I have submitted this to the Record-Bee for my December Green Chain column. “I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.” – John Stuart Mill In 1901, while searching for giant clamsContinue reading “Gaming Malthus with “Fate of the World””
Category Archives: Sustainability
Hello rainforest, it’s me, organic
I like local produce: local pears, local wines, and ripe local tomatoes. I like buying from the folks who produced them. Maybe it can even put me in touch with the seasons. Those are good things, but buying local food does not imbue such commerce with environmental greenness. And buying organic, may be less green.Continue reading “Hello rainforest, it’s me, organic”
Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture complementary or contradictory?
The Economist is hosting an online debate. At issue, biotechnology. The statement is: “This house believes that biotechnology and sustainable agriculture are complementary, not contradictory.” Defending the motion is Pamela Ronald, a professor of plant pathology, University of California, Davis. The number of people on Earth is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billionContinue reading “Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture complementary or contradictory?”
Is Africa turning its back on a green revolution?
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) says that West African farmers do not like what Kofi Annan’s AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) is selling. What AGRA is selling is principally the tenets of Dr. Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution: hybridized seeds, irrigation, and chemical pesticides and fertilizers for farmers. The WestContinue reading “Is Africa turning its back on a green revolution?”
Envirasceticism
I think Brendan O’Neil’s essay on the new enviro-asceticism is brilliant. I especially liked: Eating, drinking, playing, procreating – everything is carbon-calculated, everything is carbonised. These carbon-calculations really represent a moral judgement on our lives. They [today’s environmentalists] make everything into a potential sin, a crime against the planet. They send the very powerful messageContinue reading “Envirasceticism”
Locally produced organically grown. Better for the environment?
Last week we looked at the locavore movement (called Not livin’ la vida locavore). My conclusion was that while local is tasty, food-miles are less than half the energy of storage and prep. Transport accounts for only 14 percent of the energy of a product in the food system. The locavore movement also touts organicallyContinue reading “Locally produced organically grown. Better for the environment?”
Not Livin’ La Vida Locavore
I like local produce: local pears, local wines, local ripe tomatoes. I like the taste of stuff grown around here. It’s tasty. It’s fresh. And, I know the folks who made it. So far, so good. I imagine that you’re not saying, “Nah. Give me a tomato shipped half-way around the world. Ya just can’tContinue reading “Not Livin’ La Vida Locavore”
The Weekly Environmental Stories Roundup
What happened of note this week in environmental stories? While others wondered whether some nut job would add to global warming by burning copies of the Qur’an, I’ve been keeping an eye on the environmental stories for you. BP reported their findings on the Deepwater Horizon accident The same week that investigators pulled the 300-tonContinue reading “The Weekly Environmental Stories Roundup”
The USA leads the way
Hans Rosling again, this time explaining to the US State Department that datasets beat mindsets. He shows them (among other things) that even in sub-Saharan Africa has countries as advanced and well off as the US. is today. He says to beware of lumping all of Africa together. Within parts of the poorest sub-Saharan countriesContinue reading “The USA leads the way”
Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – The Hans Rosling edition
TED video, “Hans Rosling explains why ending poverty” and increasing wealth “– over the coming decades – is crucial to stop population.” http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
Nullius in Verba 