So, what’s next?  How can we channel this White House garden victory into a bigger, broader message that continues to plant seeds of self-reliance and sustainability and healthy food access for all?

Look to our country’s historic roots for inspiration and declare your food independence by signing a petition encouraging our country’s governors to join you in eating local this July 4th.    An effort of Kitchen Gardeners International in partnership with the IATP Food and Society Fellows, this petition champions the connection between food and our nation’s independence, further propelling the momentum of interest in eating fresh, local and healthy.

With your support, we can build upon the White House garden triumph by challenging each of our state’s first families to savor the abundance of local flavors this Fourth of July holiday. In today’s challenging economic times, our country’s governors need to showcase the importance of food independence in their own state, inspiring us all to make the connection between what we eat and the health of our nation.

And here’s the hidden gem behind supporting food independence:  once folks start making conscious decisions about their food sources, this sustainability screen naturally filters to all other areas of their lives.  People buy fruit at their farmer’s market or plant peas in their garden and they move to start changing light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs or hanging laundry out to air-dry.  As my husband, John Ivanko, and I write about in Rural Renaissance, food can serve as our daily reminder of how all our choices have an effect on the world around us.

“The concept of food independence, being able to feed ourselves and cultivate a spirit of self-sufficiency, roots back over two hundred years to the time of that first Fourth of July and the founding of this nation,” adds Rose Hayden-Smith, a garden historian and national advocate for the Victory Garden revival. “By signing the Food Independence petition, we are aligning ourselves with our Founding Father’s and Mother’s vision of patriotism, a self-reliant country that can take care of its own.”

Make a statement this summer by declaring your Food Independence by calling on your elected state governors to do the same, encouraging them to share their meal plan for the Fourth of July. Check back for updates and, hopefully, your governor’s potato salad recipe using local spuds.

Kilmer was recently quoted as saying: “What I do for a living is listen. If I run, I’m going to be the next governor.” Kilmer is registered as a Democrat, and donated to Ralph Nader’s and Bill Richardson’s campaigns for president in 2008.

Kilmer voted for Barack Obama though, and eagerly attended the new president’s inauguration ceremonies, comparing it to attending the Gettysburg Address. He also told the Boston Globe that actors when elections.

Better Than Arnold as an Environmental Governor?

Back when rumors began circulating about Kilmer’s potential run, we previewed his environmental credentials/views on Red, Green, and Blue. You can read our write-up by clicking here. One of the great tidbits we found was a quote from Kilmer about California’s famous governor: “I did get some lobbyists once saying that I’d make a good governor. Reagan wasn’t much of an actor and look how that worked out for him. And then there’s Arnold… I think you should be able to pronounce the name of the state.”

Another interesting environmental tidbit about Kilmer: he will be starring in two upcoming movies that have global warming tie-ins. One will be called The Steam Experiment. According to information on the Internet Movie Database, “In the film, Val Kilmer plays a former university professor who overheats his hostages to prove that humans will devolve into chaos under the pressures of global warming. He tells a detective that their location will be revealed if his hypothesis is printed as the local paper’s front-page headline.”

Photo Credit: Original unmodified image from shiherlis on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

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However, now that the dust is (sort of) starting to settle, some more sober analysis of the Vice Presidential candidate’s record on renewable energy is starting to emerge.

For starters, as Alaskan Governor, there are signs that she may have paid more than lip service to her supposed support for alternatives to oil. She promised green campaigners that she would put together a comprehensive plan on renewables, and even appointed someone to head up the mission. Beyond this though, there has been little genuine conviction or leadership in support of the sector. In fact, as the summary below reveals, her record on the issue is decidedly shaky:

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The EPA, in refusing the waiver, said the Bush administration was forging a national solution rather than accepting a patchwork of state regulations. At least 12 other states have adopted the California standards with four planning adoption. That, it appears, would qualify as a “patchwork” of standards.

But wait a minute. If the California standards were adopted, car makers could just go ahead and bring their product up to that level and sell the vehicles anywhere they wish. What’s the problem here? Everybody would win with less pollution and more fuel efficient cars and trucks nationwide. Sounds like some smoke and mirrors to me, and if they sell that kind of drivel to the public, we need a better system of education. But the feds are going to hold their ground, so I have a plan, and here’s the challenge.

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New York state's first lady, Silda Wall Spitzer, announced green improvements for the governor's mansion in Albany. The renovations, to be implemented in three phases set for completion by June 2008, will cost around $650,000, two-thirds of which will be paid for with grants and offset by state incentives. The modifications are expected to save 50% in energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint of the mansion by half.

Phase 1: energy efficient appliances, low-flow shower heads and CFLs will be installed, gas powered lawn mowers will be swapped out with their electric counterparts, and mansion staff will start cruising around in hybrids.

Phase 2: three sets of solar panels will be installed.

Phase 3: mansion staff change over to non-toxic cleaning supplies and organic pest control, plus they'll recycle, compost and purchase organic foods.

I don't quite understand why phase 3 is phase 3 (I'd put non-toxics, recycling and organics before electric mowers and hybrids) and with the exception of the solar panels the overall improvements don't go above and beyond. However, they do illlustrate the simple things everyone can do to make their homes green.

This is one of three residences for the Spitzers, so they'll need a little more than a few solar panels to reduce the overall family footprint, but the announcement of these upgrades does send a message to the state that the guv's agenda has a green hue.

Via The New York Times; New York Magazine