Good Times | Santa Cruz, which is published weekly, is a pretty good paper: Local news. Lots of stories on music, music, music! Horoscopes, if you're into that kind of thing. Plus: Where to eat? Good suggestions in the Good Times!
Brad Kava's "Editorial Note," in the June 19-25, 2024 edition, provided some commentary on that edition's cover story, which told readers about "Onewheel," touted as a way to "surf on land." Here's a picture, in case you're not familiar with this rather amazing device, invented and produced by a Santa Cruz-based company:
Having seen Onewheel in operation, I am not, personally, anxious to jump aboard. Going down the Water Street Hill (which is close to where I live) would make me nervous. Frankly, getting on to one of those things would make me nervous no matter where I did it. I am just not sure my balancing ability is ready for a 20-25 mile per hour ride on a Onewheel over unforgiving concrete. There have been problems, too, as revealed in the article, and as some personal injury lawyers say. Still, as the Good Times' cover proclaims: "One Decade of Onewheel." It's an amazing and interesting story, and it doesn't look like Onewheel is going away.
Kava's Editorial Note opined that Onewheel might be a way to reduce our need for automobiles. As I say, I am not personally convinced that Onewheel is going to be the way to do that, but I am convinced that reducing the number of automobiles out there ought to be a very high priority, given the "climate" challenges we are facing because of our continued combustion of fossil fuels.
Once Kava zeroed in on that "climate" issue, he had some further advice - and very good advice, I think:
The craziest thing I’ve seen on a Onewheel is a guy who carries his young kid to school on one in Aptos. Inventions like this are helping get us out of our cars, something that makes for a brighter future.
Now, if only our government would catch up and require all these new housing developments to be solar powered, we could really wean off the carbon teat that is sucking the life out of the planet (emphasis added).
Legal "mandates," legal "requirements," are how we tell ourselves what we should do. Making it a requirement that all new housing developments be "solar powered" - at least to the greatest degree possible - is just the kind of direction we should be providing to ourselves.
If you are not following the news on global warming and "climate change," let me tell you that the need to stop burning fossil fuels, period, is ever more urgent. Is Onewheel going to be an effective carbon combustion reduction strategy? Nice idea, but I'm doubtful.
But building all new construction to be solar powered, as a "mandate," as a "requirement"? Telling ourselves that this is how we have to do it?
That's really good advice from The Good Times!
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