Comments pianoyoga has made

  • good National Geographic article last year

    Athabasca tar sands in Alberta - insane environmental destruction.  Big money.  Big mess.  Suicidal idea, it seems.  

    It's really hard to sell people on curbing their lust for money and stuff.  Good US global warming policy would likely ban the import of fuels like this.  Plus it really makes no sense in the arid west, since production requires so much water (and pollutes it too).On U.S. emphasis on Canada's tar sands a bad idea, says report posted 1 year, 5 months ago 5 Responses

  • I like her Earth Day speech

    Mary Gade comes across as a decent career environmental lawyer who went into the field for the right reasons, lots of earthy personality, not too fancy.  I wonder if she's still a Bush supporter...  

    Dow Chemical's Wikipedia article is illuminating - it is a controversial entry, and the Discussion tab is worth a visit.  Manufacturers of Agent Orange and napalm, involved in 96 Superfund dump sites, major air polluter.  Sold a soil fumigant, DBCP, to Dole Fruit after it had been linked with male sterility and banned in the US. Dow and Dole sued in Latin American courts, lost, owe $600 million, refuse to pay. And, I suppose, everyone's heard of Bhopal.

    I don't see how we can have environmental regulation of multinational corporations if the companies are allowed to shrug off all financial and criminal penalties for their wrongful acts.  On Bush admin ousts top EPA official over Dow Chemical pollution case posted 1 year, 7 months ago 7 Responses

  • Life without cars...

    ...will be a lot more creative and earth-centered. Power-assist bicycles are becoming a mature technology.  See the Lightfoot website for some positive reinforcement:  http://www.lightfootcycles.com/electric.htm

    I'd also favor widespread deployment of wind-powered long-distance electric rail.  

    Pretend for a moment that gas goes to $20/gallon, and that almost no one can afford to drive, so the streets are basically empty, and big chunks of unresurfaced asphalt are heaving up from deserted shopping plazas.

    What will you do for fun now?  How will you get around?  What will you eat? What does a workable community look like?

    This is a frightening prospect, but perhaps we're sick of being driven, and some creative, cooperative folks will get their time to shine.On Feds set fuel-economy benchmarks for automakers posted 1 year, 7 months ago 7 Responses

  • separation of mineral rights

    Some readers here may be unaware of the separation of mineral and surface rights in current US law.  You can pay good money to preserve a few acres of healthy ecosystem only to see your efforts compromised by Corporation X which already owned the Mineral Rights.  

    Currently in Montana there's a big ranch under perpetual conservation easement which was really damaged by oil drilling-  the new owners sought to have the conservation easement lifted because the land was now "worthless for farming use".  They succeeded, and then tried to sell of sections as "ranchettes" to recoup their expenses.  These folks and the town are being sued over the easement change.  If they win, the whole concept of conservation easement for ecosystem preservation is under threat -  developers will rush to sue to overturn perpetual conservation easements.

    All this started with the absurd separation of surface and mineral rights-  it's a physical enshrinement of the concept of corporation, which has been separating real people from personal responsibility for their life-damaging activities.
    On Mining claims encroaching on Western population centers posted 1 year, 8 months ago 5 Responses

  • Forests

    Immediately after Katrina, eco critics attributed much of the Gulf damage to destruction of mangrove areas and wetlands by Army Corps of Engineers, as well as agricultural, forestry, and questionable building practices.  

    Besides harvesting and processing downed trees (before it all goes back to CO2), who is discussing appropriate ecologically sound redevelopment in the Mississippi floodplain?On Gulf State forests ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, says study posted 2 years ago 2 Responses

  • Monsanto is evil

    Silent Spring, Inc.

    It's hard to wrap your mind around it. There's a bunch of info at:

     http://members.aye.net/~hippie/monsanto.htm

    I hadn't been aware of their penetration of the Bush administration.  For instance, Mitch Daniel who directs OMB came from Eli Lilly (subsidiary of Monsanto), which developed rGBH.  On Pennsylvania bans hormone- and antibiotic-free labels on dairy products posted 2 years ago 21 Responses

  • bike commuting in DC

    I traveled across town daily to my job at EPA and loved it.  They provided a bike locker- I attached the key to my ID badge so it was always handy.  

    Driving and parking a car in the District is a bit of a nightmare, what with all the anti-terrorism blockades, etc.  I suppose it would be OK to cruise around in a Lexus or ride a limo with police escort, but every day was an adventure - there are real advantages to not being sealed up in a glass and metal jug.  

    I might also mention that many bridges which have been deemed "unsafe" for trucks and buses and cars are perfectly fine for pedestrians and cyclists.  We often need better parking facilities in urban areas and better public transit infrastructure (racks on buses, access to commuter rail, etc.) to extend the commute range.  

    Wouldn't it be wonderful if our tax transportation dollars supported visionary projects like wind-powered electric`rail instead of extending and repairing the interstate highway system?On U.S. Transportation Secretary blames bikes for decay of roads and bridges posted 2 years, 2 months ago 7 Responses

  • Ecology

    Grist and PETA both affect a quirky sensibility - make a big deal about what's fashionable.  Whatever. The "top 15" lists are popular with a digital nation that grew up watching David Letterman. Etc.

    Meat consumption really is a big deal, environmentally, and Grist would be foolish to ignore this environmental issue.  Likewise, for a group like PETA, meat production is a huge moral issue -  to make a big deal about fur jackets and ignore hamburgers would be pretty idiotic.

    Grass-fed local beef production, and free-range chicken living off the fallen fruit and wheat seed heads and various bugs in your backyard - no problem environmental or morally. People living simply in harmony with local ecology, very permaculture.

    We really are in desperate straits ecologically, and few Americans know anything real about the food situation because, for one, so few of us have anything to do with food production.  I've heard it said that students should visit a slaughterhouse and a sewage treatment plant as part of their schooling.  Besides that, have a look at "The Final Empire" (just Google it), available free as pfd files on the Web.

    Stephen Brown (Sharon, PA)

    On Animal-rights group makes the stupid claim that enviros must be vegetarians posted 2 years, 2 months ago 208 Responses

  • wake up, enviros

    If I remember correctly:  in California, with all the irrigated fruit and veggie production, and all the people drinking and pooping in water, the number one user of water from the huge canal system is flood irrigation for grain production - 90% of which goes to feed livestock.  It is said that the number one agriculture export of the US is topsoil, something like 1" of topsoil per year.  

    Most of that is coming down the Mississippi River and being ejected into the Gulf of Mexico along with all sorts of toxins and fertilizers, causing this huge dead area which extends over hundreds of square miles.

    Most of that grain production goes to feed cows and chickens.  Most of that meat production occurs in huge mechanized feedlot situations - it is inevitable that there will be pollution problems.

    All the processing and shipping and refrigeration and retail operations for meat have their own huge energy cost.

    So, basically we have half the continental US land area converted from natural systems into a fossil energy consumptive eroded, polluting mess.  It wasn't so great in the Dust Bowl age of small heroic struggling farmers and it ain't so great today in the age of Smithfield and Tyson and McDonalds and Ethanol.  

    Meat is a good way for a carnivore or omnivore to  get a nice iron-rich meal within its local ecosystem. Like mountaintop removal, the US agribusiness system is tolerated because people don't look very carefully.

    If 7 billion humans must eat like lions and have it delivered in shrink film, we won't be doing it long.  Maybe we should bring back that Soylant Green.  Real tasty stuff I hear.On How the meat industry thrives, even as costs rise posted 2 years, 2 months ago 15 Responses

  • Twy a TWIKE

    They're pretty cool- venerable triwheel, dual-seat shelled recumbent bikes with electric assist, regenerative brakes, the whole deal.  Kind of expensive but quite wonderful.  

    I saw my first Twike on a Europe bike trip through Switzerland 10 years ago, watched it accelerate silently and smoothly into traffic and head for the Autobahn on-ramp traveling from Schafausen to Zurich.  On 15 Green Cars posted 2 years, 2 months ago 27 Responses

  • Loud Protests

    I'm glad people keep after the Navy on high-power sonar issues.  NRDC (National Resource Defense Council) has made a big difference in the courts.  

    I lose respect for the moral integrity of the Navy on this matter.  To my way of looking at it, the great whales have been noble masters of the oceans for millions of years;  the Navy showed up some time in the 1800-somethings (basically, yesterday).  Why should our tax dollars support such disrespectful, stupid behavior?  

    Ideally, I want the Department of Defense to defend the oceans.  Do something to regulate fisheries, develop environmental best practices.  

    How about it, Navy?  How much money and manpower is invested in greening the Navy?  Does anyone in power even listen to your own marine biologists?     On Appeals court overturns ruling, allows Navy to test underwater sonar posted 2 years, 2 months ago 1 Response

  • Pooping in your drinking water

    is a problem, obviously.

    Somehow both articles omit all mention of composting toilets and biogas facilities.  Either approach reduces pathogens while generating useful byproducts without placing demands on public water, sewage, and energy systems.  

    Joe Jenkins (author, The Humanure Handbook) has been back and forth to Ulan Bator, Mongolia to teach locals about personal composting systems.  This sprawling capital city doesn't have water resources to waste on flushing (unlike Phoenix and Albuquerque, say.)On Unable to Flush With Success posted 2 years, 3 months ago 1 Response

  • I hope the candidates read these comments

    I like what I read here.

    The major holdup in achieving responsible political response to our ongoing environmental disaster is  the primacy of money in the American political system.  Congress is a bunch of millionaires.  People have made money quickly by exploiting workers and our finite planet while externalizing costs (dumping waste into the air and water instead of dealing with it).  They generate "wealth" and translate that into political power.  It's a mess.

    The CO2 allowances in the current new Global Warming bill would at least introduce an economic value to pollution avoidance, and should begin to slightly enrich and empower people & processes that oppose global warming.  

    If Apple iTunes would let people buy a Green song for $1.00 instead of $0.99, purchasing carbon offsets for that song, and donating 1 cent to an organization promoting global warming political solutions, it would push the politicians and the consumers to choose sides.

    Within a week, all the politicians (including Republicans) would be talking about global warming in major policy speeches, and Apple iTunes would get millions of dollars in free publicity on CNN, etc.  

    What do you think-  good idea?On An interview with Hillary Clinton about her presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 2 years, 3 months ago 32 Responses

  • HIllary sounds promising

    She sounds presidential, just by being willing to endorse Al Gore, by having an active background crafting legislation, and by marriage to Bill Clinton, who is generally brilliant and likable.  I think she's very bright, and has had to put up with a lot of bullshit through the years.  After two terms with George W. Bush I can identify with this.  

    I'd like to have someone very unlike Bush:  that would perhaps be a woman with a functional brain with the ability to at least pretend to listen and respond to my concerns.  Bill Clinton could be a phenomenal asset too.

    People should realize:  Homo sapiens is the only species on the planet that's not carbon neutral.  A tree, a duck, a flatworm, bacteria, whales- all doing just fine.  Our population is out of control. Every item in every store has a big carbon footprint.  6000 years of civilization are a sanctimonious mess, and 250 years of the American experiment in slavery, deforestation, Indian genocide, and fossil fuel exploitation have not exactly been a huge success, no glowing example of liberty and justice for all.  

    There are lots of compromises to be crafted; individuals will be forced to make a lot of changes.  The most promising route is all-solar, simple integrated living, electric rail, bicycles, huge taxes on consumption, and, most precious of all, honesty and compassion.On An interview with Hillary Clinton about her presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 2 years, 3 months ago 32 Responses

  • The Alphabet vs the Goddess

    Should be required reading for understanding the gender divide.  Leonard Shlain (MD neurologist, SF Bay area) says that yin/yang, male/female roles,  linear/multidimensional thinking, and left/right brain are all related.  Apparently, written language, tracking letters and words through a sentence reinforces left-brain thought and makes our culture more "male" and single-minded instead of broad and ecological.  (Al Gore really likes this book, by the way).

    People who think it's all about money, or all about oil, or all about any one thing are caught up in this mode of thought.  Yoga and meditation, a variety of concerns, communion with other plants and animals, sex, childcare, eldercare, making music, dancing, shared meals - if you're not getting these, half your brain is in prison.

    A person who's swimming in life feels he or she is part of the ocean - it's a natural sense of the sacred felt by mothers and fathers of newborns.  This kind of person (man or woman) can best make sense of the various needs of our time.  We need to birth a new culture.

    peace--  stephenOn Is the environmental movement losing touch with its feminine side? posted 2 years, 3 months ago 17 Responses

  • protecting fisheries

    It can be difficult developing an attitude about fisheries protection.  Try reading Cod: the Fish that Changed the World (available on Amazon.)

    personally, I think we need to create more marine reserves (like the Icelanders did-  notice how much of your store cod is Icelandic?).  One of the best potential ways to do this would be to directly occupy endangered areas with wind-turbine farms.   I'd stick a trial project right out in the Georges Bank, let the towers snag driftlines and thwart trawlers, while placing permanent human observers out in the field.  Mooring structures create habitat.  Hydrogen production could fuel boats.  Could have packing and refrigeration facilities too.  Perhaps such an efficient and profitable operation that it could economically regulate exploitation of the resource.

    This is a permaculture idea applied to fisheries- always manage for multiple yields.On Bipartisan plan aims to revamp U.S. fisheries law posted 3 years, 11 months ago 3 Responses

  • environmental hybrid cars

    What we need are simple, light, low-horsepower, regenerative brakes, efficient shell, easy maintenance, minimalist vehicles.  I suspect they'll use electricity for the final drive, and optimally the motor/generators will be built into the wheel assemblies instead of using weighty axles and transmissions.  The power sources could be anything ranging from batteries, flywheels, and bicycle cranks to fuel cells or gas or diesel engines with generators. Make them interchangeable units with open-code computer control system, and people will hack their way to sustainable transit.

    For comparison purposes, a trained athlete can put out maybe 1/2 hp on his bicycle- that's all we're really entitled to, so even an old VW bug or Model T Ford is a great luxury of power and should be viewed as such, while 200+ hp luxury sedans are obscene luxuries.  The planet cannot afford obscene luxuries at this time. Sorry.

    Sustainable, guilt-free long-distance rapid transit could be windmill-driven electric rail. (For a sensible national model, see Switzerland.) Unfortunately the new transportation bill seems to doom us to the same old mess.On Umbra on true hybrids posted 4 years, 3 months ago 4 Responses