mckittre’s Recent Comments

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  local ecology

  To put some of the hunting from the original question back in here...

  Not all land is equivalent for all types food production.  I live in Alaska.  Here, anyone who tries to have a significant part of their diet be sustainable or local ends up eating a lot of animals:  salmon, halibut, moose, bear, etc...
  As do/did all native populations in northern areas.  I'm not a hunter myself, but this makes sense to me.  Why not eat whatever your area can produce best?

  So if the original questioner's family have figured out what works best on that piece of land, maybe it is the best thing to be eating if you live there.

  -ErinOn Umbra on homegrown meat posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago 33 Responses

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  water and energy sources

  The impact of toxics is probably fairly universal, as far as the detergent goes.  But the impacts of energy and water use depend on your personal sources of energy and water.  How environmentally friendly or unfriendly are they coming into your house?

  I haul water from my own shallow well and heat it on a woodstove to handwash dishes, so I'm not terribly concerned about either the water or the energy.  I imagine someone in a dry area might be most concerned about water use, and want to turn their heater up accordingly, to avoid having to wash dishes twice.  Someone in a very wet area might be better off using colder water and more of it.   On Umbra on eco-friendly detergents posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago 13 Responses

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  Where would the tofu come from?

  Assuming you will eat the same number of calories regardless, refusing the meat means you'll be eating something else it its place.  

  If the tofu, beans, etc... that will replace that meat are equally local, and grown in a way you know is just as sustainable, then that's probably lower impact.  

  But if you're replacing that meat with industrially grown soybeans shipped across the country, you may be better off with your family's food.  

  -ErinOn Umbra on homegrown meat posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 33 Responses

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  Alaska's wonderful energy policy

  Of course, here in Alaska, we've got the energy thing all figured out.  

  We're running countless villages, as well as some larger towns and a city on diesel generators - making for some of the most expensive electricity in the nation.  This is in a state where renewable sources (wind, geothermal, etc...) are there for the using, and where the state government has a massive surplus to put into new projects if it wished to...

  One of the biggest reasons given for the $1200 "energy rebate" Palin pushed for this year was that energy costs are so high here that some towns in the bush are in danger of shutting down because of it.  The village of Adak on the Aleutian Islands recently told everyone to leave because the city had no more money to buy fuel.

  Won't it be great when the nation's energy situation mirrors ours?

  -Erin
  www.GroundTruthTrekking.org
  On GOP VP candidate says she'd be in charge of McCain's energy policy posted 1 year, 1 month ago 6 Responses

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  Bridges to Nowhere

  Of course, the point of both "Bridge to Nowhere" ideas wasn't just pork.  It was pork being used for industrial development of the previously wild "Nowhere".  

  In the case of Ketchikan - logging on Gravina Island.  In the case of Knik Arm, allowing Anchorage (already a very sprawl-like city), to sprawl over into the Susitna river flats.  

  Something not to be forgotten when we think about Palin's environmental record.   On VP acceptance speech hits on energy issues posted 1 year, 2 months ago 41 Responses