Category Archives: Sustainability

Fried Green Sustainability

  In the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cathy Bates waits for a parking space only to have it taken by two female twenty-somethings who blow her off with, “Face it lady, we’re younger and faster.” She rams her tank of a car into their tinier VW convertible. Bates’ parting shot is, “Face it, girls. I’mContinue reading “Fried Green Sustainability”

Ugly Duckling In The Woods By William Keye

This is an op-ed piece that William Wade Keye* submitted to the Sacramento Bee at the beginning of July, in response to two articles (“State to assess Battle Creek logging activity and effect on salmon” and “Troubled waters of Battle Creek“) and an editorial (“Governor needs to keep pledge at Battle Creek”) they published highlightingContinue reading “Ugly Duckling In The Woods By William Keye”

Deep Optimism About Today and Tomorrow

Matt Ridley spoke in March 2011 at the Long Now FoundMatt Ridley spoke in March 2011 at the Long Now Foundation. Dr Ridley was the science editor for the Economist and has written several books. The latest is The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves.. Ridley makes compelling arguments that for me made sense, and forContinue reading “Deep Optimism About Today and Tomorrow”

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”

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”

Self-sufficiency = poverty

In a recent letter to our local paper, a fellow wrote in that we should buy American products: “Americans all want to make top dollar for their labor but insist on buying the cheapest goods that they can find often made by countries with very low wages and lax environmental protections…We should always try toContinue reading “Self-sufficiency = poverty”

African poverty is falling…much faster than you think

Back in April, in Happy 40th Earth Day Everyone! I noted the progress we had made worldwide. Specifically, I wrote that the percentage of the world population living on less than $1 a day (in PPP-adjusted 2000 dollars) had dropped [as in, didn’t go up] from 26.80% to 5.40% One commenter, Hapa, did not seeContinue reading “African poverty is falling…much faster than you think”

Are You Eating Genetically Modified Foods? Relax. We’ve been eating GMOs for many, many years

You people in the developed world are certainly free to debate the merits of genetically modified foods, but can we please eat first? – Dr. Florence Wambugu of Kenya   Over at TheEnvironmentSite.org Environment Forum, EcoBlogger has posted an article titled Are You Eating Genetically Modified Foods? 7 Tips to Avoid Eating GMOs! I wouldContinue reading “Are You Eating Genetically Modified Foods? Relax. We’ve been eating GMOs for many, many years”