Three cheers

Reversing roles, farmers sue Monsanto over GMO seeds

Genetically modified seed giant Monsanto is notorious for suing farmers [PDF] in defense of its patent claims. But now, a group of dozens of organic farmers and food activists have, with the help of the not-for-profit law center The Public Patent Foundation, sued Monsanto in a case that could forever alter the way genetically modified crops are grown in this country. But before you can understand why, it's worth reviewing an important, but underreported aspect of the fight over GMOs.


What I find intriguing about this suit is that it comes on the heels of a set of rulings against biotech companies and in favor of organic farmers. As I have speculated before, courts have decided that the interests of organic and other non-GMO farmers are now significant enough to require protection. While the USDA and the White House seem happy to do Monsanto's bidding (as they did in recent decisions to allow Roundup Ready beets and alfalfa), the federal courts -- and even the Supreme Court -- do not seem so quick to dismiss the economic harm that might come to unfettered use of GMO seeds. This one, my friends, bears watching.

Let's hope the lower courts don't fall prey to the cash offers like Congress and the White House has.

Wind Power

Beekman Boys Install The Vertical Axis Wind Turbine You'll Want To Get For Your Home

On their farm in upstate New York they've decided to install one these vertical axis wind turbines as part of their efforts to build one of the greenest small farms in the US.

I do want this!!

Rain, rain stay away

Traces of Radiation from Japan Nuclear Plant Found in US Rain

Traces of radioactivity from damaged nuclear power facilities in Japan have been detected in rainwater in the northeast United States, but pose no health risks, officials said.


The Environmental Protection Agency, in an update Sunday, said it had received reports of "elevated levels of radiation in recent precipitation events" in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and that it was "reviewing this data."


The EPA has been monitoring radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, and had previously detected "very low levels of radioactive material" in the United States, while saying that these "were expected" and that "the levels detected are far below levels of public health concern."

Looks like we'll have to change "April showers bring May flowers" to "April showers bring glowing arms, legs, skin..."

Peak gas

European Union to Ban Gas Fueled Vehicles by 2050

If you´ve ever wondered what a continent would look like without vehicles burning fossil fuels, it may only be four more decades before you see it firsthand. The European Commission, an executive branch of the EU, put forth an ambitious proposal to eliminate gasoline and diesel fueled automobiles by the year 2050 in a bid to reduce traffic congestion and drastically reduce the continent's carbon footprint. While the plan is certainly not without its detractors, what may be more pertinent to ponder is what the world would look like if fossil fuels usage continues to rise for the decades to come, unabated.

Let the critics scream at this proposal. Very soon the proposal; may be worthless. We may not have to eliminate the vehicles when the gas and diesel is not available.

Never safe

Amount of Radiation Released from the Japanese Nuclear Reactors is NOT “Safe”

Physicians for Social Responsibility notes:
According to the National Academy of Sciences, there are no safe doses of radiation. Decades of research show clearly that any dose of radiation increases an individual’s risk for the development of cancer.
“There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period,” said Jeff Patterson, DO, immediate past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Exposure to radionuclides, such as iodine-131 and cesium-137, increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water.”
“Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body,”said Alan H. Lockwood, MD, a member of the Board of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
***
Radiation can be concentrated many times in the food chain and any consumption adds to the cumulative risk of cancer and other diseases.
John LaForge notes:
The National Council on Radiation Protection says, “… every increment of radiation exposure produces an incremen­tal increase in the risk of cancer.” The Environmental Protection Agency says, “… any exposure to radiation poses some risk, i.e. there is no level below which we can say an exposure poses no risk.” The Department of Energy says about “low levels of radiation” that “… the major effect is a very slight increase in cancer risk.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says, “any amount of radiation may pose some risk for causing cancer … any increase in dose, no matter how small, results in an incremental increase in risk.” The National Academy of Sciences, in its “Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII,” says, “… it is unlikely that a threshold exists for the induction of cancers ….”
Long story short, “One can no longer speak of a ‘safe’ dose level,” as Dr. Ian Fairlie and Dr. Marvin Resnikoff said in their report “No dose too low,” in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
And Brian Moench, MD, writes:
Administration spokespeople continuously claim “no threat” from the radiation reaching the US from Japan, just as they did with oil hemorrhaging into the Gulf. Perhaps we should all whistle “Don’t worry, be happy” in unison. A thorough review of the science, however, begs a second opinion.
That the radiation is being released 5,000 miles away isn’t as comforting as it seems…. Every day, the jet stream carries pollution from Asian smoke stacks and dust from the Gobi Desert to our West Coast, contributing 10 to 60 percent of the total pollution breathed by Californians, depending on the time of year. Mercury is probably the second most toxic substance known after plutonium. Half the mercury in the atmosphere over the entire US originates in China. It, too, is 5,000 miles away. A week after a nuclear weapons test in China, iodine 131 could be detected in the thyroid glands of deer in Colorado, although it could not be detected in the air or in nearby vegetation.

So what to do? Well a longevity expert, Dr. Maoshing Ni says:

These are some simple ways for everyone to reduce exposure and radiation load:


• Introduce more chlorophyll-rich foods into your diet, such as seaweed, kelp, blue-green algae, spirulina, and chlorella. These plants contain rich minerals, including iodine, that bind up the receptors site in your thyroid so that any radioactive iodine that you end up being exposed to will be unable to harm your thyroid. These foods also contain potent antioxidants, like selenium, that prevent destructive free radical activity and cancerous growth, as well as chelating agents that bind to toxins and eliminate them from your body.


• Eat antioxidant-rich foods of every color, especially cherries, blueberries, pomegranates, yams, and sweet potatoes. The variety of antioxidants found in these foods help your body to mop up free radicals and toxins.


• Drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of filtered water every day to flush and hydrate your system.


• Consider taking vitamin C, E, and D to assist antioxidant actions within your body. Also, alpha lipoic acid is a nutrient that protects cells from radiation damage.


• Herbs like dandelion, peppermint, and chrysanthemum help the body detoxify.


• Undergoing a medically supervised detox program like the Tao of Wellness Detox Retreat can support your body's cleansing function.

Nuclear Boy

Don't worry?

The Future?

Three Mile Island Meltdown Led to Rise in Miscarriages, Still Births, Down Syndrome Children

During the nuclear crisis at Japana's Fukushima plant, there have been endless comparisons to both Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. But there have been fewer good, in-depth pieces that examine the fallout of through the lens of the communities that suffered through them. Yet this is surely the best way to gain insight into the potentially incipient health crises that may affect the communities surrounding Fukushima -- and insight into the risks nuclear power poses to human health in general. On the Issues Magazine has a must read in-depth look at how thousands of people in Harrisburg, PA, suffered a variety of illnesses and health woes in the wake of the meltdown -- especially women, who in addition to seeing higher rates of cancer, suffered an increase in still births, birth defects, miscarriages, and pregnancy complications.


I know that there's a popular radiation chart going around that seems to show that small amounts of radiation aren't very harmful, and that the general consensus seems to be that the health impacts of Three Mile island weren't that grave. But the work done by scientists and researchers in the aftermath of Three Mile Island -- which shows, among other things, that authorities have drastically lowballed the amount of radiation released in the event -- indicates that we should remain exceptionally cautious both regarding the accuracy of our radiation measurements, and the potential effects that even lower amounts of radiation may have.

So waht to expect in Japan? In the US...Canada...Iceland (the clouds have passed overhead you know)?

Is any amount of radiation good?

Radiation Over U.S. Is Harmless, Officials Say

Harmless traces of radiation from the stricken nuclear complex in Japan have been detected wafting over the East Coast of the United States, European officials said Monday.


Health experts said that the plume’s radiation had been diluted enormously in its journey of thousands of miles and that — at least for now, with concentrations so low — its presence will have no health consequences in the United States. In a similar way, faint radiation from the Chernobyl disaster spread around the globe and reached the West Coast in 10 days, its levels detectable but minuscule.

Reassured? I'm not there yet.

Send Ann on a trip

Facebook user? Check out Let’s Send Ann Coulter to Fukushima. This site needs more fans!

Gas Prices!!!!

Why $4-Per-Gallon Gas Is Damn Cheap

Inspired by Cord's thought-provoking post on the per gallon prices of various liquids, and by Sarah Palin's ill-informed Facebook rant on the "$4-Per-Gallon President," I decided to take a closer look at gasoline prices around the world. Mrs. Palin might be interested to learn, that the world already has quite a few $4-Per-Gallon Presidents. In fact, the world already has $6-Per-Gallon Parliaments, $7-Per-Gallon Prime Ministers, and $8-Per-Gallon Presidents!


We've collected a broad sample of gas prices from throughout the industrialized Western world in the chart below. Important to note: this chart includes only official data from throughout the European Union and North America. I've included some self-reported gas prices from a handful of relevant nations below the chart.

Maybe when our rates are up there we will be aware of our driving habits, of the types of car we drive, of our "planning."

Simplify

From James Howard Kunstler:

What we're seeing these days is an epochal unspooling of hypercomplexity. The world just can't take anymore of it. The world is telling us to cut it out or it is going to kick our upright bipedal asses. Of course, America may be absolutely the last society to get this message. We'll receive it in the car-wash, no doubt. On our iPhones.

Direct seed or this?

Sprouting Without Electricity - A Seed Gamble

My electricity billing rate went way up this year; and, it had become tiresome to set up fluorescent lights and heat tape in a hot box to raise my vegetables from seed.


This year I decided to try gardening without any electricity. We'll see how it goes. Seed order came in the mail yesterday. Here's the setup.


Got this $40, 4-shelf hotbox with a clear vinyl cover (better gardening through chemistry). Set it up against a south-facing wall, as shown below.


Put some bricks on the inside base to keep the wind from tipping it over. Weight of water in bases of the sprouting flats - probably a half gallon in total - also helps keep it in place.


Within an hour of placing the seeded flats on the shelves, interior temperature, measured with an old darkroom thermometer, was hanging at about 90F.


Set a kerosene hurricane lantern on the bottom to use when outside temp dipped, especially at night. There's an upside-down aluminum cookie sheet on second shelf to prevent overheating of the tray above the lamp

check out the photos in the article. Might have to try this - wonder where I can find a $40 hotbox for free?
Planting my peas tomorrow. Missed my usual St. Patty's Day planting by just a few.

Coulter's Ride on the Crazy Train

‘Radiation is good for you’

Right-wing blowhard Ann Coulter took her incendiary views to a whole new level Thursday, this time finding the silver lining in Japan’s nuclear disaster.
During a segment on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News show, the conservative firebrand tried to calm jittery viewers by telling them “radiation is good for you.”
Coulter went on to say that a growing body of evidence shows exposure to radiation above levels the government deems harmful actually reduces cancer.

Ann, go volunteer to enter the plants in japan if you think it is so good for you.

Wash your forks and spoons Congress

Fight Waged With Forks Is Rejoined in Congress

Within the war between Republicans and Democrats over the federal spending rages an affray over disposable forks.


Under the tutelage of Representative Nancy Pelosi during the years when Democrats ran the House, her party moved to “green” the Capitol with several initiatives, including obligating the 
food vendor for the three main House cafeterias to provide compostable cups and utensils. But the newly empowered House Republicans have ended the program, and plastic forks and foam cups have returned.


The move enraged many Democrats, who argue that the House is now doing something bad for the environment and retrograde.

Ridiculous. At a time when all efforts should be taken to help our environment , Congress does this?
Use your hands then, idiots!

Nuclear wallets

Here we go. More money for Congress.

Nuke Lobbyists

Nuclear power advocates are waging an intense lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill this week in an attempt to limit the political fallout from the reactor crisis in Japan, which threatens to undermine already shaky plans for expanded nuclear capacity in the United States.


Lobbyists with the Nuclear Energy Institute and some of the United States’s largest energy firms, including Exelon of Chicago, are holding meetings with key lawmakers and standing-room-only briefings for staff members in an attempt to tamp down talk of restrictions in response to the Japanese disaster.

Don't look behind the curtain

Agriculture Industry Pushes To Make Undercover Filming Of Farm Animal Abuse Illegal

Angered by repeated releases of secretly filmed videos claiming to show the mistreatment of farm animals, Iowa's agriculture industry is pushing legislation that would make it illegal for animal rights activists to produce and distribute such images.

Agriculture committees in the Iowa House and Senate have approved a bill that would prohibit such recordings and punish people who take agriculture jobs only to gain access to animals to record their treatment. Proposed penalties include fines of up to $7,500 and up to five years in prison. Votes by the full House and Senate have not yet been set.

Legislators and farming groups respond that they're only trying to prevent people from fraudulently seeking jobs in order to shoot videos that may give an unfair perspective on livestock operations. Rather than videotape and publicize abuse, supporters of the Iowa measure said people should report wrongs they see and work through proper channels to prevent them.

Don't want the carnivores to really know the truth. So punish the whistleblower.

Be prepared

Image via WikipediaCover Up Of Fukushima Chain Reaction Underway

All the nuclear reactors at the earthquake stricken Fukushima nuclear plant are under threat of melting down and exploding in a chain reaction that will signify the world’s worst ever nuclear disaster and send clouds of radioactive particles hurtling towards the United States – that’s the scale of the crisis facing Japan as officials admit for the first time that three nuclear reactors are already in a meltdown.
While the mainstream media continues to argue over the definition of a “meltdown” while unquestionably regurgitating the dubious claim of Japanese officials that the two massive explosions witnessed at the plant were caused by pressurized hydrogen, radioactive isotopes cesium-137 and iodine-121 have been detected by helicopters flying 160km (100 miles) away from the nuclear plant, which can only mean one thing, according to the Seattle Times: “One or more of the reactor cores is badly damaged and at least partially melted down.”
After claiming for three days that the explosions did not damage reactor cores and downplaying the severity of the situation, Japanese officials have now been forced to admit the obvious, that nuclear fuel rods in three reactors are melting. Given the sequence of events, it is entirely probable that all six reactor sites will now go into total meltdown and start spewing radioactive particles into the atmosphere that threaten not only Japanese citizens but also those living on the west coast of the United States....


Japanese engineer Masashi Goto, who helped design the containment vessel for Fukushima’s reactor core, says the design was not enough to withstand earthquakes or tsunamis and the plant’s builders, Toshiba, knew this.
Mr Goto says his greatest fear is that blasts at number 3 and number 1 reactors may have damaged the steel casing of the containment vessel designed to stop radioactive material escaping into the atmosphere.
He says that as the reactor uses mox (mixed oxide) fuel, the melting point is lower than that of conventional fuel. Should a meltdown and an explosion occur, he says, p lutonium could be spread over an area up to twice as far as estimated for a conventional nuclear fuel explosion. The next 24 hours are critical, he says.
Goto warns that Japanese authorities have suppressed the true severity of the crisis and that there is “a severe risk of an explosion, with radioactive material being strewn over a very wide area – beyond the 20km evacuation zone set up by the authorities,” adding that the worst case scenario would manifest itself as “many Chernobyls,” and that the effect would be, “Like a volcano spreading radioactive material.”
Nuclear expert Joe Cirincione warns that radiation from Japan’s multiple potential nuclear meltdowns could spread to the US west coast and that the threat represents an “unprecedented crisis.”
Yoichi Shimatsu, former editor of the Japan Times, states that after a high-level government meeting, “Japanese agencies are no longer releasing independent reports without prior approval from the top,” and that censorship of what is really occurring at the plant is being overseen under the Article 15 Emergency Law.

Be prepared. One step is Potassium Iodide (SSKI):

SSKI may be used in radioiodine-contamination emergencies (i.e., nuclear accidents) to "block" the thyroid's uptake of radioiodine (this is not the same as blocking the thyroid's release of thyroid hormone).
Potassium iodide was approved in 1982 by the US FDA to protect the thyroid glands from radioactive iodine from accidents or fission emergencies. In the event of an accident or attack at a nuclear power plant, or fallout from a nuclear bomb, volatile fission product radionuclides may be released, of which 131I is one of the most common by-products and a particularly dangerous one due to thyroid gland concentration of it, which may lead to thyroid cancer. By saturating the body with a source of stable iodide prior to exposure, inhaled or ingested 131I tends to be excreted.

Beck on the Crazy Train - again

Japan Earthquake Might Be A 'Message' From God

On his first day back from vacation, Glenn Beck addressed the earthquake in Japan, and said he thinks that it could be a "message [is] being sent" by God.


Speaking on his radio show Monday, Beck said, "I'm not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes," before quickly adding, "I'm not not saying that either."


He then said that whatever one called God, "there's a message being sent. And that is, 'Hey, you know that stuff we're doing? Not really working out real well. Maybe we should stop doing some of it.' I'm just saying."

I'm just saying that Beck is crazy!

What if...?

Our Air Would Never be this Clean Without the Government

Imagine an alternate American history, one in which the Clean Air & Water Acts were never passed -- despite industry pumping such massive amounts of pollution into our skies, lakes, and rivers that one of those rivers eventually caught on fire. What happens next, after 1970? According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and prominent idea-generator for the GOP, those polluting industries begin cleaning up their acts on their own accord, because it's the right thing to do. The nation gets cleaner and cleaner, thanks to technological improvements and good ol' American innovation. There's really no need for the Clean Air Act, Heritage argues in a recent paper, and there never was -- polluting emissions were already declining before it was passed, driven by improving technology, which would have continued to this very day. That's a nice, patriotic vision of a world driven by free enterprise, right?


It sure is -- and if it weren't for lousy government regulations getting in the way, we'd have probably invented coal plants that only emit rainbows by now, too. Except that the vision put forward by the Heritage Foundation is very, very wrong -- both conceptually and factually.

Heritage Foundation a think-tank? With reports like this? Creating new technologies to clean the air would cost money. Do we really believe that industry would do that because it was the "right thing" even though it would cost them bucks?  Crazy Train - all aboard!!!

Rocking our world

Japan Earthquake Shifted Coastline Maximum Of 8 Feet

The massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Japan and triggered a powerful tsunami on Friday has had a profound effect on both the surrounding terrain and the planet as a whole.


Dr. Daniel McNamara, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told The Huffington Post that the disaster left a gigantic rupture in the sea floor, 217-miles long and 50 miles wide. It also shifted Japan's coast by eight feet in some parts, though McNamara was quick to explain much of the coast likely didn't move as far.


The enormous tremor also shifted the Earth's axis. According to CNN, the earthquake moved the planet's axis approximately 4 inches.


Conflicting figures aside, a shift in the Earth's axis wouldn't be noticeable. Last year's 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, which also reportedly moved the planet's axis slightly, only resulted in shortening the day by 1.26 microseconds. (A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.)


As for any claims that the earthquake somehow relates to climate change, McNamara didn't hesitate to dismiss that connection. He explained that while evidence shows melting glaciers can cause small tremors directly underneath as their weight on the Earth's crust reduces, what happened in Japan "is not connected in any way to that process."

Okay, so the earthquake cannot be tied to climate change directly.  Or is it just Mother Earth trying to cure itself?
The axis tilt is the amazing thing.  I really don't care about the lengthening days.  Any shift, as well as previous shifts affecting airport runways, is significant and may be a sign of things to come.
Is this the shift of 2012?

Nukes in Japan

Image via WikipediaDanger Posed by Radioactivity in Japan Hard to Assess

The different radioactive materials being reported at the nuclear accidents in Japan range from relatively benign to extremely worrisome.


The central problem in assessing the degree of danger is that the amounts of various radioactive releases into the environment are now unknown, as are the winds and other atmospheric factors that determine how radioactivity will disperse around the stricken plants.


Still, the properties of the materials and their typical interactions with the human body give some indication of the threat.


“The situation is pretty bad,” said Frank N. von Hippel, a nuclear physicist who advised the Clinton White House and now teaches international affairs at Princeton. “But it could get a lot worse.”


In Vienna on Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Japanese authorities had informed it that iodine pills would be distributed to residents around the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini plants in northeast Japan. Both have experienced multiple failures in the wake of the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck Friday.

Very mixed news reports about the situation at the plants.  More and more reports are coming out that a meltdown is occurring or will be soon. Of course our thoughts are with the people.  Our hopes also are that we all realize that nuclear power - no matter the style of reactor - can never be 100% safe.

Wisconsin matters to all

Why Wisconsin Matters for Environmentalists

For one thing, the attack on worker's rights in Wisconsin matters for environmentalists because it matters for everyone. A war on workers is a war on all of us.


On another level, if you're concerned about the environment you should care about what's happening in Wisconsin because the same people, the same corporate interests that have orchestrated this attack on workers are also lobbying to slash funding for the EPA, working to destroy any notion of climate legislation and securing massive handouts for big polluters.


Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Ag have bought and paid for our democracy, and it is their agenda that our elected representatives are serving. Billionaire polluters like the Koch brothers who funded the crippling of last year's climate bill and are now going after the EPA, are also funding this attack on our state's teachers and other public workers. The same big corporations that have a vested interest in minimizing environmental regulations are pushing to cut the power of workers.


What's happening in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and elsewhere is the result of turning our democracy into a dirty poker game. A game where only the very rich and powerful have a hand, the antes are the in the billions and the stakes are our country.

It is all about the almighty dollar. It is not about an individual's life, it is not about an animal's health, it is not about the air we breathe, it is not about the emissions pumped into the air...

Hoping for Japan

Yes, Climate Change May Cause More Tsunamis. No, That's Not Alarmism

I know headlines like that might just make most folks roll their eyes at this point -- I mean, what doesn't climate change cause these days, am I right? And I realize that people are skeptical of news-cycle tie-ins, like this very story appears to be. But just because it's sort of depressing to keep tabs on all of the myriad impacts of ol' climate change occurring the world over, doesn't mean we should be glossing over facts like this: Geologists believe that global warming may already be causing more earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. After all, screwing with the world's ornery climate system to the extent which we have is bound to have far-reaching effects -- effects like huge amounts of melting ice causing the earth's crust to "bounce" up, potentially triggering earthquakes.


Which makes sense. And if you ask me, now is a perfectly apt time to be analyzing such possible causal relationships, like the one between climate change and earthquakes (which set off tsunamis).

Devastation. Will Congress ever understand the future issues they may cause with their actions? Will they ever be motivated to do what is right for the earth and its future rather than their own wallet?

Following the money

Oil-fattened Congress well on way to preventing EPA from regulating greenhouse gases

On Friday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce -- whose leaders are backed by ag, chemical, and fossil fuel industries -- voted to strip the EPA of its existing powers to regulate carbon dioxide, methane, and other agents of global warming. That sucks. What sucks worse: Their efforts might just survive a presidential veto and become law.

Disgusting.

Rush aboard the Crazy Train

Image by DavidErickson via FlickrWill Environmentalists 'Cheer' About Japan Earthquake?

On his Friday show, Rush Limbaugh wondered if environmentalists will "cheer" the earthquake in Japan, since the quake and subsequent tsunami hit the region of the country that thrives on car manufacturing.


"This has to be a tough call out there for the environmentalists around the world," Limbaugh said. "They're scrambling now to blame this on global warming...much of the damage seems to have happened in that part of Japan most heavily involved in manufacturing cars. So do environmentalists cheer or do they pretend to be saddened by this? It's a legitimate question."


Limbaugh then wondered if the Prius or any electric cars were made in the area, saying this would create a real dilemma for environmentalists.

"Ass" would be too nice a word for him.

Great Interview JHK

James Howard Kunstler: The old American dream is a nightmare

Kunstler has long warned of the horrendous hangover we're going to wake up with after our "cheap oil fiesta," but he's not gloating as global instability and climate destabilization become the new not-so-normal. Unlike some dystopians, he's motivated less by the desire to say "I told you so" than by the hope that we might still manage to reinvent the American dream on a scale that better suits our current circumstances.


"...we are mounting a foolish campaign to sustain the unsustainable, to defend our previous investments in things like suburban living, instead of making new arrangements. That's what we do when we invest half a trillion dollars of "stimulus" capital in building new circumferential highways around our hypertrophied metroplex cities instead of repairing the railroad system.


There is, sadly, much truth in the old saying that people get what they deserve, not what they expect. We are an extremely demoralized nation, unable to construct a coherent consensus about what is happening and what we might do about it, and floundering as a result."

Read the entire article.
I  think the "disaster" that will make us change (or completely destroy us) is here.  Peak oil, $200 barrel prices, unrest, floundering economy...that should move us to action.  But then again...

$200 a barrel?

Image via WikipediaIs the House of Saud Next?

Most disconcerting to oil markets has been repeated reports of Shiite protests in the oil-rich Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Despite King Abdullah's attempt to buy off the potential protesters with $36 billion of new spending in the kingdom, authorities are bracing themselves for two "days of rage" planned for March 11 and March 20 to protest double digit unemployment and the lack of political freedom in the country.


Is the Royal House of Saud next on the growing list of deposed Middle East despots?
Certainly, their political right to rule isn't any more legitimate, and perhaps no more sustainable, than Mubarak's or Gaddafi's.


If so, the path to $200 a barrel oil is a lot shorter than you think. Not only is Saudi Arabia's limited spare capacity of heavy sour crude incapable of replacing what has been lost from Libya, but the kingdom's own nine million barrels a day output may also be soon at risk.

Staycations, crowded mass transit, shortages -- summer is going to be fun.

It may be us!

The Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction May Be Underway

A "mass extinction" event is characterised as a period during which at least 75% of the Earth's species die out in a period of a few million years or less. In the past 540 million years, five such mass extinction events have occurred, but according to a study by UC Berkeley's Anthony Barnosky and colleagues recently published in the journal Nature, there are signs that we may be entering a sixth such event....
In short, human influences, including our impacts on climate change, are causing extinctions at a rate faster than the average during a mass extinction event. If we continue down our current path, we may face a sixth mass extinction event within the next few centuries. However, we're still relatively early along in the process, so although it will be a difficult task, there is still time to change course and prevent a huge loss in biodiversity. If we fail to do so, it may take millions of years to recover from the human-caused extinction event, and we're quickly running out of time to avoid this fate.

So we are not just casual or separated observers of the extinction taking place.  We may be a prime cause.  And if we are not careful, we may be one of the species labeled "extinct."

Talking out of both sides of the mouth

USDA chief flatters industrial ag while Obama honors its greatest critic, Wendell Berry

Two events last week offered a nice snapshot of what might be called Obama's dual policy on ag.


1) In Washington on Wednesday, President Obama honored Wendell Berry with the National Humanities Medal. "The author of more than 40 books, Mr. Berry has spent his career exploring our relationship with the land and community," Obama declared, before ceremoniously draping the medal around Berry's neck.


Berry, 76, is probably industrial agriculture's fiercest critic. He is certainly its longest-running. His seminal book The Unsettling of America came out in 1977 -- long before other prominent critics like Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, or Vandana Shiva published their own famous critiques. In an interview after the ceremony, Berry told his local paper, the Louisville Courrier-Journal, that "the president whispered to him during the ceremony that he admired his poetry." (In addition to his nonfiction, Berry also writes poetry and novels.) Berry added that he had the chance to thank Michelle Obama for planting her famous organic garden on the White House lawn.


2) Two days later down in Tampa, Fla., USDA chief Tom Vilsack addressed the Commodity Classic, the annual confab thrown by the big corn and soy growers groups and funded by the agribusiness corporations that supply their inputs and buy and process their produce. The trade show's exhibitors list reads like a roster of the globe's dominant agribusiness players: corn-processing giants Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill; seed/agrichemical titans Monsanto, BASF, Bayer, Syngenta, and Dupont; and synthetic/mined fertilizers behemoths Mosaic and CF Industries.

Mixed messages with the Berry honor but the recent GMO decisions... Trying to keep everyone happy? Sorry but it won't work.

A bleak look from JHK

Reality Optional Nation

..the matter that the world is suddenly exploding in an epic phase-change rearrangement of the political order, starting with the lands that own most of the world's exportable oil. In this vein, a message to readers of George Will and other old-line "thought-leaders" of America's commentary regime: If you think the action in the streets will be limited to these sandy outlands seven thousand miles away, then your last thoughts will not be comforting when the zombies you helped to create turn up slavering in your driveway.
By the way, this doesn't let President Obama off the hook. His consistent failure to tell the truth about the fragility of our situation, to make the case for getting our citizens out of their car-prisons, to promote modes of living that comport with reality - the president's apparent cluelessness in every dimension of this crisis is something that historians of the future will shake theirs heads over in wonder and nausea (if the notion of history even survives the oil age). And for the moment we'll put aside some other rather pressing matters such as the AWOL rule-of-law in our banking operations.
One historian, Michael Klare of Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass, made the trenchant point last week that oil nations which undergo political upheaval invariably end up producing far less oil, permanently, no matter whether the political outcome is better or worse than before. So, notwithstanding the media fantasy in our land to the effect that America's founding fathers have been reincarnated in places like Egypt the past month, it is unlikely that there would be anything but an extreme downside effect on the world's oil supply, even if the successor to Hosni Mubarak (as yet unknown) turned up in a powdered wig and waistcoat, with the Bill of Rights magically translated into Arabic in his beneficent hand.

Bleak but real. We are deluding ourselves that "this" is just a small bump in the road. Get ready for those $5 to $10 per gallon gas prices. Get used to mass transit, bikes... Get used to doing with less... Growing your own.

Pigeons in our future?

Image via WikipediaChinese Army to Enlist 10,000 Pigeons, Just in Case

From their humble beginnings along the rocky cliff sides of Africa and Asia some 20 million years ago, pigeons can now by found pretty much anywhere there´s a statue being erected or sandwich being eaten -- though long before we they were merely pests, they served a vital purpose that has evidently not been lost. It was recently revealed that China plans to increase its military spending 12.7 percent, but evidently not all that money will go towards tanks and fighter jets. According to China Central Television, the People's Liberation Army will soon be training 10,000 pigeons, to act as couriers if traditional communication equipment fails.

Don't laugh.   We may all be relying on past techniques and skills.  Remember after 9/11 how many were without cell phones and internet?
It is not so far fetched that communication lines may break down and we are all without or iPads, Androids... Pigeons or just walking to the town to hear the news may be the only way to find out the news.
And as the recent "No Reservations" showed, pigeons make a good meal too!

Garden Oil

Oil-Free Gardening Tips (PHOTOS)

The disastrous BP oil spill reminded the world that drilling comes with a heavy cost. But oil is a fact of modern life. Gasoline powers our cars, plastics encase our lunches, and asphalt paves our streets. Petroleum shows up in our organic gardens as plastic mulch, vinyl fences, polypropylene row covers, and PVC hoses. But if synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are not welcome, why embrace oil-based products? Here are a few ways to root out the worst petroleum offenders from the garden.

From eliminating PVC barriers, using twine and composting - all great ideas.
Today was the day I battled the mud and remnant snow to fix my garden's fence.  Some new posts - some new metal wire - some wet shoes....come on spring.
Also worked on the grape arbor - dreaming of picking those your leaves for some stuffed grape leaves.

GMO Beets - Destroy Them

California Court Overturns Order to Destroy GMO Beets

It seems that GMOs are again steamrolling their way through our legal system. Back in December it seemed there may be a light at the end of the tunnel when a federal judge ordered that 258 acres of genetically modified sugar beets be destroyed. But now we're back to square one, if not worse. A federal appeals court in San Francisco has overturned a previous ruling to destroy the genetically modified sugar beets, ruling in favor of Monsanto and the USDA, according to Food Quality News.


In December, Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the crops be destroyed because the risk of gene contamination in Oregon's Willamette Valley was so great. Then the USDA started easing off when they announced that farmers be allowed to grow genetically modified sugar beets this season, "while it finishes work on a full environmental impact statement on the beets' effect on other crops and the environment." It seemed strange to allow a potentially harmful experiment to continue when you were currently conducting an environmental impact statement on it.


And then the most recent court ruling said: "We hold that the district court abused its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction...The Plaintiffs have failed to show a likelihood of irreparable injury. Biology, geography, field experience, and permit restrictions make irreparable injury unlikely," according to Food Quality News.


GMO sugar beets account for 95 percent of the crop and there are real fears that the wind can cross-pollinate GMOs with the organic variety. Why is the USDA on the side of Monsanto when Tom Vilsack said just a few months ago that "We have an obligation to carefully consider...the potential of cross-fertilization to non-GE alfalfa from GE alfalfa--a significant concern for farmers who produce for non-GE markets at home and abroad?"

Why are they on Monsanto's side? What a silly question. It is called money, cash, coin, moola...  And we know that always takes center stage over planetary or human health.

Koch boys are everywhere

Kochs’ BFF is GOP’s styrofoam dealer

So, remember how Republicans triumphantly reinstated styrofoam cups in congressional cafeterias, presumably as part of their plan to save jobs and mom and apple pie and small businesses and stuff? Well, they got the "business" part right: The cups they'll be using are made by a company belonging to a former Koch Industries executive. Those little scamps do just crop up everywhere, don't they.


GOP leaders didn't dictate the choice of WinCup, owned by former Koch fiend George Wurtz. So this isn't some kind of Koch conspiracy. (What, AGAIN with defending the Kochs? We're no fun anymore, are we?) But it does underline two things:

1. Once you get rich enough, anything you can think of is probably owned by you or someone you know. The Kochs are like the Kevin Bacon of every planet-unfriendly business in the world.
2. The GOP's decision to literally trash the country doesn't just harm the environment. It also -- what a shock -- puts money in the pockets of the ultra-rich.

Are we really sure they didn't "dictate the choice." I would not put it past them. Money has a strange way of running Congress.

Wonder who is funding Joe

Joe Manchin Joining GOP Mission To Restrict EPA

Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) is breaking party ranks in co-sponsoring a bill aimed at advancing Republican efforts to restrict the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.


The West Virginia senator is the only Democratic member of the upper congressional chamber getting on board with the political mission.


Politico reports that in a statement, Manchin said, "It's time that the EPA realizes it cannot regulate what has not been legislated. Our government was designed so that elected representatives are in charge of making important decisions, not bureaucrats."

Coal bucks? Say it ain't so Joe.

You Gotta Wanna Change

Can we get smart fast in an oil crunch?

As political turmoil continues to rage across oil-producing regions in the Middle East and Northern Africa and the price of Brent crude climbs past $115 a barrel, now might be a good time to look at how we could speed up the transition to a smarter, more energy efficient society.


Organisations from the US military to the UK Industry Task Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security have released a number of reports in recent years arguing for the need for smart energy grids, renewables and conservation. While advances are taking place in these areas, the changes are occurring on a long-term basis. But what if we need to — or are forced to — make that change far more quickly? What sorts of smart (and dumb) measures could help reduce our fossil-fuel demands dramatically, and fast?


Following are several strategies that could help:


A mobility makeover: Road transport — both cars and trucks — accounts for the vast majority of our oil consumption, so this would be the first place to start. Governments would have to take the lead here, mandating quick implementation of everything from congestion pricing and car-pooling to tradable energy quotas and petrol rationing. Individuals and businesses could also do their part by putting a stop to car idling, switching over to telecommuting wherever possible and converting vehicles from petrol to liquefied natural gas. (The last measure’s not cheap, but is readily doable and could prove well worth it if oil moves deeper into triple-digit territory.) Limiting air travel and shipping more goods by rail rather than trucks would also save on oil consumption.
A Victory Garden redux: Great Britain did it during World War II, Cuba did it after the fall of the Soviet Union — growing more food locally. Today’s industrial-style agriculture might be highly productive, but it’s also highly oil-intensive, thanks to fossil-fuel-based fertilisers and mechanised farming practices. And then there’s the footprint of food shipping: an estimated average of 1,500 miles from farm to plate. Every additional pound of home-grown produce would mean oil saved across the supply chain.
An end to oil heating: In places like the Northeastern US and Northern Ireland, many people still rely on heating oil for their homes … a fact that contributed to staggeringly high energy bills this past winter. In a sudden oil crunch, governments could move quickly to help such homeowners convert to natural-gas heating, as natural gas is — for now, anyway — cheaper, more abundant and more readily available from sources closer to home than is oil.
How much of a dent could such measures make quickly? A lot would depend on how well formulated and enforced strategies are, but with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel accounting for around 85 per cent of US petroleum use as of 2010, the savings could be considerable.


Considering the current global state of affairs, governments looking to become more energy- and technology-savvy in years to come would be wise to also have an emergency smart-city plan in place today.

Can we and will we make changes? Looks like we won't have a choice but to make the changes if we want to survive - at least in our own homes.

Listen up John

Image by DonkeyHotey via FlickrIs China Planning a Massive Environmental About Face?

China's Environmental Minister penned an unusually frank op-ed that took the issue of climate change head-on. He acknowledged that some of the nation's development policies have been destructive and dangerous, and emphasized the need to move towards greener policies. Could this be the first sign of a huge about-face from one of the world's most notorious polluters?

This is occurring when at the same time our Congress, led by crying John, is shredding the EPA, bringing back styrofoam...
And I always thought that John wanted our nation to lead the way for other nations.