Comments meander has made

Berkeley's financing: pay for solar over 20 years

The city of Berkeley, California started a program where people who install solar on their house can pay for it over 20 years on their property taxes. The first offering was filled in under 1 hour. The financing is handled by a private entity, not by the city (but one could easily imagine the city selling bonds to provide the capital).

The San Francisco Chronicle has details.On Solar hot water heating's day in the sun posted 9 months ago 4 Responses

Sort of mainstream: Living on Earth

It's not exactly the NYT or WaPo or USA Today, but public radio's Living on Earth has been on top of the renewable tax credit story, giving it coverage several times. Once they even mentioned that the tax credit proponents were one vote short of breaking the filibuster and John McCain couldn't be bothered to show up for work, so the bill was stopped.

The L.O.E. website has transcripts and downloadable audio available for many years of the program (and is also available for subscription via podcasting software).On Media finally tells public about the real roadblock to good energy policy posted 1 year, 3 months ago 8 Responses

"Raw" doesn't mean raw anymore

Another thing about almonds is that since September 1, 2007, most packages of "raw" almonds have been sterilized using either fumigation by propylene oxide (a potential carcinogen that was briefly used as a gasoline additive for racecars) or steam heating. If you want truly raw almonds, you need to purchase them directly from the grower, which is impractical for most of the country. Finally, the pasteurization rule doesn't apply to almonds destined for export (are non-U.S. stomachs that much tougher?).  This rule was forced on the USDA by the big almond companies to prevent scares about food poisoning from damaging their revenues. Personally, I think consumers should be given the opportunity to buy truly raw almonds if they want, allowing them to take the very small risk of food poisoning (almonds sit on the ground for a time after being shaken from the tree, and they can be contaminated by sloppy practices in shelling and packing plants too).

Last year, I wrote a piece at the Ethicurean with more details on the USDA's raw almond scam and some pictures of an organic almond farm near Sacramento.
On The unshelled story on the nutty side of our food supply posted 1 year, 4 months ago 7 Responses

Two-thirds???

"The 'Use it or Lose It' legislation failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed to pass the measure, by a vote of 223-195."

Since when did the House become a body requiring two-thirds majority for legislation to pass? What happened to 50 percent + 1?On House approves two measures to address energy prices, third fails posted 1 year, 5 months ago 9 Responses

Composting and containers

The "100% compostable" marking on bioplastics is not always correct.  The material requires a relatively high temperature to compost, conditions found only in commercial or municipal facilities (those used to compost green waste from homes, like Jepson Prairie Organics in Northern California).  If you toss the containers in your backyard compost pile, they might never degrade. In a landfill, it's highly likely that they will never degrade because of the inert conditions.  (This post explains more of the bioplastic story.)

Another way to handle yogurt is by using reusable packages. In the San Francisco area there is a company called St. Benoit Yogurt that sells yogurt in ceramic pots.  When you buy a pot you pay a deposit (50 cents or a dollar) to the retailer.  Many people love their product and their use of reusable containers is an extra attraction.  On Recycled plastic products gain ground posted 1 year, 6 months ago 3 Responses

Diesel complexity

Professor Jacobson's analysis is interesting, if somewhat overly complicated.  I hope we see many other analyses of diesel vs. gasoline as the new clean diesels are released in the future so that consumers can make informed decisions.  

Jacobson's comparison of a very efficient gasoline car with a diesel car makes some sense, but it is also worthwhile considering a like-for-like substitution:  someone buying the diesel model instead of the gasoline model.  For example, the diesel Jetta (50-60 mpg) instead of the gasoline Jetta (25-30 mpg).  Or a diesel pickup instead of a gasoline one.  

Regarding dehada's point about "carbon black" being an oversimplification:  diesel particulate matter (PM) is indeed tremendously complex, but is essentially black carbon at its core.  Diesel PM is composed of thousands of compounds and is emitted in a range of sizes.  The core of diesel PM is made up of tiny particle that are almost pure carbon.  These carbon particles -- which are the part of diesel PM that is "black carbon" -- are coated with various hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds in liquid or solid form.  Professor Jacobson and other researchers have done some work examining the effect of PM composition on its climate change impact. (Some good background on diesel PM can be found at the South Coast Air Quality Management District.)

As for dehada's complaint that "[t]he point about the climate effects of 'carbon black' is particularly troublesome to me because you're the bold takeaway from your post portrays the science behind the issue in the same light as the well-documented science behind the climate effects of CO2," black carbon receives significant coverage in the IPCC reports.  While its role is not as clearly understood as CO2's -- the IPCC rating for "level of scientific understanding rating" is "medium to low" (Figure TS-5 in the Technical Summary (PDF)) -- recent research, like the paper cited by Romm in the post, indicate that the problem of black carbon is even worse than the IPCC assessed.  

Phillip Huggan makes a good point about international agreements, but there are numerous challenges to adding black carbon.  The biggest is that unlike CO2, the nature of the PM -- what fraction is black carbon, the particle size, etc. -- depends highly on its source.  The PM from a cookstove is not the same as the PM from a diesel engine (and the PM from a Chinese diesel is different from an Indian or American diesel).  Furthermore, it is quite a bit harder to do an emissions inventory.  With CO2, you can multiply the fuel consumption by a conversion factor and get the emission of CO2, but it's not so simple with PM (an article on p. 2214 of the 9/27/02 issue of Science explains this clearly).   A recent paper by Professor Tami Bond of the University of Illinois explores the topic in depth and concludes that even with all of the uncertainty it's possible to add black carbon to international negotiations.

As the commenters above point out, the current model year of diesel trucks and the next model year of diesel passenger cars will have pollution control technology that nearly eliminates the PM emissions.  But there are still millions of trucks and pieces of off-road equipment in the U.S. without PM emission controls.  Technology exists to make dramatic reductions on the in-use equipment, with California taking the lead.  EPA also has funding this year to help pay for the equipment.  With trucks and construction equipment having long lifetimes -- often 20 to 30 years -- cleaning up their exhaust can have significant health and climate benefits.On Why hybrids beat diesels posted 1 year, 6 months ago 21 Responses

The "quote-unquote experts"

A piece at Huffington Post by Sam Stein contains a quote from Howard Wolfson, Clinton's chief spokesperson that sound like it could have come out of the mouths of Bush or Cheney:

"We believe the presidency requires leadership," said Wolfson. "There are times that a president will take a position that a broad support of quote-unquote experts agree with. And there are times they will take a position that quote-unquote experts do not agree with."

Stein's piece also has this:

On Wednesday, The Huffington Post attempted to find one expert from any and all ideological persuasion who believed that a gas tax holiday is a wise idea. It proved impossible. However, the idea is likely popular in upcoming primary states like Indiana and Ohio, and other politicians, alongside Clinton, have argued that it is in the government's interest to give all consumers a bit of at-the-pump relief.

Using Congress as a stalling tactic

It's telling that the Bush Administration -- the gang that has been grabbing power for the executive branch since Day One -- says that only Congress can deal with climate change policy.  Seems like a total delaying tactic to me.  The Bush gang knows that nothing is going to happen in this Congress, so they try to push the responsibility to them.

The Bush logic:  it's OK for unelected bureaucrats in the Office of the Legal Council to legalize torture or for unelected bureaucrats in the Dept of the Interior to allow destruction of West Virginia wilderness via mountaintop mining, but bureaucrats must not do anything to slow climate change.On Thoughts on Bush's latest speech on climate change posted 1 year, 7 months ago 10 Responses

How about plug-in hybrids?

Plug-in hybrids offer a way to use electricity to power personal transportation.  But many of the models will probably be made outside the U.S. (Japan, Mexico, China, Brazil, etc.).  Shouldn't the use of these foreign-built cars then be considered foreign energy sources too, even if they run on home-grown electricity?  On McCain's crooked talk on nuclear power posted 1 year, 8 months ago 5 Responses

And another new study showing EPA is wrong

In response to the EPA's denial of waiver (which I see as purely a stalling tactic), the California Air Resources Board (the state agency with the mandate to implement the climate change legislation that the EPA is blocking) did some calculations comparing the California plan with the national fuel economy standards in the federal energy bill (PDF).  California's plan leads to significantly more reductions of CO2 equivalents:

* By 2020, California is committed to implement revised, more stringent GHG emission limits (the Pavley Phase 2 rules). These increase the stringency of the current rules and would reduce California GHG emissions by 33 MMTs [million metric tons] of carbon dioxide, 74 percent more than the 19 MMTs from the federal rules in 2020.

...

* The cumulative benefits of our standards have also been estimated (See Figure ES-1). Between 2009 and 2016, the California standards will prevent emissions of 58 MMTs of CO2. This is almost three times the 20 MMTs expected if only the new federal CAFE standards were implemented. By 2020, the full California rules would prevent 167 MMT of CO2 emissions, more than twice the 76 MMTs reductions of CO2 expected if only the federal standards were implemented.

Edwards had some good lines

At the presidential candidates' climate change forum, John Edwards had some good lines on the subject of green tech and jobs:

Right now, we're sitting by the side of the road, as foreign companies race ahead with developing green technology. Bell Labs invented the solar cell in New Jersey in 1954, but today, 90 percent of solar panels are manufactured overseas. China's even produced a solar billionaire. General Motors made the first modern electric car, but today, Toyota and Honda lead the world in producing hybrids. Just last week, I saw this headline: 'Foreign Firms Envision Windfarms Dotting The U.S.'
...
Why should foreign firms be the ones taking the lead in building windfarms here in America. Why is that not being done by American firms?
...
If we take the steps that I propose, American entrepreneurs and manufacturers can lead the world in developing the green technology we need to generate clean, reliable energy and to use it more efficiently.

(source:  Living on Earth)On How the Dem candidates should answer the question on energy independence posted 1 year, 11 months ago 6 Responses

Time for new strategy. Or new leaders

It might be time for Sen. Reid to step down as Majority Leader.  His approach to breaking the record number of GOP filibusters is not working.  The Dems should force the GOP to actually filibuster -- it's not like the time wasted by endless GOP speeches during a filibuster would be better spent doing what they are doing now:  basically nothing (almost none of the budget resolutions have passed, the food and farm bill is months behind schedule, etc.).  

Dan Froomkin's invaluable White House Watch in the Washington Post sums up the situation nicely:

Historians looking back on the Bush presidency may well wonder if Congress actually existed.

Time and time again, President Bush has run circles around what is, at least on paper, a co-equal branch of government. Sometimes he doesn't bother to ask Congress for its approval. Sometimes he demands it -- and gets it.

Amazingly enough, that didn't change when the Democrats won control of the House and Senate. They just make a bit more fuss before rolling over.

...

Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald surveys the morning's headlines and concludes that "all of this behavior by the Democrats is absolutely necessary. They have no choice. Otherwise, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News will attack them for being weak (as though there is some circumstance under which they wouldn't) and that would be terrible. Nothing exudes strength, courage, toughness and resolve like having your behavior continuously described -- accurately -- as 'bowing,' 'capitulating,' 'backing down,' 'caving' and 'surrendering.' Those are the verbs Americans love most when looking for the party to lead them."

More about biodiesel

In my comment above I wrote that biodiesel will probably not be recommended for the new 'clean' diesels.  But that might not true forever.  As the biodiesel industry matures, the quality and consistency is improving, so engine manufacturers might be more open to the use of biodiesel in their engines.  Furthermore, we can expect that the companies will be considering material compatibility with biodiesel during the design and validation process.

One example is New Holland, which makes agricultural, utility and construction equipment.  A while ago they said that B5 (5% biodiesel, 95% petro-diesel) was acceptable.  Then they upped it to another level.  Last week they announced that B100 was acceptable for use in their engines.On High gas prices make hybrids look even better posted 1 year, 11 months ago 45 Responses

Some points

GreenEngineer wrote: "Hopefully we can build on that next time around, although the five-year period between farm bills is going to make it hard to sustain those gains."

I also hope that the awareness built during this year's farm bill debate will be around in 2012.  But we don't have to wait until then to be active.  Each year's agriculture appropriations bill offers a chance to affect food policy.  For example, Congress has the habit of promising big dollars for conservation in the farm bill, then not fulfilling that promise in the following years.  We'll need to remind Congress each year that they need to fully fund the conservation programs (and other non-mandatory programs).  There is also lots of work to do at the state and local level (like that preposterous ban on labels about antibiotics and growth hormones in Pennsylvania).

To Jason's point about farmers producing things that people want, a few weeks ago the SF Chronicle had a front page story about the lack of subsidies in California has allowed the farmers to be daring and demand-driven:  

They operate on a simple concept that mystifies Washington.

"The first mistake a lot of farmers make is to figure out what they can grow and grow that," said Jim Cochran, an organic strawberry and vegetable grower on the coast north of Santa Cruz. "Which is a really big mistake. The first thing they need to figure out is what they can sell."

In fact, if California vegetable farmers got crop subsidies, we might all still be eating iceberg lettuce, said Daniel Sumner, an agricultural economist at UC Davis. Crop subsidies discourage the innovation that is evident everywhere in California.

Imagine, Sumner said, what today's produce aisles might look like had Congress decided to subsidize salad in 1933.

"The payments are made for iceberg, and you think the market's going to demand romaine," he said. "You say, 'But I have to give up my payments to do that.' You can picture the scenarios."

In the San Joaquin Valley, farmers are planting tens of thousands of acres of almonds because prices are high. In Georgia, the market is calling for pecans, but Congress subsidizes peanuts - regardless of the market.

But if you have a barn full of specialized equipment and lots of debt on that equipment, it can be difficult to switch crops or diversify.  Perhaps more government fund should be directed towards allowing farmers to transition to crops that local people want to buy, like vegetables in Iowa, or pastured chickens in Illinois, or pecans in Georgia.

--- meander

Returning credibility to science

How will you repair the damage that the Bush administration has done to the federal government's scientific agencies?  

--- meander

Cary on

Whiskeytown alum Caitlin Cary teamed up with Thad Cockrell to make the mostly great Begonias a few years ago.  Their songs have old school country instrumentation with classical country lyrics about heartbreak and bad luck.  The album page at Yeproc Records has a sample track to stream, and I'm pretty sure that one of the album tracks can be legally downloaded from somewhere on the web (I can't remember where).

--- meander

No new taxes pledges

Unfortunately for those who hope for a more stable future, it is almost a requirement for Republican candidates to sign "no new taxes" pledges during their campaigns.  This short-sighted rigidity is already showing up in failing infrastructure (falling bridges, urban sinkholes, leaking water systems) and deferred maintenance.  In California we have been getting around the no new taxes requirement of the state GOP by selling bonds, conveniently forgetting that someday they will need to be paid off (with interest).

--- meander

Not exactly guilt free

Guilt free is going a bit too far, as these fizz systems have CO2 cartridges which require energy to produce, ship and refill or recycle.  I doubt that there has been a life-cycle comparison because of the low volumes produced.

For a home consumer who consumes sparkling when they throw parties, the energy balance may be favorable to buying bottles, since there is the issue of buying a specialized fizz machine that will be used sporadically (plus the cartridges).  For a restaurant, however, where they are serving many liters of sparkling water each night, the economies of scale probably make the machines a great deal energy-wise.  

--- meander

It's even worse...

Bravo to Eilperin and Mufson for straightening the spin, but the situation is even worse when it comes to energy efficiency, as blogged by David Roberts back in March at this site:  

The nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office recently issue a blistering report on the Department of Energy's delinquent treatment of energy efficiency standards. Despite a mandate from Congress, DOE has missed all 34 deadlines for issues standards covering everything from consumer products to power transformers. Only 11 sets of standards have been completed; 23 remain unfinished.

Even the things the Bush administration is taking credit for have been obstructed or mismanaged.

--- meander, a.k.a., Mental Masala at Ethicurean

Recipe error

The recipe looks delicious.  But I think this line in the recipe has a typo:  "In another bowl, whisk egg yolks until they hold stiff peaks."

I'm guessing that you mean "whisk egg whites until they hold stiff peaks", as it is rather uncommon to whisk whites with a large quantity of honey.

--- meander, a.k.a., Mental Masala at Ethicurean

Send Jack to FNC

How about if Jack Bauer pays a visit to the Fox News Channel (more accurately called the Fox Opinion Channel) and politely requests that they cover climate change issues fairly, instead of being a mouthpiece for the GOP and corporate interests?  As long as Fox News keeps broadcasting deception about climate change, a few biodiesel-fueled generators on a Fox TV project are just greenwashing.

Some examples over at Robert Greenwald's Fox Attacks project.

--- meander, a.k.a., Mental Masala at Ethicurean

Visibility and complexity

As someone who had a little bit of involvement in the Petrini hubbub, here are some of my thoughts on Tom's post and the resulting comments.  

The farmers who receive the bulk of the subsidies are more or less invisible to those who live on the coasts, and even many in the middle states.  Corn, soybeans and cotton don't appear in stores in their original form -- they are processed into products like soft drinks, oil or clothing and sold under different brand names.  You can't go the to store and buy "George Naylor corn-fed beef.".  The farmers at the SF Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, on the other hand, are people we see every week.  We know their products, know their histories, and have connected with the real people behind the food.  And so it was a lot easier to get riled up when the "known" farmers were slighted.

Another factor is that farm subsidies are hard to understand. Petrini criticizing a farmer for being a slacker is far easier to comprehend than Cook's statistical analysis and discussion of pass through vs. direct payments.

I agree with some of the commenters that Ken Cook and EWG are going after the system, not the farmers, i.e., not aiming for a complete destruction of subsidies, but a reform so that farm subsidies go to those who need the assistance or risk protection.  That's why payment limits are a repeated request from EWG and others.  Do we really want individual farmers (or their convoluted paper setups) to be receiving $1 million in subsidies?  Do we want our national policy to reward such large operations?  Or should payments reward how the farmer treats the land, animals, and workers?

My sense is that many subsidy receiving farmers are trapped in a system that they didn't design, one that has been corrupted by industries like ADM and Swift. Perhaps another piece for the reform puzzle is a voluntary buyout program, in which farmers can choose to have their specialized equipment purchased and their debt on that equipment restructured (or retired) so they can try a different type of farming, like grass-fed beef or pastured pork, or fruit orchards, or specialty vegetables.  On Don't blame farmers for the farm-subsidy mess posted 2 years, 5 months ago 21 Responses

Meanwhile, they go after CAFE

Green Car Congress writes about the auto industry's efforts--by themselves and through Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM)--to prevent any CAFE increases.  Green Car Congress:

Beginning this Memorial Day weekend, members of the auto industry are rolling out a comprehensive campaign to convince Americans to oppose proposed increases in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, and to pressure their elected officials to vote down such proposals.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) has launched a website (www.drivecongress.com) that encourages citizens to compose messages of protest against "unrealistic fuel economy increases" to be hand-delivered to elected officials. AAM represents BMW, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen.

The website allows users to insert statements provided by the AAM, such as "I value fuel economy, but I also want many other attributes in my automobile like safety, passenger and cargo room, performance, towing, hauling capacity and more" or "Rather than setting a harmful mandates [sic] like the one being proposed, the government should encourage the use of alternative fuels like ethanol, and provide incentives for consumers, like me, to purchase alternative fuel autos."

The Detroit News reports that the campaign will also include at least a million dollars of radio ads in ten states that have a high percentage of truck and SUV owners.

The whole post is worth reading to see what Big Auto is up to and what they say about CAFE (one item: it "stifles innovation").On Can Hemp Dashboards Be Far Behind? posted 2 years, 6 months ago 1 Response

Problems with long term thinking

(My Gristmill user name is meander, but I go by Mental Masala at Ethicurean.)  

Thanks for the link and coverage of this important issue.

A small bit of irony in Schwarzenegger's budget plan is that he has been one of the biggest boosters of the "California Grown" marketing project. He will have a hard time promoting California agriculture when visiting Japan or Europe if it is paved over. But then again, that's a problem for the future to tackle.  We can just keep up with the status quo of paving over farmland, right?  We'll just buy our vegetables from China or Argentina.

The inability of humans to recognize dire consequences of today's urban planning  decisions reminds me somewhat of the inability to realize that today's energy and transportation policies could have severe consequences in 10 or 20 years (i.e., climate change).

A May 19, 2006 article in USA Today called California city [Bakersfield] to expand boundaries illustrated this to some extent:

At a time when many areas of the country are trying to contain sprawl, the City Council won approval this year to expand an area chosen for development outside city limits that could nearly double Bakersfield's size in the years ahead.

[...]

Mayor Harvey Hall says Bakersfield has little appetite for higher-density developments and other urban design trends. "I certainly respect the interests of the smart-growth people," Hall says. "But as the mayor, I support prosperity. You just can't stop growth."

If traditional growth patterns persist -- opposition to large-lot, cookie-cutter sprawl has been muted but is on the rise -- it will mean further loss of some of the world's most productive farmland. Bakersfield sits at the southern end of the flat, fertile Central Valley, a 400-mile-long food machine that provides much of the nation's fruit and vegetables.

[...]

Farmland is being urbanized across the valley, but nowhere as fast as here: 70,000 acres in 1988-2002, more than 7,000 acres in 2002-04, the state conservation department's most recent reporting period.

Last year, the department warned Bakersfield that it was illegally expanding in protected farmland. "They're as sprawl as sprawl can get," says Edward Thompson, American Farmland Trust's California director.

Writing to Congress

Building on what Steph Larsen wrote above:  

When I receive letters back from Senator Boxer, she includes a postscript saying that letters sent to the Senate and House office buildings are delayed for a long period of time for security screening, but letters to the district offices will be read by staff almost immediately.  The webpages for members of Congress will show the addresses of one or more district offices.On Now is the time to harangue your reps about farm and food policy. posted 2 years, 6 months ago 7 Responses

20% lower than what?

Wasn't one of the unreported loopholes in Bush's 20 in 10 plan that the goal was to be 20% below the expected 2017 consumption rate?  That's a lot easier than 20% below today's consumption rate.On Not exactly posted 2 years, 6 months ago 8 Responses

Changing attitudes in Iowa

The concentration of the animal raising industry is also having negative impacts on attitudes towards agriculture in general.  The Dept. of Economics page at Iowa State has a report called Iowa's Changing Swine Industry which says this about Iowans' changing attitudes about hog raising:

Pigs once viewed positively across Iowa may now be viewed negatively. Pigs in rural Iowa were once called 'mortgage lifters' and pig manure odor was the 'smell of money.' But in 2004, the ISU Rural Life Poll found that when rural Iowa residents were asked their preferences about rural development activity, hog confinements ranked below prisons, solid waste landfills, slaughter plants, and sewage treatment plants as desirable rural development.

The FDA docket page

If you want to read the petition to see the full proposal, visit FDA Docket 2007P-0085.  

How often are citizen's petitions like this approved by FDA?  Can they approve parts of it and reject other parts?  On ADM gets its filthy paws on an immaculate confection posted 2 years, 7 months ago 23 Responses

Hearing in Congress on Political Interference

From the Washington Post Today in Congress page, for March 19, 2007:

House Oversight and Government Reform (10 a.m.): Holds a hearing on "Allegations of Political Interference with the Work of Government Climate Change Scientists. (PART TWO)" Philip Cooney, former chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality; James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; George Deutsch, former public affairs officer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; and Roy Spencer of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, testify. 2154 Rayburn.

It's nice to have Rep. Waxman in charge of the oversight committee doing some real oversight.

Here is part 1 of the series.On Debunking the 'water vapor' nonsense posted 2 years, 8 months ago 35 Responses

Pollan's responses

A ton of hype is surrounding the Pollan-Mackey meeting.  The first venue it was scheduled for sold out in a few hours, and so it was moved to a place that is 3 or 4 times bigger.  It will be attended by quite a few bloggers, so there should be some varied commentary over the next few days.  

Pollan's letters in response to Mackey's posts are on the Pollan website (letter 1, letter 2).
On Michael Pollan and Whole Foods guy go head to head posted 2 years, 9 months ago 3 Responses

Why now?

This is a troubling executive order, but one that raises a lot of questions for me:  

Why didn't this happen the day after Bush's 2001 inauguration?  

Do the anti-regulation people who pushed this realize that a Democratic administration could use the tools to go overboard in the direction of regulation?    President Hillary Clinton, anyone? (same goes with the massive grab of executive power to torture and incarcerate indefinitely without charges or a trial)

Can't the next president repeal the executive order on inauguration day?

How does this fit into the Clean Air Act, for example, which requires standards to be set to protect human health, not to meet a cost-benefit ratio?On Now it's regulatory posted 2 years, 10 months ago 2 Responses

What's up with Wes Jackson

Perhaps Grist or Gristmill could look in on Wes Jackson at the Land Institute in Kansas and give us an update on their work.  I remember being inspired 15 years ago by Wes Jackson's vision of food harvested from perennial prairie grasses.  The idea was compelling:  food (and probably now fuel) comes from nitrogen-fixing perennial plants grown using no-till agriculture.  On Let's put bison back on the praries posted 2 years, 10 months ago 26 Responses

Go back a few years...

I don't have the number on hand, but I know that California's AB32 Climate Change law takes the carbon inventory from at least 5 years ago, or maybe even 10 years ago to prevent "under the wire" strategies.  On Oh snap! posted 2 years, 10 months ago 6 Responses

How many bills go anywhere?

That's great that Markey (D-MA) and Ramstad (R-MN) introduced a bill to protect ANWR.  But a lot of bills are introduced, some of which are purely symbolic, some of which are bottled up by the leadership, and a few get a vote.  How many introduced bills actually make it to a floor vote?  

Perhaps Markey needs to use some of the GOPs dirty tricks to get the ANWR protection through the Congress.  Like attaching it to the Iraq debacle emergency funding resolution.  Or to a DoD funding bill.  Or some other "must pass" piece of legislation.  The hypocritical howls of "that's not fair" from the GOP might cause some permanent hearing damage in Congress and the press room, however.  On What is this 'good news' you speak of? posted 2 years, 10 months ago 10 Responses

Bright spots?

One very tiny bright spot that could come from the ravenous demand for corn might be a lessening of pressure on Mexico and other corn-growing countries.  As documented numerous times (by Michael Pollan here), Mexican farmers are being devastated by cheap U.S. corn imports.  

Another potential bright spot might be a reduction in consumption of HFCS sweetened soft drinks, and thus reduction in the health effects of overconsumption.  I haven't seen any data on the demand elasticity for chicken vs. cola, but would bet that Americans would sooner give up cola than chicken.    
On An interview with Missouri farmer and ethanol co-op member Brian Miles posted 2 years, 11 months ago 3 Responses

Bright spots?

One very tiny bright spot that could come from the ravenous demand for corn might be a lessening of pressure on Mexico and other corn-growing countries.  As documented numerous times (by Michael Pollan here), Mexican farmers are being devastated by cheap U.S. corn imports.  

Another potential bright spot might be a reduction in consumption of HFCS sweetened soft drinks, and thus reduction in the health effects of overconsumption.  I haven't seen any data on the demand elasticity for chicken vs. cola, but would bet that Americans would sooner give up cola than chicken.    
On Can U.S. corn farmers fill both bellies and tanks? posted 2 years, 11 months ago 3 Responses

And meanwhile, in the Executive Branch

The SF Chron reports (via the AP wire) that Bush May End Drilling Ban In Alaskan Bay. The Bay in question is Bristol Bay, home of one of the world's great salmon runs.

The Minerals Management Service said accidental spills could foul coastal water quality, and the noise and pollution from more ship traffic could disturb or kill seagoing creatures. It said even a large spill probably would harm only a small portion of the fish populations, but could pose a serious threat to marine mammals.

The Bering Sea Fishermen's Association raised alarms about protecting the region, as did the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association, which said the drilling would threaten the salmon runs.

On Friday, more than 30 people representing fishermen, native Alaskans and conservationists wrote Bush urging him not to lift the ban.

Here is the WWF's press release on the subject.On 'Govern', that is posted 2 years, 12 months ago 5 Responses

More Inhofe

Reuters reports:

The U.S. Senate's most vocal global warming skeptic, James Inhofe, on Thursday dismissed a U.N. meeting on climate change as "a brainwashing session."

via TPM MuckrakerOn Inhofe on the U.N. climate summit posted 3 years ago 1 Response

India and Insects

India is in the midst of a drought of such severity that the export of lentils (dal) has been banned until further notice.  Here is my blog post about it from August, with some links to news reports.

Insects might have to become a more important diet in the future, either as a primary food or as an input to fish farming (as pointed out by caniscandida above).  Most of the world has no problem with insect eating;  Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Japan seem to be the largest exceptions.  From a rational point of view, if the insects come from a clean source, there is nothing dangerous or "dirty" about eating certain kinds of insects.  In fact, they are highly nutritious, and (so I read) delicious. Attitudes in Europe and America about eating insects derive from societal reactions to the varieties of food and the natural landscapes of Europe and North America (excluding parts of Mexico), according to anthropologist Marvin Harris.  I cover the topic here in more detail, and include links to insects as food web sites. On Go veggie -- a poll posted 3 years ago 41 Responses

53-47! Amazing!

When I gave up on refreshing the election results, I was half expecting a narrow Pombo victory.  At that time, the largest, most Pombo-esque county (San Joaquin) was only 25% counted, and was polling 52-48 for Pombo.  Thus, it was a jaw-dropping surprise this morning to see the 53-47 victory for McNerney.  I hope Pelosi has the wisdom to put him on energy and environment committees.  Maybe she could give him Pombo's old office as a symbolic gesture! (the rules of seniority probably wouldn't allow a first termer to take the office of a 10+ year member of Congress)

Re:  caniscandida's question about the California map.  I also noticed a white area last night south of San Francisco.  I think it was Monterey County, and probably because their results were coming in too slowly.  San Joaquin is east of SF.  To find it, skip the first set of counties on the eastern SF bayshore (Contra Costa, Alameda), and it is the next one over.  On McNerney up on Pombo posted 3 years ago 5 Responses

Pombo and corruption

Early exit polling showing that corruption was an important factor in voter's minds is a very good sign:

The Associated Press has just posted a piece on its exit polls, and just like CNN's exit polls found, AP is finding that corruption is a key issue driving voters today. AP's exit numbers are also finding a surprisingly high number of evangelicals going Dem

Does anyone really know?

Another disturbing commentary about war costs is War cost reports said to be incomplete, understated by Winslow Wheeler, Director, Straus Military Reform Project of the Center for Defense Information.  The dollar figures are disturbing on one level, but the description of the Pentagon's accounting systems---which seem to make Enron look like a model of honesty---is truly revolting.  

DOD's accounting methods continue to be problematic. The $7.1 billion that CRS reported earlier it could "not track" continues to go untracked. It appears that CRS found another $4 billion that it could "not track" (see page 8) [commenter's note:  the page numbers refer to a Congressional Research Service report linked to in the commentary]. Furthermore, DOD's reports on war costs are incomplete and "understate expenses by over $20 billion because DOD's financial system for tracking war costs has excluded certain types of expenses" (see page 32).
[...]
DOD also refuses to provide any comprehensive estimate for the costs to replace and repair all worn out equipment. There has been discussion of an "in-house" Army estimate of its "reset" costs at $36 billion; the Marine Corps has estimated $11.7 billion for themselves. However, these estimates do not appear to be comprehensive (see pages 18-19).

And yet another analysis of costs is The Economic Costs Of The Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years After The Beginning Of The Conflict by Linda Bilmes (Kennedy School, Harvard University) and Joseph E. Stiglitz (University Professor, Columbia University).  Via an interesting Q&A with Professor Bilmes at Nieman Watchdog.On How would you spend it? posted 3 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

One last post

A few years ago, the San Francisco Chronicle had a piece about someone's quest to make corn tortiallas at home.  The article itself is interesting (and includes the tidbit that Alice Waters has a fantasy of opening a tortilleria), and even better is the list places to buy fresh masa in the SF Bay Area.  (They missed La Finca in the Fruitvale area of Oakland, and various Mexican groceries on the weekend)

I wonder if there is a giant list of fresh masa sellers on the Net somewhere?On How Mexico's iconic flatbread went industrial and lost its flavor posted 3 years, 2 months ago 13 Responses

A recipe using fresh masa, and more

Beyond the tortilla, masa is used in many ways in the Mexican kitchen.  The snack called a "sope" is one of the easier ones (and doesn't require deep frying).  Here is a step-by-step blog post that I wrote in June.

I don't know of any Mexico-specific blogs, nor any Mexico-specific food sites, but recipes using fresh masa might be available at Rick Bayless's site (Frontera Foods) or epicurious.  If you are interested in making tamales, the SF Chronicle had an article about Diana Kennedy (one of the modern legends of Mexican cooking writing in English) and her advice on tamale making.On How Mexico's iconic flatbread went industrial and lost its flavor posted 3 years, 2 months ago 13 Responses

And Pombo too?

The California Chronicle reports that Rep. Pombo (R-CA) also has some connections to the Alaska oil mess.  Via Talking Points Memo.On Shady oil funds traced to Washington senate candidate posted 3 years, 2 months ago 3 Responses

Grass fed beef and health

A few months ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists did a literature review about how nutrional characteristics of beef and milk are affected by how the animal is raised.  I haven't seen much coverage of their study.  

The report is "Greener Pastures:  How grass-fed beef and milk contribute to healthy eating", and can be found here.

The key findings, summarized in the Executive Summary:

"We reviewed all the studies published in English we could find that compare levels of [beneficial] fatty acids in pasture-raised milk and meat with levels in conventionally produced milk and meat, and converted these levels into amounts per serving of milk, steak, and ground beef. The resulting analysis found statistically significant differences in fat content between pasture-raised and conventional products. Specifically:

• Steak and ground beef from grass-fed cattle are almost always lower in total fat than steak and ground beef from conventionally raised cattle.
  
• Steak from grass-fed cattle tends to have higher levels of the omega-3 fatty acid ALA.
  
• Steak from grass-fed cattle sometimes has higher levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
  
• Ground beef from grass-fed cattle usually has higher levels of CLA.
  
• Milk from pasture-raised cattle tends to have higher levels of ALA.
  
• Milk from pasture-raised cattle has consistently higher levels of CLA."

Nationalization of house building

One factor not mentioned in the post is the nationalization of the house-building industry.  The NY Times had a Magazine story about the subject a few months back, so the full text is behind the dollar wall.  The significance of nationalization is that the profits from projects in sprawl-friendly areas can be used to pay the "costs of doing business" for projects like the one described above.   Back in the days of small, regional house builders, it would be much more difficult to come up with $22 million to pay off the city.  
On Sprawl bribery is beating smart growth posted 3 years, 4 months ago 2 Responses

..and for air pollution

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (it's hard to call them a farm, even a "factory" farm) have also been let off the hook for their air pollution impacts.  In early 2005, the EPA exempted CAFOs from the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws in exchange for the CAFOs' voluntary monitoring of emissions.  Here is the Sierra Club's statement about the deal.

More here and in the CAFO papers.On Factory farms let off the hook for water pollution, activists say posted 3 years, 5 months ago 1 Response

Alternative to Times $elect

Pollan has been posting his NYT pieces on his personal website, usually a few days after they appear in NYT Select.  His piece about the Whole Foods letter is here.On Mackey v. Pollan posted 3 years, 5 months ago 4 Responses

Send GOP to Chinese rivers

Yet another disaster in the libertarian environmental paradise that is China...Whenever I hear of a GOP plan to gut the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act in the U.S. (weekly?  monthly?), I've often wondered if it would make any sense to send the officials (and their families) proposing the gutting to live in China or Soviet-era-ravaged Eastern Europe for a few months to see the results of weak environmental laws.  How will their children's soccer playing be affected by a haze of particulate and sulfur dioxide?  Will they enjoy relying on bottled water for all of their needs?

Would it make a difference?On China can pollute and dam all at once! posted 3 years, 5 months ago 4 Responses

Land Use

We definitely need to be smarter about land-use planning.  Take the areas around the Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in the San Francisco area, for example.

Driving by the Colma BART station the other day (after a hike at the amazing San Bruno Mountain State Park), I noticed a large construction site close to the station.  What did the forward thinking Colma city officials approve for this prime piece of real estate?  What would be built on this piece of land next to a multi-billion dollar rapid transit system that is especially short on riders in this part of the Bay Area?  A car dealership.  A glorified parking lot, with perhaps 20 employees.  Brilliant use of the land next to the hyper-expensive BART tracks!  They must have learned from El Cerrito, a city which surrounded one of their BART stations with big box stores.  Yep, I'm going to ride BART to Home Depot to buy some plywood, gardening supplies and a new BBQ.  Or the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco, where a firestorm broke out over a proposal for a small market with 30 parking spaces or something like that.  

But then there is the tiny town of Hercules battling Wal-Mart over a prime piece of property that the city wants to make into a village-like town square instead of a box surrounded by pavement.  Wal-Mart, of course, claims that they absolutely need that property; otherwise, they will go bankrupt (a slight exaggeration on my part, but they are the biggest corporation in the world.  Can't they be nice for a change?).On Umbra on ethanol posted 3 years, 6 months ago 28 Responses

Consolidation risk?

In the short term, running a massive monocultured organic farm is probably the most cost-effective practice to meet Wal-Mart's low price demands.  As Wal-Mart pushes for lower and lower prices, a potential downside could be that small organic multi-crop farms are swallowed up by big companies. who are beholden to Wal-Mart contracts.  

Also, a huge company like Wal-Mart is probably not predisposed to dealing with small farmers -- they would rather sign one or two contracts for organic lettuce than one hundred.  On Wal-mart's organic bomb posted 3 years, 6 months ago 40 Responses

Biodiesel and CO2

My understanding is that serious research shows that energy balance for production of biodiesel is about even (i.e., it takes 1 unit of input to get 1 unit of output) , but that there are real benefits in terms of global warming gas emissions.  The best paper I have seen is Sheehan et al.'s Life Cycle Inventory of Biodiesel and Petroleum Diesel for Use in an Urban Bus (pdf), which found that for the transit bus case, over the life-cycle of the fuel, "[b]iodiesel reduces net emissions of CO2 by 78.45% compared to petroleum diesel. For B20, CO2 emissions from urban buses drop 15.66%."  If amazindrx knows of credible, peer-reviewed research that shows the opposite, please post the links here.  

There is a danger to minimum biofuel requirements that are higher than what the local region can provide.  A few months ago there were reports that the EU's biofuel target would be met by fuel made from soybeans grown on recently-cleared Brazilian rainforest or palm oil from recently-cleared Indonesian rainforest.  Fuel from these sources will have a significantly negative carbon balance (see EU must ensure that bioenergy is really green, for example).  And once the big oil companies see a market in biofuels, they will go to the least-cost option, even if that means tearing down the rainforest or highly-industrialized, fuel-intensive farming.
On Biodiesel: The slippery facts posted 3 years, 7 months ago 37 Responses

Sierra Club strategy relies on trusting the GOP

I think it was a mistake for the national Sierra Club to endorse Chafee.  An endorsement by the local chapter in the primary would make sense, as would an endorsement of a moderate Republican in a very red state like Oklahoma.  But for the national office to endorse him for the general election at this early date is madness.  They don't even know who he will be running against!  

I read Carl Pope's explanation, Brad DeLong's, and many comments in the blogosphere.  The strategies seem to rely on the GOP leadership keeping Chafee on critical environmental committees.  I wouldn't trust Sen. Frist farther than I could toss an oil rig across the ANWR tundra.  Now that Chafee is endorsed by the Sierra Club, I'd expect an order to be coming from Karl Rove to Sen. Frist to "Get Chafee off of the environmental committees."  

In years of GOP control of the Congress since 1994, the GOP has steadily whittled away at the traditions of the institution.  For example:   the House GOP leadership has held votes open for hours to get the result they want (instead of the usual 15 minutes);  members of Congress frequently aren't given the time to read the bills they are voting on;  the minority party is completely shut out of the and, most relevant to this case, the rules of assigning Committee Chairs are changing.  It used to be that the Chair was given to the most senior member of the committee, but these days loyalty to the leadership is also an important factor.  Congressional expert Norm Ornstein has described many of these changes in several articles, and sometime later this year he will have a new book about the subject called "The Broken Branch" (co-authored with Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution).
On The Sierra Club and Lincoln Chafee posted 3 years, 7 months ago 8 Responses

Labels, and already purchased appliances

Labeling that explains the expected future stand-by energy costs might also help, but given the American consumers singular concern for the selling price, it probably won't work.  

But what can we do about the current collection of stand-by energy hogs?  Most people don't have the tools to identify which of their appliances is using 30 watts at idle and which is using 1 watt.  They therefore won't be able to know which ones are worth unplugging when not in use.   Perhaps an energy conservation agency could let people borrow a device which measures stand-by energy consumption.  Does a simple, user-friendly device like that exist?  On Giant power sucking sound posted 3 years, 8 months ago 4 Responses

Link and public spreadsheet

The blog Green Car Congress has an extended and slightly more technical summary of the article (link).  The article's authors have made available the spreadsheet that they used to compare the methodologies (link).  On Science says: Ethanol good on energy, not so much on environment posted 3 years, 10 months ago 6 Responses