by Meredith Niles
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Peterson’s Waxman-Markey amendment: the nitty gritty and what it means 6
Posted 5 months ago This morning the House Agriculture Committee released the 49-page Peterson amendment to the Waxman-Markey climate bill. Read More -
We don't want to know about your crap
Factory farms get the ultimate handout 5
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago An amendment in the 2010 Interior and Environment spending bill will prevent the EPA from requiring factory farms to report their GHG emissions -- a move that represents a blatant handout to large factory farms. Read More -
Organically grown offsets
A climate policy for agriculture that works 7
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago Not since Earl Butz's famous "hedgerow to hedgerow" comment of the 1970s have America's farmers been at such a turning point. The current climate legislation offers an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the way America farms. Read More -
Truth in advertising?
Monsanto targets public radio to spread false biotech messages 30
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago Monsanto has been on a charm offensive, touting its green cred in NPR and other high-profile outlets. What gives? Read More -
Markey and Waxman cut the crap
New climate legislation overlooks a major GHG source: industrial ag 21
Posted 7 months, 4 weeks ago House climate bill completely exempts agriculture and livestock emissions. Read More -
The meat complex: Fox News gets it, do you?
Fox News story advocates for reducing meat consumption to combat global warming 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago This week, as I sorted through my inbox and overflowing number of "google alerts," one particular story from Fox News caught my attention. In a decidedly personal yet informative piece, Andy Kroll of Fox News outlined the reasons why he was going to reduce his meat consumption by 75 percent in the upcoming months. The tipping point for him? The significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with animal production globally. Read More -
Polling my leg
Americans care about global warming, but don’t see how it connects to other environmental problems 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago A new poll shows that Americans do care about global warming, but don't seem to realize how prevalent it really is.This week Gallup released data from its latest poll on global warming indicating that more Americans -- 41 percent, the highest number since 1998 -- believe that global warming is exaggerated. This sounds like cause for concern similar to what I wrote about back in January when polls indicated more Americans believe global warming is caused by planetary trends than humans. But in fact, the data on this poll isn't as cut and dry as some of… Read More
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Genetically modified science
How biotech companies control research on GMO crops 6
Posted 9 months, 1 week ago Recently I wrote about the dwindling faith the American people seem to have in science, seemingly choosing to either ignore or disregard the latest research on global warming. Why has science lost its place in the hearts and minds of America? Has the media been a culprit? Did the Bush administration dismiss one too many scientific reports? But now, a recent article leaves me wondering if science has not only taken a backseat to American thoughts, but a backseat to industry influence as well.In Thursday's New York Times, Andrew Pollack reported on how crop scientists throughout the… Read More
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Losing our faith in science?
Poll shows more Americans do not believe global warming is result of man-made activity 14
Posted 10 months ago Amidst the chaos of the Inauguration events and Obama administration's transition, Rasmussen Reports conducted a global warming poll late last week. As I perused through the poll questions and responses I could barely believe what was reported: An increasing number of people do not think global warming is caused by human activity.According to the poll, 44 percent of all people polled thought long-term planetary trends were the primary cause of global warming as opposed to the 41 percent of people who blamed human activity. In 2006, only 35 percent of people believed that global warming was caused by… Read More
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Food security and global warming: Monsanto versus organic
Organic farming beats genetically engineered corn as response to rising global temperatures 8
Posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago This week Science published research ($ub. req'd) detailing the vast, global food-security implications of warming temperatures. The colored graphics are nothing short of terrifying when you realize the blotches of red and orange covering the better part of the globe indicate significantly warmer summers in coming decades.The implications of the article are clear -- we need to be utilizing agricultural methods and crops that can withstand the potential myriad impacts of global climate change, especially warmer temperatures. The article significantly notes, "The probability exceeds 90 percent that by the end of the century, the summer average temperature will… Read More
