Let’s Not Forget Commuting’s Carbon Footprint

This op ed ran in the Palo Alto Daily Post on December 8, 2021 (I’ll add a link to the paper’s version if and when the publisher posts a link to it). It was prompted by comments made by Gina Papan, who serves on the Millbrae City Council, about how

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Droughts and First Come, First Served

Recently a question was raised on NextDoor about why new homes continue to be constructed when we’re in the middle of a multi-year drought. It’s a great question and sparked a lot of discussion. These are some thoughts on the topic and how it relates to the principles we’ve embodied

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Commuting, Carbon Footprints and Data Mining

I was recently motivated to write an op ed about how the carbon footprint of commuting generally gets overlooked in discussions about addressing climate change. I’ll publish the piece online after the print edition comes out, but here I wanted to talk about how you can access all sorts of

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Comments on Redrawing County Districts

I made a brief version of these comments at today’s County Board of Supervisors meeting (there were so many commenters the Board chose to limit public comments to one minute rather than the normal two…which is perfectly understandable but was unanticipated by me :)). Good morning, and thanks for giving

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Room to Represent Us

This op ed was published November 9, 2021 in the San Mateo Daily Journal. This version may be slightly different due to editing by the Journal. “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your

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Trust the Public with Hard Truths

This opinion piece, recently published in Nature, makes a point I think all elected leaders should keep in mind. Yes, a small percentage of the population will panic. But they will be greatly outnumbered by those who heed the call to adapt to a changed world. Moreover, not telling the

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