Green Tea Party

Looking forward to Tuesday's election? What will the results mean for Mother Earth?
Time to resurrect Friedman's April OpEd called Tea Party With a Difference

Become the Green Tea Party.
I’d be happy to design the T-shirt logo and write the manifesto. The logo is easy. It would show young Americans throwing barrels of oil imported from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia into Boston Harbor.
The manifesto is easy, too: “We, the Green Tea Party, believe that the most effective way to advance America’s national security and economic vitality would be to impose a $10 “Patriot Fee” on every barrel of imported oil, with all proceeds going to pay down our national debt.”
America now imports about 11 million barrels a day, about 57 percent of our total oil needs — mostly from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. As T. Boone Pickens told Congress the other day: “In January 2010, our trade deficit for the month was $37.3 billion — $27.5 billion of that was money we sent overseas to import oil.”
If we put a Patriot Fee on all of those imported barrels, we would use less, cease enriching bad regimes, strengthen our own dollar, make the air cleaner and the climate more stable, foster the exploitation of domestic and renewable energy sources, promote electric vehicles, help bring down the global price of oil (which hurts Iran and helps poor Africa), and we could use the revenue to shrink the deficit. It’s win, win, win, win, win, win ...
Indeed, the Green Tea Party could say, “We’ve got our own health care plan — a plan to make America healthy by simultaneously promoting energy security, deficit security and environmental security.”

But I still needed more. And then I found...Truth About Green

Truth About Green is a non-partisan, non-profit grassroots group with a common sense approach to environmental issues. Our mission is to support and promote environmental causes supported by scientific data, without slant or skew, to justify the expenditure of taxpayer funds.

Exciting , right? Until you read the names and affiliations of some of their speakers:

Paul Chesser and James Taylor, The Heartland Institute.
Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, international documentarians and producers of the soon-to-be-released “Not Evil, Just Wrong,” a rebuttal film aimed at uncovering the falsehoods presented in Al Gore's documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Steve Milloy, author of Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them, and founder and publisher of www.junkscience.com, a website devoted to defending the truth of science.
Marc Morano, editor of Climate Depot.
Phil Parenti, Americans for Prosperity, Southern Maryland Chapter.

Boy, I think the Earth is in for some fun times after Tuesday's vote.

Oh Mother Earth

Respect Mother Earth
and her giving ways
Or trade away
our children's days.

Toilet paper advances

Tubeless TP

In an attempt to cut down on back on consumer waste, one toilet paper manufacturer has unveiled perhaps the biggest change the product has undergone in over a century -- replacing that old cardboard tube with, well, nothing. If the advancement in TP technology seems unremarkable, consider just how much waste it will keep from the landfill. Each year, a million miles worth of cardboard tubing is tossed out -- that's enough to circle the Earth over forty times.
While the new tubeless rolls won't always be perfectly round, they'll have no problem fitting on standard toilet paper spindles -- and they can be used to the last square. The trick is in the special winding processes, but the company is keeping their technique a secret.
With any luck, soon other toilet paper manufactures will get on board with less wasteful alternatives to the tradition roll, whether it be by using more recycled material or ditching the cardboard tube altogether. And, as consumers demand more eco-friendly products, perhaps more manufacturers will continue to find more ways to cut unnecessary materials from the things they sell.

Thanks Scott!

Ticking time bomb?

Whistleblower says another BP rig ready to blow

. BP's other major oil production platform in the Gulf, the one that watchdogs have called a "ticking time bomb" ignored by federal regulators. The BP Atlantis platform is operating in deeper waters and is extracting more oil from the Gulf each day than the Deepwater Horizon well leaked, but neither the company nor the feds have proved it is safe.
Located 124 miles off the Louisiana coast, the Atlantis platform produces 200,000 barrels of oil daily, more than triple the amount of oil that spilled from the Horizon site each day. But long before the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a whistleblowing former BP contractor tipped off regulators that the Atlantis may be violating the law, and environmental groups and members of Congress have been publicly questioning the platform's safety ever since.
Evidently, a whistle-blowing contractor named Kenneth Abbott, who worked on the platform until just last year, claims that "more than 7,000 documents necessary to operate the platform safely are missing or incomplete". Many of its safety systems are out of date, and a number of its design schematics were never properly approved.

Get ready! The bigger question: Why is the ban on offshore drilling lifted? Oh, that's right - money.

The Lorax on the big screen

First look: Danny DeVito will stump for trees in 3-D 'Lorax'

Dr. Seuss fans know it's The Lorax "who speaks for the trees." Now Danny DeVito will speak for The Lorax.
The storybook about a stumpy little guy who stands on a tree stump deploring the destruction of a forest is being adapted into a 3-D animated feature by the team that made Despicable Me and Horton Hears a Who.
"Danny has this wonderful ability to be acerbic and grouchy but at the same time absolutely lovable," Meledandri says. "It's almost like Walter Matthau had. His comedic edge was very sharp, but he always maintained that warmth."
The villains of the film will be voiced by two alums of The Daily Show.Ed Helms (currently of The Office) will play The Once-ler — a shortsighted, greedy creature who chops down every tree he can find to make his Thneeds, which are "a thing everyone needs."
And Rob Riggle (the cop from The Hangover) is a new character: O'Hare, another industrialist who sells cans of fresh air to the polluted world the Once-ler creates and wants to keep it that way.
The movie will start much the same way as the 1971 storybook, with Zac Efron voicing a boy named Ted (after Dr. Seuss' real name, Theodore "Ted" Geisel) who goes in search of the Once-ler to find out how the world became so ugly.
Betty White will play Ted's grandmother, who tells him of the colorful world that used to be. Another new character is the girl Ted loves, Audrey (another homage, this one to the author's wife), who dreams someday to see a real forest, not just the fake plastic trees that dot their devastated landscape.
Though the Lorax is a little guy, DeVito says the environmental message is important and vows he'll be tough.
"Look, I don't want to be gruff about it, but we've got to wake up and smell the oil burning," he says. "I'm hoping that the squeakiest wheel gets the least grease.
"I feel sometimes the only way to get things done is shake people up a little bit, and the Lorax is not a guy who pussyfoots around. He's not a guy who uses kid gloves.
"No, no, the Lorax means business."

My favorite story. This will be the movie I look forward to.  I know I said the same for LOTR and will say the same for The Hobbit.  Okay, so one on the movies I look forward to.

Still hate the stinkers

How Chinese Stink Bugs Helped Inspire One Man To Save 35% On His Home Heating Bill

I've written before about how people in the US Mid-Atlantic states hate Chinese Stink Bugs (which first hitch-hiked into the US State of Pennsylvania via crates or whatever from China). These large beetles apparently only bite garden vegetables and bean leaves. However, they have a remarkable ability to sneak into homes each fall to seek refuge from the cold...sometimes hanging on through much of the winter. Did I mention they stink and land on your head and crawl into the shower with you? Without doubt, this horde will spread to more US states and possibly to Canada.
One Pennsylvania resident decided to make best of this situation, taking the stink bug presence as a double challenge. He tightened up his home's various air leaks with the objective of cutting routes of entry for the beetles while reaping adding savings on the family energy bill. The result was a gratifying, if only partial, success!

They were the incentive to make very good changes/improvements to his home. But I still hate those bugs in my garden!  So they get a pat on their backs for motivating him, but a big squish by my shoe!

They're taking over souls

Invasion of the Democracy Crushers

Oil industry monsters from Texas are preying on California, pumping money into a campaign that would kill the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
This country is being run for the benefit of alien life forms. They’ve invaded; they’ve infiltrated; they’ve conquered; and a lot of the most powerful people on Earth do their bidding, including five out of our nine Supreme Court justices earlier this year and a whole lot of senators and other elected officials all the time. The monsters they serve demand that we ravage the planet and impoverish most human beings so that they might thrive. They’re like the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, like the Terminators, like the pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, except that those were on the screen and these are in our actual world.


We call these monsters corporations, from the word corporate which means embodied. A corporation is a bunch of monetary interests bound together into a legal body that was once considered temporary and dependent on local licensing, but now may operate anywhere and everywhere on Earth, almost unchallenged, and live far longer than you.

They've taken the souls of so many politicians with just a few dollars placed into pockets.  The bottom line for  them is more important than the air, the water, the land or the lives they touch.

Truth in the Letters

This letter to the NY Times says it best:

“In Climate Denial, Again” (editorial, Oct. 18) vented some frustration over Republican candidates’ obstinate refusal to acknowledge climate change. The truth is that it doesn’t really matter what Republicans or climate contrarians believe.
Despite enormous efforts to discount the research and data of climatologists, there is a vast body of evidence supporting the theory of climate change across many disciplines that study our planet: biology, physics, chemistry and ecology.
The truth is that our belief in climate change is irrelevant: First, the rest of the world is filled with a vast population of people who do recognize climate change. They continue to act without us and will use technologies, build economies and forge alliances without us. Our political situation only acts to discredit and isolate the United States from the rest of the world.
Second, climate change will continue to occur without us. With many rare and important resources already becoming scarce, oil production at its peak and declining, and urgent concerns over fresh water supplies, the reality of the situation looks very grim indeed. We may choose to stick our heads in the sand and believe whatever we want, but that won’t prevent the beach from washing away and taking us with it.
Michelle Bennett
Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 18, 2010

So who really cares if your neighbor thinks you're crazy? When the s**t hits the fan, you can just sit back and tell them you told them so. Just be ready to protect your crops from those marauding neighbors. They're laughing today but will be starving tomorrow.

Peak Oil in France

France Gets a Foretaste of a World After Peak Oil

"It's like apocalypse time," to quote a friend, on the situation in France. While much of the world ponders what can be done to avoid peak oil, instability of our transportation systems, and breakdowns of national security, France is making a trial run. If you have been watching the news, you know that the disruptions in France stem from protests against the government's proposal to raise the retirement age to 62. But for people living and working in France, the effects could be a foretaste of the world when oil runs out. Having an unavoidable commitment in Paris this week, this author can report the experience first-hand. It is not a promising picture.
Problems are evident as soon as the border is crossed. The roads are remarkably quiet, free of traffic. The cars that are on the roads are traveling at a stately pace, conserving fuel rather than minutes. We pass gas station after gas station -- closed. Between the border and Paris, we saw only three stations with fuel available. None of them offered diesel. The only whiff we got of the heavy-duty fuel was a sign with LED letters advising motorists of the availability of diesel 29 km (18 miles) in the wrong direction.
And just what is so important, that it cannot wait until after the situation calms down? Well, think about what you did last week. Deadlines must be met, business must go on. How would your week have been different if you could not rely on your car, the train, or air travel? This time, the chaos is temporary; but it does not require much imagination to see that when fuel runs out, the economy and daily life we know will quickly collapse. Now is the time to start making better plans.

Plans should include: skills, growing your own food, basic survival... We may have a taste before long.

Love the Earth

Love this idea.

Carnivalesque Rebellion and Nike

An alternative to the new wave of ecofascism

The future of environmentalism is in liberating humanity from the compulsion to consume. Rampant, earth-destroying consumption is the norm in the west largely because our imaginations are pillaged by any corporation with an advertising budget. From birth, we are assaulted by thousands of commercial messages each day whose single mantra is "buy". Silencing this refrain is the revolutionary alternative to ecological fascism. It is a revolution which is already budding and is marked by three synergetic campaigns: the criminalisation of advertising, the revocation of corporate power and the downshifting of the global economy.

The Next Step from AdBusters?

In TACTICAL BRIEFING #1 and #2 we initiated a worldwide boycott of Starbucks and called for a rejuvenation of local indie coffee culture. Now we continue our attack on megacorporations by calling for the unswooshing of Nike.
After purchasing Converse in 2003, Nike thought they could buy the rebellious spirit once embodied by wearing Chucks. But neither revolution nor cool are up for sale and now the time has come to divest from this truly pathetic megacorporation and its subsidiaries: Converse, Hurley, Umbro, and Cole Haan. Here’s the hash tag that will fell goliath: #UNSWOOSHNIKE
Just do it: don’t buy another pair of Nikes and urge your friends to do the same. If you already own a pair then take a marker and paint a blackspot over the logo for all to see. And next time you walk past a Niketown, slap a Just Douche It or All Empires Must Fall poster on the front door or window … or better still, go inside and draw little blackspots everywhere.
And help spread the #UNSWOOSHNIKE meme so that the whole world knows that Nike’s production of top down, megacorporate cool is finally coming to an end.

What are their names?

I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand


What are their names
And on what streets do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask

They go by many - politician, big business, fat cats...

Are you a Climate Hawk?

Image by ~Sage~ via FlickrIntroducing ‘climate hawks’

On Monday I asked, "What should we call people who care about climate change and clean energy?" A fantastic discussion ensued, up to 226 comments and counting -- thanks to everybody who weighed in, not only on the site, but on Facebook, Twitter, email, and "words spoken in my physical presence" (kids, ask your parents!).
As the logorrheic post below will attest, I've read all your feedback and given the matter quite a bit of thought. At long last I've settled on something I'm happy with, though of course I'm just Some Blogger and who cares what I think.
The fearsome climate hawk will crush the climate crisis in its mighty talons!
Without further ado, the winner is ... [drumroll] ...
Climate hawks.

As someone who always viewed themselves as a "dove" this is a little hard. We'll see if it takes hold.

Weed Killer...More Death?

Image via WikipediaMonsanto, Sumitomo Chemical Team Up To Make Advanced 'Roundup Ready PLUS' Herbicide

Monsanto Co. said Tuesday it's partnering with weedkiller-maker Sumitomo Chemical Co. to develop a new platform for Monsanto's genetically altered crops.
Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, develops genetically engineered "Roundup Ready" crops that are resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. The company said its new partnership will help it develop a new weed management platform called Roundup Ready PLUS.
The effort is aimed at allowing farmers to get the most out of Roundup Ready crops by using the platform's recommendations and receiving financial incentives, Monsanto said.
The companies did not disclose financial terms of the partnership.
Farmers have become concerned that some weeds are growing resistant to Roundup, giving Monsanto the incentive to introduce new chemicals into its product line. The deal will give Monsanto access to herbicides like Valor SX and Valor XLT.

Need another reason to avoid GMO foods? I didn't think so.

Thanks Uncle Dick

So much to thank Cheney for - and now we find...
He Ushered in Era of GOP Climate Denial

Former Vice President Dick Cheney may have been more responsible for the near-decade of climate inaction that the Bush administration oversaw than anyone else. It was he who hewed closest to the climate denial script a decade ago, and perfected the art of insistently calling into question peer-reviewed, consensus-backed science as an ironclad excuse for inaction. In an op-ed, the New York Times links Cheney's denial strategies to that same strategy employed by the current crop of GOP hopefuls -- almost all of which deny the science of climate change in much the same manner as the infamous ex-VP....
Nowadays, it is almost impossible to recall that in 2000, George W. Bush promised to cap carbon dioxide, encouraging some to believe that he would break through the partisan divide on global warming. Until the end of the 1990s, Republicans could be counted on to join bipartisan solutions to environmental problems. Now they've disappeared in a fog of disinformation, an entire political party parroting the Cheney line.

He just couldn't stop at pushing the war machine forward, spying on his own fellow citizens or shooting his own friend in the face. He had to take it one step further - send us all into the abyss of denial - close our eyes and the climate change won't happen. Yeah right!

Bioneers

The Shift has hit the Fan

Kenny Ausubel is one of the founders of Bioneers and he along with his partner Nina Simons are the backbone of the event. So it's no surprise that one of the most awakening and inspiring speeches came from him during the opening of the event. "The revolution has begun. But in fits and starts. The challenge is it's one minute to midnight - too late to avoid large-scale destruction. We have to fan the shift to ecoliterate societies at sufficient scale and speed to dodge irretrievable cataclysm," he stated. While it sounds dire, his speech, and his call to action, was anything but. Check out more of what he had to say.
As republished on Huffington Post, Kenny's speech focused on changing, well, focus.
From breakdown to breakthrough, it's a revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart. It leads with a basic shift in our relationship with nature from resource and object to mentor, model and partner. Game-changing breakthroughs in science, technology and design such as biomimicry are revolutionizing our very ways of knowing. The Rights of Nature movement is recognizing the inalienable rights of the non-human world of ecosystems and critters, widening our circle of compassion and kinship. Greater decentralization and localization are building resilience from the ground up - shaped by ancient indigenous wisdom of becoming native to our place.

"We Agree" - if only true

Chevron gets pranked

Chevron is scrambling to deal with an elaborate lampoon of a major advertising campaign that the company introduced on Monday.
An environmental organization, the Rainforest Action Network, sent an e-mail on Monday afternoon claiming credit for the spoof, along with Amazon Watch and the Yes Men.

Wouldn't this be great - "We Agree"?

Damn goats!

Goats are Stealing Jobs and Destroying America!

We've written often about goats being the greenest way to clear brush (see Goats Spotted in San Francisco, Rent-a-Goat, and What is Yahoo! Doing with Goats?). But according to Stephen Colbert, we were fooled by the cunning goats. They are actually (cue ominous music) destroying America and stealing jobs! See for yourself in the video below.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
People Destroying America- Goats Steal Landscaping Jobs
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Call out the Guard! Save us from this menace!

Crazy Glenn

Evironmentalists Will Strangle You in Your Sleep

We all know how Glenn Beck feels about environmentalists -- his standard line holds that they're some kind of undercover socialist agents looking to overthrow the American way of life. That's not an exaggeration, either -- that is essentially the message that he sends to his audience on a daily basis. But not only are environmentalists plotting, global warming hoax-ifying radicals, but they're scary, violent ones, too. So scary, in fact, that they just might strangle you in your sleep. His words.

No just you Glenn, just you.

Seed sprouting

Seed Sprouters: Easy to Use ; Simple Designs

I love fresh sprouts all year round; they are healthy and taste great on toasts, in salads and in soups. However I don't like ugly, bulky and over-designed objects in my kitchen in order for the seeds to germinate. It should be quick and easy. At the London Design Festival this year, the exhibition Bristol Air at Designersblock had some good designs on show, and it was there that I spotted the Beanie Bean Sprouter by David Henshall.


Henshall's sprouter (image above) is a simple glass with a slick metallic perforated lid. All you have to do is soak the seeds over night, and after that rinse them every morning and evening until they sprout, which takes more of less three days. This design doesn't take up more space than a cup of tea and its use is pretty fool-proof. The Beanie Bean Sprouter is available directly from the designer for £8 via his web site. ::David Henshall


A similar version is available from the German health food brand A.Vogel, called bioSnacky. It consists of a slightly bigger glass jar with a plastic sieve which serves to rinse the sprouts. An integrated handle lets the jar sit upside down at an angle so that the excess water can drain away. BioSnacky is available for 5,50€ at ::A.Vogel

View the products at the site.
Nice designs but you just need an old jar. You know that pickle jar you were ready to throw out...

Join Al

Standing Up Against the Oil Lobby, in California and Beyond

The attacks on the Clean Air Act aren't over and the oil lobby's reach is spreading. As we speak, Texas oil companies are waging a war against clean energy in California. Paid for by the same corporate polluters who funded the climate denial movement, industry giants like Valero, Tesoro and the Koch brothers are working to overturn California's clean energy law with a ballot initiative called Proposition 23.


I am going to do everything I can to fight to keep our nation on the path to a future with clean energy jobs and safe air to breathe. That's why protecting critical federal laws like the Clean Air Act and state climate change laws are top priorities for me.


America's clean energy future is at stake. The consequences of doing nothing and losing this fight are clear. We all watched in horror as the worst environmental disaster in American history devastated the Gulf Coast this year. Our continued reliance on oil and dirty fossil fuels means we can expect more of the same.


That's why Repower America has put experienced organizers on the ground, including in California to fight Proposition 23. We'll continue to fight out of care for our country, our globe and the natural inheritance we want to leave our children.


You and I both know now is the time to redouble our efforts. Every time the oil industry tries to pollute our air and water, we want to be there to stop them: whether it's in California, in the U.S. Senate or in your hometown. But we can't do it without your help. We're standing on the precipice of a cleaner, brighter future for our families and we can't turn back now.

Powerful forces and lots of cash are being put in by the Koch boys and their friends. Can the people defeat the monied corporations?

We have to!

My future?

Empowering Backyard Growers to Sell Their Produce

With the dropout economy fueling food entrepreneurship, and backyard farming (and even slaughter) taking off around the world, it makes sense to develop new and innovative ways for micro-growers to get their products to market. A New Zealand start up is hoping to unite farmers, micro-farmers and gardeners, and offer their produce through one easy to use site.
At first glance Ooooby looks a little like the Veggie Trader site that Jasmin reported on a little while back. But Ooooby seems to take the concept a little further. The group is already selling produce from gardeners and backyard growers at a regular farmers market stand, and it is enabling barter and swapping among grower members. Now a small proportion of the backyard produce is also making it into the group's veggie box deliveries, which also feature produce from local and organic farmers—as well as some produce, like bananas, from further away.
Of course CSAs and veggie box delivery schemes are nothing new. But it is very cool to see a group specifically working to harness the growing power of backyard farmers.

Anyone in the market for tomatilloes?

Keeping up with the Joneses...

is not healthy!

Not Another Nature Film from WWF on Vimeo.

We Will Need Two Earth's Resources by 2030...
Current levels of natural resource consumption, averaged over the entire growing human population, means that we are using resources 50% in excess of Earth's ability to sustainably regenerate them. We effectively need 1.5 planets to support us. By 2030, at current economic and population growth rates, we will need two Earths.
...But 4.5 If Everyone Consumes Like the US & Rich Nations
But that's what things look like from a distance, getting closer to the image reveals that there are great inequities in resource consumption--which I hope is no surprise to regular TreeHugger readers. If everyone on the planet consumed resources like the average US citizen, we'd need 4.5 planets.

Bye Bye Stinky

Image via WikipediaBring On the Stink Bugs

Have stink bugs met their noxious match?
That’s the claim of a group of Japanese researchers who announced last week that they had developed the first-ever stink bug repellent, made from a common plant fungus.
The repellent could promise relief for homeowners and farmers plagued by the invasive bugs, which arrived in the United States from Asia in the late 1990s and have become a highly damaging pest to farmers and a major annoyance to homeowners. They release a noxious, skunk-like odor when crushed or disturbed, and harm crops by boring holes in everything from apples to soybeans.
As our colleague Ken Maguire reported in September, these invasive stink bugs (as opposed to domestic varieties) have no natural predators here and are particularly rampant in mid-Atlantic states like Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Farmers there are using conventional insecticides to control the bugs, but are experiencing limited success, he wrote.
Last week, however, a group of researchers led by Hiromitsu Nakajima, an agricultural chemist at Tottori University in Japan, declared that they had found a powerful natural repellent to the bugs. The repellent is derived from a fungus that infects green foxtail plants, a common weed found in Japan and the United States. An extract of the fungus strongly repelled stink bugs in laboratory tests, and could be capable of repelling up to 90 percent of stink bugs in other settings, the researchers wrote.

Interested but what other things result from this "fungus?" Until all possible impacts are explored - I'm willing to lose a few plants.

Abundance of green tomatoes

Image via WikipediaSimilar to my tomatillo plight...
PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES

INGREDIENTS PER QUART OF WATER USED:

2 tbsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. pickling spice
1/2 tsp. mustard seed, slightly bruised
1/4 tsp. whole black peppercorns, slightly bruised
Handful of stalks of fresh dill with flower heads
1 med. unpeeled clove garlic, slightly flattened

Sort and rinse tomatoes. Measure by quarts and put into a large crock. Pour cold water to cover the tomatoes. Measure quarts of water into pot. To water in pot, add salt, pickling spices, mustard seed and peppercorns. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Cool completely.Prick each tomato in several places with fork and return to crock. Add dill and dill seed to tomatoes in crock. Pour the brine and spices over drained tomatoes in crock. Put a clean heavy plate over tomatoes to hold them under the surface. Cover with cloth and let set in cool place (70 degrees) for 1-3 weeks until as tangy as you want.
If white scum forms, skim off. When tomatoes are pickled, put in clean jars and pour brine over them, adding some sprigs of dill, if you like. Put on lids and refrigerate.

 Or this easier recipe...
PICKLED TOMATOES

Fresh dill
Pickling spices
Garlic
6 qt. green tomatoes

Brine:Boil together: 1 c. Kosher (coarse) salt 1 c. vinegar
Place in sterilized jars: 2 branches fresh dill Pickled spices Cut up green tomatoes
Add brine to brim of jar. Cover tightly. Store in cool dry place about 2 weeks, then refrigerate.

If frost doesn't hit tonight (I am not ready!!!!) this is next week's kitchen project.

Tomatillos running wild

Picked a basketful today to make a salsa and didn't make a dent in the crop.  What's next?
Found a comment at Urbivore’s Dilemma, Week 18: Tomatillos, cilantro, hot peppers, oh my! and I found my solution:

Last year I froze six gallons of tomatillo salsa. It was all gone by April. Preparation is simple: Boil the tomatillos then drain. Whir them up in a food processor with garlic (lots) and peppers. Without the peppers the salsa will most definitely be quite mild. I like to add hot Thai and jalapenos that have gone red to have some additional color in the salsa. If you want it mild, just add mild peppers like Anaheims.

Kraut is on its way

Image via WikipediaThe cabbages are growing nicely in the garden. Soon, soon....very soon...
Kraut crafting

The recipe for homemade sauerkraut is a one-liner, a simple ratio to commit to memory: five pounds cabbage, three tablespoons salt.
Mix those two -- swiftly or sloppily, in a plastic bucket or a ceramic crock, with hope or with skepticism -- and you've effectively launched your own homemade sauerkraut. From that point nature takes over, converting a humble head of cabbage into a golden tangle of threads -- tart and addictive, adamant and alive.
If you're new to homemade kraut, expect the first taste to bring on a tingling rush, the tangy thrill that fermentation enthusiasts crave. Bright and racy where the commercial versions tend to taste overcooked and bottom-of-the-barrel, anybody who carries even a smidgen of passion for the pickled end of the universe will greet their own homemade kraut as if it were heaven-sent.
Nutritionists tout the health benefits of its live cultures, but I make sauerkraut strictly to satisfy my insatiable sourtooth. Like everyone else in my family, I have an appetite for acidity that cannot be met by vinegar alone.

Wyoming? Who da thunk it

If Wyoming Can, Then So Can Everywhere Else

To review: Wyoming is as politically red and pro-fossil fuel a place as exists in America. Nicknamed the "Cowboy State" for its hostility to authority, the square swath of rangeland most recently made headlines when its tax department temporarily suspended levies at gun shows for fear of inciting an armed insurrection. The derrick-scarred home of oilman Dick Cheney, the state emits more carbon emissions per capita than any other, and is as close as our country gets to an industry-owned energy colony.
So, to put it mildly, Wyoming is not known for its activist government or its embrace of green policies.
But that changed last month when Wyoming officials enacted first-in-the-nation regulations forcing energy companies to disclose the compounds they use in a drilling technique called "fracking."
If Wyoming can turn that knowledge into action, then so can — and must — every other state.

Wonder if Cheney is moving out of the state - it's becoming rational.

The Silver Cloud of Peak Oil

Past Peak Oil Travelling Towards Transition Animation from Anita Sancha on Vimeo.  From Treehugger:

Where most Peak Oilers are pretty dystopian, Anita envisions a bucolic world full of wind power and bicycles, after a rather dramatic crash of our oil-powered vehicles. I hope she is right.

A major crash but then a return to a DIY style of living - at least for those able to survive and cope.

Ooops! Part Two

Pot raid at school turns up tomatoes

Police last month raided an Española-area school looking for marijuana growing in a greenhouse, but all they found there were tomatoes.
Patricia Pantano, education director of the Camino de Paz Montessori School and Farm in Cuarteles, between Española and Chimayó on N.M. 76, said the raid occurred Sept. 21 during the lunch hour.
"We were all as a group eating outside as we usually do, and this unmarked drab-green helicopter kept flying over and dropping lower," she said. "Of course, the kids got all excited. They were telling me that they could see gun barrels outside the helicopter. I was telling them they were exaggerating."
After 15 minutes, Pantano said, the helicopter left, then five minutes later a state police officer parked a van in the school's driveway. Pantano said she asked the officer what was happening, but he only would say he was there as a law-enforcement representative.
Then other vehicles arrived and four men wearing bullet-proof vests, but without any visible insignias or uniforms, got out and said they wanted to inspect the school's greenhouses. Pantano said she then turned the men over to the farm director, Greg Nussbaum.
"As we have nothing to hide, you know, they did the tour and they went in the greenhouses and they found it was tomato plants and so that was the story," she said.

At least the kids had a fun time.

Ooops!

Oil Spill Panel: White House Blocked Federal Scientists From Releasing Worst-Case Scenario For Gulf Disaster

The Obama administration blocked efforts by government scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could become and committed other missteps that raised questions about its competence and candor during the crisis, according to a commission appointed by the president to investigate the disaster.
In documents released Wednesday, the national oil spill commission's staff describes "not an incidental public relations problem" by the White House in the wake of the April 20 accident.
Among other things, the report says, the administration made erroneous early estimates of the spill's size, and President Barack Obama's senior energy adviser went on national TV and mischaracterized a government analysis by saying it showed most of the oil was "gone." The analysis actually said it could still be there.
"By initially underestimating the amount of oil flow and then, at the end of the summer, appearing to underestimate the amount of oil remaining in the Gulf, the federal government created the impression that it was either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the American people about the scope of the problem," the report says.
The administration disputed the commission findings, saying senior government officials "were clear with the public what the worst-case flow rate could be."

Of course the administration would dispute the findings.  But the commission was appointed by the administration!  How embarrassing!

Know your food

Do We Have a Right to Know If Our Food Has Been Genetically Modified? You bet we have a right - and need - to know.

The FDA is close to approving genetically modified (gm) salmon. See this and this.
We know that at least some genetically modified foods may harm the environment.
And serious questions have been raised about whether some gm foods might increase allergies or cause other health problems in humans and other organisms. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this.
Indeed, as Mother Jones pointed out last week, gm salmon may itself increase allergies:
Consumers Union senior scientist Michael Hansen called the company’s food safety tests “woefully incomplete,” and the group pointed out that the FDA approval panel is mostly comprised of GE [i.e. genetic engineering] cheerleaders, with no fish ecologists or allergists. Why’s an allergist important? Because the company’s own tests suggest that the new salmon could be much more allergenic than regular salmon.

Wasted food

U.S. Wastes 2 Percent of Its Energy on Uneaten Food

For the folks who won't buy an electric car, put solar panels on their roof, or turn off the lights when they leave the room, there's a painless solution that can help even them reduce their carbon footprint -- stop wasting all that food! According to the latest research, the United States could save the equivalent of 350 million barrels of oil every year by not producing those tons of food which get tossed out every day.
In a recent study, researchers discovered that food production in the U.S. requires some 1.4 billion barrels of oil each year, from growing, packaging, preserving, and transporting the stuff that ends up on your plate. And Americans really like food; It's estimated that between 8 and 16 percent of total US energy consumption gets poured into producing the food we consume -- or planned on consuming, that is.
For all this energy spent of food, Americans are throwing a shockingly high amount of it away. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans toss out around 27 percent of the food they buy -- and that's after the dog gets its share....
Considering the skyrocketing obesity rates, reducing the amount of food dished out could be beneficial to the nation's health as well. Smaller portions and eating locally grown food are both ways Americans could cut down on their carbon footprints -- while slimming down their waistlines, too.

Remember mom's saying - eat all your food - think about all those starving folks. The new rule - put less on your plate , save energy, lose weight and then help out those who don't have enough good food to eat.

It's humor

Violent Climate Change Film

At times it's seemed like the 10:10 Campaign has got the whole of Britain cutting its carbon. From football teams to corporations to schools, individuals and organizations have committed to 10% CO2 cuts in just one year. Even the new UK Government pledged to cut its own emissions 10% in 2010. But 10:10 hasn't been free of controversy—most notably facing accusations of eco-snobbery for turning down an airport wanting to cut its emissions. Now 10:10 has caused a stir again, releasing and then promptly withdrawing a film in which school children, corporate workers and even a famous footballer are blown up for not taking part in cutting their emissions. So what's up? Is this a clever use of dark and self-deprecating humor to capture attention and hit the headlines, or a disastrous, inappropriate and violent own-goal for the environmental movement?

Lighten up folks. A serious topic - but funny!

But who replaces him?

Want to Fire Obama for a Greener President?

Climate and clean energy legislation crashed and burned. The handling of the BP spill was criticized as too lenient on the oil giant, too withholding from the public. There's been a perceived lack of forthright discussion about climate change from the White House, an unwillingness to even make a symbolic gesture like installing solar panels on the roof. Due to these factors, some prominent green voices are starting to call for a better, more environmentally-motivated candidate to challenge Obama for the presidency in the next primary. Does Obama deserve to be fired for his failure to live up to his green promises -- and replaced with someone who can?
Gregg Hurowitz, the former Greenpeace president, penned an op-ed widely circulated in the blogoshpere that essentially argues yes. Here's a piece of it:
As enthralled as environmentalists and progressives once were about Obama's promise, we cannot ignore that for all his fine rhetoric, his accomodationism and reserve are allowing the planetary crisis to deteriorate and leaving America behind in the race for a clean energy economy. It pains me to say it, but success will require a new president -- and that means that after the midterm elections, we need to start looking for a primary challenger who has the heart and soul required to save the planet from catastrophe and rescue America from its economic morass -- even as we throw ourselves into grassroots action to do what we can to save the planet despite the president's interference.
Also weighing in is Kieran Suckling, executive director at the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity, who told Politico that: "Obama's environmental record has been dismal, especially on climate, oil and endangered species. His early appointment of Ken Salazar as secretary of the interior showed very poor judgment. So yes, a pro-environment Democrat might find a surprising amount of support in a primary battle."
Never mind for a second that this is a very unlikely scenario -- things would have to go way further off the rails in a general sense for any primary challenger to be viewed as a true contender. But it's an interesting question to mull. I of course would like to have sees far more strident advocacy for climate issues and clean energy from the president, and climate legislation should have been a higher priority and a better coordinated effort.
Also keep in mind that his raising of the fuel efficiency standards is the single greatest move by a president to reduce emissions, that the EPA is doing good work (except perhaps in some lethargy regarding the BP spill) and is slated to regulate greenhouse gases, and that he's overseen a major investment in clean energy through the stimulus bill. Some would still call him the greenest president in history. However, if you voted for Barack Obama on the grounds that he was going to use his office to address what's arguably the greatest threat facing the planet -- climate change -- I can understand the moral justification some might see in for calling for his ouster.

So who replaces him? Joe, Sarah, Mitt... At this point in time, until the money stops flowing into the pols' pockets or someone stops taking it - it probably won't matter or change a thing!

Green Avatars

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Cameron as Green Hero?

Having made the highest-grossing film in history with Avatar, James Cameron has used his return to the spotlight to fight for the rights of indigenous people around the world, and to advocate for environmental awareness. Most recently, he completed a trek to the notorious Alberta tar sands, which is the second largest deposit of oil in the world. The operation that extracts oil there has been called the most destructive project on Earth by green groups. Cameron explains the danger the operation poses in the video after the jump.

But he still was responsible for Titanic!