Recently, Tesla passed General Motors as the most valuable U.S. automaker. Last week, my writing partner came back from Beijing, talking about how the Chinese were developing new electric cars. The Chinese are predicted to the lead the “NEV” or New Energy Vehicle cycle in a decade. Hayward now has a hydrogen refueling station, and […]
Grant Cooke: Benicia’s future at stake in local election
In August, I wrote a column about Benicia’s future, the New Economy and why Elizabeth Patterson, Steve Young, and Tom Campbell were the best choices to led our city as mayor and councilmembers respectively. At the time, I was disheartened by the majority of council members’ lack of political will to put a halt to […]
Grant Cooke: CBR permit denied and new Green Inudstrial Revolution developments impact Benicia
History, or at least precedence, was made Tuesday evening when the Benicia City Council denied Valero a land use permit to bring in volatile Bakken and Tar Sands crude oil from North Dakota and Canada by train. In what appeared to observers to be a stunning change of heart, the council unanimously agreed with the […]
Grant Cooke: Benicia’s future is with Patterson, Young and the new economy
If Valero’s crude-by-rail, or CBR, project goes through, it will do irreparable damage to Benicia. If the three councilmembers—Mark Hughes, Christina Strawbridge and Alan Schwartzman— continue their support for the project, they will do an extraordinary disservice to the city. I respect those who work on behalf of local government; however, in this case, the […]
Grant Cooke: Our Age of Discovery threatened by new demagogue
Coming from a cloistered Central Valley farm town to the Bay Area of the late 1960s was a transformational experience—a personal age of discovery. At UC Berkeley, I realized that it wasn’t just me, but in fact, the world stood at the beginnings of a remarkable new era of discovery. A few decades later, we […]