Dear VCCoolers,

Yay! Finally, another VCCool newsletter, packed with local events, climate change news, and important ways to make a difference.

Yours in Action,

VCCool Main Office
www.vccool.org

 

Special Thank You

VCCool incorporated in 2007. For the first few years, we put in long hours of volunteer time. But our opportunities and responsibility to the community continued to grow. To have continuous, dedicated staff it is critical that our work is funded. We would like to say a special thank you to these three local entities for their generous investments in VCCool's work in 2011.

Thank you to:
Patagonia - Great Pacific Iron Works
Channel Islands Bicycle Club
ASERT - Alliance for Sustainable and Equitable Transportation

Ventura's 5 Year Bicycle Plan

Monday, March 21
6:00 pm
City Hall, 501 Poli St., (City Council voting on bike plan)

VCCool's Ventura Bicycle Union (VBU) has been making sure that Ventura's Bikeway Master Plan supports bicycles for transportation. After a careful review, we put together an "addendum" of 27 important improvements. City staff appreciated our input, and agreed to put in all points. 20 VBU members attended Planning Commission or Parks & Rec hearings to support the plan with the addendum.

This update will be a major overhaul. We are excited to support the plan with the addendum.
We hope you come stand with us on March 21st in support of bicycle transportation.

Current Draft of Bikeway Master Plan (list of bike projects are in Chapter 7)
VBU Addendum (with our 27 points)
Prioritizing bike projects - suggested chapter

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Friday and Saturday, February 25 & 26
7:00pm
Poinsettia Pavilion
3451 Foothill Rd., Ventura
$10 Tickets for sale

Ventura Hillside Conservancy has done it again! They've put together a film festival to help us remember why do the crazy work we do to save this beautiful blue and green planet. Join VHC for a transformational experience. VCCool will have a table there, and we've heard there's a great raffle. Popcorn, cookies, and wine will be available.

House Bans EPA's Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gas

Hey, I've got a good idea. How about we let the Environmental Protection Agency protect environment! The house just voted 249–177 to ban EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. Stay tuned for upcoming actions.

EPA faces attack in Congress (very informative)
House votes to block EPA's global warming power (the latest scoop)
The public trusts EPA, loves the Clean Air Act, and wants Congress to butt out (interesting polls and charts)

Homestead Skills Group forming

A fun potluck-and-kids hands-on group is forming in the Ojai/Ventura region. They are teaching each other homestead skills like: raw milk and how to make cheese, harvesting pecans, possibly an herb walk in April, butchering chickens, making flutes, fire building, earthen building. If this type of knowledge calls to you, drop us a note. We'll pass it on to the right folks.

Bidder 70 - Tim DeChristopher: Putting it ALL on the Line to Fight Global Warming

What would you do if you thought you could really make a difference about climate change?

"Tim is facing ten years in prison on two felony charges for derailing an illegal sale of public land from the outgoing Bush administration to private oil and gas developers." - Peaceful Uprising

"This kind of trial is nothing but intimidation-- and the best answers to intimidation are joy and resolve. That’s what we’ll need in Utah." - bidder70.org

" 'Enough,' he thought, and that's when Bidder 70 sprang into action. Before anyone caught on, he'd purchased the rights to 22,400 acres for $1.8 million." - Huffington Post

A Call to Action- Today! - Tim's trial is February 28th. Support Tim. Help put climate change on trial.

Like Bikes? Like Kids? We Like YOU!

It's that time of year where VCCool ramps up for our HUGE Annual Kids Bicycle Safety Rodeo. We need your help! If you want to help in any way PLEASE, PLEASE let us know ASAP. This years' big event is May 21, and there's tons to do before then. Artists, mechanics, teachers, traffic guides, Spanish interpreters, food, you name it!

I want to help Ventura kids be safe on bikes!

Rainwater Harvest Strategies for Conservation

Monday, February 28th
5:30pm -7:30pm
Patagonia Firehouse Building, 280 W. Main Street
free

The C4 Green Building Council will be holding their monthly informative presentation. This month the speaker is Vaikko Allen on Rainwater harvest strategies for conservation. Captured rainwater represents a new source of high quality water that is ideal for irrigation, and a variety of other non-potable uses. (Editor's note: And hey! What about potable too?)

Ojai Valley Green Coalition screens: Green Horns
Supporting Young Farmers

Saturday, March 26th
4:30pm
Ojai Playhouse 145 E. Ojai Ave

If you received this message from a friend, and you'd like to be on Ventura's Global Warming email list, send a note to the action@vccool.org with instructions to add you to the global warming e-mail list.

To remove yourself from our list, simply send a note to action@vccool.org with a request to remove you from the global warming list..