Wednesday, 25 May 2005

The end of cheap oil will lead to the collapse of modern agriculture, crumbling infrastructure, radical economic contraction, and -- after an extended period of political upheaval and violence -- the rebirth of a local, agrarian way of life. So says James Howard Kunstler in his controversial new book, The Long Emergency. He sat down with Grist's Amanda Griscom Little for a chat, after which she went to Costco and bought 200 pounds of canned food and a rifle.

The Secret of Nimrods

Monsanto's confidential research finds that GM foods mess up rats

Rats fed with genetically modified (GM) corn exhibited health problems including shrunken kidneys and blood changes that could indicate immune-system damage or tumors. However, no one knows all the details, since the folks who did the research are the same folks selling the corn -- GM behemoth Monsanto -- and they won't release their 1,139-page study. Monsanto claims it "contains confidential business information which could be of commercial use to our competitors," but the brief research summary was alarming enough that U.K. government ministers and scientists are pressing for more information. The study is likely to make the ongoing debate over GM foods in the European Union even more rancorous. It's also likely to be seen by some as vindication of the research done by Arpad Pusztai, who seven years ago found similar results in rats eating GM potatoes, and was subsequently vilified and driven out of the scientific world.


Your bathtub drain is hopelessly clogged. Store-bought drain cleaners are hazardous to ... everything. What to do? Queen of Cleanliness Umbra has good news and bad news. The bad news is that -- horrors! -- some elbow grease will be required. The good news is that you get to use something called a "drain snake," and post-unclogging you get to gobble up a tasty treat.

Situation Normal All Canucked Up

Air pollution on the rise in Canada

Canada's self-image as North America's most enlightened steward of the environment has taken a blow with the release of a new report from the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Studying the period from 1998 to 2002, the report concludes that air pollution rose by 8 percent in the Great White North even as it fell by 21 percent in the states. Particularly alarming is the case of lead: Though Canada has fewer factories using lead and lead compounds than the U.S., its per-facility release of lead into the air is 13 times higher, making the nation responsible for 42 percent of North America's lead pollution. (Lead, as we all know, can cause birth defects, learning disabilities, and cancer.) John Bennett of the Sierra Club of Canada blamed the patchwork of federal and provincial regulations: "Our politicians talk a better game, but when the Americans act, they usually act much more strongly."

Scratched Cat Fever

Tigers in dangerous decline in India

The accelerating disappearance of endangered Bengal tigers from India's 28 tiger reserves has Indian officials and charismatic-megafauna enthusiasts the world over in a tizzy. Poaching of the country's national animal has increased in recent years, as body parts ranging from pelts to, um, members have become valuable commodities in the Chinese medicinal trade. Though India's resources for combating the problem are somewhat slim -- park guards' low wages encourage bribes, and they are armed only with long, wooden sticks (!) -- the country, a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, could face punitive measures if the situation does not improve. In response to what has been called an "international scandal," government officials are beefing up security at the parks, conducting a census of remaining tigers, drawing up a new conservation policy, and establishing an old-age home for tigers no longer able to hunt. Really.