Category Archives: environment

For Mice and Men, Dose Doth Make the Poison

My latest Green Chain column in today’s Lake County Record-Bee: Every day, I make my wife and myself a cup of coffee. Should I be arrested for spousal abuse? I am serving her a phenol-laced liquid, containing 826 volatile chemical substances, 16 of which are known by the state of California to cause cancer. OneContinue reading “For Mice and Men, Dose Doth Make the Poison”

California’s AB 88-something fishy this way comes

Humans have been messing with life-changing technology for millennia. For instance, fire allows humans to cook their food. Though our ancient ancestors didn’t know it, heating food changes the food’s molecular structure; cooking gelatinizes starch and denatures protein, making calories more accessible to the human body than raw food does. While no one would sayContinue reading “California’s AB 88-something fishy this way comes”

Forest Owners to EPA: Massachusetts made wrong choice

The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) recommended to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they defer the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from biomass for three years. the EPA is considering regulating biomass energy the same as fossil fuels. David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, underscored NAFO’s desire for theContinue reading “Forest Owners to EPA: Massachusetts made wrong choice”

Biofuel: Exacerbating the Food Crisis

The percentage of deaths related to malnutrition have declined over the past 40 years. In 1970, approximately 33% of the developing world was malnourished. In 2010, approximately 20% of the developing world is poorly nourished. If we were to put our concern toward micro and macro nutrition and less emphasis on greenhouse gas output, theContinue reading “Biofuel: Exacerbating the Food Crisis”

Do these toxins make me look fat? Earth Day turns 41.

On June 22, 1969, a portion of the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland, Ohio. The late1960s were turbulent times; 1969 alone witnessed Woodstock, the Tate-LaBianca murders, and the Mi Lai massacre. The fire on the Cuyahoga River was emblematic of human-caused environmental troubles. This event and others lit a fire under the Congress andContinue reading “Do these toxins make me look fat? Earth Day turns 41.”

The number of extreme poor has dropped (and that trend will continue)

This should be front-page news. Laurence Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz of the Brookings Institution calculate (if my math is correct) that the number of people in extreme poverty ($1.25/day or less) dropped 30% (from 1.3 billion to 0.9 billion) in the past six years. How many poor people are there in the world and howContinue reading “The number of extreme poor has dropped (and that trend will continue)”

Comment on NRDC’s help in “Cleaning Up BP’s Mess in the Gulf of Mexico”

Do you follow the Natural Resource Defense Council’s “Switchboard” feed on Twitter? A recent one caught my eye: David Pettit’s Blog “Cleaning Up BP’s Mess in the Gulf of Mexico” How will BP be forced to clean up the mess it caused in the Gulf of Mexico? There is a process created for oil spillsContinue reading “Comment on NRDC’s help in “Cleaning Up BP’s Mess in the Gulf of Mexico””

It’s Earth Hour tonight. Remember to turn the clocks back to 1900

Yesterday’s post recommended celebrating electricity rather than finding it (or rather the fossil fuel which produced it) the villain. If using no electricity still sounds appealing then this video might give some perspective into such a life. If 1900 still sounds like a place you would consider living. Consider this: 1900 dentistry. Are you turningContinue reading “It’s Earth Hour tonight. Remember to turn the clocks back to 1900”