Gene Perry, treasurer of the Norman Sustainability Network at Dump the Pump in Norman, OK on Thursday, June 17, 2009.

OnTrac and the Future of Public Transportation in Oklahoma

The Norman Sustainability Network teamed up with CART (Cleveland Area Rapid Transit) on Thursday to host Dump the Pump, an event aimed at raising awareness to the public transportation offered in Norman, Oklahoma.

During this event I got a chance to speak with Gene Perry, treasurer of the Norman Sustainability Network (NSN). One of the campaigns that NSN is currently working on is the OnTrac program. According to the OnTrac website, the goal is to save the Union Station rail system to be used as a hub for commuter trains. Their plan is currently being threatened by plans to extend I-40 into the Union Station rail paths, destroying any commuter rail futures at this hub.

"This wouldn't even be an issue if they just built the highway close to 125 feet south of their current plans," said Perry. "We have even created an engineering plan to show how they could easily move the highway, and that has been submitted to ODOT."

Perry says what is needed now is for more pressure to be put on the Oklahoma City City Council. "They need to come out and say they are against the current plans. If they did that, it could really help our cause."

Below is a video from KSBI News detailing the situation. Keaton Fox reporting.

Plastic

I saw this video on CNN this morning:



If I was going to buy a water bottle off of the shelf, and had the option of a plastic bottle, or this, I would always choose this. I hope that this kid makes a fortune with his idea. I would like to see more innovation to reduce plastic usage.

Patio Garden

I took a break from writing to enjoy the two weeks away from school before I start back into summer school. I am taking a class on journalism and blogging, which I hope will help me improve this blog. I also look forward to the Fall semester when I take a class on Sustainable Community Building. I am very excited about that class, and expect to fill this blog with the knowledge I gain from it.

In the meantime, I wanted to post some photos of my little patio garden, which I was worried about at first, but has taken off since the weather warmed up.
So far we have harvested four cherry tomatoes, and there are two little strawberries that call to me at night. I can't wait for the watermelon to grow. So far it's just a very large vine though. I love watermelon.

Here is the first harvest of the summer:



Jason's Flower Garden:



Not the most professional picture, but here's the whole garden: flowers, strawberries, chili peppers, watermelon, cherry tomatoes, rosemary, garlic, and potatoes.



Callie and Russia enjoy sitting by the patio garden: