Comments kmp has made

I grew up in Gloucester, MA.  Although one of the larger (if not the largest?) commercial fishing towns on the East Coast, Gloucester in the 70's was still fished by primarily "small" boats: Dads and sons and cousins going out for 3 to 4 weeks at a time to fish off of George's Bank.  I know surprisingly little about their fishing methods, considering I spent my entire childhood there, but I do know that even back then the controversy raged over the depleting fish stocks in George's Bank, and none of the small fisherman wanted George's Bank closed to fishing, even though they knew that they fishing stocks were being depleted.

We're talking about people's livelihood here; closing George's Bank would have put most of the town out of business, and even though the fishing was getting harder and harder, there seemed to be no good answer.  IMO, the "efficiency" of large-scale fishing operations (like large-scale CAFOs and large-scale ag) simply serves to drive down the cost of fish, thereby forcing the small fisherman to catch even more fish; stay out longer, take bigger risks, poach protected areas, etc., because it takes that much more to earn a living.

Like everything else, fish-eaters are going to need to learn to adapt; either cut way down on fish, or figure out a way to sustainably raise farmed fish.  Although people still eat wild meat, we couldn't possibly support America's meat habit on wild game alone; farmed meat had to come along, or people would have had to cut way down on meat, or many species would have disappeared altogether.

Although catch limits and protected areas may help some, they are simply too easy to get around.  A massive price increase may help to decrease the market for the bluefin tuna, but then again, may tempt more fisherman to break the rules for the big pay-off. 

It's not easy.

Godwin's Law

time?

I suggest we recall Dave Robert's infamous Nuremburg post (sorry David) of how the hell long ago now??  

Really, there should be some vile & painful punishment for this crap.  Educated and intelligent people actually believe that "there is still significant debate" over whether or not global warming even exists, regardless of whether or not it is man-made. I see it every day.  And really, it is not so different as educated, intelligent, and basically good-hearted people thinking that their next-door neighbor is a Communist, or that being black makes you inferior, or that girls aren't any good at science & math. This is what the world tells them.

Honestly, it has got to stop.  There is so much bull, so much rhetoric flying around, that it is impossible to tell what is true.  I am a scientist; I am trained to analyze data, and am fully aware, and quite used to the fact, that often conclusions are nebulous at best. If I can't tell the shit from the shinola, who can?On Washington Post is staffed with people who found no mistakes in George Will's denial posted 9 months, 1 week ago 20 Responses

Winter's bounty

I'm not an oxtail fan myself, but the succotash recipe looks wonderful. I shall have to add that to my list next summer.

Just last night I was patting myself on the back for all the work I did over the summer/fall in 'putting by' the harvest, as I pulled diced pumpkin chunks, chopped garlic and homemade chicken stock out of the freezer, threw it in a soup pot with a chopped onion, a can of chickpeas, and some homemade (and homegrown!) tomato paste for a quick & easy, yet nutrious and filling soup.  Fresh parsley from the winter farmer's market added a little green, and with a slice of homemade hearth bread and a glass of local Riesling, we were stuffed.

This soup went into the pot in 5 minutes and then simmered while I did the dishes, finished up some emails, and popped a bottle of wine. Since most of the ingredients in this meal were paid for nearly a year ago in the yearly CSA payment, it was essentially "free."  It would be even cheaper if I could ever plan ahead enough to use dried beans - it's one of my New Year's resolutions, but so far, it's going about as well as NY resolutions usually go....On Take the chill off the bad economy with a frugal, delicious vegetable soup posted 10 months ago 14 Responses

Shock value

We could appeal to the religious masses with "climate hell" or "climate Armageddon," although there may be too many creepy  people out there who think the rapture is coming and that this is all a good thing.

I do find myself saying "climate clusterf**k" in conversation... although typing those asteriks is always a pain.On 'Climate change,' 'global warming,' 'climate chaos' -- what terminology fits best? posted 10 months, 1 week ago 34 Responses

Spaceshaper is right

In your mind, David, the two fuel sources are fairly similar; both polluting, CO2-producing, climate-killing nightmares.

In different eyes, oil = handing $$$ to Evil Muslim Foreigners Who Want to Destroy Our Way of Life.  Coal = Apple Pie, Hot Dogs, Baseball on the 4th of July.On Deep thought posted 10 months, 1 week ago 5 Responses

Green jobs

ARE clearly a priority for Obama's administration, or at least, that's what he keeps talking about. We shall see what legislation follows.  But, what we are saying here is that green jobs are not enough, no?

And, thanks Pompey Road, for the compliment.. but that would be "what SHE said."  :)On What the Obama presidency means posted 10 months, 1 week ago 26 Responses

Wait....

The Easter Bunny isn't real??!On There is no negative feedback in the climate system posted 10 months, 1 week ago 51 Responses

Imitation is...

the sincerest form of flattery??

Badly done imitation, however, flatters no one.

However, it IS breaking environmental news that I can buy $50 reclaimed wood salt & pepper shakers.....On Green as in money posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 15 Responses

Ice-melt, rock salt, etc.

We live in semi-rural NY about 60 miles north of NYC.  We have a comical driveway; steep, hilly & curvy.  We also live right across the street from a 5,000 acre nature preserve - any toxic stuff that I might use on the driveway to melt ice/gain traction is simply going to wash right across the street in the preserve.  

In the snowy winter, I've tried a bunch of stuff, but have not found a clear winner - a Grist review would be most welcome!On What green products would you like to see Grist review? posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 8 Responses

You say tortilla...

I say frittata, let's call the whole thing off.

Actually the basis of my original frittata recipe was my memory of fantastic late-night tapas of tortilla espanola in many hole-in-the-wall bars in Madrid.  But everyone confuses 'tortilla' with the Mexican fried corn chip, so I started calling it frittata.

The basis of my recipe is always potatoes & onions but I do use up leftovers; roasted veggies, stray bits of goat cheese or the end of a block of parmesan, a lonely grilled sausage or the last of a roasted chicken.  I also find it is the best way to stay ahead of the CSA greens that flood us in Spring & Fall - you can cram a serious amount of kale, chard, spinach, etc., into a frittata. I do not slide it out of the pan and flip it over - I find it is easier to simply finish it under the broiler; after a 5 min cool in the pan it slides out easily.

Last weekend's recipe was leek, shallot, leftover rosemary-roasted potatoes, applewood-smoked bacon and organic, grass-fed cheddar.  There were raves.On When you get fed up with separating trash, make a quick-and-easy Spanish-style tortilla posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 11 Responses

When "Gristmill" makes the list

we'll know we've really arrived.On Eco-buzzwords make annual banned words list posted 10 months, 4 weeks ago 7 Responses

Coffee out the nose

"My wife says that complaining about the obviously unintentionally uninformed first sentence in this O piece will make me seem like a curmudgeon. Seem? I told her she needs to read my blog more. Oh, snap!"

Thanks a lot, Joe... anyone have a good idea for cleaning coffee out of my keyboard? :)On Oprah gained weight and confused the public about renewable energy posted 11 months ago 5 Responses

Herbed oil botulism??

OK, so I followed Kurt's advice, back in September when I harvested the last of the basil from my garden.  I made lots of pesto, and then put the stems in pint-sized Ball jars, covered them in a good olive oil, and let them sit for about 2 months or so at cool room temp (aka the garage).

I had found a recipe for this somewhere; but now, in the course of Googling on a totally different topic, I see that I might have cooked up Basil-Botulism Oil.  I hadn't really thought of it, but lack of oxygen (due to oil), low acid (basil stems)... seems like a possibility.  So should I just throw this out?  Make sure to boil it for 15 minutes?  Or is this one more example of Internet fear-mongering?

Thanks,
KaelaOn When the basil plants get out of control, reach for the mortar and pestle posted 1 year ago 4 Responses

Prop 2 and Prop 8

Yes, the victory of Prop 2 has to be considered a good thing, but I do wish there was a way to communicate that eating meat is a privilege, not a right.  Maybe, much like the government warnings on cigarette packs, every package of meat should come with an "environmental impact" sticker; so many gallons of water, so many pounds of chemical fertilizer/pesticide, etc.

On Prop 8, I too, was very saddened by the news, and in fact, somewhat baffled.  How do lawmakers deal with issues like this?  Thousands of gay and lesbian couples were legally married as of Nov. 3rd; marriage being the institution that it is, affects health insurance, beneficiary status, taxes, community property laws, and your very name.  How can this suddenly be reversed by a vote on a ballot, especially when the Supreme Court has already ruled the measure unconstitutional.  I'm not sure how this even got on the ballot in the first place.  

That said, as I pointed out to another friend yesterday, at the very least we can take (small, very small) solace in the fact that the numbers are heading in the right direction.  Eight years ago when this measure was on the CA ballot 61% of voters voted for the ban.  In this week's election, it passed by a slim margin of 52%.  One can only hope that the reason the far right is fighting so hard make gay marriage illegal is that they can feel the ground falling away from under them.

In other bizarre news, Ralph Nader cautioned Barack Obama against becoming an "Uncle Tom" on the very day of Obama's historic election.  It was on FOX news, and even the FOX news anchor felt Nader had gone too far!  The man has really gone 'round the twist.On California OKs measure requiring more humane treatment of farm animals posted 1 year ago 7 Responses

It's only low

because of the election.  Happens every time, about 4-6 weeks prior to an election.  It'll go right back up next week.On As gas prices go down, bad driving habits go up posted 1 year, 1 month ago 5 Responses

Putting by

Mihan, I had to laugh at your lack of success in spreading the canning gospel. I, too, have tried to convert friends to the satisfaction of preserving the harvest.  While I have managed to convince several friends to join a CSA, shop at the farmer's market, and source locally raised, pastured meats, canning seems a much harder step.  I get multiple requests for my tomato sauce, apple butter, salsa verde and other preserved goodies; yet when I offer to show them how, or even better, say "show up with the apples and we can can it together" I get no takers.  One friend has been honest enough to say "Why, when I can just get it from you?"  I guess there will always be those who can, and those who.... eat.

I agree with you on Deborah Madison, although there are a couple of recipes I like. For a basic, seasonal cookbook I much prefer Michel Nischan's Homegrown.On How to make a meal from your market basket posted 1 year, 1 month ago 6 Responses

I'm calling on

America's politicians to learn English.  Grammar. Sentence structure.  Noun-verb agreement. These things are not rocket science, people.

I realize that saying nothing whilst attempting to sound like you are saying something can be a formidable task; is it too much to ask that the task be performed without the mangling of our mother tongue?On Minn. Rep. Bachmann lists climate policy as among her 'concerns' about Barack Obama posted 1 year, 1 month ago 3 Responses

Pillowcases

When I was a kid, my Mom would give us old, worn out, white pillowcases, and we would decorate them with markers in various scary Halloweeny themes.  I always remember it as a fun tradition.. and you can fit a LOT of candy in a pillowcase!

I also remember collecting for UNICEF... good to know some things remain.On How to green your Halloween posted 1 year, 1 month ago 2 Responses

My friends...

I wouldn't place too much blame on the moderator.  Firstly, it was a town hall meeting, with questions coming from the general public.  Secondly, Brokaw did, a few times, ask the candidates pointed questions (Social Security, Medicaid, Russia as the 'evil empire'), but both launched into rhetoric without really answering.On Obama and McCain asked directly about climate change at debate posted 1 year, 1 month ago 8 Responses

I have been wondering

why there is no media coverage of this.  

My Mom lives in Asheville and told me a few days ago that they have not had any gas for a couple of weeks now - she said Sam's Club still had some but the lines were so crazy, she figured she didn't need gas THAT badly.  She is lucky though; she lives in a walkable neighborhood, with a coffee shop, market & a pub all only a couple of blocks away.  

As noted above, most of Asheville, outside of the downtown area, is NOT walkable, but in fact, very developed and highway-centric.  My sister used to live there as well, without a car, and my Mom spent half the day shuttling her to and from work, since the bus system (at least to her job) was very inconvenient, and walking and/or bike riding is quite dangerous on many Asheville streets.On Gas shortages plague the Southeast posted 1 year, 2 months ago 6 Responses

A rain barrel...

...and a good water filter?

Personally, I don't think buying half a dozen gallon jugs of water once a year or so is too damaging, from a sustainability standpoint.On BrandWeek: 'Sales drought' for big water bottlers posted 1 year, 2 months ago 6 Responses

Ha!

Good one, GoodCheer.On Toyota may put solar panels on new Prius to power air conditioning posted 1 year, 4 months ago 14 Responses

Powerful

David, that was beautifully put.  Obama may be eloquent, but you are heartfelt, and generous to share a snapshot of your family life with us.

While I can see the logic in the theory that John Fish Kurman presents, that you cannot control who your children turn out to be (my own siblings are a case in point) I also agree wholeheartedly with you that the best, and in fact, only, real gift you give your children is to be the best possible version of yourself, day after day.

Back in January I took care of a friend's three-and-a-half year old daughter for a month, while my friend was having, and recuperating from, abdominal surgery.  Even though I would generally consider myself a "good person," I can't tell you how many times I had to check a typical behavior, or re-examine a behavior, once viewed through the lens of this precocious and very intelligent little girl.  I would tell her that she shouldn't run the water while she brushes her teeth, that it is wasteful, and she would say "But you do."  And I would think, "I do??"  And I would have to answer "Well, I will stop doing that then." I taught her not to talk with her mouth full of food, and now if I ask her a question and she is still chewing she'll point insistently to her mouth and give me a look of great disdain.

Even in such a short time as a month, I found myself refining to a better, more tolerant and more understanding person, even with the background of exhaustion (5:30 am is NOT my normal wake up time!), worry over my friend's health, and stress in trying to do my job at night and during the all too infrequent naps.

The other day, I was talking to my friend on the phone, when my little (now 4 year-old) charge got on the phone to tell me about her day in school.  When she was done, she said "I love you, Big K" (my nickname, to distinguish from her 3 year-old friend Kayla).  It should be ridiculous, the rush of pride I felt at hearing those words; it should be, but it isn't.  I want to continue to be worthy of her love, to be the best possible person I can be, in her eyes and in mine.  And not so she will grow up to be just like me; so she will grow up understanding the joy of being the best possible person she can be. On Ramblings for Fathers Day posted 1 year, 5 months ago 7 Responses

Not just trendy

There is something to be said for having the right tool for the job.  Maybe I'm just a gear-head (well, yes I am), but the right shoes make a hike that much more pleasant... the right wicky tank-top makes a run that much more pleasant... and the right diaper bag makes baby-changing time that much more pleasant.

These bags do have technical features, designed for the job, that a regular cloth bag or grocery bag does not have.  A shoulder strap is key (padded, preferably). Pockets and compartments for clean diapers, soiled diapers, baby wipes, powder, calendula cream, etc.  An easily wipe-downable surface, a foldable changing mat and a sturdy, stand-uppable structure are also handy.  

All of these things make life easier for a new Mom and make a diaper-change on the fly quicker & easier, which is good for Mom and good for Baby.  Since a diaper bag is not something you are going to buy often, why not invest in the best one for the job? I'm not one to advocate consumer culture, and surely we can't all afford a $200 green diaper bag.  But I would not feel so guilty about buying a non-green diaper bag, as I presumably would only ever buy one, or maybe two, in a lifetime.

That said... it sounds like a perfect candidate for the baby shower gift list!On Eco-diaper bag has good cause, lousy price posted 1 year, 5 months ago 9 Responses

Mowing the grass

I'd love to be able to say that we don't have a lawn.... or that we don't mow it.... or that we use the oh-so-green non-power blade mower.

The truth of the matter is that we rent a cottage and we share yard space with our landlord, the owner of the main house. He hires a team of gardeners (a constantly rotating team of short, Hispanic guys, who are generally polite, but refuse to look me in the eye even when I say hello) and once Memorial Day rolls around they come every Friday morning like clockwork to mow with the tractor mower and blow leaves (with the annoyingly loud power blower) out of the yard.

It doesn't take them all that long to do the area around my cottage; maybe 30 minutes.  But every week it annoys me just the same - it just seems so wasteful. It's only the first week in June - our "lawn" definitely does not need mowing every week. When I suggested to my landlord that perhaps every other week would be sufficient, he said you can only hire the guys either once a week or once a month and he thought once a month was too infrequent.  Sigh.

On the bright side, they never water and they don't put any kind of pesticides, weed-killer or seed down.  My yard isn't really what anyone would call "lawn;" the cottage is surrounded by trees, mainly hemlock and poplar, with a few maples and oaks, so it is quite shady. There is definitely grass, but there are at least a dozen other varieties of plants; if I knew anything about botany I could probably identify them.  I know there are wild strawberries in the yard, but you almost never see a berry before a deer, bird, squirrel or chipmunk does.  There are a couple of varieties of moss, and some tiny white & purple flowering plants. At least it is not the typical monoculture "lawn." I've never quite understood the appeal.

As for growing your own, I started my first ever tomato plants from seed this year.  Of course, I started them too late (even though every book & website I looked at said 6 to 7 weeks prior to the first frost date); the biggest of said seedlings is about 3 inches tall right now.  Well, I'm ever hopeful that we'll get a long, warm Fall... there are worse things than fresh tomatoes in October.  As insurance, I bought a much larger tomato plant from a local organic farm - an orange heirloom variety - which has already sprouted it's first tiny tomato fruit.  Whoo hooo!  For the investment of $3.50 for the plant, about $5 worth of 'organic' potting mix, and $4 for an old bushel basket as container, I should have dozens of delicious, heirloom tomatoes in a month or two. Compared to propagating from seed, this was so easy it feels like cheating!
  On Why mow the grass when you can harvest salad greens? posted 1 year, 5 months ago 6 Responses

Even simpler message

Dave,

I think you overestimate both our Republican brethren and the public to which they speak.  The message is not "capping emissions will hurt you;" most Americans have no freaking clue what "capping emissions" means. The message is "dirty f*cking hippies want to save the f*cking spotted owl while your kids are starving to death."  The message is "the f*cking liberals whine about tadpoles and deer and you just lost your job at the coal mine because of them."  The message is "the f*cking treehuggers want to deny you your rights as an American to own your own home, your own car, your own lawn."

The message is: "lazy, dirty, immoral, pot-smoking, law-breaking, bean-curd-eatin', sexual deviant liberals want to RUIN OUR WAY OF LIFE. They want to turn us into a bunch of pansies who can't drive trucks, can't eat steak, can't own a gun and can't beat the crap out of a bunch of towel-heads when we damn well please. Worst of all, they're going to use YOUR hard-earned dollars to pay for it all!"

It's not about capping emissions.  Never has been.  It's about us vs. them, red vs. blue, Vader vs. Luke. The oldest story in the world.  

If we want to fight fire with fire and really get Americans on our side, we need to show people that the fossil fuel guys ARE the enemy; we may be the rag-tag band of rebels (complete with some cute & furry allies), but they are the Death Star.  They have all the money, all the power, and they will lie and cheat and steal, and use OUR money, to keep that money and power for as long as they can.  But the very last thing they have in mind is OUR welfare.  

So, a message of "capping emissions will save your family" is too weak.  Most American's will go "huh?"  Or they will go "hmph. Yeah right. Dirty f*cking hippies."  Our message needs to be:

"evil f*cking corpratist billionaires are raking in profits hand over fist while our kids starve. They scare us into thinking that we can't afford to move away from fossil fuels, because they want to get even more rich.  They know that it will ruin our families to do so, but they don't give a shit.  They lie, cheat and steal to keep getting a bigger and bigger piece of OUR MONEY. In fact, if it makes them more money, they are perfectly happy to destroy this country and RUIN OUR WAY OF LIFE."
 On Climate action advocates need a simple, compelling message on costs posted 1 year, 6 months ago 15 Responses

And eBay

In the infrequent times that I've needed it, I've always found great deals on eBay.  You might find someone who is getting rid of their mower (hopefully adopting a mow-free existence!) and just wants it out of their garage and into hands that will use it.

I wish we had that option - I rent a cottage in the country, and the landlord has a yard service that comes EVERY FRIDAY, sometime around 8:30am, and mows the yard, whether it needs it or not.  Luckily, they do not put down any type of fertilizer, but I deal with the leaf-blower, tractor mower and weed-wacker noise of 5 guys roaming my yard for about 45 min every Friday.  Frankly, I wish they would just let it grow for a few weeks....On My yard, a source of shame posted 1 year, 6 months ago 18 Responses

I think I've gone beyond snob,

straight to "unfit for life in contemporary America."

I came to this realization a month or two ago, when, for reasons involving a "1-hour" auto tire store conveniently located in strip-mall-hell, I ended up eating lunch at an Applebee's.

First, I tried to avoid meat, guessing that Applebee's is not overly concerned with small-farm, humane, organic, pasture-raised animals.  Pretty much impossible to avoid meat at Applebee's; as I recall, my choices were onion soup (still slatered in cheese) and a side "Caesar" salad.  I opted for a spinach salad topped with grilled chicken. I had recently read a piece here on Grist about the Organic Center's new classification of pesticide load on domestic and imported fruits and vegetables.  I think that same week there was an article on the nastiness that is conventional dairy farming.  So, of course, when my massive bed of California-grown, CO2-intensive baby spinach arrived, topped with CAFO chicken breast, dried out slivers of some form of cheese, roasted red pepper (imported red peppers very high on the toxic list), I found myself losing my appetite.  I remembered reading that conventional onions have a very low pesticide load, so I latched onto a few slivers of Vidalia onion like a shipwreck victim finding fresh water. As I watched the restaraunt fill up around me, with everyone happily munching away on this stuff, the thought of which was turning my stomach, I felt like Edward G. Robinson in Soylent Green, feebly protesting that once, there was real food, and it was good.

It was about this point that I pushed away my uneaten salad, finished my soda water, left a $20 on the table and walked out the door, realizing that I'm just not equipped to function in mainstream America.  On When will the American public get snobby already? posted 1 year, 6 months ago 17 Responses

Bully?

Frankly, I thought Waxman showed remarkable restraint.  I would shoot myself in the head if I had to do his job.On Waxman is going to punch somebody posted 1 year, 6 months ago 13 Responses

There have been opportunities

they just haven't been played that way.

Look at the outpouring of support in the days & weeks following September 11th: blood banks were overflowing, volunteer lines were jammed, most everyone I knew was desperate to do something, anything to help.  

What if we'd had a President at the time that told Americans that the attacks were directly related to our Middle East foreign policy, and that our Middle East foreign policy was directly related to our dependence on oil?  What if, instead of the War on Terror, we declared War on Oil?  What if, instead of slapping magnetic flag decals on our SUVs to show our patriotism, our President told us that the most patriotic thing we could do was not drive? What if, instead of launching a war against Iraq, we had invested those billions on dollars into our War on Oil and funneled that money into renewable energy, efficiency standards and transit infrastructure? What if, when millions upon millions of Americans asked "what can we do to help?" our President said "Bike to work. Insulate your home. Buy a hybrid. Plant a garden. Buy organic.  Let's do everything in our power to stop funneling money, through our oil consumption, to these terrorist groups."
On The Climate Policy Paradigm has reached its endgame posted 1 year, 6 months ago 21 Responses

Very sad

Glioma is pretty nasty - generally a very aggressive cancer and if it is inoperable (I'm guessing so, as the NYTimes quoted only "radiation & chemo" as the treatment plan) then the pronosis is generally dire.  Let's face it, all cancer treatment sucks - but with glioma it is even worse, because you have to take these massive doses of chemo in order to get enough into the brain.  At least we can assume that he will get the best possible care, but frankly, if I were faced with this diagnosis, I would be hard pressed to decide between treatment and quality of life for what little time I might have left.On Sen. Edward Kennedy posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

Humane foie gras

I tend to agree that the life of a foie-gras duck or goose is probably not as bad as a feedlot cow, but, if there is a better alternative, why not use it?

From Wikipedia:

While force feeding is required to meet the French legal definition of "foie gras", producers outside of France do not always force feed birds in order to produce fattened livers that they consider to be foie gras, instead allowing them to eat freely, termed ad libitum. Interest in alternative production methods has grown recently due to ethical concerns in gavage-based foie gras production. Such livers are alternatively termed fatty goose liver, ethical foie gras, or humane foie gras, though these latter terms are also used for gavage-based foie gras production that is more concerned with the animal's welfare (using rubber hoses rather than steel pipes for feeding). Award-winning Spanish producer Patería de Sousa produces foie gras under the brand Ganso Ibérico by taking advantage of the natural instinct of geese to fatten their livers in preparation for migration,[4] which results in a seasonal product, as slaughter can only happen in winter, prior to migration. Others have expressed skepticism at these claims of humane treatment,[46] as earlier attempts to produce fattened livers without gavage have not produced satisfactory results.[47] In 2006, Schiltz Goose Farms began developing non-force-fed fatty goose livers by similar seasonal methods,[48][49] producing their first "fatty goose livers" in 2007, with sizes two to three times that of normal goose livers (by comparison with up to six times for force-fed geese).

Personally, I dislike foie gras (which is why my foodie friends jostle to sit near me in fancy French restaraunts!) but I also dislike ill-informed legislation that impacts my personal life.  I think the "silliness" of this law is in the fact that is it perfectly legal to go to a restaurant in Chicago and order a steak from a CAFO steer (which have to be suffering in far greater numbers than foie gras birds), or pork chops, or veal, but not foie gras? Isolating this one instance of animal cruelty in our typical American diet seems odd and unfair.

Nevertheless, I could wish the original legislation was intended to allow "humane" forms of foie gras, similar to the California legislation, which put the focus of the method of producing the food, not the food item itself.
On Chicago overturns 2-year old ordinance banning foie gras posted 1 year, 6 months ago 14 Responses

Nothing warms

like the glow of righteous indignation.

Jabailo, we can reasonably assume that most people here, simply because they are here, have taken steps to decrease their personal fossil fuel use; not only is it fiscally sound, it is environmentally responsible.  We can also reasonably assume that no one here has achieved zero impact; I doubt there are any hunter-gatherers out there, living in a cave or yurt in the woods, peddling a handmade water wheel for electricity in order to churn out blog posts.

So let's say we dial down on the "I only use CFLs" bullshit, shall we?  We're all on this journey together, and since you seem to feel compelled to join us, you could at least practise some common courtesy.  Or, as your Mom likely told you, once upon a time, "If you can't think of anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."On Millions of Americans may not be able to afford heat or power this year posted 1 year, 6 months ago 7 Responses

Thoughts

1. How can it be exploitation when she obviously was not coerced into making the video?  Is she exploiting women by being a sexy woman? She seems passionate about this subject and wants to get a message across (not exacty sure what message, but we'll come to that in a moment) so she is using the means at her disposal.  

2. I'm a straight woman.  I watched it.  Am I not the target audience? Should I have not watched it? Should I feel ashamed and outraged, as a woman and a Gristmiller, that I can enjoy watching a beautiful woman dance and speak passionately?  The woman in me says "God, that outfit is awful" and can envy her those mile-long legs, but the human in me can appreciate salacious beauty for what it is, while feeling neither puerile nor righteously indignant.

3. Is it just sex that sells, or also dichotomy? I think the dichomoty of the sexy-dance right side with the ponytail-and-hoody serious left side is more compelling than the dance by itself.  If not, why not just play the voiceover on peak oil over the full screen of the dance?

4. The only thing I don't like about the video is the message: what is it exactly?  All I get is a sort of "smoke 'em if you've got 'em" message: "We're all fucked, and there's nothing to be done."  In fact, the titillating dance and the agressively youthful good looks of the woman seem to reinforce this message: "I won't look like this in 10 years, and our world won't look like this in 10 years, so let's party like it's 1999."  It would have been more effective if she ended with some message of hope, or of action; clearly she is not buying the "change your lightbulbs" rhetoric, but even "vote the environment" or "quit your job, sell your car, kill your television and go live in a cave in the woods" seem better messages than "doom, gloom and a hint of sex."

Portent of disaster

As annoying as it is that "deniers" jump on every cooler than average day (or week, or month) as proof that global warming doesn't exist, it is equally annoying when any (every) dramatic storm is used as a 'portent of doom' related to global climate change.

Don't get me wrong; I believe that, in aggregate, unseasonable weather, violent storms, plagues of locusts, etc., are related to human-caused climate change, but it is very annoying to have the doomsday scenario trumpeted from the rooftops every time a major storm strikes, especially in light of the fact that we (that being the Royal We, the We who believe) are always saying that you can't predict weather patters from singular events.  I can only imagine the eye-rolling going on right now on the other side of the fence.
On Myanmar cyclone is a portent of disasters to come posted 1 year, 6 months ago 8 Responses

I think

I'm agreeing with Jon.  What's so wrong with just picking some winners? I apologize that I haven't had time to read all of Sean's many posts of the subject (I do have to work for a living, after all) but it seems clear that we know we're going to need wind & solar.  That geothermal is a good idea.  That a distributed smart grid and localized energy production has benefit. Methane capture for farm energy is already being done and could be vastly increased.  

So why can't we just slap a tax on carbon, and use that money to fund low- or no-carbon energy projects, AND pay a small dividend to individuals who reduce their carbon use.  That way, people get the stick (higher fossil fuel prices) and the carrot (direct financial reward for reducing their carbon footprint). Start-up industries get the financial backing that they need, up-front, without waiting for the markets to pick a winner, and without waiting for sufficient revenue from the carbon tax to come rolling in; the government simply supplies start up costs and pays itself back out of the carbon tax coffers.

Except that conservatives tend to hate all taxes, and government-mandated taxes tend to shift with the prevailing winds, thus eliminating the inevitability mandate. (Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson?)

Would the carrots of 1) a small dividend for reducing personal carbon footprint, 2) energy security, "homegrown" in the USA, 3) green-collar jobs, and 4) saving the planet be enough to ensure inevitability?

Ay, yi, yi.  My hair hurts.On Trading efficiency for inevitability posted 1 year, 7 months ago 20 Responses

Food crisis resolved

yet, what about the fertilizer crisis?

We must rally to save the endangered potash, the threatened diammonium phophate, the beleaguered urea! How else will Vietnamese children grow big & strong??

Ack.On Let's raze more Amazon rainforest! posted 1 year, 7 months ago 24 Responses

David

Danish kicking ass.On Two simple, effective, and diametrically opposed climate policy proposals posted 1 year, 7 months ago 51 Responses

Huh

Our Dad (or more typically Mom) threat was always "I will pull this car over and spank you by the side of the road, and everyone will see!"

A little sick, now that I think of it.  

Could explain a lot.On Two simple, effective, and diametrically opposed climate policy proposals posted 1 year, 7 months ago 51 Responses

Because

road construction is paid for by taxes, and most people don't bike, so most people are paying for something that they won't use. Road construction slows down traffic, making an already long commute even longer.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't love it; my sole disinclination to road-riding where I live is that none of the roads have any real shoulder and cars are traveling 50-60 mph. But it would not be an "easy sell" unless far greater numbers of people were willing to bike (as tranportation) on a regular basis.On Easing off the gas eases gas use posted 1 year, 7 months ago 29 Responses

JMG

That plan would seem to lessen political buy-in, as consumers would be faced with a year's worth of increased energy bills, with a rebate only at tax-time. It adds complexity (decreasing David's criteria of "simplicity") and does not address those who are not taxpayers (those below the poverty line, students, eldery, etc.) who are faced with the same increased energy bills as taxpayers.  Also, it does not diminish the fact that people, in general, are being rewarded for the very existence of CO2-emitting technologies.On Two simple, effective, and diametrically opposed climate policy proposals posted 1 year, 7 months ago 51 Responses

Europe

does this, no?  The major highways have 60, 80 and 110 kph 'lanes.'  In my experience, everyone obeys these norms on the highways... it is only in the cities that they drive like madmen (which I am quite used to, having cut my driving teeth in Boston).

But Dr.X, would you really want to ride your bike alongside the highway, with people buzzing by at 75 mph?  Hell, I don't even like to ride on my country road, with a speed limit of 40 mph.  Granted, there is no shoulder, and that is mostly why... but even with a big shoulder I can't imagine I would opt for a bike commute on a highway.  Not to mention that it is currently illegal.  The potential for really bad accidents seems quite high.On Easing off the gas eases gas use posted 1 year, 7 months ago 29 Responses

Compost!

We do use paper towels for some things (although I'm a big proponent of dishtowels & cloth napkins); generally I buy Trader Joe's or Seventh Gen.  I do, however, shred & compost used paper towels, thus lessening the amount of chopped leaves I need to add as brown matter. I figure it's up-cycling into excellent fertilizer for my tomatoes!On Putting a bounty of paper towels to the test posted 1 year, 7 months ago 6 Responses

Doesn't the Prius

have a fuel efficiency gage in the dash?  Not exactly like see dollars & cents, but it's got to affect your driving if you slow down a bit and see "45 mpg" rather than vrooming up a hill and seeing "5 mpg."

Although vrooming up a hill is fun sometimes....On Easing off the gas eases gas use posted 1 year, 7 months ago 29 Responses

Craving

Let's be clear, I don't mean to suggest that craving = justification for eating meat; just that it is an interesting question.

As atreyger mentioned, I've personally found it pretty much impossible to go without meat at times when I am very physically active.  And I've learned from experience that if I want to survive a looonnnnggg day in the mountains, I had better bring along a sandwich with some meat (weirdly, bacon seems to be the best 'endurance' food for me - somehow the ideal combination of protein, fat & salt?); I've tried hummus, cheese, Clif Bars, etc., and I will run out of energy sooner than if I simply pack a chicken sandwich (or anything with bacon).

But, as in the Carl Lewis example, my body is likely different from anyone else's body... some people may have experiences like mine and like atreyger's, while others may feel more healthy and more energized on a strict vegan diet.

I actually Googled "why do humans crave meat?" and came up with a lot of blog posts :) but no credible scientific information.  No one even seems to know why we crave anything; some believe that a craving suggests a deficiency of some key element in our diet (iron, vitamins, etc.) while others claim that there is no evidence to support that.  Why do pregnant women crave often bizarre foods or food combinations?  No one seems to know.  Most doctors seem to be of the "if it won't hurt you, go ahead and indulge your craving" school.

Maybe some of us really do need meat in order to be optimally healthy and fit and perhaps others need not to eat meat to achieve the same goals. Maybe, as in my case, and my Mom's, at different times in your life your body will have different requirements and this will affect your food cravings.

Certainly craving is not the only reason people eat meat; convenience, status, and tradition clearly play their parts, as has been mentioned.  But I think, with some dedication, these things are a bit easier to overcome than the actual craving for meat; why we crave meat seems to me the most interesting question.On Are you a vegetarian? posted 1 year, 7 months ago 53 Responses

Poking sticks

into hornets' nests.

Maybe, as Canis suggests, we should then eat the ensuing horde of hornets?  But is it ethically OK to eat bugs?  Are insects sentient? Oh, there but for the grace of God go I.....On Are you a vegetarian? posted 1 year, 7 months ago 53 Responses

Even the money guys jump on board

WSJ's Load up the Pantry

"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)

Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.

Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year.

And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food.

A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply.

BPA in animal testing

It's an interesting point but a few factors suggest to me that this is not a concern:

1.  The majority of large labs switched over to automatic drip watering systems (water delivered through a metal tube with a ball bearing that the animal licks to drink from) sometime in the early to mid 90's. Smaller labs may still use polycarb water bottles, and I don't know about government labs (although I suspect that if they are large, they have gone "automatic" as well - it's cheaper in the long run).

2. Every animal study has a control group; therefore, any changes that were caused by BPA leaching into animal drinking water would be observed in both control and drug-treated groups, leading to a conclusion of a "natural" background phenonmenon.  While this doesn't do much for understanding the natural biology of laboratory animals, it does not really impact the safety assessment of new drugs.

3. Most of the water bottles that I remember from my lab days were not hard polycarbonate (like Nalgene bottles) but softer, milky, slightly flexible plastic - perhaps HDPE?

4. It's unclear how much BPA would be leached from bottles that were emptied/filled every day and were routinely (at least once/week) washed through an industrial cage wash system.

I don't think it is a cookbook

as much as a "recipe" for lowering your carbon footprint.

What I wonder is, how much practical advice does it really have that we don't discuss here daily at Gristmill?  I mean, does it go beyond "drive less, eat less meat, change your lightbulbs, etc.?"On The Betty Crocker's Cookbook of low-carbon living posted 1 year, 7 months ago 9 Responses

Expedition Alaska

Did anyone see Expedition Alaska, on the Discovery Channel last week? Pretty fluffy, as 'global warming journalism' goes, but parts of it were truly scary. Seeing the massive amounts of meltwater streaming through a glacier, comparing pictures of glaciers in 1909 with the same exact spot today, having it take one team over 2 hours to find a single piece of intact sea ice; scary stuff that makes all the data & predictions all too real.

One bit was especially dramatic, IMO: one team of scientists went searching for evidence of melting permafrost and/or methane emissions. They found a huge area of bubbles being released ("it looks like the lake is boiling!". The gas being released apparently had a "foul stench, like rotten eggs" and they quickly collected five trash bags full of the gas for a flammability test.  The bags made a gratifyingly big explosion, indicating (according to the show) at least 10% methane composition (more gas was collected for analysis back at a lab).  The thing that made a shiver creep down my spine is that the young scientist (a glaciologist, I believe) seemed completely freaked out, like "the shit has hit the fan, people" and seemed to struggle to convey the seriousness of the finding without running around screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

Anyway, the show is worth a look.  But you might suffer a sleepness night or two - I have.On Atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane rise sharply in 2007 posted 1 year, 7 months ago 16 Responses

Stickfigure

Tom is a farmer, which you would know if you could read.On More than peak oil or financial crash, I fear angry men armed to the teeth posted 1 year, 7 months ago 31 Responses

Good plan, Tom

Piss off the people with all the guns!On More than peak oil or financial crash, I fear angry men armed to the teeth posted 1 year, 7 months ago 31 Responses

Reduce animal husbandry?

I doubt animal husbandry would be eliminated; after all, even plants needs seeds to start with. In vitro methods require inputs as well, and the animal muscle will need to come from somewhere.  Perhaps muscle cells could be grown from a starter culture of live muscle cells - I don't know, there is really no data on the technology on the In Vitro Meat website.

I tend to be suspicious of these things. Granted it would be a boon if fewer animals could suffer and/or die in order to feed meat-eating humans. PETA tend to applaud any time a new in vitro methodology is proposed, or accepted, in drug safety testing, but in vitro methodology can be very tricky.  Some cells are notoriously fickle, and require 'fresh' cells (il.e. a recently dead animal) while others can operate well on frozen cells which can be stored for quite a long time.  Some of the in vitro tests used in drug safety testing that PETA applauds don't actually use fewer animal numbers, and the results are generally less conclusive, often necessitating a follow-up animal study, which then just increases animal use.

There is also the carbon-impact of large labs churning out test-tube meat, although I suppose the methane from cows may 'offset' any carbon impacts if fewer animals are truly used. Might it not be better to simply raised pastured animals, humanely, that can turn grass, sunlight & water into protein? On PETA offers $1 million for commercially viable test-tube meat posted 1 year, 7 months ago 16 Responses

277

and the national average is 2483 cubic meters/person/year??  Can that be right?  I admit, I have a slightly difficult time determining how much wheat/rice/maize I eat (in kilograms) each week, but it seems hard to believe that most people out there are using 10X as much water as I am.  But then again, I figured the "industrial" component was over-estimated because I believe that I am a below-average consumer for my salary range.

Interesting factoid.. it takes more water to produce a kg of cheese than it does to produce a kg of chicken meat or pork (presumably even less for the pastured chicken and pork that I buy, since it includes the grains that are typically fed to conventional chickens & pork).  This can't make the vegetarians happy.. I should decrease my cheese intake and increase the meat in order to conserve water?On Calculate how much water your lifestyle requires posted 1 year, 7 months ago 4 Responses

And to make up for it...

he posted it 3 times!  :)On Your last chance to be heard about Cape Wind posted 1 year, 7 months ago 54 Responses

Cucumbers, tomatoes and basil, oh my!

Ataremove, thanks for the advice on the cukes.  I'm planning on some sort of inventive, backyard-tree-branch sort of staking, if I can make it strong enough.  If not I suppose a trip to the hardware store will be warranted.  This is assuming that I can get them to grow more than a couple of inches, which will be success in and of itself. White-tailed deer are rampant here (although my pansies have lasted 3 whole days now, hurrah!) so I'm hoping they won't actually come up onto the deck - I think the sound of their hooves on the wooden planking startles them, as I've heard them take one or two steps up before and then bound away.

A couple of my tomato  plants are indeterminate, so they will definitely need staking as well.  A year of experimenting in my "garden" I guess!

My 4 year-old friend Kami loves any vegetable that is a "surprise;" potatoes, root veggies, carrots, etc., with their leafy green tops and surprising gem of a veggie under the dirt, thrill her more than words.  She also seems fascinated by all the different varieties of leafy & salad greens, but passed by the herbs in the Stone Barns greenhouse with nary a glance.  Veggies that flower seem to be an obvious choice for kids and the whole germination process is pretty much a miracle - what kid could not be excited by boring old dirt suddenly sprouting into green life?On A bright trend for dark times: kitchen gardening posted 1 year, 7 months ago 26 Responses

Always the trendy one

I've decided, despite a black-thumb history ladened with dead basil, oregano, fern, ivy, and even spider plants, to attempt to grow tomatoes on my back deck this summer.

I ordered five different varieties of organic tomato seeds from Seeds of Change, along with sweet basil, lemon basil, parsley and chives. I scoured the local antique/junk shop for old galvanized tin pails, bushel baskets and a couple of wooden soda crates that will be pressed into service as tomato pots.  My fiance requested pickling cucumbers, so even though I hear that the vines get really big, I'm going to sow them in a big ole pot and give 'em a try. If it doesn't work, hey, I'm out a little time and $3 for seeds (well, plus organic potting soil, but you get the idea).

As we speak my tomato seedlings are luxuriating in the sun on this gorgeous NY spring day.  I feel the need to "check on them" about every 20 minutes or so... and while I'm at it, enjoy the gorgeous Spring day. Most of the basil seeds have germinated and I have one, tiny chive shoot.  If I'm this proud of my ability to simply germinate seeds, I may burst if I actually get to harvest a tomato.  Only time (and sunshine, and water, and TLC) will tell.

SnoDragon, there are plenty of resources on the Web for urban gardening.  Since I'm only doing container gardening (my rental house yard is nearly all shaded by hemlocks and covered in pine needles) I Googled "container gardening" and "urban gardening" and came up with quite a few good tips.  Mother Earth had a good section on seed starting and You Grow Girl has been a great resource.On A bright trend for dark times: kitchen gardening posted 1 year, 7 months ago 26 Responses

I'm surprised

that the man could walk upright, let alone drive a ship, given that he was taking no less than four CNS-acting drugs at the same time.

Lorazepam is similar to Valium, and while mainly prescribed for anxiety, is a CNS depressant, and is also prescribed for insomnia.

Provigil is similar to amphetamine and is a CNS stimulant that, in addition to "wakefulness," produces "psychoactive and euphoric effects,
alterations in mood, perception, thinking, and feelings typical of other CNS stimulants in humans."

Darvon is an old-school centrally-acting narcotic analgesic, similar to methadone and slightly less potent than codeine. It is a CNS depressant.

Imitrex (sumatriptan) acts on the serotonin system in a manner not unlike many anti-depressant drugs (Prozac, etc.).

Each of these drugs act on the central nervous system.  Each of them carries warnings in their drug labeling about combining with other drugs which act on the CNS. Lorazepam, Provigil and Darvon all carry warnings about the potential for drug addiction, mood alteration & psychosis, and suicide. With this many CNS-acting drugs in his system, he was also at high risk of serotonin syndrome, a potentially fatal systemic toxicity resulting from high levels of serotonin in the brain.

The man's brain was floating in a veritable stew of conflicting pharmacological agents. This is classic pink-elephant land; hallucinations, paranoia, ideation, excessive sleepiness, agression, amnesia, hostility, sedation... all of these and more.

Shame on his doctor(s) and his pharmacist(s) for allowing this.  Shame on his employers for not better monitoring their employees in key positions of responsibility. And shame on Capt. Cota, either for not informing himself of the risks associated with such a regimen, or for not caring. On Notable quotable posted 1 year, 7 months ago 2 Responses

Colbert is funny

when he has a guest on that you'd like to see abused.  Think about the potential for Colbert with Inhofe on.... with Bush, or Cheney, or Condi Rice.  I might break a rib laughing.

But he's not as funny when there is someone on who is articulate, bright and, like Van Jones, is pushing an agenda that is hard to argue with; what do you find to pick on about putting more Americans to work and saving the environment? And he's not as funny when he has someone on that you agree with, and he is picking on them and not letting them speak.  Human nature I guess, to defend your heroes and enjoy seeing your enemies suffer.

Anyway, I agree that I thought Colbert was uncharacteristically "nice" to Van Jones.. gave him lots of time to speak and even the digs were pretty mild.  But then again.. I don't really watch TV - I only see Colbert here.  So if DR did not post these Colbert clips, I would never see them.  Ironic?On Van Jones on Colbert Report posted 1 year, 8 months ago 12 Responses

CSA

I signed up for mine (Ryder Farm in Brewster, NY) back in February, and got a very nice phone message from my farmer, Betsey, thanking me for the support "at a most grateful time of the year."

First delivery of yummy organic veggies likely won't be until the first week in June. Can't come soon enough, since last night I finished up the last of the lemon basil pesto in the freezer... and I'm hoarding the very last jar of my roasted-garlic-veggie tomato sauce.

I'm still searching for an organic fruit share for the season, which has proved elusive so far.  If anyone knows of one in the NY metro area, please let me know!

KaelaOn Parochial post of the day posted 1 year, 8 months ago 4 Responses

Secondary metabolites?

Wiscidea-

I don't necessarily agrees that "it is known that secondary plant compounds are important for animal health."  Most of the so-called "secondary" (we call them secondary because we do not see a direct need to the plant for these compounds, or to put it another way, we do not yet understand the direct need of the plant for these compounds) compounds that we have identified to date are toxic or poisonous in some fashion.  Granted, discoveries of compounds such as morphine, digoxin and taxol have been boons to public health, but they are still toxins in healthy animals.  Caffeine, THC, cocaine and nicotine are other common examples of secondary plant compounds.  They liven up the party, but I don't know about "important for human health."

Not to say that secondary plant compounds aren't fascinating and potentially contain life-saving medicines.  Taxol (tamoxifen) is a great example of such a drug; it was isolated from a yew tree, a type of bush indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. I was working on developing this drug in the early 90's - I can remember at the time there was great furor among environmentalists because the Pacific yew tree, while not technically listed as "endangered" was in short supply in nature, and there were fears that Bristol Myers (the pharmaceutical company manufacturing Taxol) would wipe out the species.  At the time, I remember thinking "well, duh - then they wouldn't have a drug!"  If anything, a pharmaceutical company discovering something useful (and profitable) in the tree should have convinced environmentalists that it's survival was assured.  However that was not the case and there were multiple law-suits filed against BMS for injunctions to stop Taxol research. Eventually BMS managed to produce Taxol synthetically (I think they may have developed a semi-synthetic route, using a more garden-variety variant of yew, but I'm guessing it is fully synthetic now), and Taxol became a blockbuster drug saving many thousands of women from death due to breast cancer.

One would say a win-win: the environmentalists won protection for the Pacific yew, and BMS developed a successful drug.  However, paradoxically, I believe it scared a lot of companies away from pursuing plant-based therapeutics at the time; it cost BMS a lot of money, time, and public opionion to wage that war (costs that eventually got passed down to the consumer when the price of Taxol treatment was determined).  A smaller company likely would have been forced to abandon development, and a truly effective cancer drug would have been lost.

This is not to say that environmental groups should not sue to protect endangered species - they should (and do).  This is also not to say that pharmaceutical companies should not examine secondary plant compounds for potential therapeutic benefit - they should (and do). It is just to say that there are two sides to every story. Every pharma company wants another Taxol - but no pharma company wants another Pacific yew battle. So they move ahead cautiously, and try to find purely synthetic routes of manufacture... and that takes time.On Recent studies: organic ag is just as productive, and better for you posted 1 year, 8 months ago 22 Responses

A Day in the Life of Gristmill

"Economics will save the world!"

-"No, it won't!"

"Veganism will save the world!"

-"No, it won't!"

I don't know why I jumped in this time - sometimes I just can't help myself.  

I admit that the "I eat meat because I like it" is a bit glib, but, in reality, that's what it boils down to.  Maybe, to be a bit more expansive, that statement includes, in my mind: "I eat meat because I like it, and I find it morally acceptable to do so, as long as my meat eating does not contribute to undue suffering for the animal."

Those two little words, "undue suffering," encompass the bulk of the argument, in my understanding.  Those who eat no meat, or no animal products of any kind, tend to think that those of us who do partake are complicit in the entire spectrum of meat-production-for-human-consumption, (even the ridiculous omega-3 sickly pigs of Tom's original post), e.g. "If no one ate pork, there would be no need for any pig to ever suffer." Frankly, I call that assessment naive and overly simplistic.  No one eats humans, but there sure is a lot of human suffering.  Very few people are indulging in coakroach souffle, but that doesn't stop millions of them from being poisoned each year. (Well, I'm guessing here - I have no idea how many coakroaches are wiped out each year... but you get my point).

I can sympathize with the vegan/vegetarian position; I was a vegetarian for years back in my college days.  I have great respect for people who abstain from animal flesh on moral grounds, or environmental grounds, or religious grounds (or whatever grounds they choose), and would never try to denigrate that choice.  I have less respect for those who denigrate my choice, and in fact my very ability to choose (Canis is a noted exception here, as he generally approaches discussion with us wayward carnivores with respect). Carnivores and vegetarians will always disagree about the moral acceptability of killing an animal an eating it; no big surprise, as various peoples have been disagreeing about moral rules for millenia.

As for Mr. Pollan and the evolutionary advantage of a species becoming a diet staple - I'm sure his contention was a bit tongue-in-cheek; I believe he states it "Are we using them or are they using us?"  You are absolutely correct when you state that the propagation of the species does nothing for the chicken that is destined to be Sunday dinner; that is exactly the point.  Evolution is not designed to benefit the individual, it is designed to benefit (i.e. propagate) the species, often to the detriment of the individual. Note that it is not "survival of the happiest" or "survival of the most loving" it is "survival of the fittest." Evolution is all about adapting to the environment you are living in in order to ensure the survival of the species; perhaps somehow chicken DNA read the writing on the wall and decided to thrown their lot in with the two-legged apes who seemed to be running the show.

The point is not whether chickens were evolutionarily adapted to become dinner or whether omega-3 pigs would never be produced if we all stopped eating meat: the point is that this is an unwinnable argument from either side of the fence.  I don't expect, nor want, to change any vegetarian's mind about eating meat; I just expect the same respect in return.On 'Heart-healthy' pork from pigs with bad hearts posted 1 year, 8 months ago 33 Responses

Mood in da Hood?

Is it because his name is Hofmeister that he thinks he can get away with talking like a SNL character?

And how the hell will drilling in this country reduce the price of gas?  (Not to mention what the price of gas in Alaska has to do with preventing police brutality... that's a story for another day).

Yes sir, I sure wish we had some of that there Alaskan oil here in NY, as I hear tell it's selling for $1.15 a gallon.On Mood in the hood posted 1 year, 8 months ago 10 Responses

Science question

This article sums up Hansen et al's position round about 2000.  The plot clearly shows that your memory isn't faulty, aerosols (both volcanic and tropospheric) are credited with global cooling.

My guess is simplistic, in that, as soot is black, it absorbs heat, while other particulate matter may be in the white-grey spectrum, thereby deflecting heat.  On New study: Ordinary soot second biggest driver of climate change posted 1 year, 8 months ago 14 Responses

There are advantages

to being a female (heterosexual) scientist....  they never send in the Booth Hunk.On ECO:nomics: More evidence of Exxon's evil genius posted 1 year, 8 months ago 11 Responses

Home is where you hang your hat

and love is where you find it.

I'm sure we all have "family" dinners in our memories that make us cringe: Thanksgiving when I was a kid consisted of my stressed-out Mom up at 4am to make a bird that would never be good enough for her mother-in-law; said mother-in-law, my grandmother, spewing pearl onions & vitriol, in equal proportions, while she railed about the "G*d damned Jews and the Eye-talians;" my brother, sister and me, uncomfortably dressed up and frantic lest we scratch the dining room table or chip one of the "good" plates; and my Dad, miserable at the misery that his mother caused us all.

But family dinners change, as do families, as do traditions.  I'm attending a "family" dinner on Easter Sunday, at which there will be no one who is actually related to me by blood, but everyone who is attending is "family."  Yes, there will be bickering, as is the nature of all families it seems.  Yes, an animal or two (likely chickens) will be killed for this meal - around this table, most are omnivores, except the matriach who is a devout carnivore (she claims to hate vegetables in any form).  Yes, there will be traditions, such as a pot of spring flowers for the table, and chocolate Easter eggs for kids and grown-ups alike.  But, traditions with a twist.. the flowers from a local, organic greenhouse and the chocolate eggs fair trade from Divine.

Slow Food, gastronome, organic, locavore.. they all have similarities: the celebration of fresh, wonderfully tasty, healthful food.  It truly is a joy to gather people you love (blood "family" or not) and spend a day cooking with fresh, wonderful ingredients, preparing a meal simple or elegant, and sitting down together (at the table, or around the fireplace, on the deck or in the yard) to enjoy the fruits of your labors.  Traditional meals are the perfect setting for the Slow Food, gastronome movement... it gets more difficult for vegetarians, and even still more challenging for vegans, but I'm sure with a little persistence, it can be done.  I believe that part of the point of this post is not to save "family" meals for 2 or 3 times a year.. that food and eating connects us in more ways than we realize and that to eat with a person is to know who they are, and understanding, and yes, even love, begins with knowing.On Gathering around a table as environmental advocacy posted 1 year, 8 months ago 3 Responses

p.s.

And I forgot to add:

11. Global warming-related devastation will likely change the world I live in, within my lifetime.  So I'm not completely altrusitic - I'm also saving the planet for me.On Notable quotable posted 1 year, 8 months ago 24 Responses

I demand a recount!

Hey, I'm not a lesbian, but a heterosexual woman who uses contraception and has no plans for children.  Can't I save the planet too?

Maybe heterosexual "relations" between consenting adults practising birth control simply aren't icky enough for the Church.  We're not married yet - does that count?On Notable quotable posted 1 year, 8 months ago 24 Responses

Gratitude?

The varieties & vagaries of human perception never fail to amaze me.

Jason, most of us don't need ths week's news to know that we're in a recession.  Most of us can tell by buying gas, going to the supermarket, or feeling the ever-slimming bulk of our wallets.  To quote Elizabeth Imbrie "...and belts will be worn tighter this Spring."

Should we be grateful for this train wreck?  And should we be grateful that the people who have been driving the train are still driving the train?

This is the kind of thinking that drives conservative politics.  Like "Well, sure George may not be perfect, and he might have exaggerated a bit on that "weapons of mass destruction" thing, and the war is costing us just a teensy bit more than we thought, but now that the climate is f*cked and the economy is f*cked and Bin Laden is still out there... we should be grateful that George is at the helm (and making a pittance, too)."

Maybe we could submit W & Ben for sainthood?On A few thoughts for environmentalists posted 1 year, 8 months ago 95 Responses

Hit twice

I've never been hit on my bike (but, true to form for most bike-geeks I know, my first thought would likely be the safety of my beautiful chameleon-green Fat Chance, rather than my not-so-beautiful fuzzy red noggin) but I have been hit twice whilst walking home from work in Boston.

Boston is, IMO, one of the most walkable major cities in America, due to the compact nature of the city proper, but yes, the drivers can be a wee bit crazed.  Beware, Bostonians - walking to work (especially across the Charles) is not without it's hazards!  But, it's still better than driving, and much faster than the Green Line.On The SOZEV/train combo commute posted 1 year, 8 months ago 14 Responses

Canis

There is Catalog Choice, where you can pick which catalogs you still want to receive, and which you'd like to block.  

It's a bit of a pain, because you need to save the catalog and enter in the customer number, and I have found about half the companies "refuse" the request from Catalog Choice, so I have to call them anyway, but it is a handy way to track all the info, and it has cut way down on the number of catalogs I receive... and it's also free.On Do Not Mail Registry campaign launches posted 1 year, 8 months ago 6 Responses

Organic pasture?

Maybe one of the problems with grass feeding is "certifying" pasture land as organic - I'm not sure how that is done.  Otherwise you are simply buying organic grass instead of organic corn (if such a thing is possible).

Maybe a barter system with a local corn/grain producer?  Once a week you bring all the milk, cheese, etc. he can handle and he gives you a standing discount on feed prices?

I don't know; in an age when everyone seems obsessed with getting more and more money, I seem to spend time thinking about how to do away with the necessity for money.  Health insurance is the one big cost I can't seem to get around.On Gary Hirshberg argues that his company is doing a lot to support organic dairy farmers posted 1 year, 8 months ago 12 Responses

Don't be silly, Tom

Dubya can't actually read.On President hails cellulosic ethanol as a panacea posted 1 year, 8 months ago 13 Responses

Facts

OK, let's say the science is not settled.  Let's say that we just don't have enough data - the models are imperfect, we have no negative control, etc., etc.

Fact:  Fossil fuels are dirty. Burning oil, gasoline and coal for energy releases a lot more than just CO2 into the air; most air pollution can be attributed to fossil fuel use.

Fact: Mountaintop removal is changing the face of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and impacting biodiversity and human health.

Fact: Much of our oil is imported from the Middle East, a politically unstable, and often unfriendly, region.

Fact: Fossil fuels, as the name implies, take a very long time to accumulate.  We are using them at a rate that far exceeds their natural production, hence, we will one day run out.

So, to borrow a line from John McCain - "Maybe global warming is real, maybe it isn't; but what's wrong with increased energy security, increased number of jobs, and cleaner air & water?"

There's just no logical downside to the renewable energy equation - unless you happen to be ExxonMobil or Massey.On Do Big Oil and Big Tobacco share a similar smokescreen? posted 1 year, 9 months ago 26 Responses

Dream Ticket

Clinton's been making noise about the 'dream ticket' with, of course, her as President and Barack as VP.

I'm sure Obama would not be thrilled, but seems eminently reasonable to me - with only 2 years in the Senate, I would think VP was a pretty sweet deal.On Primaries thread posted 1 year, 9 months ago 22 Responses

Ohio

Just watched Hil's Ohio speech and she looks like a woman re-born.  Of course, Ohio is always huge, but it seems particularly huge for her tonight.

Texas is still too close to call; it was about 50% for Clinton and 49% Obama with 49% reporting. Could be VERY interesting if Clinton takes it.On Primaries thread posted 1 year, 9 months ago 22 Responses

I Did Noth'n

I liked the 3rd place winner much better.

I agree with Canis that the winner is rather stupid - and it brought to my mind the old story of Chicken Little and the "Sky is Falling," which is of course the opposite impression we want to make.On View the winners of the '60 Seconds to Save the Earth' ecospot contest posted 1 year, 9 months ago 4 Responses

Human is delicious!

Best laugh I've had all day!  

In her defense, Colbert is not easy to deal with in the best of situations... but she could have tried harder. If she thought he would be offended by the thought of Ingrid BBQ, she clearly hasn't watched the show.On Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, on Stephen Colbert posted 1 year, 9 months ago 5 Responses

Randy

I didn't call the American people stupid, or rubes. I said that they don't vote based on analytical ability, or intelligence; they vote based on likability.  It is an emotional reaction rather than an analytical one.

There is some truth to "know your audience."  It would be nice to think that politicians can simply state their beliefs, their qualifications for the job, and have done.  But clearly, that is not the way to get elected.On Clinton only candidate to appear at energy forum on Thurs. posted 1 year, 9 months ago 13 Responses

And the general public says

"Huh?"

But seriously a quick primer on how to get this energy revolution going might be the miracle that could save her.  Renewable distributed smart grid, geo heat exchange conservation, biodigestors and mechanized organic ag,and plugin hybrids.  That sort of plan.

Sorry, Dr. X, but the majority of Americans don't even realize that we face an "energy crisis," or they don't think of it that way.  They know that gas is expensive, heating the house is expensive, that driving your car makes global warming worse, and that buying oil helps Osama bin Laden.  That's about it.

Remember, intelligent, articulate candidates who try to explain complex relationships to the American populace don't get elected.  They are "snobbish," "elite" and "soft."  Good old boys who chuckle a lot and can't spell "nuclear" (let alone pronounce it) get elected.

If we could get Hil to chuckle, snort, start chewing tobacco, and scratch her groin every now and then.... then she might have a chance.On Clinton only candidate to appear at energy forum on Thurs. posted 1 year, 9 months ago 13 Responses

Wow, indeed.

Did someone actually get paid to make that? Embarrassing.On Wow posted 1 year, 9 months ago 2 Responses

That is brilliant

in it's pure stupidity.

Next they'll mandate that no fresh food be served (can't be wasting water on actually growing crops).

I love to go out to dinner to eat mircrowaveable crap with plastic forks!  Yum!On In North Carolina's Triangle, a severe drought has leaders stumped posted 1 year, 9 months ago 8 Responses

My favorite comment....

"Since Obama isn't addressing Nader's core issue, he has to run. I mean do you see anywhere in Obama's platform a discussion on just how important, historical, and just plain Cool Ralph Nader is?"

posted by RobOn Notable quotable posted 1 year, 9 months ago 1 Response

Wood for NGOs?

How about a plan that combines Dr. X's proposal of recycling slash (as eco-fuel, as chip/compost, as firewood, as reclaimed lumber for furniture, woodcraft, etc.) and removes "excess" smaller trees as lumber, BUT ONLY for donation (or sale to cover costs of forest management) to non-profit organizations:  Habitat for Humanity, Nature Conservancy, Peace Corps, National Parks, etc., that would use the wood to provide homeless shelters, poor/urban housing, National Park visitor centers, trail maintenance, park infrastructure, etc., etc.

The scientific theory behind removal of some young trees such that older trees have enough resources to flourish, and fuel is diminished, does not seem unsound to me;  it is the messenger that is difficult to trust. If you remove profit from the equation, does the message remain?

KaelaOn The 'hell' before the 'high water' in the U.S. posted 1 year, 9 months ago 64 Responses

I <heart> Sam Adams

Not to interrupt the goat-love fest (although, really, "urban" goat farmer??  There wasn't a lot of fodder on offer for a goat at my old apartment on W. 96th St... unless I brought her over to Central Park, and somehow, I think that would have been frowned upon.  Maybe "Suburban Goat Farmer"), but I have to say I love Sam Adams.  

Yes, yes, it's great publicity, but also, simply great.  They are sharing the bounty, at below market cost, in times of need, all in the cause of the greater good (beer). Instead of rubbing greedy corporate palms together and anticipating the increased beer sales as independent brewers go out of business, they are helping the little guy to stay in business, because.... (wait for it)... market diversity is GOOD for business.

And, because they love good beer.

I'm proud to have Winter Lager in the fridge right now - hell, it's Friday, and 12:01pm, maybe I'll crack one!On With wheat stocks at all-time lows, a fertilizer magnate utters the F-word posted 1 year, 9 months ago 28 Responses

Wolverine

get a grip - most students don't pay taxes - they are not making enough money too owe taxes.

My guess is that there would be fewer objections to this plan if it were open to all students, not just first years.  After all, why deny a junior a free bike (if he/she chooses not to drive to campus) just because the plan is starting this year?  Seems odd.    On Wisconsin college gives away bikes to students who pledge not to drive posted 1 year, 9 months ago 6 Responses

Vegheads?

Or is that too sarcastic?  That is what I tend to call my friends who shun all forms of meat, but I like to think I say it in a loving way.

Since my eating habits are essentially impossible to describe with any brevity (no red meat, no seafood at all; I will eat poultry & pork, but am scrupulous about avoiding factory-raised animals, and generally choose vegetarian when dining out;no game meats, but I will eat game birds every now & then, lacking other options; mostly organic and quite a bit local, mostly whole foods and minimal processed stuff, etc., etc., etc.) I always describe myself as "vegetarian" when traveling on business.  I was in Quebec last week and was surprised to find that not only is salmon considered vegetarian, but so is duck confit!

So, does "vegetarian" include fish?  I always thought is was a "nothing with eyes" sort of definition (hence, the inevitable potato jokes).  Having grown up in a commercial fishing town and seen the bloody slaughter of the docks on a day when the boats come in, I can't imagine fish could be included on ethical grounds as somehow superior to other meats.On Veganism as relationship deal breaker posted 1 year, 9 months ago 17 Responses

I'd love to switch...

really.  But try as I might, I cannot find CFLs that are rated for lights on a dimmer, and ALL the lights in my home are on a dimmer (even the outside deck lights!)

I have CFLs in the garage and over the garage doors, but that is it. I have searched high & low for a CFLs that is dimmer-compatible, and a few people have pointed one out on the Web, but I still have to yet to find one that I can actually purchase.  

Guess I'll be one of those people stock-piling incandescents until they sort out the dimmer technology.On Have you been naughty with your light bulbs? You need some good old command and control. posted 1 year, 9 months ago 33 Responses

Or...

you could go organic with Organic Bouquet, where they have a large selection of both roses & chocolate, and Seeds of Change (my favorite sunflower is the Gloriosa Polyheaded, in name as well as appearance).

For my sweetie, I went with a cozy (red, natch!) Icebreaker merino wool sweater, perfect for all of our ice climbing, snowshoeing, snowy-day fun.

As for the much-maligned St. Valentine, I must admit that it is my least favorite holiday; however, I did once make a fun trip to see the Saint's bones (they are enthroned in an out-of-the-way church in Madrid) that is a great February conversation-starter.On Sweet ideas for your sweetie posted 1 year, 9 months ago 5 Responses

I was up

far too late (or early, as the case may be) watching the returns.

After the speeches last night, I was even more happy with my vote.  I thought Hilary's was quite gracious; focused on the issues, congratulated Obaba, sent prayers out to the folks in tornado country.  If she attacks anyone, it is the present administration, and Republicans.  Obama, on the other hand, was quite snarky, I thought, and while he bills himself as the "uniter" (CNN reminds me that Bush ran as the "uniter" in 2000 - D'oh!) he's simultaneously making snarky comments about supporting the war and old-school politics.

Anyway - about what we expected, I think: quite close and a long battle ahead.

I am in Quebec City today for a business meeting - will be interesting to see how much (if any) attention they pay to this.On Grist strives to be your #650,871st source of breaking primary news posted 1 year, 9 months ago 14 Responses

I must admit

that I am still on the fence.  I, too, seem to have a mistrust of Mr. Obama that I can't seem to shake - but I truly dislike voting on "character" over policy.  If their policies weren't so damn similar...

As I am currently one of the many millions of Americans without health insurance (lovely that NY is one of only 4 states in the nation where you cannot buy catastrophic health insurance) this is a key issue for me - but I guess I need to delve into the details.  Certainly, right now, health insurance is "available" to me and to my fiance - but as it would cost nearly as much as our rent, and we prefer a roof over our heads to the wind and snow.... so, we are taking our chances.

I guess I am more focused right now on which Dem candidate has the best chance of beating McCain in the polls - I have a sneaking suspicion that the tally is in Mr. Obama's favor. But Canis makes a good point - our primary is tomorrow, and I still am not sure.On Dipdive posted 1 year, 10 months ago 19 Responses

We the People

I get a bit tired of "the government must do this" and "the government must do that. " We are, at least ostensibly, a government OF the people and BY the people. If we, (the people) want the government to effect change, we must do it: it may take time, and it will likely not be easy, but WE can effect change. The difficulty, IMO, lies in deciding what change we want, and communicating that change in one voice, with the power of numbers behind it to make those in positions of control in our government powerless to do anything BUT change.

I think the bottom line of David's statement was a bit of frustration in that, although the majority of we (the people) think that global warming is a dangerous problem, the minority of we (the people) are actually willing to do something about it.  So, he suggests that an alternative method of motivation - desire for the wonderful things that may come from changes necessary to combat global warming (walkable cities, relationships with your neighbors, delicious carrots) - may be more useful a tool in convincing the majority of we (the people) to act than fear - fear of waters rising, fear of erratic weather patterns, fear of high oil prices, etc.  Similarly, inspiring joy (happy, healthy families, prosperous, beautiful communities, clean air & water) may be more productive than inspiring guilt and shame (how dare you drive an SUV??  Don't you know what you are doing to Mother Earth?)

As the old saying goes, you catch more bees with honey.On Aspirational green posted 1 year, 10 months ago 17 Responses

Picking on?

I think it was more like worshipping Trader Joe's.  I have not seen the salty-sweet-chocolate almonds, although they do sound divine.  I shall have to keep my eyes peeled.  My fiance is addicted to the milk & dark chocolate-covered almonds - in fact I had to perform an intervention of my own and limit him to one box per shopping trip (about every 2 weeks) lest we end up in the chocolate-covered-almond poorhouse.  I've been addicted to the black licorice Scottie dogs of late; why, I can't tell you, as I almost never eat anything that is pure candy and is not chocolate.  

TJ's is hardly perfect (but then, what is - oh right, salty-sweet-almonds & organic whiskey) - but they are a better model for an American grocery store than is typical right now.  There is none of the "standard" junk food - no Coke, Pepsi or Doritos, no aisles full of destructive cleaning products, and our little store in Danbury, CT is about 1/4 the size of your average suburban grocercy megalopolis.  Granted, I could use less of the packaged, frozen meals, but at least they seem to be made with reasonably healthy ingredients.  TJ's has a decent supply of organic fresh produce (limited at this time of year due to winter) and the prices put it into the range of the average working person.

Plus, they give little kids stickers & balloons.  How evil can they be?On The quest for the Perfect Late-Evening Repast is over; I win posted 1 year, 10 months ago 5 Responses

walk more. eat local. hug a tree.

work less. buy less stuff. live more.
drive less. ride a bike. every day.

Hmm, I'll have to keep thinking.  Of course, there's always the classic, that pretty much sums it all up:

"Waste not, want not."On Here's your chance to be the Pollan of climate change posted 1 year, 10 months ago 94 Responses

Pushing buttons, not ideas

I disagree that this is a thoughtful column; in fact, I think it is not thoughtful at all, yet intended to be inflammatory.  It basically says that the 'rich, entitled folk' who can afford a $5 organic granola bar (or a hybrid) should get off their couture asses and figure out some real solutions, while patently ignoring the plain truth that the vast majority of greens who are actually working in the field to make a difference are (I suspect) working for a pittance at a variety of NGOs, PIRGs and government offices.

Consider this:

What does feed the masses, at least at the moment, is no secret: high-tech farming, chemical fertilizers, genetically engineered crops. Modern means of communication and transport -- cars, telephones, computers -- will eventually make the poor richer, too. Though there are many fans of "environmentally sustainable development" who believe we can have less poverty, less pollution and lower carbon emissions at the same time, that's not happening in the real world, as the unveiling of the Nano well demonstrates.

I don't believe that "technology" is truly feeding the masses; I believe that political machinations are twisting the system such that food produced by agribiz giants is subsidized to the point of being ludicrously cheap and the true cost of producing that food is buried in taxes paid by everyone (at least in this country).  Also, the analogy between a Hershey bar and an organic granola bar is more than silly, it is pointless; the produce will charge whatever they think the market will support, and right now the organic market supports a higher price point.

There is no profound reason that good environmental policies have to come into conflict with economic growth, but they often do.

Environmental PROTECTION

Agency.

You know, just in case you guys forgot what you're supposed to be doing.

I wish I could make an intelligent comment, but my brain seems to be awash in four-letter words.On Analysis of the EPA's decision to deny California's waiver posted 1 year, 11 months ago 15 Responses

I am people.

I loathe the bus.  I love streetcars. I really cannot understand why... seems to be an accumulation of small, should-be-insignificant factors that I prefer about streetcar/trolley travel somehow reach a 'tipping point' (ha!).  

I lived in Manhattan for 4 years and never once took a city bus.  Ditto for my 14-year stint in Boston. Both cities are eminently walkable and the bus is just so painful that I always prefer to walk.  I have, and do, however take the subway, or the T in Boston (the Green Line is much like a streetcar, in that it is above ground, stops every block, and takes about 80 years to get you anywhere).  I have taken streetcars, however, all over the country (and, in fact, the world) and always enjoy it.  I think they somehow give the illusion that you can jump off at any time, the illusion of being in control of your own travel, while on the bus you are simply trapped and at the mercy of traffics whims.

Nevertheless, I add my vote for streetcars!  It is worth it to spend a bit more money to be happy. On Transportation planning with people in mind posted 1 year, 11 months ago 20 Responses

I agree with GreenEngineer

I suppose it is a bit of ostrich behavior, but since we have over a dozen Nalgenes, and being avid hikers/bikers/climbers, we use them all the time, I simply try to be careful about using cold, filtered water, keeping them out of direct sunlight, washing them frequently in hot, soapy water, and not letting water sit around in them for ages (water festering in the bottom of my climbing pack for 2 weeks is never the tastiest anyway).

I've tried a Sigg bottle, but I get a metallic taste, the paint & designs scrape off after a couple of climbs, they cost at least $20/bottle, and the lid is not attached, which makes it quite easy to go tumbling off the cliff mid-swig.  Maybe Nalgene will start making a Lexan bottle (for the durability) lined with a lesser-evil plastic like HDPE.On Ignorance isn't bliss, it's just better than knowing posted 1 year, 11 months ago 9 Responses

Dr. X

Very cool robotic farming ideas - I'm a very strong supporter of local and organic farming, and I have been thinking, off and on, about how farming will (and must) change, but find it hard to believe that we will actually revert to plow-and-oxen farming. I also love the greenhouse/winter farmer's market idea; I've been searching for a local farm that offers greenhouse veggies during the winter (for fresh greens and tomatoes, or the rare, out-of-season splurge), but so far have found only one in Connecticut, and it is conventional, not organic.

Sign me up for the community greenhouse/farmer's market - but please, not at the dreaded Mall!  

KaelaOn What a fossil-fuel free agriculture might look like posted 1 year, 11 months ago 68 Responses

Inspirational video

Thanks, Dave.  I feel inspired - maybe I'll send a thank you note to Nancy Pelosi.On Greens need to learn how to celebrate their friends and their movement posted 1 year, 12 months ago 31 Responses

Time instead of money

Bill, you read my mind - or, who knows? Perhaps you overheard me (or someone just like me) at the local co-op. I've made serious changes to my plans for Christmas celebration this year; my refrain has been "this year I have more time than money."

I quit my 'regular' job back in May.  Since then I've been slowly setting up my own business as a consultant, yet this has required financial investment with little money coming in.  So, fiscally I have been very conservative of late, and will likely continue to be so for the near future.  Environment rejoice! - I am definitely not a rampant consumer.

Many of my friends think this must be a very stressful time for me, because, it is well known that I love Christmas, with a capital L.  However, I find that the opposite is true; I have planned early, made many homemade gifts (food, crafts, & spending time top the list) and have the time (and luckily a lifelong habit of recycling wrapping paper & ribbon such that I probably don't have to buy any for a decade) to luxuriously wrap;  I have the pleasure of knowing that I am not giving some "shelf-sitter" or "closet-buster" that is more annoyance than gift. I had a friend ask me if it was "freaking me out" to be so poor at Christmastime.  I answered, quite truthfully, that I don't feel poor, I feel rich.  I am rich in time, I am rich in contentment, I am rich in friends and family.  The only thing I am poor in is stress.

While quitting your job may be a bit drastic, I highly recommend stepping off the Crazy Holiday Wheel.  You might just discover that you really do love Christmas, after all.On Are you brave enough to say no to a high-stress holiday? posted 2 years ago 51 Responses

Gear whore that I am...

I am ashamed (though not surprised) to admit that my first thought was for the bike ($40,000 and oh, so many hours of loving attention!), my second thought "why wasn't he wearing a helmet?" and my third thought "Damn, I hope he is OK."

Glad to hear that he is, and also glad (but not more glad, really!) to hear that so is the bike.On Electric motorcycle delivers man to side of van posted 2 years ago 15 Responses

organic tequila

Google yielded 4 Copas "the world's first certified organic tequila".On My search for organic amber spirits turned up only Scotch posted 2 years ago 5 Responses

New perspective

In the category of "you don't miss until it's gone," I have been without running water since Monday morning.  (After many phone calls, plumber visits, electrician visits, we determined that the culprit was the power supply to the main house (chaperone to our carriage house) was shut off by the former tenants, thus disabling the electric water pump from the well.)

Do you have any idea how much water it takes to flush the toilet - just once?  We have a low-flow toilet, and it takes 3 full gallons of water to fill the tank - I figure about a gallon a flush.  Those gallons mean a hell of a lot more when you're buying them at the store, and lugging them upstairs simply to flush the toilet a couple of times a day.

No showers, no cooking meals, dishes piling up in the sink; the thought of laundry is almost sinfully wasteful right now.  I keep forgetting and trying to turn the faucet on to brush my teeth, fill a vase of flowers, wipe down the counter.  

I notice this every time I go camping; water is precious.  A few tablespoons and you can brush your teeth, wash your face and get ready for bed.  But living at home doesn't easily accomodate a lack of water scenario;  I now have apocalyptic visions of a future wherein we hoard $20 gallons of rain water (the filtered stuff is $100/gallon) and stories of swimming pools, baths, and lawn sprinklers on a July afternoon are like science fiction to the young.On While industrial agriculture fouls the Mississippi, the EPA cowers in the corner posted 2 years, 1 month ago 2 Responses

Limboob

Dr. X, that was the best laugh I've had in a while.  

Thanks!
On Al Gore and the IPCC jointly win peace prize posted 2 years, 1 month ago 56 Responses

Is it only men?

To your point, Canis, that men resist using an expressive vocabulary, I have to reply that I find very few people of either gender using an expressive, or impressive, vocabulary these days.  Perhaps in our time-is-money culture, adjectives, especially multi-syllabic ones, will simply fall by the wayside as too time-consuming, too cumbersome, too erudite, and too incompatible with our sound-bite, I'm-Just-a-Regular-Guy, Folksy = Popular zeitgeist.

In fact, I'm sure there are quite a few words in the previous paragraph that I would need to define to friends, male or female.  The other day, in the space of an afternoon, I had to define:

-dirigible
-nouveau riche
-pectin
-decompensate

these to a 32-year old woman with a Master's in psychology, a demanding job in a scientific field, and a quick mind.

So perhaps it is not that men are trying not to appear expressive as much as 1) it does not occur to them to be, or 2) they do not know how to be.

KaelaOn OK, so it's Saturday now -- still time for a tune about punctuation posted 2 years, 1 month ago 29 Responses

Harvard comma

No disrepect to Oxford (or to serial writers, or serial killers, or to cereal) but I've always heard this referred to as the Harvard comma.  Must be growing up in the Boston area.

I do favor the Harvard comma, but I imagine I am a bit "sloppy" with its use.  I think that I do abuse comma rules every now and then, although one of my pet peeves is the "verbal pause" comma:

==
Bob and Shirley, went out to eat, and while at the restaurant, saw a cat, running out of the kitchen!
===

Funny to hear the quotations discussion as I've always been taught that punctuation goes inside of the quotes; it drives me crazy to see it on the outside.  On OK, so it's Saturday now -- still time for a tune about punctuation posted 2 years, 1 month ago 29 Responses

Us vs. Them

Red vs. Blue, Black vs. White, Rich vs. Poor, Men vs. Women..... Cat-People vs. Dog-People.

I guess it is human nature but it is disappointing to continually see this bickering amongst ourselves.  Is there really an argument here?  I see nothing wrong with CFLs. Yes - the constant chipper lists (even on Grist) are annoying but are they actually dangerous?  Perhaps it was a chipper list, or a number of chipper lists, that led me here, to a greater understanding of the problems we face.  I honestly do not remember, but likely a great combination of media exposure, life experience, character traits and pure chance led me here.

I do not know a single person who thinks that CFLs will save the world.  I do believe that radical, political change is necessary to save our world.  I think nearly everyone reading this site would agree on these two things.  So wherein lies the argument?  Must we bicker amongst ourselves about things that are essentially meaningless?  Can we not applaud CFLs while still maintaining that so much more must be done?  Do we chastise small children for learning their ABCs because they don't yet understand quantum physics?

We need both.  Wiser voices than mine have said as much in this thread (not quite as angrily, to my shame).

KaelaOn Social scientists respond to Mike Tidwell posted 2 years, 2 months ago 39 Responses

Poor reporting, confusing article

I'm no ecologist but being a scientist I usually like some Facts & Figures (i.e. data) thrown at me with the conclusions.  I'm wacky that way.

I agree that, from the article, it is difficult to tell what the objective of the study was, what hypothesis they were testing, what the methods were, what the data points were, how they were collected and analyzed and the basis of the conclusions.

What I can tell is this:  Some loblolly pines were exposed to "extra" CO2 (at what concentration? how much extra than current CO2 levels? for what period of exposure?). Some loblolly pines were not (how far away was the control stand of pines? how to control for basic environmental differences? sample size?).  The CO2-exposed pines grew to be 20% larger than control pines.  These larger trees required more water and nutrients (shocker!). These trees removed "some" (how much?) CO2 from the air, but not "enough." (Enough for what?)

I'm not knocking the study, which may be very well designed and executed... simply not reported well in this article. I did a quick search of the Duke & ESA websites and did not find anything.  Perhaps it is not published yet - but this article is hardly convincing of anything.On They're not going to save us posted 2 years, 3 months ago 11 Responses

Incentives

Put bluntly, Dick Cheney is not going to install more efficient lightbulbs because it's good for society.  And if we want to maximize carbon reductions, we have to ensure that the Cheney's and the Lovins' both have incentives to act.

Yet, that is exactly the point of this study.  Dick Cheney won't buy CFLs, and neither will most other people, not because they do not know that CFLs are more efficient and better for the environment, but because they can still buy an incandescent bulb for $0.79.  Until CFLs are the realistic, and in fact, obvious "choice," they will remain a minor slice of the market.  What would make CFLs the obvious choice? Legislation.  Legislation that eliminates the sale of incandescent bulbs, that subsidizes the cost of CFLs, that supports emerging technology to make CFLs perform even better.  When CFLs stop being CFLs and become just "lightbulbs", that's when Cheney will have them in his home.On Here comes the science! posted 2 years, 3 months ago 17 Responses

What happened to taste?

Food miles and ecological responsibilty aside... local food tastes better.  I am all for limited food miles - I buy as much local food as I can.  But the reasons are many; buying local food supports my neighbors, helps the environment, keeps me safe (in knowing my farmer) and TASTES much, much, better.  I would probably do this even if the taste were comparable - but I may be more committed than your average Joe or Jane.  I think taste is, and should be, our argument - and every person who has had my cucumber, tomato, feta salad in the last few weeks would agree.

I live in New York - naturally I don't get fresh corn in January.  Nor do I get local chocolate or bananas.  That does not mean I forgo these things, necessarily, but it does mean that I take advantage of the seasons to buy the best, freshest, tastiest food that I can buy, and I do it mindfully, selecting organic farmers who are committed to sustainable vegetable/fruit harvest and humane meat/dairy/egg production (such as it can be). I also enjoy out-of-season or exotic foods as a luxury, not an everyday practice... have we come so far from an orange in the Christmas stocking as a luxurious treat?On Think again posted 2 years, 3 months ago 29 Responses

birds and bunnies and bears, oh my!

Living in the woods as we do, the critter list is fairly long and varied - people are often amazed as we are only 1 hour north of Manhattan.

The usual visits from deer, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, are a daily site in our backyard. Also tons of birds - I'm lousy at bird identification, but finches, cardinals, bluejays and mourning doves seem to be the most prevalent. I did see a yellow-green hummingbird right off our deck over the weekend. Most fascinating bird sighting to date was (according to my fiance', much more up on his birds than I) a goshawk, sitting high up in a tree, eating some small critter (looked like a mouse or chipmunk).

We heard a pack of coyotes, braying at the moon, a few weeks ago, while we were out on the deck with friends. Also there is a screech owl that has been screeching every 45 seconds or so all night long for the last few weeks.

There is notice of black bear sightings in the park across the street from us over the weekend, although I personally have not seen bear in this neighborhood.  I did, however, come home late from Manhattan on a Saturday, and turn into the driveway to find a 6-point buck standing in the drive.  We stared at each other for a bit until I asked him "Would you mind moving over?"  He moved to the brush at the side of the driveway and watched me move on by.

KaelaOn What are you seeing out there? posted 2 years, 4 months ago 47 Responses

Local: more than just miles

Hi all,

I was interested to learn from the video that more energy is used in producing food than in processing and shipping it. I guess this should be obvious, as it takes a while to grow corn and raise up a cow or steer, but I sometimes forget how petroleum-intensive conventional agriculture is.

While I agree we should not become victims of "food mile hysteria" (I eat as local as possible but still buy coffee, rice, olive oil and chocolate) I don't think that's much of a worry.  Most people have no idea how far their food travels and people are almost always fascinated and somewhat alarmed when I drop the "1500 miles" statistic in conversation (yes, I'm the life of the party).  We all know that there are great reasons for eating local, including knowing your farmer, eating fresher food, and fewer miles traveled... but one that has not been discussed is that my food dollar stays in my neighborhood.  I'm lucky enough to have an organic farm 12 miles from my door, from which I pick up a CSA of fresh veggies and wildflowers once a week.  Yes, I drive past the supermarket (3 miles away) to get there but it is worth it to me to eat fresher, tastier food and to be keeping a local farmer farming (and paying her mortgage) and some local farmhands in a job.

Also, I don't disagree that there is a lot of plastic crap that is manufactured and flown about in this world; however I would not place iPods, computers or cars on that list.  After all, these are extremely useful items that require specialized manufacturing and are probably best made in a centralized location and shipped.  Granted, it would be nice if that location were in the US, but given that food is eaten by everyone, every day (some of us several times a day!) and electronics and cars are speciality purchases that will last for years, I don't see the logical comparison in the "miles traveled" debate.

Kaela On Mind your (fo)odometer posted 2 years, 4 months ago 16 Responses

Part of the Precipitate

Thanks, Canis, for "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate," quote, which prompted the best laugh I have had from Gristmill in lo these many weeks.

I'm sure I sounded indignant in my post - I am.  I did not mean to sound martyred, nor do I feel that way; I am simply sick to death of these "I'm greener than you because" arguments that so many threads seem to degenerate into these days.  You point this trend out wisely in the Vietnam "part of the problem" quote - what I resent is that I am perceived as part of the problem if I take my cherished flight to a far-flung spot to enjoy Nature (all the while doing my level best to decrease my footprint in all areas of my life, including air travel), while someone else is part of the solution if they are "only" flying to visit Grandma in Jolly Ole England, or Detroit, or Kalamazoo.  What I resent, in general, are ham-handed mandates passed down from on high, that dictate how I should behave in order to be a good person.  (You might have guessed by now that I'm not particularly religious either. :)

I agree that air travel is destructive.  I agree that we all need to be more mindful about our choices in travel.  In the same way that we need to be mindful about our food choices, our daily transportation choices, our consumer product purchasing choices, our home energy use choices.... the list goes on & on.  Demonizing any one thing on that list is, IMO, simply a distracting waste of time.On Travel to exotic lands ... posted 2 years, 7 months ago 82 Responses

Like a diet

restricting air travel for purely virtuous reasons will fail, like pretty much all diets fail, except for those few people who don't like to travel anyway (or who are completely happy with their choice of "diet.")

I'm a climber, a biker, a mountaineer, a surfer, a kayaker, a runner, a hiker - yes, I can do most of these things within 2 hrs of my home, and do so, often.  But I can't scale a 14,000 ft peak in New York.  I can't pit myself, my endurance, my skill, my commitment, against the toughest mountain ranges in the world (Himalaya, Patagonia) in New York.  I can't experience Tibetan culture, practise my Thai, or go deep-water soloing in New York.

I love the area in which I live.  We have an embarrassment of riches, both urban and wild.  But I also love to travel - to experience other cultures, meet people from around the world, connect with a time and a place and a culture the way that you simply can't do from your reading armchair or your computer desk.

I recognize the harm that air travel does to the environment, along with all the other harms that I inflict on a daily basis.  And much like in every other area of my "consumptive" lifestyle, I try to reduce my impact as much as possible - and when I hit the wall of reduction, I try to change public policy so that my habits are not destructive.

Frankly, I dislike being told what to do, and dislike being told that I'm not a good enough greenie if I would still consider flying for "frivolous" purposes.  Whatever - one woman's "frivolous" is another's "essential."  Flying to far-flung places and experiencing the wild beauty therein is one of the things that made me green in the first place, and still one of my major motivations for protecting the Earth - so that I can preserve these fabulous wild places for me, and future generations, to enjoy.

So I'll keep flying off to fabulous places to surf that perfect break, to climb that fabulous line, to drink fermented coconut juice and eat completely unpronounceable foodstuffs and meet like-minded people;  all the while trying to influence government and business alike to make air travel less or non-destructive to the Earth.On Travel to exotic lands ... posted 2 years, 7 months ago 82 Responses

I'm not a wife

but I am female, and I do live with a man.  When CFLs were bought for our house, I bought them.  Also in several varieties and also with some disappointments over delay, color, light quality, etc.  After a few tries, I searched the web and simply bought the most expensive ones I could find, hoping that these may offer the best performance - but eventually, we were forced to limit CFLs to the garage, outdoor lights, closets, and such, as nearly all of our lights are on a dimmer switch and I could not (and have not been able to) find a CFL that will work with a dimmer.

To add to the quasi-scientific survey, I don't much like CFLs, in terms of performance; I don't like the quality of the light, it is cold and somehow a bit muddy at the same time. Most of our light fixtures are open, so you can see the bulbs, and let's face it, CFLs aren't the most asthetic things on the planet.

So - I put them where I can, and where they don't make me crazy. We do like candlelight, however, and often that is our only source of light at night, so maybe that makes up for it!On Not tonight ... your CFLs give me a headache posted 2 years, 7 months ago 27 Responses

Oh, feel the angst!

So, can you drive to your eco-therapist appointment?  Maybe instead of driving you should buy a bike and ride that.  Oh wait, that is consumerist. Maybe you could walk to the appointment - but wait, do you have vegan shoes?  How 'bout just pick up the phone, no, wait a minute, your landline is taxed and the money is supporting the war in Iraq.  Maybe you should just email your therapist... after all, Al Gore invented the Internet, so THAT ought to be safe.

But wait, computers use electricity right?

Did I mention that Iran has 3,000 centrifuges busily refining uranium as we speak? Maybe they'll manage to blow us all up before we drown in a sea of our own eco-anxiety.On Somehow, I don't feel that bad for you posted 2 years, 7 months ago 39 Responses

Beavis

a.k.a. The Great Cornholio, will surely approve.On An improvement on 'Live green, go yellow' posted 2 years, 8 months ago 11 Responses

Yes but

all the quantifiable horrors above, while horrible, are still too far away to wake up the general populace.  How many of us will be around to see 2050?  Not to mention 2100? Not saying that I don't care what happens then, it's just that people do tend to scale things to the available timeframe.

I'd like to see a list of stats that are global warming-related and will happen by 2010: number of species gone extinct, sea level rise, increase in violent storms, $$$ spent on recovery from violent storms, acres of coastline eroded, pounds of soil lost from our forests, amount of rain that should have fallen in Arizona that won't and amount of rain that should not be falling in Maine but will.  Although the list above is clearly horrow-show material, it is also in the realm of things so big and/or horrible that it is difficult to wrap your brain around them.  How about a list like the below?

-In 2010, a pound of USDA beef will cost $17.99.

-In 2010, you will spend an average of 40% of your household earnings on transportation.

-In 2010, America will have lost forever 70 species of birds and 300 species of amphibians.  Insect species, however, will continue to proliferate due to the lack of natural predators - there will be twice as many mosquitoes in your backyard in 2010.

-In 2010, the average American household will pay $237 in taxes toward disaster relief related to violent storm recovery.

I don't know if such a list is possible to provide but I think it would have much greater impact.On Global warming is going to f*ck us all kinds of up posted 2 years, 8 months ago 8 Responses

Apparently no one told W....

since he is on his "Energy Independence South of the Border Tour" as we speak. (How, exactly, does buying sugar cane & soy from Latin America make us "energy independent" again?)

I heard this fabulous tidbit on NPR this morning:  W was scheduled to visit a Mayan sacred burial site, after which Mayan priests planned to perform a cleansing ritual, as they feared W would leave behind "evil spirits."

Do you think we could pay them to perform that cleansing ritual in DC?On Bush visit to Brazil coincides with rising food prices posted 2 years, 8 months ago 5 Responses

Not a merganser

but, in terms of happy conservation news, you can't get much cheerier than the short film Ride of the Mergansers that I saw recently as part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.

Hooded mergansers are ducks that are found only in North America and primarily in the Great Lakes region.  Apparently they are extremely wary of humans and they nest in the cavity of a dead, decaying tree far away from humans.  Habitat is decreasing of course, so the enterprising filmmaker built a small merganser nest and installed a camera - resulting in a short but quite lovely film of the chicks hatching and leaving the nest.  

Unfortunately, the website does not offer a "teaser" but it looks like the film is screening at the upcoming Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Fest in Seattle, March 30th.On An ecotourism success story posted 2 years, 8 months ago 6 Responses

At this point...

Gore could decide to live in a jumbo-jet, with his entire family, entourage, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a dozen pet llamas, and continuously circle the globe, only ever stopping to refuel (perhaps he could figure out how to refuel while in flight - some sort of Army manouever that I'm sure I've seen in a movie) and he would STILL have a negative carbon footprint simply because of the awareness of global warming that he has brought to world.

Clearly, he won't do that.  Clearly, much like the rest of us he will do what he can within the realm of his lifestyle to reduce his emissions.

Here on Grist we talk the talk, much like Mr. Gore.  We try to walk the walk as well - but we still own SUVs, big-screen TVs, vacation homes, and some of us even eat meat.  And even though we regularly beat each other up about these vagaries, these un-green luxuries/necessities (depending upon your point of view) that we simply can't live without, we always come back to the point that indiviudal sacrifice is meaningless without significant policy change.

Al Gore has already done more to impact policy on global climate change than anyone alive.  His carbon footprint will forever be hugely negative, no matter how much energy he, personally, consumes.  Of course, David has already said as much in another post, that I can't be bothered to find.On An opportunity for reflection posted 2 years, 8 months ago 35 Responses

I say Yay! for Soy Vay!

I third the recommendation for Soy Vay teriyaki.  Totally yummy. I also like their Island teriyaki (sort of a jerk sauce/teriyaki sauce combined).

I'm not a big fan of straight-up soy sauce myself, generally find it way too salty, and if I have to buy it, I always buy the low-sodium variety.  

I tend to favor Asian stir-fry dishes with more of a honey/garlic/ginger/sesame flavor, or I go for a straight peanut sauce.  Sometimes I'm lazy, and buy prepared sauces, sometimes I'm inventive, and throw together whatever is in the house.

Last night's "vegetarian" dinner was sort of a Bizarro World fettucine alfredo, except I did not have cream in the house.. so I made it with organic butternut squash soup as a base, sprouted wheat organic fettucine from Trader Joe's, organic sharp cheddar from grass-fed cows, a little grated Romano, some organic fresh oregano in the sauce, and then topped it with Lady Moon organic cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper.

My boyfriend was quite skeptical but managed to polish off two helpings... I found it a wee bit sweet (like most of my cooking, I think it would have been improved with just a dash of Tabasco) but pretty yummy for a completely invented recipe. On Seriously, isn't it just gross? posted 2 years, 9 months ago 44 Responses

Trains

I do like trains, and if they were more efficient and cost-effective, I would choose to do a lot of short-haul travel on them.  But I have one major objection to the build-up of long distance train infrastructure: biodiversity corridors.

Our open space disappears so quickly; I believe that if we do not work very hard to protect a few large corridors of land, large predators like the grizzly will disappear. Since large predators are at the top of the food chain, their disappearance necessarily causes ripple effects on the entire eco-system.

I would much prefer to support efforts at new technology (there's that word again) that would address air travel's environmental problems, than to lay down train tracks across the nation, and cut down even more trees to do so.On Now and later posted 2 years, 9 months ago 21 Responses

Creepy

really creepy.

Why does he look like a "this is your brain on drugs?" commerical?  Like a future heroin addict?  Like a shifty little punk who spends his time dealing dime bags on the corner and stealing Slurpies from the 7-11?

Bizarre way to convince "you adults" to fight for "his" future.  If it were only about him, I'd say "Sucks to be you!"On What do you think? posted 2 years, 9 months ago 10 Responses

Buy smaller books!

Just teasing.

I spent five quite lovely years living in a 350-sf apartment in Boston's North End.  Not quite the challenge of 120-sf, but pretty small. My bathroom was an appalling pink tile box, with a shower stall, toilet and nothing else (I have yet to live down the "bathroom-without-a-sink jokes).  The kitchen was fully half the space, yet the living area had exposed brick walls and high ceilings and a lively view of the Sons of Italy across the street.  I loved that place.

However, like Gar, books are the one material thing that I can't seem to sacrifice - I did manage to find room for my thousands of books in my 350 square feet. Although, I have to admit, I stopped buying hardcovers unless it was absolutely vital.  

And I pretty much stopped buying everything else... I used to joke that if I wanted a new mug, an old one had to go. Same thing with a sweater, pair of shoes - I wouldn't buy a bottle of shampoo until I knew the present one had only a wash or two left in it.  It was quite liberating in many ways, because you simply did not have room for stuff so it freed you from feeling the need to buy random stuff.  If I loved something enough, or needed it enough, I could always find room. On Tiny houses growing in popularity posted 2 years, 9 months ago 30 Responses

Half-minority?

And I had not heard to oh-so-charming "Halfrican."

What is wrong with these people?  Does anyone seriously believe that "half-breed" is still an insult?  Aren't we all half-breeds (or quarter-breeds, or 1/16th breeds) of one sort or another?

I'm Scottish-Irish-Finnish and my skin is substantially mottled with freckles.  I suppose that is much more germane to my ability to govern than, say, my knowledge of government, my stance on issues, my ability to bring people together for a common goal.  

Harumph.

My middle name is "Marie" by the way.  As in Marie "Let Them Eat Cake" Antoinette.  Not quite as good as Hussein, I'll grant you, but... I'm sure the inventive Rushies could do a number on it.On Watch Obama's video posted 2 years, 9 months ago 13 Responses

Resources

New commitments for a healthier way of eating, for ourselves, our families, and our planet, are always good.  I'm interested, however, in the classification of meals (vegan, veg, omnivore).  I don't really think of my meals that way;  I am conscious of the meat I eat, and have tried (successfully, I think) to decrease meat in my diet.  But I never seem to think, "I had 3 vegan meals this week, and 10 vegetarian meals," etc.  I almost always have yogurt, fruit & cereal for breakfast, but never think of this as a "vegetarian" meal; similary one of my favorite dinners is butternut squash soup w/ a spinach salad, technically vegan but I didn't realize that until writing this post.

I guess I control my meat-eating at the time of purchase, not at meal time.  I realize that I have not been eating much pork because I can remember that the last time I ordered from Flying Pigs Farm was in the summer.  Similar thing with chicken.  Not sure I have a particular point, I just find it interesting that we feel the need to categorize.

Anyway, good resources for me have been Epicurious, where in the Advanced recipe search you can click on "meatless" and use a keyword like "lentils" if you have lentils in the house, etc. Also I cannot overstate the helpfulness of Local Harvest in sourcing locally-produced, sustainable meats & veggies.

Best of luck on your new journey, Dave!

KaelaOn That's it for me and industrial meat posted 2 years, 9 months ago 46 Responses

Wow

I see over the weekend Dave became a rapist, although I really think we're violating (there's that word again!) Godwin's law as, at 57 posts, no one has yet mentioned the Nazis or Hitler.  (Of course, I just did, so all is right in Godwin's Universe again - phew!).

Talk about off-topic.

To sum up:  Dave ranted.  Some of us were pissed off and offended, some of us laughed.  And they all lived happily ever after.  The End.On Everything is lame posted 2 years, 10 months ago 68 Responses

But

what if the trees are not replacing grassland?

The key here is albedo -- reflectivity of light. Trees are darker than the grass they replace.

What if the trees are replacing the asphalt of a deserted city lot, are adding shade to city sidewalks, are part of a restoration effort of a landscape scarred by wildfire?  Would these tree plantings still be considered to produce a net warming effect?

I'm still not sure I'm buying the significance of the albedo issue.  Granted, I'm not a forestry scientist, so should have no rights to question the conclusions of the paper... yet, it just doesn't make sense to me.  By that logic, Maine, which has tons and tons of dark, leafy trees, should be warmer than Kansas, which is flat prairie land.  No?

FWIW, I did not take David's post as anger that Gristmill posters disagreed with him.  I read it as annoyance at the tone of the posts... instead of a glass-half-full viewpoint, like "Hey, it's great that the NFL are recognizing global warming and want to do something about mitigating their impact.  However, with the inherent problems of tree planting & carbon offsets, I wish they had considered...... (XYZ great idea that would contribute to mitigating the SuperBowl's greenhouse gas effects)" the tone of many of the comments, on that and other threads, was, IMO, a bit nitpicky and superior.  I do not presume to speak for David, because, clearly, he is perfectly capable of doing that for himself; perhaps I am merely projecting my own feelings regarding those posts into his comments.  For me, the bottom line is that we all love great debate and the sharing of ideas - otherwise we would not be here.  It is fabulous that we have this forum in which to exchange ideas, witticisms, compliments and insults with each other - the other side of the fabulous Internet coin is the utter lack of expression it gives to our words, leaving many statements wide open to the reader's interpretation.

Kaela
On Mmm ... oranges posted 2 years, 10 months ago 21 Responses

Wow

Rarely have bugs and frogs looked so amazing.  I'm especially partial to the little blue one.

On the subject of Bornea, I agreed with Patrick before I even read his post.  I was thinking "Of course, it's tragic, it's heartbreaking to think of losing all that tropical forest and all the magical creatures within.  But if I were trying to feed a family on $0.17 a day in Borneo, I probably wouldn't give a damn about the frogs."

Nothing is easy - but I do wish we understand what we are doing.  No one would burn a Picasso as firewood, now would they?On Borneo is disappearing for biofuels posted 2 years, 10 months ago 10 Responses

Trees are good

I agree with SKenzie - why all this bashing?  Must we search for the gloom, even admidst good news?

I think all on this list understand that ONLY planting trees will not save the planet. Neither will ONLY utilizing carbon offsets.  So, by all means, let's discuss (again and again) the right trees to plant in the right areas, the amount of carbon fixed in said tree, the albedo of various forms of plant life.... but when groups like the Indy 500 & the NFL sit up and take notice of climate change, let's applaud whatever effort they make.  It's still more than our President has done.

FWIW, I believe the trees were a symbolic gesture and the real "carbon neutral" SuperBowl is to come from offsets.  Whatever your opinion of offsets, I suspect that at least some of that money must be going towards support of alternative energy: research, building, implementation.  This can only be a good thing.

Personally, I have little to no interest in American football, and (now that the Pats & the Saints are out) absolutely no interest in the SuperBowl.  Which is a good thing, since I'll be in sunny Mexico, learning how to surf.

Yes, I am flying to Puerta Vallarta in an evil, CO2-spewing jet plane.  Yes, I offset my flight with trees. Let's take a moment to reflect on what a bad, misinformed and generally clueless environmentalist I am.On Football's biggest day will be carbon neutral posted 2 years, 10 months ago 19 Responses

Syracuse U

got the nod for Campus Sustainability Leader, but averaged only a C+.  Much like my own experience there.....On A new list will tell you posted 2 years, 10 months ago 4 Responses

The same way...

he can eliminate the federal deficit in 5 years without raising taxes, AND while increasing the military by 92,000 troops and sending 20,000 of those over to the Money Pit known as Iraq.On What about buildings and industry? posted 2 years, 10 months ago 2 Responses

Are they ill-tempered?

I have also noticed lots of techno-gadgetry on the Mill of late... liberally interspersed amongst the political wonkery (interesting wonkery that it is).

Myself, I think it is winter that does it.. here in the East, it is finally feeling like winter: cold, snowy, etc.  Thoughts seem naturally to turn to indoorsy type activities and I find even myself, normally loathe to shop, thinking I should update my work wardrobe and think about a dining room table.  Maybe this is the time of year the boys fantasize about a new car, and being able to ride said new, spanky car around in Spring's fertile sunshine.

Dear Canis, I add my best wishes to Patrick's for a most speedy recovery from your accident.

KaelaOn It will have lasers posted 2 years, 10 months ago 13 Responses

Hmmmm

I guess I always think of bologna as such plastic food.  Totally fake, like those "cheese food" slices that are individually wrapped in plastic.

Now, if someone suggested my own fabulous garlic-basil mashed potatoes (thoughtfully produced from local, organic garlic, basil & Yukon gold spuds), piled on top of a local, pastured, homemade sausage patty (perhaps like the fabulous sausage I had at Sunny Point Bakery over the Christmas holidays) then I might say... Yum.

But it stills needs a salad or some veggie soup to be considered a decent lunch.On Maverick chef Ann Cooper aims to spark a nationwide school-lunch revolution posted 2 years, 10 months ago 20 Responses

mexican hat

Ew, I mean seriously, that recipe gives me the shivers.... and I love mashed potatoes. But, ew.  I assumed the recipe was something that looked like a sombrero, but I guess I was thinking of a tower of tortilla chips and salsa or something. (Well, I hesitate to admit that the first thing I thought of was a Mexican Mr. Hat, Mr. Garrison's hand puppet on South Park, complete with cheesy handlebar mustache and requisite sombrero. But, I digress).

I'm thinking even blue popsicles and doughnuts are healthier than Mexican hat.

Tuna pea wiggle??  Nightmares, indeed!

Having grown up in a town that was a) heavily Roman Catholic and b) a commercial fishing town, tuna sandwiches were on the menu nearly every day, as were fishsticks (Gorton's of Gloucester, naturally) and only fish was served on Fridays.  To this day, I detest tuna and I don't like the rest of the sea's offerings much better.On Maverick chef Ann Cooper aims to spark a nationwide school-lunch revolution posted 2 years, 10 months ago 20 Responses

Don't forget,

Canis, you live in NYC.  In my traveling in the last few weeks (Asheville, NC, San Diego, San Jose and Palo Alto, CA) I've run across many, many vegetarians.  But I suspect had my travel plans included Dallas, Columbus, and Minneapolis, I'd be hard-pressed to find a single one.

I agree that 5 million seems small, but I've long recognized that here in dark-dark blue land it is very hard to understand what goes on in ruby-red land.  

I also agree that the vegan number seems almost absurdly high; I would put the estimate at less than 10%, which of course is just my uneducated guess.  But seriously, I know many, many vegetarians.... but not a single vegan (outside of the staunch vegans on Gristmill, of course).On Times reports on vegan fashion posted 2 years, 10 months ago 3 Responses

Jason,

For the love of all that's Holy, would you stop??

We get it, OK?  You believe that animal rights is a fundamental part of environmentalism, in fact, that environmentalism cannot and should not exist without it. Some here agree with you, others do not.  We've discussed it a bizillion times.  Do you think post number bizillion-and-one is going to change anyone's mind?

Please, let's stop flogging this dead horse, lest you devalue your other, often insightful, comments.

KaelaOn UN Declares '07 Year of the Dolphin posted 2 years, 10 months ago 8 Responses

Seems early

in the post to be breaking Godwin's Law, but hey, I'm just a dirty hippie.  What do I know?

Personally, as I can see the direction the MSM are heading, I suggest we start soliciting right now to cover Dave's medical bills.  

www.savedaveshead.orgOn Wherein I finally get it all out posted 2 years, 10 months ago 22 Responses

Wrap it Up

I've found quite nice stuff at Paporganics.  The paper is high quality and holds a crease very nicely and they even have natural ribbon.  

For special gifts, I bought some sheets from Recycled Paper Stationery.  I like the marbled papers the best - absolutely gorgeous, and so heavy that I know my Mom & I will be trading them back & forth on gifts for the next 10 years.

I do reuse paper & ribbon all the time (kept in two big under-bed boxes year round).  I will use the shopping bags you get from a store often, as paper wrap, but also as a gift bag - with inventive ribbon, people are always impressed.  Also, I use a lot of natural elements, especially at Christmas - a brown paper grocery bag used as wrapping paper looks a bit tacky with a shiny, pre-made bow, but if you wrap it with some raffia or twine, a twig of pine or holly, a pine cone... it looks beautiful.

Merry merry!
KaelaOn Umbra on wrapping creatively posted 2 years, 11 months ago 8 Responses

Another day

another post on Gristmill that tells me what (and what not) to eat.  

Frankly, I cannot stand any form of seafood, so that personal preference lets me off the hook, metaphorically speaking, for destroying the world whilst enjoying my sushi.

Again, let me say this:  eat what you like.  Simply understand the consequences of your choices, and modify your behavior accordingly.

In other words - be mindful.  Please.

I know return you to your regularly scheduled argument....On Umbra on sustainable sushi posted 3 years ago 54 Responses

Animal testing

Well, I've been much too busy conducting animal testing to respond to the thread on animal testing - isn't it always the way?

I find myself somewhere in the middle between Robert & Willa/David.  I think that PETA and other animal welfare groups have done some great things - if the rumors are true then I certainly would not have wanted to work in this business in the 60's and 70's.  I'm not sure how much the pressure of groups like PETA influenced legislation like the Animal Welfare Act, but I would imagine it had some impact.

That being said, however, there is a fine balance and I think that PETA and other groups often leap right over that line, as it were.  The hardline approach of "no animal testing ever" is not conducive to working with the medical research community to ensure the highest possible standards of animal care.  PETA and similar groups then become the enemy, unlike, say, the USDA or local chapter of the SPCA, with which I had great working relationships back in the days when I was still in the lab.

As for animal testing in China... moving medical research abroad is nothing new. Companies have been sending clinical studies abroad to Europe for decades, as the requirements in the EU were not as stringent as those in the US (FDA) to start a first-dose-in-man trial.  Lately, as the EU has adopted similar rules to the US, the fad has been to send clinical trials to Eastern Europe or India.  Regulations protecting human safety do tend to be more lax, but of course, PETA doesn't seem too outraged about that.  Most companies find that the difficulties of differences in culture, language and timezone make doing business abroad more difficult than it is worth, especially if you intend to file regulatory documents in the USA.  I don't think that animal testing in the States will go away any time soon.

KaelaOn Nice work, PETA posted 3 years ago 21 Responses

No offense to the corncrake, but...

"Swallows are one of Britain's favourite birds, they are an icon of spring and epitome of summer.

The icon of Spring is the League Table and the only thing the swallow has going for it is that it is actually around in the summer.  I doubt the RSPB is going to generate much uproar over this. Now, if the new airport was going to interrupt the migration patterns of Chelsea players, we might have something to fret about. On Skiing, soccer, and motor racing, oh my! posted 3 years ago 5 Responses

Prana is for "climbers"

Willa,

Sorry if I offended - certainly wasn't my intention. I do tend to forget, in my rosy love glow for all things Patagonia, that they are basically made for a lanky, thin body type. Hence my boyfriend, who actually loves Patagonia clothes, can wear almost none of them because he is shaped roughly like a fireplug (albeit an extremely cute fireplug).  He, on the other hand, can wear EMS clothing, which is always too small for me - binding in weird spots, arms too short, legs too short, etc.

I laughed at your message, not because I'm not sympathetic to the plight, but because one of my girlfriends makes a similar plea, often, in trying to find active clothing that fits her frame.  Once, when she was complaining to a fellow climber at the crags about a pair of Prana pants that she loved, but simply could not fit into the XL, the (short, skinny, blond, female) climber responded: "Well, Prana is made for climbers, you know."  As if there are no climbers larger than a size 14, (or none hauling hay bales for that matter).  As if struggling up a rock face weren't hard enough work, you have to feel fat doing it because you can't fit into any of the "climbing" clothes.

Believe me, nothing would make me happier than to have women's clothes, especially sustainably produced clothes, in 37 different shapes & sizes.  Then my girlfriend would have one less excuse not to come to the crags with me. :)On The U.S. organic cotton industry has a tough row to hoe posted 3 years ago 12 Responses

Pumpkin bread

Last week I made a big batch of pumpkin breads (I make the mini-loaves and then eat them, give 'em as hostess gifts, freeze some, etc).  People at work were amazed that I used "real" pumpkin.  More than one person asked "how do you do that?"

Somehow, I prefer it when people admit that it is much easier (and/or more preferable) for them to simply buy a pumkin pie at the store/bakery to those people who buy a pre-cooked pie shell, prepared canned pumpkin pie filling and Cool Whip, and call it "homemade pie."

However, I'm being annoyingly snotty since pretty much my entire Thanksgiving meal will be made by someone else (the lovely folks at the Pinkham Notch AMC lodge) and I will be hiking tomorrow, not slaving over a bird.

Kaela
On Two non-turkey recipes for the Thanksgiving feast posted 3 years ago 19 Responses

3/4!!

Three-quarters over at 40, BioD??  Methinks you are succombing to the Seattle-rain-induced depression.

I expect to live much longer than 53 years.  And even if I don't, I don't know that now, do I?  Hopefully, should the realization of an "early" death come to me, it will last only the briefest of moments, whilst I am falling off the side of a cliff, thinking "Damn, I knew that cam was dodgy."

At the moment, I quite literaly have all the time in the world, and I intend to enjoy it as such.On Is Western time on the outs? posted 3 years ago 20 Responses

CNY

I went to school in Syracuse and the low-hanging cloud cover from about November to April always killed me.  No rain... but lake effect snow (spitting, constant, grainy snow, every day, not a big fun storm, just relentlessly there).

My grades were lower every Spring, my sleep patterns were horrible, I skipped (more) classes, I ate poorly... one Spring semester I contracted mononucleosis.  Fun stuff.

I am convinced that my Mom has SAD, so I did a little bit of research on light boxes. There is clinical data that support that they work, not only in alleviating depresssion symptoms, but also in quantitative measures of melatonin production and in phase shifts of circadian rhythm.  However, it seems you have to actually have SAD in order for the light therapy to be of benefit - it's probably not going to cheer you up if you don't have the biochemical imbalance associated with SAD.

That being said, the boxes aren't too horribly expensive - seem to be about $200. Here's one on Amazon.  Of course, spending $200 if you don't even know you have SAD might be a bit wasteful, and you know how we pesky environmental types feel about waste.  A more economical option to try might be to pick up a copy of Winter Blues, a self-help book about dealing with SAD, or this, much more amusingly titled one, Don't Jump! a book specifically written for those living through a Northwest winter (both authors live in Seattle!).

Personally, I find there's not much in life that red wine can't cure..... organic red wine, natch.On Gloom and doom with a sense of precipitation posted 3 years ago 13 Responses

I have a friend

who is moving tomorrow.  As in, the Day Before Thanksgiving.  As in, the Heaviest Travel Day of the Year.

With her 2 1/2 year old rambuctious daugther, AND her 70 year-old Mom, who chose this particular time to visit.

Did I mention that they got back from a week away on Sunday night at 1am?

Let's hope the contractors didn't decide to glue particle board on any of her beautiful hardwood floors....On For those concerned about the blogger's floor posted 3 years ago 3 Responses

Turkey Day

I was hiking in the Catskills over the weekend, and a flock of wild turkeys crossed my path.  Hypocrite that I am, although I truly enjoy roasted turkey, especially at Thanksgiving time, my first thought was not "Yum" but "Run and hide!" At the same time, I could have cheefully throttled one of the many (many!) ruffled grouse that would burst out of the brush as I hiked past, causing many spikes in adrenaline and yelled expletives.  Such are the vagaries of being human.

With luck, the wild turkeys I saw in the Park will survive the dreaded holiday, as I do not believe there is any (legal) hunting in Catskill Park; sad to say, the same cannot be said for the many deer I saw strapped to the back of trucks and SUVs on the Thruway on my way home.  Rifle-hunting season for deer generally opens the weekend before Thanksgiving and obviously there were people taking advantage.  It just points out to me how nothing is black & white; I hate to see a once-majestic animal, stripped of life & dignity and strapped like so much luggage to the back of a car.  Then again, there is a serious deer overpopulation problem in all of NY/NJ and I do believe that a legal hunting season is better than eventual starvation and decimation of plant life.  On this, as on so many animal welfare issues, it just never seems easy.On The film opens nationwide Friday posted 3 years ago 16 Responses

Glummosaurus!

gets my vote for Word of the Week.On He would have us accept disaster posted 3 years ago 11 Responses

Trader Joe's

Wiscidea,

I do my shopping in several different places, but I get quite a bit of my food from Trader Joe's.  Here's why:

-They have a large selection of organic and otherwise "natural" products, including produce, meat, and cooking staples (chicken broth, whole wheat pizza crust, sauces, oils, marinades, baking supplies)
-The selection of organic & natural products, with the exception of produce, is far larger than is available at the one organic market in my area (although another one opens this week in Brewster, NY - whoo hoo!)
-Although they make/carry a lot of prepared foods, they don't carry a lot of convential "crap" - no Doritos or Coke, no PopTarts or Snickers bars.  They are mostly a natural food store, and you can generally trust that anything you buy there is not packed full of nasty chemicals, additives, etc.
-Their prices are the best in this area
-They do carry local foods, although not as much as my organic market in Cross River does

My post wasn't an indictment of Trader Joe's, which honestly, I would be miserable without.  (D'Agostino's, in which a pound of organic butter is $9.49? Stop & Shop, where you could search for weeks without finding organic butter?  I think not).  Nor was it an indictment of eco-Apples, per se... if farmers really are trying to find a reasonable middle ground between purely organic and purely conventional, huzzah.  It just made me suspicous that the website was so vague, and that there was no good info on the bag of apples itself.

Now that winter is nearly upon us here in New York, my CSA has ended for the season and I am forced to buy veggies again... and will be forced, unless I want to nothing but meat and root vegetables, to buy veggies from far-away climes.  I'm not thrilled about it, and I will continue to try to buy as much food as possible from local sources, but I am not dedicated enough, nor do I think it would be particularly healthy, to eat a 100% local diet in the frozen North.

KaelaOn Methinks the definition of 'eco-friendly' ... posted 3 years ago 9 Responses

Nothing like

getting your ass kicked by the likes of Latvia and Malta.  It's almost as bad as the World Cup.On Snow says Bush has made climate a priority. Yeah, right. posted 3 years ago 4 Responses

JackH

Being fabulous is well... fabulous.  Give us a break, will you?  People want to be fabulous.  We may not be appealing to a 62 year-old Ohio matron, but we are appealing to her 16 year-old granddaughter.

If people want to be fabulous, and being 'green' is seen as being fabulous, and more people jump on the green bandwagon in order to be fabulous....  isn't that simply fabulous?

KaelaOn It kicked ass posted 3 years ago 15 Responses

Sounds...

much like Congress.  Perhaps our Congresspeople have been under the mistaken assumption, for the last 12 years, that they are playing parts in a long-running Greek play?

Final curtain, kids.  Time to start waiting tables again! On Go veggie -- a poll posted 3 years ago 41 Responses

A couple of Faves

I find lovely nature-themed books, watercolors and films at the Heron Dance non-profit website, run by a painter & his wife.  (This is where I bought the 7 copies of Being Caribou that I gave out last year!)

I have also been lucky with A Greater Gift a non-profit that sells fair-trade products from around the world.

The Y Catalog is a relatively new spot wherein a bunch of manufacturers have pledged to donate 10% of anything you buy to the charity of their choice.  Yoga gear,clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc.

Patagonia is one of those sneaky-eco gifts.  Most people don't know that all their cotton is organic, the wool is not bleached, the 1% for the planet initiative... they just think they are getting a cool shirt.

I think our fellow eco-friends are easy... TerraPass, planting trees, organic soap, etc. It's getting something for the not-so-eco-minded that doesn't smack of "crunchy-granola," but also is not mass-produced crap, that can be difficult.

I give a lot of "weekends away:"  a snowboard lesson, a night at a B&B and passes to a National Park for hiking, snowshoeing or XC skiing lessons.  For my less active friends, a night at a spa for two... generally I get to join in on these activites and so it's like two gifts in one - I get to spend time with friends and we get to do something we both enjoy. I also enjoy giving (and getting) so called "consumable" gifts;  stuff that is not going to sit around the house collecting dust.  Opera tickets, a Broadway show, the ballet, a concert.

Of course, there is always jewelry and chocolate.

As for the inevitable dilemma of wrapping gifts, I have been using paper & ribbon from Paporganics (when I am not using funky boxes, reusable bags, etc) and I can tell you the paper quality is absolutely fantastic and 100% sustainable (recycled & hemp).  They have some really beautiful cards as well.

Happy Shopping!On We need your presents posted 3 years ago 17 Responses

This time...

it was tea.  

IT are going to kill me.On In Montana posted 3 years ago 7 Responses

John Hall

I think it was basically his energy policy that garnered him the Sierra Club nod.  Except for the bio-diesel bit, he is saying nearly everything we say here on Gristmill.  Start with efficiency, raise CAFE standards, fund alternative energy, shut down subsidies for nuclear power.On Green candidates claim a number of seats posted 3 years ago 4 Responses

Now there's a vivid image

I just burst out laughing and spit coffee all over my keyboard.

If my computer blows up, it's all your fault Dave.On In Montana posted 3 years ago 7 Responses

Ding dong

the witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead!

Pombo AND Santorum loading their CVs up on monster.com today.. how sweet.

And South Dakota overturns the egregious abortion ban - it's just like Christmas!On McNerney up on Pombo posted 3 years ago 5 Responses

Maximum nutrition

The problem is, people eat for a huge variety of reasons, and low among them is nutrition.  Low among then, even, is hunger.

People eat because they are bored, stressed, anxious... in celebration and in mourning, to socialize with friends, to enjoy a movie, to power a long hike.

If eating were only about receiving adequate nutrition each day, we would long ago have all switched to a diet of protein shakes & multi-vitamins.

People eat what they like to eat, hence the difficulty in attempting to change eating patterns based upon logic, reason or scientific fact.

That being said, I like to eat butternut squash soup as much as I like to eat a grilled chicken sandwich.  Knowing that the chicken sandwich, however humanely & sustainably raised, is likely more environmentally costly than my local organic farm's butternut squash gives me the knowledge I need to make an environmentally informed diet choice.  Hence, I eat fewer chicken sandwiches and more butternut squash soup.  But there are three keys here: 1) the knowledge that meat is more environmentally intensive, 2) the commitment to eat in an environmentally friendly way, and 3)really liking butternut squash soup.  Sounds silly, I know, but you need to offer people a vegetarian/vegan option that they like just as well as a meat option, as well as giving them the knowledge, as well as instilling the commitment.  For people who already have 2 out of 3, it should be an easy transition.  It gets much harder if you are starting at zero.On Go veggie -- a poll posted 3 years ago 41 Responses

Guiness is good for you

Through the magic of the Internet, I have found organic whiskey.  Don't tell my Scottish grandfather, but I've never been a big fan - you'll have to let us know if you try some and it's any good.

I do try to buy organic wines when I find 'em, though that is not often.  I have tried many of the Luddite reds, which are quite enjoyable, but other than that, no standouts.  

As for the medical debate, most studies seem to show that a small amount of ethanol (whether in beer, wine or spirits does not matter), equivalent to 4 oz of wine/day, confers positive benefits (mostly cardiovascular).  There has always been speculation that the anti-oxidants and flavanoids in wines, especially red wines, will confer health benefits, but no study has shown this conclusively.

For my part, I say:  Stress kills.  Alcohol de-stresses you.  Obvious health benefit. If you drink so much that you "poison" yourself, you are adding stress to the body (hence the "in moderation" qualifier).  Therefore, for maximum health, drink until you relax, not until you puke.  :)On Business Week article gave some the wrong impression, company says posted 3 years ago 20 Responses

Linkorama!

Thanks, David, for pulling all of this together.  Hopefully I will get time to view it all!

I am keeping fingers & toes crossed, and sending all good karma the way of environmentally-friendly, honorable and sane candidates next Tuesday.On There are many posted 3 years ago 4 Responses

Sweet Potatoes & Cinnamon

Dear Caniscandida,

I just made a new sweet potato recipe about a week ago, from Michael Nichan's new book Homegrown Pure & Simple.

I can't remember the exact recipe (I'll reproduce it tonight if you're interested) but the gist was this:

Cut sweet potato(es) in wedge-like pieces
Rub honey (I think mixed with a little grapeseed oil?) onto potato pieces
Arrange on a baking sheet, with a cinnamon stick under each potato piece
Season w/ salt & pepper
Roast (temp eludes me 400 or so) for about 20-30 minutes

You end up with a sort of sweet potato fry, but with enough bulk to be more like a steak fry and the unique flavor of honey & cinnamon.  My boyfriend absolutely raved about them; I enjoyed them, but was a little more reserved in my praise (I don't really like honey).  If nothing else, I would make them again to see his face light up, and because the house smelled incredibly wonderful.On Order your heritage turkeys now (if you eat turkey) posted 3 years, 1 month ago 7 Responses

You only

have to work on a drug for erectile dysfunction to realize that we are all still 13 years old.

A bunch of highly-paid, highly-trained MDs and PhD's sitting around a table, snickering at the word "penis."

It's kind of endearing, in a way.On Apropos of absolutely nothing posted 3 years, 1 month ago 24 Responses

Risk assessment

TokyoTom,

In the case of hurricanes, much more immediately effective policies would be to start restoring up barrier islands and wetlands, strengthening infrastructure, improving evacuation capabilities, and moving people off of the most vulnerable coasts (or at least eliminating the various subsidies that incentivize their ongoing presence and further development).

As I understood the thrust of Andrew's piece, it was that Katrina is a good analogy for the risk/benefit scenario in which we currently find ourselves with regard to global warming.  We knew, in detail, the risks of not better preparing New Orleans for a strong hurricane.  We chose to accept additional risk for the "benefit" of not spending the money in the near-term.  Hence we will now be spending much more money in the long-term, in part, a "penalty" for accepting a higher risk scenario.

One imagines that, if the current administration applies logic & analysis to anything at all, they consider the risk of global warming negative impacts to be low (imperfect science, low range is feasible, etc) and the benefits of not doing anything now high (i.e. more money in my pocket today).

Unfortunately, part of our struggle is against human nature itself.  The risk assessment guy gets no glory.  If I run a toxicology trial and discover a potentially life-threatening toxicity of a new drug, prior to trials in man, I do not get pats on the back.  In fact, the researchers who originally championed the drug for it's pharmacological properties are usually pissed off and argue endlessly with you.  The point is you never know how many lives you saved, because your work killed the drug before it got a chance to do harm.  However, if I don't run the appropriate study, or I missed the significance of the finding, or I completely understood the significance of the finding and was overruled by superiors, I am the one who takes the heat when people start dying in clinical trials.  It's a lose-lose situation.

Global warming is the same way;  if we start trying to deal with the impact of climate change now, we will never know how successful we were (i.e. how bad the damage would have been if we did nothing).  But if we do nothing now, it dosen't make us feel really good to be the "I told you so" guy when the water is up to our chins.On It's about risk posted 3 years, 1 month ago 12 Responses

What if...

Al ran for Pres, and picked Hillary as VP?  On Who's doing what posted 3 years, 1 month ago 20 Responses

Arizona?

Tarantulas, scorpions, lizards and urban sprawl?  Throw in a couple hundred really poorly placed golf courses and it's got to be Arizona.

I'm guessing in/around Tuscon....On A short hike reveals various lizard, insect species posted 3 years, 1 month ago 1 Response

Pine

Then there is this on Mother Earth news, which talks about how to purchase and install a pine floor on a budget.  No mention of FSC wood, though....  

And here is an interesting comparison from the Minnesota Green Housing Guide.On What's the best balance of green and cheap? posted 3 years, 1 month ago 15 Responses

Floored

Well, if you did a search of Grist, you would find that Umbra did indeed answer this question back in February.

Of course, she mentions the obvious cork, bamboo, etc.

I have heard that you can get pieced wood flooring, that you put together like a big jigsaw puzzle... cheap, because it is endpieces that otherwise get thrown away, green for the same reason, and I think the overall effect is pretty cool, like a chess board.  Of course, there is a specific name for this, which escapes me.

I'm a big fan of hardwood floors, myself, but I'm assuming FSC certified wood is pretty expensive.

As for carpets, I have a flokati rug in the living room that I love.  Totally cozy, all natural wool - it doesn't vacuum very well, so I just shake it out once a month or so, and best of all, stains won't stick to the wool fibers. I can't tell you how many glasses of red wine have been spilled on it and there are no stains - it just rinses right off.  I don't know if there is anywhere to order a room-sized one (like wall-to-wall) but they are a really inexpensive option for a non-toxic carpet.On What's the best balance of green and cheap? posted 3 years, 1 month ago 15 Responses

Patrick, you forgot

5)  Kill yourself.

That's pretty sustainable.  Since that seems to be the option that many of the "humans-are-cancer" crowd advocates, it's difficult to understand while they are still around.On It's easy if you try posted 3 years, 1 month ago 35 Responses

Mrs. Meyer's

I'm pretty addicted to Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products.  While I don't use dryer sheets (I am allergic to Bounce, and so have always avoided the things) Mrs. Meyer's makes both liquid and dryer sheet varieties of fabric softener.

As you can tell, I am partial to the lavender scent, but it also comes in geranium and lemon verbena.  Supposedly all Mrs. Meyer's products are all natural, biodegradable and not tested on animals.

Happy drying!On Umbra on dryer sheets posted 3 years, 1 month ago 11 Responses

Imagining

Sheri,

You seem to have missed the very point of the article; the Earth will go on living, and quite well, presumably, when/if humans are no longer on it.  Therefore, if you consider your comment below in an ecological timeframe, you will note that humans are nearly exactly like locusts.

Now for the difference between locusts and cancer.  Locusts devour everything in their path but they don't produce long term changes in the environment.  They are just a species that emerges occasionally under conditions that favor their gluttony and kill off a bunch of stuff that comes back the next year.  They cannot sustain their huge population surge since the food will run out.  Their short-term presence also benefits by providing a frenzy of eating for other species.

It is logical to assume, ecologically, that if humans continue their locust-like behavior, there will eventually be an extinction event (much like the one that occurs with locusts, in scale, if not in timeframe) which will occur when we have exhausted our resources.  We seem, then, to be in two camps;  there are those who wish that the extinction event would hurry up already, or that they had the big red "extinction event" button that they could push, thus reducing the Earth's human population to zero, or perhaps a small but manageable 1,000,000 or so, and there are those who wish that humans would hurry up and realize that we cannot live beyond our means, ecologically, and wish that all humans will learn to live in balance with the Earth and become simply another member of the ecosystem.  If I could choose my fantasy button, I would most certainly choose the "awareness" button over the "extinction" button.  After all, extinction is only a matter of time if we continue to use more resources than the Earth can provide.  Why not give people a chance to adapt?

Willa,

Yes, most American lawns are abhorrent, but I agree with you that they do not have to be.  After all, without a large, open space with short grass, where will I kick a soccer ball??  Like most environmental evils, I do not believe that the lawn itself is evil, but how we grow and nuture our lawns, how a big lawn is a sign of status, and how mindlessly we pump resources into our lawns, without awareness of the effects of our actions.  Change the awareness (education), change the status (socialization), and change how we care for our lawns (technology) and you forever change the notion of "lawn."

Patrick,

I, too, do not quite understand the race card in this context.  Are people blaming immigration for climate change?  Surely global climate change and global population are linked, but what difference does it make if we move some of the people from Mexico to the US?  Considering that my boyfriend is Puerto Rican, I am happy to blame the brown man for many things - not taking out the garbage, dirty clothes on the floor, an empty birdfeeder. But I don't think that has ever extended to global climate change.  Perhaps I'll lay that one on him when I get home tonight.  :)

As for the 'burbs.. I moved to the exurbs less than a year ago.  Prior to that, I had spent my entire adult life living in cities.  For the majority of that time, I also worked in the City and walked to work. I bought my first car 3 years ago, when I determined that my 25-mile commute from Manhattan to Tarrytown was soul-destroying via public transportation.  I have endured much green car-owner guilt since, but the 2-3 hours a day that the car shaved off my commute was more than worth it.

I spent more than a year and a half searching for a job in Manhattan so that I could give up my car and afford to stay in the city.  It didn't happen; I found a job in Danbury, CT instead.  So I packed up my old kit bag and moved to the boonies, shaving 110 miles/week off my commute and $700/month off my rent.  Even though I deliberately chose to live in a small (1000 sf), well-built, insulated house, I have no small amount of angst in knowing that I now consume much more resources than I did as an apartment dweller in Manhattan.  I drive more and I use more energy to heat my home.  Because I am mindful of these changes, I am even more diligent about "treading lightly;"  I am conscientious about carbon offsets, I buy 100% renewable electricity, I use CFLs, I inflate my tires, I walk and bike whenever possible, etc., etc., etc.  The bottom line is that our lives often take us to places that we could not predict, and often these events are beyond our control.  What would be nice is if the choice were not "city and green" or "suburbs and evil;"  what would be nice is if we put systems into place that allowed anyone, anywhere to live an ecologically sensitive lifestyle.

KaelaOn It's easy if you try posted 3 years, 1 month ago 35 Responses

Potential

In soccer circles, we have long known that the kiss of death for any young, promising player is to be saddled with that most dreaded of epithets:  potential.  A player shows flashes of brilliance on the ball, scores an unbelievable goal once a season, went to the right schools, has the right body type..... sigh.  We scream & curse when a sports commentator slaps the dreaded P-word on a player - there they go, destined for a short, much-lamented career and eventual football anonymity.

Unfortunately, I believe the word fits Obama to a tee - so far, he has shown us only potential.  It's a damn shame, really.  One would think someone with such great fashion sense (seriously, who wears a long, white tie and actually looks good in it?), not to mention charisma and intelligence could pull off something big.  Only time will tell if he will be one of the few to rise to the occasion and actually achieve his potential.

In other news - to plug the ethanol fuel thing, why did they choose a big fat guy filling up his big fat truck?  Sigh again.On When's Obama gonna do something? posted 3 years, 1 month ago 11 Responses

Hmmm

Well, I'm hardly a global warming skeptic (so please don't kill me, Dave) but reporting like this kind of annoys me.  Maybe I need to read the whole article in Journal of Cimate (which I could not find online) but where is the proof "directly linking the break-up of the Larsen Ice Shelf to human activity?"

The article says that warmer temps and stronger westerly winds caused the ice shelf to break off.  Seems reasonable.  But where is the direct linkage to human activity?  Most GW skeptics don't dispute that temperatures are higher (after all, it's much harder to dispute hard data) they simply dispute that they are higher because of human activity. Same question for the stronger westerly winds, which are apparently "fueled primarily by human-induced climate change;"  where is the data to support that?

If there is hard data to support these statements I would love to see it.  If there is not, it's simply irresponsible reporting.On Melting of Larsen B ice shelf connected to climate change posted 3 years, 1 month ago 12 Responses

Priceless...

"If man disappears tomorrow, do you expect to see herds of poodles roaming the plains?" asks Chesser.

...and sobering:

"There will be CO2 left in the atmosphere, continuing to influence the climate, more than 1000 years after humans stop emitting it," says Susan Solomon, an atmospheric chemist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado. Eventually calcium ions released from sea-bottom sediments will allow the sea to mop up the remaining excess over the next 20, 000 years or so.

Even if CO2 emissions stop tomorrow, though, global warming will continue for another century, boosting average temperatures by a further few tenths of a degree. Atmospheric scientists call this "committed warming", and it happens because the oceans take so long to warm up compared with the atmosphere.

To SheriVG,

I have a hard time understanding how you can reconcile a belief that humans are a cancer on the Earth with being human.  Would you advocate death for yourself, your friends, your family, in order to help the planet?  And if the planet was then helped, what joy would you take from that, as you would not be around to experience it? It seems a conundrum to me. On It's easy if you try posted 3 years, 1 month ago 35 Responses

You took the words...

right off my keyboard.On Rethinking 'overpopulation' posted 3 years, 1 month ago 77 Responses

David,

I can understand your angst and I feel for you.  It sucks to have to second-guess your work and to think that your widest audience to date knows only this tiny little slice of your soul, and maybe a slice that you didn't articulate quite as clearly as you would have liked.  Such is the heavy price of fame, my friend. Who knows the full character of a movie star, a politician, an axe murderer?

Before you beat yourself up too harshly over language that you feel might have been inappropriate or offensive, let me offer a few "points to consider."

Let us revisit the now infamous quote:

It's about the climate-change "denial industry," which most of you are probably familiar with. What you may not know about is the peculiar role of the tobacco industry in the whole mess. I've read about this stuff for years and even I was surprised by some of the details.

When we've finally gotten serious about global warming, when the impacts are really hitting us and we're in a full worldwide scramble to minimize the damage, we should have war crimes trials for these bastards -- some sort of climate Nuremberg.

I see nothing here about "climate skeptics."  I see nothing here saying that legitimate scientists, who for some reason, upon review of all available data, do not come to the same conclusion as the majority of scientists, and hence do not believe in man-caused climate change, should be tried as war criminals.  I see nothing calling for criminal action against your average American Joe who simply does not believe that global warming is real and/or caused by humans.  I see outrage expressed at people and corporations who deliberately and with forethought promote mis-information for no reason other than personal or corporate profit, who, in fact, have created an entire industry out of misleading the public.

Seriously, how evil is it that tobacco companies will throw money to groups attempting to discredit global warming science in order to a) distract people from the known fact that smoking is bad for you, and b) paint anyone concerned about global warming as a "left-wing hippie tree-hugging commie" who wants to take away your God-given right to smoke Malboros while driving to the 7-11 in your Hummer with the Glock in the glove compartment. About as evil as politicians and pundits who rub their meaty paws together in glee at the fracas they can create based upon an off-the-cuff remark in an Internet blog.  Inhofe & crew must have been salivating at the chance to whip up some moral outrage and distract the citizenry from the fact that a Repbulican congressman was an active pedophile who solicited under-aged boys during breaks in the action on the Congressional floor.

Let us remember from whence these arrows are slung;  the emails expressing outrage, calling for your head, your death, your Ebola-ridden corpse on a pole to parade through the streets in unbridled joy..... these are the same folks who barely batted an eyelash when we legalized torture a few weeks ago.  The President can now, legally, declare you, David Roberts, an enemy combatant, he can hold you without trial, indefinitely, without knowledge or review of the charges/evidence against you, can waterboard you, can stick bamboo shoots under your fingernails, can basically do whatever he damn pleases to you to elicit a confession (of something, anything) and then try you for that crime. Legally.  All this, retroactive to 1997 mind you, so that he & his buddies could not be brought up on charges for war crimes for acts that were, well, war crimes.  Where was the outrage?  Where were the letters to the Editor (New York Times - you fuck)?  Where was the blogospheric spew of hatred and vitriol?  Yet your comment, not advocating death by cancer or AIDS or Ebola, not advocating torture, but advocating criminal charges for what you see as criminal activity, elicits barrels of Internet bile.

As for shrill, Olbermann is shrill.  I love Keith Olbermann.  He is factual, he is articulate and he is shrill.  Shrill is what we need right now.  The abuses of the current administration are such that shrill is the only way to get the point across, short of a stark, raving, screaming fit.  So be shrill.  By all means, be open-minded, be well-informed, be factual, and be shrill.  When you see abuses of power, when you see devious manipulation, when you see perfidy, misinformation and downright fraud - be shrill.  We need you to be.

KaelaOn Incentives in modern-day punditry posted 3 years, 1 month ago 10 Responses

Safe Food Act

Took me a while to find, but here is the bill.On Senators threaten to impose industrial-strength rules on small vegetable farms posted 3 years, 1 month ago 3 Responses

It's all biology

As to Canis' question on the lackadaisical fashion habits of your typical American man.... biologically, women are driven to find & attract the best possible mate.  There is the chance of only one baby every 10 months or so - better make sure it has good genes (not to mention jeans).

Men, on the other hand, can (and do) spread their seed at will.  The quality of mate is far less important as the quantity of mates (again, biologically speaking) as a man can technically create many babies in one day.  It's not that men don't have the biological drive to attract a mate - it's just that they are not that picky. :)

As for why men can seem to be proud of a massive beer belly hanging over stained jeans... well, modern science has yet to plumb the depths of that mystery.On New study finds women dress better when they're fertile posted 3 years, 1 month ago 5 Responses

Don't worry,

Canis, I still love you!  

I take the word "unethical" very seriously, so I guess it just touched a nerve.  And maybe (just maybe) I have some residual guilt about my driving habits, even though I do try my hardest to be as responsible as possible.  I guess I just have to take a page from Al's book and make sure to offset all the travel I can't, or don't wish to, avoid.

As for American entitlement, you said a mouthful. I condemn the most the people who are actually aware of the damage they do, yet argue to protect their "God-given American right to guzzle gas."  (Yes, this is an actual quote).  I condemn basic laziness in most of it's incarnations; not curling up on the couch with a good book on a Sunday afternoon - that is not lazy, that is relaxy - yet driving as a matter of course instead of walking, biking, etc., electric knives and can-openers and bread machines (really, is there anything more satifsfying than kneading bread dough by hand?), living off of frozen dinners because you are too lazy to shop for food and learn to cook.  These things make me crazy.

As for people who drive to beautiful nature spots - sigh.  I am of two minds.  One side of me can't stand it; can't stand the roads they build in these beautiful areas, so that people can drive their honking vehicles in.  Can't stand the noise, the litter, the screaming children, the ice-cream stands.  Can't stand the fact that wildlife are driven away, and can't stand the fact that I sweated & suffered for 4 hours to get someplace that is filled with overweight American tourists.  Hence, I usually avoid these types of spots.  There is still plenty of wilderness for the adventurous, plenty of spots that your run-of-the-mill "nature lover" will never see.  My other mind is purely practical;  I know that far, far many more people drive to the top of Mt. Washington every year than hike there.  Yet the people who drive there are spending money in the gift shop, buying photographs, buying bumper stickers and T-shirts.. and essentially keeping the weather observatory functioning and donating money to the Park. That money benefits the whole Presidential Range, of which I can choose many less popular peaks to explore.. but I might not have that opportunity if people were not able to drive to the top of Mt. Washington and spend their money there. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, no?

As for the ATV, ski-doo, snowmobile crowd... I have to admit I hate those things.  Loud, belching vile fumes, driving away all the birds & wildlife - they completely ruin the outdoor experience for me.  I'm all about human-powered outdoor entertainment.  But one day, probably last Spring, I was up in the Hudson Highlands, mountain biking. There we crossed paths a couple of times with a (presumably) father & son, riding ATVs. The boy was maybe about 10 years old, the father, I would guess early 40's.  They were exceedingly polite, always pulling over to let us pass, nodding hello each time, going fairly slowly on the trails, not a lot of engine-revving, etc.  The boy's face contained a heart-breaking mixture of pride, fear, and joy.. the father's a similar mixture of pride in his son, watchfulness over his handling of the bike and pleasure at being able to share this with him.  Like everything else, once you put a human face on a thing, it is hard to stereotype, and hard to hate.  Now, when I hear ATVs back in the woods, and it instantly gets my hackles up, I try to remember the father and son.  If everyone were to enjoy the woods as responsibly as they did, I think there would be room for all of us.On Middlebury's nordic ski team goes climate neutral posted 3 years, 1 month ago 8 Responses

Frivolous?

Dear Canis,

All frivolous driving is unethical.

Don't you think this is just a wee bit harsh?  What exactly is "frivolous driving" anyway? I can see that driving your car 6 blocks to the store is clearly unnecessary (but maybe not if you needed to carry home something from said store that was large, bulky, heavy, etc).  Was it frivolous that I drove 4 hours (roundtrip) last weekend to attend a friend's wedding? Or perhaps it is frivolous that I routinely make the 2-hr roundtrip to New Paltz to go rock climbing or hiking?

But what if the rock climbing & hiking were the very things that inspired my love of nature and my passion to protect it?  Does that make my driving for those things somehow less frivolous?  I suppose there is no way that my trip to Puerta Vuellarta in February, to surf for a week, could be considered anything but frivolous.

Does it matter that I have TerraPass for my car, and that I offset all my plane travel? But even if I didn't do these things, would it still be unethical for me to travel to do the things that I love to do?  After all, what is life without a little frivolity?

KaelaOn Middlebury's nordic ski team goes climate neutral posted 3 years, 1 month ago 8 Responses

Bread is life

Yes, I agree, I always put out some sort of bread/cracker... usually a couple of varieties. Although I could eat a perfectly indecent amount of Brie with nothing more than a green apple and a handful of hazelnuts, I also dearly love a good hunk of bread.

I'm especially fond of those little rosemary Italian crackers - which reminds me of another great cheese plate addition;  when I lived in Boston's North End, I never had a gathering without some of the indescribably yummy roasted tomatoes from this little shop on Hanover St (on the corner of Parmenter St.. but the name is escaping me).  It is pretty hard to beat on a little rosemary cracker with a smidgen of Brie.  I have a friend who lives in the North End still and brings me some every time he visits.

As for the D'Ag, yes, I generally avoided them, as, even in a city known for excess, D'Ag is outrageously expensive.  I used Fresh Direct sporadically, mostly to try out stuff from their "local" section, which is how I found a few favorites - Doc's Draft and Martin's Pretzels among them.On The basics for creating a good cheese platter posted 3 years, 1 month ago 5 Responses

Analogies

Dear Patrick,

Sorry if I did not respond with my usual sunny optimism.  I guess the whole McCain Torture Bill thing has me down.  The vast majority of Americans aren't even ruffled by the fact that we've just shit all over the Constituion, tossed habeus corpus out the window, brushed aside the Geneva Convention and have voted to allow torture as a legitimate means of questioning. In fact, the vast majority of Americans don't even know that this just happened, let alone are they upset by it.

I guess it just puts everything into perspective.  If we can't even get riled up about torture, I can understand why people aren't protesting in the streets over Kyoto.

As for analogies, perhaps a better one is the age-old situation of neighbor's apple tree leans over your fence.  Think of the epic neighborhood battles that this one inspires.  A variety of "issues:"

1.  You pick apples from boughs on your side of the fence.  Your neighbor accuses you of stealing apples.  You say they are on your side... you bicker.  

2.  Apples from his tree fall to the ground in your yard.  Various creatures are attracted to this bounty, and you submit him a bill for an exterminator to remove "vermin."  He refuses to pay - it's your yard.

3.  Apples from his tree fall to the ground in your yard.  You hire local high school boy to clean them up - submit him a bill.  He refuses to pay.  You both allow anger to escalate.  You saw off the boughs on your side of the fence with a chainsaw.  He sues you for damages to his tree.

Now consider the following:

4.  Apples fall to the ground on your side.  You collect a bunch, make two apple pies.  Bring one over to your neighbor's house.  He invites you to share it with him along with fresh apple cider he has brewed.  You trade recipes, enjoy pie, and have a few laughs together.

Which of the scenarios seems more likely in modern-day America?

KaelaOn WTF? posted 3 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

Fact or fiction?

I have to say that my favorite food-themed movie of all time is Big Night.  A ridiculously brilliant cast of actors, at times poignant, irritating and hilarious, it is so worth a rental.On Or, why the Vanity Fair treatment doesn't do justice to food history. posted 3 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

Hubristic?

Is that even a word?On Fear it posted 3 years, 2 months ago 2 Responses

Spinning indeed

[Alex], you can spin spin spin, but the reality is plain to see: [non]-organic farmers rely on [pesticides] that [are] risky as [they] can kill people [and animals, birds, unborn babies, bees, plants, soil, water, the planet].

People in glass houses....

KaelaOn Why the Hudson Insitute needs to compost its manure a little better. posted 3 years, 2 months ago 12 Responses

Doom & gloom...

with a sense of humor.

Ray is a bright light in an otherwise rather gloomy film and also has the distinction of playing the only person in the film, with the exception of the children, who ever smiles.

I don't think they were paying attention to that last bit.On Movie about an eco-terrorist posted 3 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

Vaccine May Eliminate E. Coli in Cattle

In more spinach news, this story from NPR discusses a vaccine under development that may reduce the presence of E. coli O157 H7 in cattle by "60 to 70%."

It's not yet clear how E. coli 0157 H7 contaminated spinach during the recent nationwide outbreak. One likely source of the E. coli bacterial strain is cattle waste, which could have tainted irrigation water used to grow the spinach.

Cattle can tolerate the bacteria with no problems, but E. coli can cause severe illness and even death in humans. At a University of Nebraska research feedlot near Lincoln, researchers are now working on an E. coli vaccine that would be given to cattle instead of humans.

Having spent the better part of my professional career working for biotechnology firms, I do not find them as evil as many on this list may, however, this is the kind of research that really pisses me off.

Let's 1) feed cattle a food that they are not designed to eat and cannot tolerate, 2) thereby creating an atmosphere in cattle stomachs that will support a new strain of E. coli, 3) thereby eventual contamination of meat or groundwater will spread the E. coli to humans, 4) humans will get very sick and/or die, then 5) spend $65 million on development & marketing of a vaccine for the E. coli.

The logic is so faulty that it's amazing to me that the scientists working on this don't go mad. On Latest E. coli outbreak should prompt rethink of industrial agriculture posted 3 years, 2 months ago 8 Responses

My vote

goes to Jerry Goldstein.

But you know, they really shouldn't include pictures if they expect an unbiased vote.On PopSci announces this year's top young scientists posted 3 years, 2 months ago 2 Responses

Message

Mr. Lundberg,

I appreciate your response and I apologize if I sounded overly strident in my review of your piece.  It did (clearly) strike a nerve with me.

If I attempt to analyze my somewhat visceral reaction, I would have to say that what bothered me most was the message, or lack thereof.  What main point is it that you were trying to convey in the piece?  I must confess that I read many many words that seemed to boil down to "We're in deep trouble, technology won't save us, so go hug a tree."

As I said, I complete agree with the "we're in deep trouble" and "technology won't save us" assessments.  (Well, I believe technology has perhaps a slightly better chance at impacting the problem than you may... but I do not equate to that "saving us.")

I appreciate Bart's translation of "where's your eco-village?"; I think, as Bart states it, the question makes sense.  And perhaps he is correct and my interpretation of the piece is related to culture differences;  granted, I was alive in the 70's, although I was a kid. A kid, however, born to hippie parents (the music in my house was Bob Dylan, Harry Chapin, Helen Reddy & Godspell), who's Mom was a vegetarian and a working member of a food co-op.

I do love nature.  I actually do hug trees. I simply don't find "conform to ecological reality and start enjoying what it is to be fully, beautifully human" helpful advice in the struggle against climate change.  It may go over well if you are essentially preaching to the choir but I don't believe that it is an effective strategy if you are trying to get as many people as possible on board with the concept that we will need to work and struggle and change our way of living in order to save the planet.

KaelaOn Here's how posted 3 years, 2 months ago 28 Responses

Jason,

It seems to me that you haven't thought your argument through.  You say that you are against factory farming.  You say that you are against subsidies.  Yet you also say that you are glad that only 2% of the people in the US farm and that you want India to be able to move away from farming.

Clearly, the US model of modern farming is unsustainable, as you seem to agree.  You say you do not necessarily want to import this model to India.

If, however, there are not to be large, centralized, (i.e. "factory") farms, how on Earth will India feed it's 1 bilion people if 90% of it's people are to move "out of agriculture?"

Indeed, if the US is to move away from factory farming, will we not need more farmers? In order to provide sufficient food supply for our nation that is also sustainable will not farming need to diversify more than consolidate?  And with diversification & sustainability will come smaller farms, each growing or raising a greater variety of crops and/or livestock (in order to reduce off-farm inputs as well as maintain the integrity of the soil) and with smaller farms, each farm will produce less food, so there will have to be more farms (and hence, farmers) in order to supply adequate food.

Am I missing something obvious here?  (Could easily be, as I know next to nothing about farming, and even closer to nothing about economics).

I whole-heartedly agree with you that we don't want to force people into no choice but a grueling, manual labor, scrape-by existence.  But what if farming did not have to be that way?  What if farming was a job, much like teaching, or being a doctor, at which one could do what they love (be outdoors, create delicisous food), accept the fact that at certain times of the year there would be long, hard days, accept all the inherent risks involved, but still at the end of the day make a decent living?  Fill the fridges of America with fresh, wholesome, delicious food, and still be able to take a vacation with your family once a year, send a kid to college?  Maybe buy yourself that play 1972 Triumph convertible, and have a Sunday or two to be able to tool around your country backroads.

How hard can it be to structure our nation's food policy such that farmers can make a decent living farming?  More importantly, how can we afford not to do so?  If we, you & I, are against factory farms, and against consolidated mega-farms, then must we not advocate for more small farms, and hence more farmers?  And if we are to advocate for more farmers, don't we have a responsibilty to ensure farmers a living wage?

KaelaOn As India modernizes, farmers and public health pay the price. posted 3 years, 2 months ago 20 Responses

Hmmmm

Well, I did a quick Google search but did not find much.  It seems that the physiology of most bird stomachs allows vomiting at some point in time, as food passes back & forth between the first two stomachs in order to aid digestion, although I could not find anything about actual vomiting.  It may be that the regurgitation that I have seen from seagulls is of food that is stored in the mouth/cheeks and broken down by bacteria there.

Could it be that the jellyfish were 1)unable to be broken down in the seagull's stomach and 2) too large to be regurgitated whole?  Either way, it is a fairly disturbing image.

FWIW, I was a child when attempting to feed seagulls Alka Seltzer... I imagine that if I had been successful, and a seagull actually exploded, I would have been rather traumatized.  But, like I said, the gulls are too wily for that.  Perhaps they have just learned not to trust 8-year old redheads bearing gifts.

KaelaOn The world may never know. posted 3 years, 2 months ago 14 Responses

On seashore scavangers

Growing up on an island fishing community, I of course heard the rumor that you could "blow up" a seagull by feeding it Alka Seltzer.  It's an intriguing hypothesis, which I suspect is likely false, because unlike horses, rabbits and rats, seagulls can regurgitate, and will (often) spit up anything that doesn't agree with them.  (Hard to imagine what that might be, as they essentially will eat anything & everything, but I suppose Alka Seltzer might be on that list).  As I kid I believe my Mom thought I had developed an unhealthy addiction to Alka Seltzer, as I kept asking her to buy some (under the clever ruse "my stomach hurts").  You just can't get a damn seagull to eat the stuff - not even if you coat it in peanut butter.  They are wily little creatures, arrrrr.

As for lobsta-pops resurfacing from the Great Briney Deep... who freezes lobster anyway? I don't eat the sea-rats myself, but know enough to know that they should be fresh and cooked alive (how barbaric is that?!?).  They are generally shipped out of Maine and such places on cold packs but not frozen.  I believe many forms of North Atlantic lobster hibernate over the cold winter months, so I would suspect that a "frozen" lobster could be alive and hibernating, and then when thawed "come back to life."  But, hey, what do I know?  Maybe there is some cryogenics genuis out there working on lobster revitalization. Perhaps there is hope yet for Walt Disney.On The world may never know. posted 3 years, 2 months ago 14 Responses

Brilliant!

I especially love the belt buckle - perfect touch.On Funny posted 3 years, 2 months ago 2 Responses

E. coli O157:H7

Interesting editorial in the NY Times today claiming that the virulent strain of E. coli implicated in recent spinach-related illness is essentially bred in grain-fed cattle.

Where does this particularly virulent strain come from? It's not found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on their natural diet of grass, hay and other fibrous forage. No, O157 thrives in a new -- that is, recent in the history of animal diets -- biological niche: the unnaturally acidic stomachs of beef and dairy cattle fed on grain, the typical ration on most industrial farms. It's the infected manure from these grain-fed cattle that contaminates the groundwater and spreads the bacteria to produce, like spinach, growing on neighboring farms.

So, it would seem that pasture-fed beef cattle would not produce sufficient amounts of this strain to present a health problem, and thereby would eliminate the risk of contaminating groundwater or manure used for irrigation and fertilization of crops (organic or otherwise).  Hmmm... seems to me that much (though not all) organic beef is also grass-fed beef, no?On E. Coli news is bad news, any way you cut it posted 3 years, 2 months ago 22 Responses

Thanks

for the link, Mike.  About as much of a bitchslap as a British scientist can deliver, I suspect.  Nicely done.

I could not hear the Today show link, unfortunately - it always amazes me that these people actually appear on TV/radio.On An excerpt from a new book by George Monbiot posted 3 years, 2 months ago 36 Responses

Avast!

Sarah a saucy wench be ye.  But how to swill the rum, swash the buckle and take to the briney deep with a name like "Sarah?"

Ye must find yer destiny, yer callin', yer one true pirate name.

Yo ho ho!

Bloody Bess KiddOn Arrr ... you ready to party? posted 3 years, 2 months ago 8 Responses

Message sent

and not only because I saw "Finding Nemo" on TV last night.  [On the short list of my favorite lines from that movie: Ellen DeGeneres' fish character, Dory, is sleeping/dreaming, and mumbles "Yes, I'm a natural blue."  I can make myself giggle all day with that one.]On Fifty new species found in Papua posted 3 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

And the point?

Is this yet another long, involved post to yell from the rooftops that money is good?  I must confess that I can't follow the logic here, if it exists.

I don't have any problem with money. Money is fine, but it is such an abstract concept, like time.  Simply an invention of a world that needed a way to concretely assign value to a variety of things (goods, services, etc.).  I'm fond of money in that it's a means to an end;  if money were to disappear tomorrow, yet I could still achieve my desired "ends," would I care?  Nope.

To me, economics is simply a rather sloppy way to try to track how people are achieving their "ends."  Granted, money has an advantage because a strictly quantitative measurement always feels more secure, and is eaiser to analyze, than the more fuzzy qualitative assessment of happiness, safety, security, etc.

I don't know that economic growth is linked at all to happiness, per se.  But it seems incontrovertable that, in it's present incarnation, it is linked with environmental destruction.  So, I agree that what environmentalists should argue for is a happy, healthy standard of living for all humans (and animals too!) and what we should argue against is environmental destruction.  Perhaps the prevailing argument suggests that if economic growth is not tied to happiness, but is tied to environmental destruction, why do we need it anyway?  However, I tend to favor another argument; if there is a way to make economic growth environmentally benign, or even environmentally beneficial, and economic growth is making someone happy (somewhere), then why wouldn't we favor it?On Just because GDP doesn't track happiness is no reason to reject economic growth posted 3 years, 2 months ago 29 Responses

Coffee Connection

Ah yes, one of the many reasons that I simply cannot stand Starbucks and absolutely refuse to patronize them (of course it doesn't hurt that their coffee is awful).

Coffee Connection was fantastic, and the owner held out against the Starbucks offers to buy them out for so long... but eventually, even CC fell to the green machine.  :(On Lessons on how to live from the NYT food section posted 3 years, 2 months ago 9 Responses

I hate to report

that SUVs are alive and well out here in Exurbia.  In fact, I have a friend who just a week or two ago bought a new (used) car, a Honda Civic.  (I was lobbying for the Prius, but she really couldn't afford it... the Civic's not a bad second choice).

She reports that everyone in the dealership that day was inquiring about the Honda Pilot.  Offensively ugly, IMO, and gets a simply charming 19 miles to the gallon.

You really don't see many cars that aren't SUVs on the road up here, merely an hour from Manhattan;  it is totally depressing.On And why is it still around? posted 3 years, 2 months ago 10 Responses

To Canis

For what it is worth, I don't like animal testing.  I mean, really, who would?  I don't think that there is a single toiletry or cosmetic item in my arsenal that was tested on animals. I do not feel that it is necessary, or in fact, ethical, to test such items on animals.

It may make you feel better, or perhaps not, to know that in your fine message above you have essentially paraphrased the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, called by us in the biz the "Guide" or often the "Bible."

Certain things are a no-brainer;  clean, sanitized cages, constant access to fresh food & water (most animal rooms these days are equipped with automatic water dispensers straight from the main building supply, of water that is reverse-osmosis filtered).  Non-human primates (macaques, marmosets, baboons) have long been group housed for socialization, but increasingly the labs are moving to group housing of dogs, rats and mice as well.  All animal facilities (worth their salt) must achieve accreditation by AAALAC, an independent oversight body for lab animal research.  Pain & suffering are not allowed in the vast majority of animal medical research.  In fact, to design a study that purposely allows pain and suffering is about as easy as passing meaningful energy legislation through Congress.

All this is not to say that is it not hard.  It is, and it should be;  it is heart-wrenching for me to see 20 Beagles in a room, and know that I put them there.  To look into big, docile happy brown eyes and a wagging tail and try to apologize, somehow, for the fact that I sentenced them to death.  Some people ask how I can do it, and I reply, "If not me, who?"  Should it not be the person who loves animals dearly, who respects individual animals and nature as a whole, who is the one to make these decisions?  Or should we leave the decisions to people who simply don't care that much?  Who find it distasteful, so turn a blind eye, never monitor their studies, have no idea how their animals are treated?

It is tough.  Every single time.  But, when I scratch the rat behind the ears, or let the dog lick my hand and I try to offer up some meager thanks for the sacrifice that I know was not their choice... I also think of my father.  I think of his suffering, his pain, as he lay on his cancer death bed at 48 years of age.  I think of the once robust, athletic and fit man, 6 ft tall and 170 lbs, shrunken to a jaundiced 83 lbs by the invasive tumors that killed him. I think of the emotional pain and suffering of my Mother, a widow at 46 years old, my brother & sister, my neices who never got to know their grandfather.

In another thread, I mentioned that 50 million Americans live with some form of chronic pain every day.  A drug I am currently studying may offer some glimmer of hope for those 50 million suffering bodies.  In order to complete the studies necessary to sell the drug, I will probably need to kill approximately 100 dogs.  It is sad.  It should never not be sad.  But, as even the Dalai Lama agrees, sometimes, the sacrifice can be justified if it will serve the greater good.

KaelaOn Enviros should adopt some animal welfare concerns posted 3 years, 2 months ago 31 Responses

Out, out damned Spot!

So, am I greivously lamenting the blood of innocent chickens on my hands... or merely trying to convince the dog to go out and pee?  You gotta love words, wonderful slippery little creatures that they are.

I have to say I share BioD's irritation with the term "murder" when it is applied to animals. It is sensationalist, and depending on which side of the barnyard fence you sit, either irriating or soul-stirring.  I relented a bit in my curmudgeonly irritation, however, after reading Canis' eloquent defense of the AR groups' use of the term "murder;"  they believe it to be an outrage, they are specifically using the sensationalist term in order to shock and offend, and they feel it their duty to do so.  I can understand, and even respect, that.  I would imagine I shock and offend people on a regular basis. :)  

As for BioD's original gauntlet, and LSam's revision, I say as well that each case is different.  I may be outraged over the death of an endangered species of coral in the Pacific, yet understand the rationale for a legalized deer hunt in Harriman Park.  I guess, personally, I tend to be moved by habitat more than by individual species, so the cute-and-fuzzy factor does not tug at my heartstrings quite as much as, say, drought, fire, flood.  (With the exception of those damn pandas - they are just too cute!)

On the subject of animal testing, again words come into play.  In the US, pretty much all animal protocols use the word "euthanize" to describe killing lab animals at the end of a study (actually, more like the beginning of a study, as the end of the "in-life" stage of a study is the beginning of gathering the serious data).  In the UK & Germany (and presumably the rest of the EU) they use the word "kill."  Myself, I've always preferred to call a spade a spade - but most of my American colleagues are very squeamish about the word "kill" and will without fail edit it to "euthanize."  Trivial word play, IMO, but it offers interesting insight into how our cultures differ in emotionally dealing with the fact that there are studies we do in support of medical research that require you to kill animals.

KaelaOn Can you 'murder' a chicken? posted 3 years, 2 months ago 25 Responses

And then there's this...

From BMW:

BMW will roll out the world's first hydrogen-burning car in serial production early next year, the German premium automaker said on Tuesday, eager to put its stamp on cars with green credentials.

The specially equipped 7-Series executive cars emit only water vapor when running on hydrogen.

The car hits the market next April and will be shown at the Los Angeles car show in November, the company said. It had said in March the hydrogen cars would arrive within two years.

A spokesman said the car would be leased to selected customers rather than sold because of its high price. Leasing rates would be similar to those for a top-end BMW 760LI with a full-service package.

The BMW 7 Series Hydrogen 7 Saloon is powered by a 260 hp twelve-cylinder engine and accelerates from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.5 seconds. Top speed is limited electronically to 230 km/h.

Once and Future Prez

Interesting:

Gore, who lost the presidency to President Bush in 2000 in disputed circumstances, said there was no doubt the impact of global warming would be best addressed through the power of the presidency, but making a documentary was second best.

Am I hallucinating, or didn't he say somewhere (previously) that he thought he could do more for global warming if he wasn't the President?

As Mr. Spock would say, fascinating.On But he still understates the case posted 3 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

Your wife..

..and my Mom.  Dad was a Virgo as well.  We were tight as two bugs in a rug - drove Mom batty.

And yes, Virgos do get along with other Virgos (and hopefully with themselves!  is that what the kids are calling it these days?).  On A public service announcement posted 3 years, 2 months ago 16 Responses

Fellow Virgo...

I salute you.  Did you know that even the Virgin Mary was a Virgo (hence Virgo the virgin?).  Coincidence?  I think not.

Happiest of days.On A public service announcement posted 3 years, 2 months ago 16 Responses

Veggie power

Dear Patrick,

Certainly not saying that you cannot healthfully support a body, even an athlete's body, on veggie alone, but just saying that it is difficult.  Clearly it can be done, at least at the recreational level - I know plenty of climbers who climber harder and carry more muscle mass than I who are vegetarians.  Of course, they are also in their 20's... I think it becomes even more difficult as we age.

I do speak from experience.  My Mom became vegetarian when I was about 11 years old; she would still serve the family meat (mostly chicken) but, not surprisingly, it became less and less important in our diet.  Over the years I became less enamoured of the taste, and in my early 20's made a fairly committed and valiant effort to go completely vegetarian (not vegan).  At the time, as I am now, I was quite active... running, hiking, kayaking, roller blading.  For me, personally, I found getting my protein needs from veg sources too difficult, time consuming, inconvient.  Not impossible, but impractical. I felt awful, was tired all the time, my sports performance suffered... I eventually went back to my regular diet.

As a now more disciplined closer-to-40-something, I suppose it would be an interesting experiment to try again, but I guess I just do not feel the need. I don't eat a lot of meat, and have tried to lessen even that relatively small amount following conversations on Grist that have pointed out the environment destructiveness of a meat-based diet vs veggie alone.

All that being said, I would be fairly amazed to find an elite athlete, operating at the highest professional level of his or her game, that was successfully vegan.  I guess it can be done, but man... how to get the calories in??  It's hard to imagine a Tour de France bicyclist surviving on plant matter alone.  I'm with atreyger and would simply be interested if you know of any.  

I do know of a professional soccer player who was vegetarian and, following signing onto an MLS team, was told he should switch to a meat-based diet by his trainer - he was dropping weight, getting injured and not healing, and was a small guy to begin with - his trainer & coach (I heard) tried to be sensitive to his dietary wishes, but basically, he needed to put on weight, he needed to put on muscle.  They recommended meat. I'm not sure actually whether he ever switched... but he's no longer playing in MLS.

KaelaOn No environmentalism is complete without consideration of animal welfare posted 3 years, 2 months ago 64 Responses

Pandu

As I stated above I have a healthy respect for those who can maintain a healthy lifestyle while being vegetarian.  However I do not have respect for people who attempt to impose their "morality" on me.

You propose that it would be immoral to kill and eat your cow and, in fact, would be tantamount to killing and eating your own mother's flesh.  Well and good - by all means, do not kill your cow, nor your mother.  Simply do not impose your belief structure on me; I can very well tell the difference between a cow and my mother (who would, I am sure, right now say "Are you calling me fat?). Luckily for both, I have no plans to kill or eat either of them.  But that won't stop me from enjoying a tasty chicken sandwich.On No environmentalism is complete without consideration of animal welfare posted 3 years, 2 months ago 64 Responses

Forest Scientist "Emeritus"

Backcut,

You have repeatedly refused to provide me with any scientific rationale for your claims, saying instead that "[a]nything else I (or any other forester) say won't be accepted".

Anything else?  You haven't said anything yet. I can only surmise that scientific data backing up your claims does not exist or else you would have provided it.

The one piece you did provide was a letter from the "forest scientist emeritus" Thomas M. Bonnicksen. Since Dr. Bonnicksen did not reference any published literature to support claims made in his letter, either, I Googled his name to find out a little about him.  The first link to come up was this, from ExxonSecrets.org.  Apparently Dr. Bonnicksen sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Center for Public Policy Research a group notorious for not "believing" in global warming, and a group that, according to ExxonSecrets.org, has received $280,000 in funding from ExxonMobil since 1998.

So, this is the learned forest scientist who's words I should take as gospel?  Forgive me if I am skeptical.

I had truly hoped to learn something about the state of America's forests, to be educated about forestry from someone who is working in the trenches, so to speak.  Yet all you have to offer me is anger, frustration, sarcasm and propaganda.  All I can say is, I am truly sorry - it is most disappointing.

Kaela On A roundup of forest-fire news posted 3 years, 2 months ago 29 Responses

He probably didn't come up with it

himself.  One of his devious little underlings I would guess.

You know, I'm not a particularly violent person, but sometimes, I just want one of these guys in a cage match.

What really grates is that I pay the damn lunatic's salary.On A proposed bill would double fines on certain businesses in the state posted 3 years, 2 months ago 6 Responses

Lazy bones

For all of you people too lazy to ride a regular bike ... David ... consider getting or building one of these. You don't have to pedal hard at all if you don't want to race other bikers.

Now, let's not be unfair BioD.. I believe David's objection to riding a bike was the reading time that he missed out on if he did not take the bus.  I imagine reading on an electric bike is nearly as difficult/impractical/dangerous as it is on a regular bike....

IMO, he should ride his bike to work and get his reading time in by reading to his kids at bedtime - even the WSJ can be entertaining if you use growly bear voices and squeaky princess voices. :)On A home-built electric bike is working like a champ posted 3 years, 2 months ago 35 Responses