Let no one say that San Francisco’s street cred as an oasis for liberal and progressive tree huggers is overrated. Its not. And I have evidence to back up my claims.

Exhibit A: Dreaming of a Green Christmas - For a limited time, Friends of the Urban Forest and SF Environment are offering San Francisco residents a chance to order a living, potted Christmas Tree for only $90. Each one of these beautiful, 6′ to 8′ tall trees has been handpicked to thrive in San Francisco.

For the first time ever, you can choose exactly which tree you would like to have in your home for the holidays when you pick up your tree at the City Hall Plaza Green Christmas Tree lot on December 7th, from 9 am until 5 pm. Trees will be available on a first come, first served basis. If you miss the tree lot, you can pick up your tree at the Friends of the Urban Forest offices from December 8, 2008 through December 12, 2008. Pick up your tree early for the best selection!

After the holidays, we’ll pick up the trees from you and plant them on our city’s streets. More details here - www.sfenvironment.com/greenchristmas/. Photo copyrights - SFEnvironment.org

Exhibit B: Harvey Milk Walking Tours - Not like there’s any shortage of tourist attractions in San Francisco, but just in case you’re looking for something new, LA Times coughs up the details about a Harvey Milk walking tour, which coincides with the release of Milk’s biopic starring Sean Penn as the assasinated gay activist on the City’s Board of Supervisors.

The 3 hour tour, offered by Cruisin’ the Castro Tours, takes you to Milk’s 2-story Victorian home in the Castro  neighbourhood, City Hall, and to a Castro storefront where the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society is displaying the bloodstained suit and shoes that Milk wore when he died, plus other items from gay history.

FYI, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was at that time the President of the Board of Supervisors, and was the first one on the scene after Dan White shot both Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. She put her finger into the bullet hole as she was feeling for Harvey’s pulse. Feinstein was made Mayor to replace Moscone, and then won two more terms on her own, and she’s now California’s senior Senator.

Exhibit C: Proposed EV Grid to power Electric vehicles - The New York Times’ Wheels blog explains a plan to build recharging stations around the Bay Area starting in 2010, which could lead to the deployment of 100,000 electric cars by 2012. Photo courtesy - Better Place.

The plan is being pushed by Shai Agassi, founder and chief executive of Better Place, a venture-backed start-up in Palo Alto, CA. The plan for the Bay Area network includes 100 battery-swap stations, Mr. Agassi said. And there could be as many as 250,000 individual charging locations. Participants in the plan would own the cars, but not the lithium-ion batteries. They would buy into mileage plans that would give them access to charging stations and battery swapping.

Posted on December 4th, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: News, San Francisco