Monthly Archives: March 2010

Have one-half of the world’s forests been converted to non-forest use?

I posted recently “You’re pulling my Yang. Ten reasons to use dead tree stuff,” the Yang being half of the Taoist Yin-Yang concept of male/female, light/dark/ ebb/flow, action/reaction. The post’s message was that we can’t look at only one side of an issue as a Yahoo Green blog had done (10 big reasons to stopContinue reading “Have one-half of the world’s forests been converted to non-forest use?”

You’re pulling my Yang. Ten dead-on reasons for using dead tree stuff.

Some anti-logging activists have latched onto a fact like mistletoe on a branch; it looks green but it’s hurting the trees rather than helping. The fact: Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air, and via photosynthesis combine the CO2 with hydrogen to make wood, and expel oxygen. This process pulls CO2 , a greenhouse gas,Continue reading “You’re pulling my Yang. Ten dead-on reasons for using dead tree stuff.”

Postcard from Berkeley

Last Saturday, Mary and I were going to meet with the daughter of Walter Lowdermilk–a Rhodes scholar, forester, and soil scientist–and were too early. So we wandered off to toward Tilden Regional Park and happened across the Berkeley Rose Garden. It’s on a hillside in a shallow draw that looks perfect for a concert. WeContinue reading “Postcard from Berkeley”

California’s Deforestation Due to Wildfire

This is a map of the National Forests in California. These forests comprise about half of the forestland in California. The Forest Service graphic below shows the results of the 2000-2009 fire season in California. About 1% of California’s fires chalk up 90% of the total acreage burned. Half a million acres that had theContinue reading “California’s Deforestation Due to Wildfire”

How much deforestation is there?

I mentioned the other day in “What Killed the environmental Movement, that generally environmental organizations tell you how bad things are but will never say anything improved? Check this out: [Illegal logging and unsustainable forest practices] lead to the loss of nearly 36 million acres of natural forests each year, an area roughly the sizeContinue reading “How much deforestation is there?”

Who Killed the Environmental Movement ?

“When the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power.” – Alston Chase Tales of doom and gloom are wildly exaggerated by many environmental organizations as a way to get you to care, At the very least, they emphasize the bad and ignore theContinue reading “Who Killed the Environmental Movement ?”

Hot Air Cuts California Forests Out of Carbon Offset Program

In order for California’s proposed cap and trade system to be anything but a mockery we need to rip down the “Do Not Disturb” signs on much of California’s forests and commit ourselves to harvesting in California’s forests, even (gasp) clearcutting. Foresters and forest landowners aren’t the only ones who feel this way; the UnitedContinue reading “Hot Air Cuts California Forests Out of Carbon Offset Program”

Clearcutting, Climate Change, and the Center for Biological Diversity

“A clearcut is about as beneficial to the climate as a new coal-fired power plant.” – spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity Spin consumes science Such a sound bite is ‘spin;’ and we should not confuse such political posturing with fact. Perception trumps truth and the California Air Resources Board has caved to politicalContinue reading “Clearcutting, Climate Change, and the Center for Biological Diversity”

Governor Schwarzenegger, AB 32, and Global Warming: Code Redd

“When the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power.“- Alston Chase, author of “Playing God in Yellowstone.” ‘Redd’ is another ort in the acronym soup of climate-speak from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); it stands for “Reducing Emissions fromContinue reading “Governor Schwarzenegger, AB 32, and Global Warming: Code Redd”