About Me
I was born in Naples, Italy and raised in Washington, D.C., where I studied music and attended the Corcoran School of Art. Trained in graphics, I worked for the Downtown DC Business Improvement District as an electronic media specialist and for DC Vote, a non-profit that advocates for congressional voting rights for Washingtonians, as webmaster. DC Vote raised awareness by successfully adding "Taxation Without Representation" to the license plates of vehicles registered in the District of Columbia. I also narrated several award winning episodes of the Discovery Channel's "Cable in the Classroom" series.
I am married to Celia DuBose, daughter of the late Dr. Francis DuBose, and lived on Carpenter Court in LaSalle Heights in Bayview when I first moved to SF in 2002. Dr. DuBose was a well-known church-based community activist and an inspiration. My obituary on him can be found here. In 2003, we moved to the Western Addition, where I became the co-creator and webmaster for BeyondChron. In January of 2009, I returned to District 10 where I now live in Dogpatch.
Since 2004 I have been an active biodiesel user and advocate, first as a member of the SF Biofuels Coop. In 2007 I became the Executive Director of Green Depot, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that promotes the use of biodiesel, specifically in Bayview Hunters Point and Potrero Hill. I am also a board member of the Biofuel Recycling Cooperative (BRC), and architect of the SFPUC's Greasecycle program, which makes biodiesel from used restaurant grease. (or restaurant grease waste) In 2007, along with members of BRC and the SF Biofuels Coop, I was part of the push that led the SF Department of the Environment to convert San Francisco's entire diesel fleet to B20 biodiesel -- including MUNI and emergency vehicles. We also helped to bring biodiesel to three fueling locations in the city, all in Dogpatch.
I have been a consultant for the SF Bay Railroad in Hunters Point since 2008, helping them to become the first short-line railroad in the U.S. to use biodiesel in their locomotives. I was drawn to the SFBR's commitment to reducing truck emissions in our region by using biodiesel-fueled freight rail, which is reducing CO2 emissions by up to 90 percent. SF Bay Railroad is also the home of City Grazing, which has some 70 organically fed goats available for hire. You may have seen them along Cargo Way or read about them in the Chronicle, the New York Times and Wired magazine.
I am the Vice Chair of the SF Biodiesel Access Taskforce, the latest member to be added to the Navy's Restoration Advisory Board, and was recently appointed by Mayor Newsom to the Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee. I am a board member of Literacy for Environmental Justice.
Recently, I co-wrote an article on the Shipyard in the Fog City Journal with Arthur Feinstein, a current Sierra Club Executive Committee member, and wrote a piece on the challenges of biodiesel in a recent issue of the Yodeler with the Sierra Club's Aaron Israel. I am also the co-host of the Community Worker with Roland Washington on KPOO FM (89.5) in San Francisco.
If you have been reading BeyondChron, you may know me from my position as Arts and Entertainment editor, and my byline, "E. "Doc" Smith." In my work as a musician and recording engineer, I have worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Madonna, Warren Zevon, Mickey Hart, Jimmy Cliff, and Koko Taylor among others. I also invented the musical instrument, the Drummstick. You can find more information about my music