Gloria Ferris

Last evening I was with a small group of neighbors working on a group project when our conversation turned to heating our homes this winter- the cost of doing that, what each of us are doing to achieve that, and alternative ways to do it without a large dependence on natural gas.

Our hostess had apologized for the coolness of her home, and since we had finished our original task we turned our attention to heating our homes.   She said that she had turned the heat on when she arrived home from work but the furnace was still catching up.  She then said she was  looking for alternative ways to heat her home.  Three stories is a lot of square footage to heat.  Of course, she said her third floor bedroom was quite toasty.  It was the public area on the first floor that was more problematic.

Interestly enough, none of us had turned on their heat yet.  We all said that we had been wearing bulky sweaters and vests, wool socks, and heating our homes with electric heaters.   We have had some pretty chilly nights, but all of us were stretching the time line to its limit.  We were all aware that this weekend might be the turning point. 

We all agreed that our relationship with normal gas suppliers was deteriorating daily. The news that the PUCO had agreed to allow them to increase delivery charges, when conservation is at its highest point ever,  does not bode well for natural gas prices this winter.  Additionally, the international news that Russia, Iran, and  Qatar are exploring the formation of a cartel much like OPEC for natural gas should concern us all.  Given the fact that the United States has a 3.5% reserve of the natural resource compared to the 60% the cartel would own  means that this commodity will only rise on the world markets just as oil did.  We will definitely not be controlling our destiny if we continue our dependency on natural gas.

One of our group mentioned Mr. Slim heat pumps good to 0 degrees Farenheit.  He said that the electricity is negligible to run the unit.  Right now, he personally uses two $120 electric heaters to heat his 900 square foot home.  He is looking for alternative sources for heating and cooling for his rental properties.  He believes that low energy bills will be a marketing point for getting and retaining good tenants.  We all agreed.

One of our friends installed a geothermal unit.  He said that it did his heart good when he finally received that first gas bill where they owed him.  So my questions are how do we leverage this discomfort with the old models of heating, how do we cut our dependence on natural gas, how do we continue to conserve energy, and how do we eventually get off the grid and form a new paradigm?  We need more instruction than layering of clothes.  HELP!!    

Having read the comments on this Plain Dealer article and this one, I couldn’t help but wonder why the commenters attack the very people that need help more than any of us.  How do the borrowers who are victims of predatory lending become the cause of the problem?  I believe that the statistics show that at least 80% of the loans are being paid.  And are we ignoring the fact that at this point in time 10% of conventional loans are 60 days past due?  What are the causes of THAT statistic? How have the women, children, and chronically ill who rely on Medicaid become the reason that an HMO contract is seen by a hospital as too restrictive and not sustainable?

The poor in this country are our children who certainly are not perpatrators but victims and our elderly that live longer lives without resources.  I grant that there is a group of people who have made poor choices that end up the recipient of public assistance, but how large a percentage?  And when we focus on that segment do we diminish our ability to solve the social issues that cause extreme poverty?

For the majority of us, I think that the underlying emotion that fuels this animosity is fear.  After all, many of us in this country are just a heartbeat away from that which we fear.  And if not a heartbeat, just a phrase away.  Downsizing  will certainly start rolling off the lips of employers for many reasons.

Now is not the time to be fearful and attack the victims of what has occurred.  Now is the time to be bold, to invent new ways of dealing with runaway healthcare costs, to innovate new ways to create jobs and to educate our children so that they will be prepared to compete in the world.  A sure way of  losing what we have is to jealously guard it from unseen “foes”.

I believe that the opportunity here in NEO to reverse twenty years of poverty has never been better.  We have the talent, the resources and the capabilities to become very prosperous here if we don’t forget that inclusiveness serves a better purpose than exclusivity.   The possibilities for innovation are almost endless-new ways of educating our youth, creating jobs through new industries, approaching healthcare from the viewpoint of wellness instead of sickness, collaboration among businesses to create an enterprise mind set…. 

I believe that if we heed these words of Hubert Humphrey:

It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.

when moving forward that we indeed will be prosperous.  We as a society–forget government– cannot forget the children, the elderly, the sick, the needy and the disabled.  We should not be looking elsewhere for the answers on how to transform our region.  It is not up to the government.  It is our task.  We must be fearless.

Shannon Okey has asked for help in getting the word out about this latest attack on individual Intellectual Property.  Her article here says it better than I ever could.  Be sure to use the sidebar to gain knowledge of why artists, bloggers, small business people, and anyone else who believes in freedom of expression should do what Shannon asks of us.

Notify your congressperson that you are against this latest attempt to tie our hands, our tongues, and our minds to a mindless buisness  bureaucracy when innovation and creativity should be keywords in any endeavor in our country today. 

Please note the clandestine way that these examples of special interest legislation become part of our law that governs us.  Does anyone else get a shiver up their spine when the chance to object is limited to fifteen minutes and when no objection is recorded within those fifteen minutes the legislation passes by unanimous consent with no roll call vote?  WOW!

I just read over on RealNeo that Alenka Banco is opening Josaphat Arts Hall and her Convivium 33 gallery to artists this weekend so that the can sell there wears/wares during the Sparx in the City Gallery Hop this Saturday Sepember 20 and Sunday September 21 from 10 a.m. til 5 p.m.

The really cool thing about this wears/wares sale is that you can arrive early at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday pay $5.00 and be part of an exclusive dealer/public preview.  You ask me why should I get up early and pay money when I can arrive at 10 and pay nothing?  I’ll tell you why because ALL of the admission fees will benefit the Max S. Hayes art students (CMSD)  where my friend Mary Beth Matthews is chair of the Art Department.

Mary Beth is an amazing woman who has also found the time to be a founding member of the Women’s Enterprise Network.  We are a group of women dedicated to empowering women of all ages to do what they want to do.

Tim and I have a busy weekend but I am going to be there at 8:30 a.m. Saturday “with bells on” as they say. 

I just received an email from our friend Bill McDermott.  If you have attended one of the Midtown Brews events, you probably have had the pleasure of making Bill’s acquaintance.  A chemist by trade, he is extremely knowledgeable about alternative energy especially, solar and shares his research freely with the Brews crowd and at RealNeo where he has a blog.  He reads extensively and freely shares what he learns with the rest of us.  In essence, he is my newspaper clipper on all things green.

The email was to promote the upcoming Ohio Solar Energy Tour coming our way this October.  Here are the specifics for the Northeast Ohio Solar Energy Tour.  Notice that Bills’ house is one of the featured sites.  His wife and he are also hosting an all day Open house during the tour.  Note that the Kious Straw House is also on the tour.  Next year will probably feature the Shaker Lakes straw structure.

I noticed that there is a combined Wayne/Holmes Tour scheduled for that weekend.  Since those are my old stomping grounds, I must check out the particulars for that tour as well.  I grew up outside the quaint village of Shreve located in Wayne County but as close to the border as possible.  County Road 1 was the delineation between the two counties. 

Who says exciting things aren’t happening in NEO and Ohio? I beg to differ.

I picked up this article form the Cincinnati Enquirer about libraries and the Internet through Crain’s Business Round-up.  I LOVE getting that update everyday in my email.  It broadens my knowledge of what is going on throughout our state through the eyes of the Crain’s Business staff.  I tried to provide the link here but for some reason am unable to do so.  Sorry about that.

I realized how lucky I am to have wireless and a laptop because my access is instantaneous and complete.  Obviously, the American public knows the advantage of access to the Internet.  Education today comes in many different forms and in many different places.  People are willing to wait in line for it.

Our Cleveland Public Library is not called the People’s University just because it is a catchy phrase.  It truly is the people’s university. Voters know the importance of our libraries.  Time after time they vote to raise our taxes so that we can continue to have world class libraries in our communities.   

So how are we going to raise awareness of the advantages of using the Internet beyond those who already know and how are we going to broaden access to the very things that could help our communities prosper through their own efforts?  OneCommunity has begun the process with Linked Communities, but there is more work to be done.

Education comes in many shapes and sizes.  Time is of the essence.

I just received my latest economist.com issue on line and the article Business and Water leaped out at me.  Not two hours ago, a neighbor came over to visit and we had a long conversation about land and its relationship with water and how we are sitting on the banks of probably one of the most important natural resources in our future–Lake Erie.  She worries that others will be the decision-makers on the use of our land, our water, our wealth.  So do I.  The importance of citizen engagement in the public process to create balance and integrity may never be so critical as it is now.  As citizens and voters, we need to be aware of issues that we would probably rather avoid–taking a stand or leading the way are often lonely places to be.  If we do not take part and become engaged in the process who will stand in the place of the seventh generation?  And if we do not take a stand today, will there be a seventh generation?