Essays & Other Articles

This section archives articles and essays on topics that don’t quite fit into the other categories on energy. They include articles on high-mileage vehicles, chain-reaction accidents, our neighbors, Tule fog, and . . . well . . . other subjects.

Channel 23 Cop River Shooting Jpeg

Never a Dull Moment–Shooting on the Bike Path at 6.25 am

By

Paul Gipe

Yep, can’t make this stuff up. No one would believe you.

Unearthly: The Little Lake Earthquakes in the Back Country

By

Paul Gipe

It was the sound you noticed first, an unearthly rumble that grew louder but never quite reaching a crescendo as it neared you. Then the ground beneath your feet moved. The solid earth we stood on moved. The ground that we take for granted as solid as anything can ever be–moved. Then the movement and the sound died away. It was exhilarating, but also unsettling. If the earth can move like that, what can we rely on as solid, unmovable?

Copes is No More: The Darkness Descends as the Last of the Independent Grocers Bites the Dust

By

Paul Gipe

We’d seen the signs before we left. For the past several months we watched the inventory disappear. Then they took out some rows of shelving, but the inventory continued to shrink. All signs we’d seen before at Green Frog.

Justice in America: If You’re Going to Steal–Steal Big

By

Paul Gipe

Charles Keating died recently. His death marked a milestone in American political history. His crimes and those of my nephew illustrates one of the truisms in America often attributed to Al Capone. “If you’re going to steal, steal big.”

Bethany Shell Ecomarathon0021

10,000 miles per gallon of gasoline: Shell’s Ecomarathon

By

Paul Gipe

On Aprill 11 and 12, 2008 teams from highschools, colleges, and universities from across the continent were scrambling in the …

Get to Know Your Neighbors

By

Lupe knocked at the door yesterday. Lupe’s our postman. If anyone knows what’s going on in our neighborhood, it’s Lupe. …