The divide between the urban and the rural is growing in
California contrary to what folks might believe if they get their news
only from the usual suspects.
I recently visited some friends who live in rural northern California and Oregon, and many of them still only have DIAL-UP internet access at home!
Many have satellite TV, a few have asymmetric internet (dial up in the upload, satellite in the download direction). Many still must go to a library (and many have closed or have short hours) or to a Starbucks to obtain a few minutes or hours of decent speed wifi internet access. The build-outs by the cable and "phone" companies in many of these areas have stopped.
Although internet via peer-to-peer wifi-relay or WiMax technology could improve the situation significantly, there are no active programs analogous to the rural electrification program in place that have a prospect of changing this situation in the foreseeable future. The extension of high speed internet to the families living at the ends of the grid seems to have stopped or slowed to a crawl.
There is amazing ingenuity in how folks get their digital fix -- as you would expect, mobile devices are a common response--less capital required, less capacity ceeded to individuals and more ability to dispense media to the masses without much interactivity......However even mobile systems have limited reach in the many valleys of this region.
So urban areas strengthen the pull economically, along with dendrites that extend along the fiber tendrils connecting them. Meanwhile a culture that still reads at night, a culture that grows their salad greens and heat their places with wood. There are islands where affluence attracts connectivity, however these are more like spots on the landscape. Their "poverty" isn't really poverty in the sense that I've seen in the middle east, but the divide is growing and not shrinking from my observations.
A recent op-ed in the New York Times discusses how the writer thinks the gap can be closed, offering the idea that government subsidy, regulations not written by the giant corporations that set an open playing field could unleash this development. I don't see any way that the political process at the FCC will get out from under the corporate Thrall that keeps competition from encroaching on the stranglehold that the big providers like Verizon, ATT&T, Comcast and Time Warner enjoy. You can read more from Susan Crawford in the New York Times here : How to Get America Online.
Until and unless internet access is regulated in the public interest, and the federal government launches a program to push high speed internet access to the small towns and villages across our rural landscape, this divide will grow. We need fiber connectivity that covers the same territory as the electric grid. This would unleash an economic potential that could drive millions of jobs, relieve pressure on the cities and suburbs, and open the way to extend wireless internet to the rest of the country.
A counterpoint to the situation with respect to internet connectivity is the use of sustainable energy in rural California.
These areas use wood for heat and that is sustainable to a point. Unfortunately the stoves that are used often emit significant particulate material and that degrades air quality and produces green house warming from the tiny black carbon produced. It is also the case that better, low particulate emitting stoves would help reduce the greenhouse effect of wood heating. Presently there are non-profit initiatives to provide better stoves to third world people, but we also need to address this problem at home.
You find a lot of solar power here, and it's use is growing as the cost per watt falls and inverters and battery systems become more available. Wind energy is used, but the high capital requirements and maintenance are a barrier to widespread use.
Flywheel systems would be a huge help, but are presently too expensive. Flywheel electric batteries would allow the efficient storage of energy from sources that produce energy in peaks that don't align in time with the loads such as wind and solar. To be useful, flywheel energy storage systems must be produced as a simple commodity box at low cost. I think that this technology would be a wonderful addition to the rural lifestyle. It could replace or supplement the use of lead-acid battery systems that are now in wide use, improving the efficiency.
Sustainable energy can grow without the central connectivity that is required for the internet, however as these power islands grow and seek to connect to the existing power grid, there are significant safety and system stability issues that must be addressed by regulators. If the regulators such as the PUC do not require utilities to support the growth of rural sustainable power, we'll see a constraint on this important energy source similar to what happened when the thousands of ISP (internet service providers) were crushed by the few surviving giants. Indeed PG&E has already spent tens of millions to try to stop the development of county sized sustainable energy independent energy systems. Big utilities face costs to support the development of rural energy systems that must at this time be subsidized by the rest of the rate payers.
The reason that the rest of the system must support rural sustainable energy is that it is one of the key actions that can shift us from the fossil fuel greenhouse gas producing system toward a real environmentally sustainable economy. IF the environmental costs are figured into the energy system cost, Solar and Wind are very cost effective, however whenever the big utilities can externalize their costs and take advantage of subsidy from the ratepayers for carbon intensive power, there is no incentive for change. Big utility companies respond to the regulatory environment created by policy and law, so that is a key to nourishing the growth of sustainable rural power systems.
So while there are some improvements in rural broadband, the gap continues to grow, and the economic and educational negative effects are impacting the thousands of rural communities. The pull for the young and the skilled to leave for cities continues, even as a counter flow trickles out from the cities. If we put into place programs that improve connectivity, the viability of our rural communities will be strengthened and the cultural integration can grow. Rather than seeing forest as a resource to be exploited, we can look between the trees to see the people living in the forest as the resource that is to be cherished.
Bruce
bruce.bagnoli@gmail.com
I recently visited some friends who live in rural northern California and Oregon, and many of them still only have DIAL-UP internet access at home!
Many have satellite TV, a few have asymmetric internet (dial up in the upload, satellite in the download direction). Many still must go to a library (and many have closed or have short hours) or to a Starbucks to obtain a few minutes or hours of decent speed wifi internet access. The build-outs by the cable and "phone" companies in many of these areas have stopped.
Although internet via peer-to-peer wifi-relay or WiMax technology could improve the situation significantly, there are no active programs analogous to the rural electrification program in place that have a prospect of changing this situation in the foreseeable future. The extension of high speed internet to the families living at the ends of the grid seems to have stopped or slowed to a crawl.
There is amazing ingenuity in how folks get their digital fix -- as you would expect, mobile devices are a common response--less capital required, less capacity ceeded to individuals and more ability to dispense media to the masses without much interactivity......However even mobile systems have limited reach in the many valleys of this region.
So urban areas strengthen the pull economically, along with dendrites that extend along the fiber tendrils connecting them. Meanwhile a culture that still reads at night, a culture that grows their salad greens and heat their places with wood. There are islands where affluence attracts connectivity, however these are more like spots on the landscape. Their "poverty" isn't really poverty in the sense that I've seen in the middle east, but the divide is growing and not shrinking from my observations.
A recent op-ed in the New York Times discusses how the writer thinks the gap can be closed, offering the idea that government subsidy, regulations not written by the giant corporations that set an open playing field could unleash this development. I don't see any way that the political process at the FCC will get out from under the corporate Thrall that keeps competition from encroaching on the stranglehold that the big providers like Verizon, ATT&T, Comcast and Time Warner enjoy. You can read more from Susan Crawford in the New York Times here : How to Get America Online.
Until and unless internet access is regulated in the public interest, and the federal government launches a program to push high speed internet access to the small towns and villages across our rural landscape, this divide will grow. We need fiber connectivity that covers the same territory as the electric grid. This would unleash an economic potential that could drive millions of jobs, relieve pressure on the cities and suburbs, and open the way to extend wireless internet to the rest of the country.
A counterpoint to the situation with respect to internet connectivity is the use of sustainable energy in rural California.
These areas use wood for heat and that is sustainable to a point. Unfortunately the stoves that are used often emit significant particulate material and that degrades air quality and produces green house warming from the tiny black carbon produced. It is also the case that better, low particulate emitting stoves would help reduce the greenhouse effect of wood heating. Presently there are non-profit initiatives to provide better stoves to third world people, but we also need to address this problem at home.
You find a lot of solar power here, and it's use is growing as the cost per watt falls and inverters and battery systems become more available. Wind energy is used, but the high capital requirements and maintenance are a barrier to widespread use.
Flywheel systems would be a huge help, but are presently too expensive. Flywheel electric batteries would allow the efficient storage of energy from sources that produce energy in peaks that don't align in time with the loads such as wind and solar. To be useful, flywheel energy storage systems must be produced as a simple commodity box at low cost. I think that this technology would be a wonderful addition to the rural lifestyle. It could replace or supplement the use of lead-acid battery systems that are now in wide use, improving the efficiency.
Sustainable energy can grow without the central connectivity that is required for the internet, however as these power islands grow and seek to connect to the existing power grid, there are significant safety and system stability issues that must be addressed by regulators. If the regulators such as the PUC do not require utilities to support the growth of rural sustainable power, we'll see a constraint on this important energy source similar to what happened when the thousands of ISP (internet service providers) were crushed by the few surviving giants. Indeed PG&E has already spent tens of millions to try to stop the development of county sized sustainable energy independent energy systems. Big utilities face costs to support the development of rural energy systems that must at this time be subsidized by the rest of the rate payers.
The reason that the rest of the system must support rural sustainable energy is that it is one of the key actions that can shift us from the fossil fuel greenhouse gas producing system toward a real environmentally sustainable economy. IF the environmental costs are figured into the energy system cost, Solar and Wind are very cost effective, however whenever the big utilities can externalize their costs and take advantage of subsidy from the ratepayers for carbon intensive power, there is no incentive for change. Big utility companies respond to the regulatory environment created by policy and law, so that is a key to nourishing the growth of sustainable rural power systems.
So while there are some improvements in rural broadband, the gap continues to grow, and the economic and educational negative effects are impacting the thousands of rural communities. The pull for the young and the skilled to leave for cities continues, even as a counter flow trickles out from the cities. If we put into place programs that improve connectivity, the viability of our rural communities will be strengthened and the cultural integration can grow. Rather than seeing forest as a resource to be exploited, we can look between the trees to see the people living in the forest as the resource that is to be cherished.
Bruce
bruce.bagnoli@gmail.com
