Citizen Arborists. It is a great program. The benefits outweigh any costs.

May 3, 2021
By Morgan Greene

When Shirley Rounds Davis (click here) moved to her home on the Far South Side decades ago, she could see a maple tree through the window. Over the years, she watched it grow.

“And the birds would come,” Davis said. “In the morning, they would wake me up, and my children too, they’d wake us up with their song in the morning.”...

...Davis is one of many Chicagoans caring for the trees that make up the regional canopy coverage, which has increased by 2% since 2010, according to a new tree census from the Morton Arboretum. But that finding comes with some caveats....

...The canopy across Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties increased overall, from about 157 million trees and shrubs in the region in 2010 to 172 million today, a 2% increase bringing regional canopy coverage to 23%, according to findings from the census. Chicago has about 4 million of the trees, with the other 168 million in the seven-county region....

IT is not the only job of the future.

Grow tree stewards (click here) of the future by inspiring creativity and learning at the many education programs just for youth at The Morton Arboretum.

The EPA is correct in bring "no tolerance" to hydrofluorocarbons.

May 3, 2021
By Lisa Friedman

Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency (click here) on Monday moved to sharply cut down on the use and production of powerful greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning, part of the Biden administration’s larger strategy of trying to slow the pace of global warming.

The first significant step taken by the E.P.A. under President Biden to curb climate change, the proposed regulation focuses on hydrofluorocarbons, a class of man-made chemicals that is thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming the planet....

...But the speed with which the E.P.A. crafted language and moved forward with the proposed regulation is unusual and underscores the urgency that the Biden administration is placing on climate change, said Francis Dietz, vice president for public affairs at the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, a trade group.

These ozone-replacing gases should have been under control a long time ago to prevent global warming. President Biden is moving quickly to do all the work no one else bothered doing. These gases should not exist in manufacturing anywhere on Earth.

The list cannot stop here. The next biggest offender is methane. It has to be brought under control, including capping wells and ending leaks. Has to happen.

The EV (electrical vehicle) market MUST TAKE PRECEDENT. There was a report I read that said the USA will run out of gasoline this summer. No surprise. Peak oil was in 2005. No one bothered to tell the public they are living with gas engine cars and trucks on borrowed time. 

It is time for a major shift in personal transportation to EV. There are going to be people that fall off the car market altogether. What are they going to do about work and commuting? This is a major paradigm shift that will cause unemployment simply because people can't get to work. They bought the dream of living in suburbia. Wrong-way to go. 

For two decades I have advocated high-speed rail from coast to coast. Where is it? Anyone take that seriously? The only city in the country that has bothered to support living in the Burbs, is Boston. They have a commuter rail that most people working in Boston can take not far from their homes. Where has everyone been?

There needs to be more extensive mass transit. Any working American should have the option of getting on a bus to travel to the rail service.

Time to get real and only 100 days in office and Biden's EPA is moving quickly in the right direction.

Just a drop in to say hello.

Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. Where did he get the speed and endurance?

Great Grandparents. 

Storm Cat

AP Indy

Unbridled

They are all great horses themselves, but, when one considers Seattle Slew and Bold Reasoning who was sired by Bold Ruler at Clairborn Farms; I would have bought the colt in a heartbeat, too.

Medina Spirit has some of the finest thoroughbred blood lines, including the fact Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler. Bold Ruler wasn't much of a racehorse, but, he was a heck of a daddy.

If one is going to follow Medina Spirit, his career may very well follow that of Seattle Slew. Little known horse bought fairly cheaply at an auction, but, delivered a 1000 times his price.

The only other sire that turns my head is Princequillo.

When it comes to breeding Thoroughbreds,(click here) the wise money generally goes with the tried and true within the box of fashionable bloodlines. The wiser money will look outside the box and, once in a while, find gold where no one else would consider looking. Princequillo is one such Thoroughbred. He was like this his entire life....

It is always the "Rags to Riches" stories that make the greatest sires. Isn't he a beauty and his strength as a sire still holds true today. You can still find him in the lineage somewhere.

If it weren't for the horse, the trainer is nobody.