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”
Category Archives: environment
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”
Happy Earth Day
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.”
Earth Day then and now
April 22, 2011 marks the 41 anniversary of Earth Day. At the first Earth Day observance, we drew from two of the books that became the canon of environmental fundamentalism: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich. In 1972, the Club of Rome would add the Limits to GrowthContinue reading “Earth Day then and now”
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”
Earth Hour 2011: In the dark, again
“I am ashamed at the number of things around my house and shops that are done by animals—human beings, I mean—and ought to be done by a motor without any sense of fatigue or pain. Hereafter a motor must do all the chores.” – Thomas Edison. During the World Exposition of 1873 in Vienna, ZénobeContinue reading “Earth Hour 2011: In the dark, again”
Sustainable forest certified beer
The Italian micro-brewery Foglie d’Erba (Leaves of Grass) earned first prize in the category “Anglo-American origin hoppy beers” with their PEFC certified beer at the recent Sapore Beer Festival, held in Rimini, Italy in February. PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system. “Certification is often only associated with wood-based products,” explained Dr. Antonio Brunori,Continue reading “Sustainable forest certified beer”
Nullius in Verba 