louis Park, he celebrates his heritage in Always Looking for Minnesota.  This is a wonderful chapter focusing on the value of community and the power of trust.  I have a good friend who grew up in St. Louis Park and he’s a dear.  I was thrilled to learn about so many more famous Minnesotans who grew up in this bastion of acceptance and community with a strong focus on education.  Friedman wraps up his Innovating section by saying You Can Always Go Home Again (and You Should!) where he discusses the many ways that St. Louis Park is still such a strong and well-working community. With stories from City Hall and the local High School he gives various examples of the trust and security found in this community.  And he gives insight into how the Itasca Project addresses “regional economic vitality, quality of life, and prosperity for all.”  Very interesting read.

His wrap-up is called Anchoring, and in it he reviews the importance of leadership and the “bitch” of transitions.  But his real optimism comes through in his Afterword.  Especially because it was written post-2016 election and in full view of the unfolding presidency that resulted.

While arguing that 45’s election and the Brexit vote are both the result of the age of acceleration and the associated unmooring of many, most especially less-educated, working-class whites, he argues once again for the solution of community.  In maybe my favorite passage in the book he notes the post-Brexit emergence of young people in Europe who voted to voice their opposition to the message Trump and Brexit are sending.  They don’t want to “disconnect in a connected world”, “go backward to monocultures after growing up in increasingly diverse urban areas”. Instead, they want to understand  the “necessity of building resilience and propulsion for middle-skilled worked in new ways – and they want leaders” who can take them forward.  They voted for “open” parties over “closed” parties and see the solutions not in top down systems but in bottom up building of communities.  He concludes:

“And that is pretty much the new divide in global politics today – the open parties verses the closed parties… the communities that are creating complex adaptive coalitions and rising from the bottom up and those where the bottom is falling out.” Thank You For Being Late p. 504

While 45 delivered an inaugural speech describing an America in “carnage” (that surprisingly brings Friedman and G.W. Bush [and me] to a point of agreement… that “That was some really weird shit.”), the reality is that the young people of today are full of hope, acceptance, optimism, technological possibilities, and global opportunities.

“Only strong communities, not a strong man, will make America great again.” Thank You For Being Late p. 512

And I would argue that this does give an optimistic spin on the entire adventure through which Friedman has led me.

This book is one of Wall Street Journal’s “10 Books to Read Now” and it has been reviewed as one of the best Nonfiction books of 2016.  I do believe it will bring a better understanding of our current global situation and insight into how we can best find solutions moving forward.