Wealthy Nations Privatizing Farmland Abroad

Source: Chelsea Green /Christian Monitor

Chelsea NEWS reports, "The global race is on for farmland." Should we be concerned? I think so. There are 6.8 billion people on this planet. United Nations predicts another 2.5 billion are on their way over the next 40 years. Stop and think.... 2.5 billion people in 40 years. If you were going to feed that many people, wouldn't you need to start planning now? Billion, not million.

We (United States) have around 350,000,000 people in our country alone and you see how hard it is to feed just 350,000,000 people. Add another set of zeroes to the equation. 2.5 billion more people in 40 years. (250,000,000,000) If that doesn't send a chill down your spine then you aren't paying attention. And the race for farm land is on; the rich countries are starting to plan ahead to make sure they can feed their own citizens.

Perhaps it's time to plan more community gardens. Perhaps we'd better start teaching our children to read, write and learn something about the natural world so they can grow food just in case they have to help feed the 2.5 new people who are going to want to eat too.

Chinese Cargo Ships Will Have Solar Sails

Just found this on my goolge alerts:

Australian company Solar Sailor has signed a deal with the largest Chinese shipping line COSCO to fit their tankers with large solar-powered sails. This is great news, but what's inside those cargo ships? How can we make the cargo it's carrying green too?

Jeffrey Sachs - Love him or hate him - part 2

I posted in May about Jeffrey Sachs’ new book, "Common Wealth." Sachs is quite methodical and comprehensive in his explanation and presentation of how to solve the world’s slow growing environmental crisis. It has been very thought provoking.

In the beginning, it sounded like every other environmental book that I have read, but in greater detail along with statistics that make one shutter. At first, I was disappointed and thought, "This is Al Gore part 2." But after he reiterated all the problems that everyone else has, he begins to offer solid solution after solution that is new, unique and doeable. For me that is the key. We've talked enough, it's time for action! He calls for a "Demographic Transition" in dealing with climate issues, biodiversity issues, water issues, natural resources issues, the population explosion, etc. I had never heard of this before nor had I really considered his arguments. But each idea and argument is thoughtfully laid out and makes a very strong case for his each of proposals. The only question that I have after reading his book is whether or not mankind will be able to make the adjustments in our thinking, in time to deal with this slow moving train wreck he so skillfully describes at great length.

It really is an excellent book. I plan to read it again. There was so much information on a variety of topics. I find myself referring to it over and over again. I really get the poverty question now after reading this book. His book made me rethink my thoughts about Sachs and what he stands for too.

Living Green, a Lesson from Obama

My husband always chides me about the "Green Movement." He says that the regular person can't afford to "go green" and that it is mostly for the wealthy people who what to ease their own conscience for their extravagant lifestyles. I obviously don't believe that. I find that there are many ways to live green that are no more difficult or expensive than the lives we already live.

The story called “A Rare Breed of Love: The True Story of Baby and the Mission she Inspired to Help Dogs Everywhere” (Fireside, an imprint of Simon & Schuster) is a good example of a simple thing that people can do to live green. Why is this green you might ask? Because living green means seeing the big picture. It asks us to stop and consider where a pet comes from for example.

Many of the pets that we buy come from "puppy mills." "Puppy Mills" are known as legal houses-of-horror for the animals that are bred there. They are locked in cages 24 hours a day. Undercover video shows them spinning endlessly in circles, biting on cages to where their mouths bleed, trying to get out. They are never allowed to go outside, they are covered in feces because the cages are stacked one on top of the other until they are sold to pet stores who sell them for hundreds of dollars.

Puppies are churned out by the millions each year by dog breeders who find it a lucrative business. Many of these puppies are later given up and left at an Animal Shelter run by the county government within a few years of purchase. People find that raising the dog is too time consuming or costly. A few of the lucky ones are rescued by the one of the various breed-specific rescue groups, but the majority are “put down” which is paid for by our tax dollars. The last statistic that I read said that over 5 million animals are euthanized each year.

My husband is a volunteer for Lab Rescue. He has to goes to these Animals Shelters to find the Labrador Retrievers who are scheduled to be euthanized. Lab Rescue finds foster homes for the animals and volunteers actively pursue permanent homes for these animals. The story is the same for all the rescue groups. The number of animals saved, thanks to the compassion of the volunteers, is small in comparrison to the millions of animals that are euthanized each year who were not as lucky. All five of our pets are animals that have been rescued.

Living Green simply means seeing the big picture. There are millions of dogs who need a home. Making the choice to adopt a pet instead of buying one from a breeder is a perfect example of living green. It cuts down on the waste, the neglect, the suffering and cruelty that is propagated by the “puppy mills” system. It promotes responsible pet ownership. It teaches young children that animals are to be valued, not treated like last year's Christmas toy that is tossed into the trash and forgotten. It opens the door for so many lessons about biodiversity and the need to respect all life on this planet.

Kudos to the Obama family; I hear they might adopt one of the 5 million dogs in need of a loving family. The book about Baby is titled, " A Rare Breed of Love."

Change Gov's website

For those who are too busy to watch the news regularly, there is now a website that will keep tabs on what President Obama is working on regularly. Obama emphasized that we can't just "elect him" and then forget about it. The opposition will be working around the clock to figure out how to win back the presidency and to regain power in Washington. So we can't become indifferent. Now is the time for citizens to become involved in their government.

Election Night photos in Flickr

Flickr has a wonderful photo set showing the Obama family and friends on election night. It's fantastic. He is one candidate that really used Web 2.0 to help get his message out and to connect with others. I signed up for his mobile alerts. About once a week, I'd get a message reminding me to register, or to get others to register, to early vote, to watch debates etc. It was an effective tool to keep connected to voters.

New Layout on it's way!

The new design for Green Netizen is here.

Judith Shakes Design helped me roll out the new design! Check out her website: Click Here. Thanks Judith! Multi Talented :-)

Hack the Debate

I'll be there!

Click here for details.

A+ for Google's new Eco Search feature

Click here to find it: Google Eco Search

John McCain and Sarah Palin and the World Population Clock

Our current population in the US is 301,139,947. The US population is expected to grow to over 400,000,00 by 2030. John McCain and Sarah Palin live in their own world and are out of touch with reality. If every woman has five kids we will grow much larger than 400 million. Motherhood is a great thing but it's important to understand that our Earth has limitations.

The world population as of July 2008, was estimated to be just over 6.692 billion. By 2050 we will be looking at over 9 billion people living on the planet. That is 3 billion more people than there are living on this planet today. How will all of those people be fed and clothed and given shelter without totally wiping out the natural world and most of the species living on this planet?

These two people are living on their own reality. They are not realistic in their expectations about the capacity of our planet to support our limitless consumption and growth. Their vision is one that lived in the past, when the world was not facing the prospects of 9 billion people. He is going to cut funds to the United Nation? Really? That will only make the world hate us even more. It is estimated that over 2 billion people currently live on less than $1.00 day. McCain is going to pull out the funds that help feed these people. And he thinks that will make use safe and prosperous? Really? HELLO... is anyone home?

Planet Hazard

Found a great website that has a way to organize and list our planet's greatest polluters.

• Top Ten Polluters
  Maps the top ten polluters in the nation, state, county or city
  National
  State
  County
  City
  
• List Polluters
  List polluters by state, county or city
  State
  County
  City
  
• List Pollutants
  List chemical pollutants and total annual emissions for each pollutant
  National
  State
  County
  Original Website: Click Here
  

This is the kind of information that the Bush administration is trying to make less assessable. Here is a good example of why he would be nervous. It brings transparency to many of the corporate practices that are allowed to happen because of campaign contributions and lobbyist who bribe the leadership of this country.

The bright side of a down economy

One thing I have always tried to do is to keep my work life separate from my blog life. I’m going to break that rule ever so slightly today. Because of the down-turned economy, my work place is starting to do things that should have been done anyway, just to save money. I attempted to implement some of the changes and was turned away as a renegade-rebel-trouble-maker. What a difference time and money makes. Now that the budget has been cut, we are starting to make some of those changes that were attempted several years ago. What are they? Here are some:

1. Turn off all the lights and computers when you leave for the day.

2.Turn the air temp up a few degrees to keep the air conditioner from coming on when there are no people in the building
3.Use draft setting when using the printer.
4.Print in black and white and save color for special occasions.
5.Recycle as much as you can.

6.Print on the back of old documents if it’s just going to be read and thrown away anyway. 7.Conserve on trips and take a friend with you when you drive.
Here are some new ones:
8. Print and copies: Two paragraphs on one sheet is now set up so there are as many copies on a page, the page is cut and distributed. This saves papers, copies, and ink.

I wish I could say that the administrators have decided to be eco-friendly and do things that lower our rate of consumption of goods produced from natural resources, but I would be lying. The truth is that it is really about money. The budget has been cut by 6% and now everyone is finding ways to cut back. We didn’t see the need when money wasn’t an issue. Really though, when it comes to the government, when does money not matter? There was so much waste in the past! So if there is a silver lining to this economic downturn, changing human behavior is one of them.

Al Gore

I went to Nashville a few weeks ago. Actually found Al Gore's office and walked in and met the receptionist.

MSN's Green section: Going Green

MSN has a ton of resources on going green.

Check out this new website

This is yet another group making it easier to live green.

Smart Car USA

Will Americans drive these Smart Cars?

Nashville just around the corner

Heading off to Nashville next week. Trying to get things wrapped up here for another trip. Massachusetts was wonderful. I have some pictures I will post on Flickr soon.

Peter, Paul and Mary rewrite: Where have all the forests gone?

Where have all the flowers (forests) gone
Long time passing
Where have all the forests gone
Long time ago...

Now someone is trying to find out how many forests there actually are left in this world and help people see with their eyes how much we have cut down. Seems like a lot to me. Couldn't be good for the overall health of the planet, especially when we need the trees for a carbon sink. Here is one Google Earth user's effort to help people see with their eyes how much forest is actually gone.

Are Petabytes the key to solving climate issues?

I’m in Northampton, Massachusetts today; interesting little town. On the plane I read the recent copy of Wired Magazine. Interesting article about the End of Science, Google and the way cloud computing is changing many of the things we are doing and things we assumed. It is written by Chris Anderson, the author of “The Long Tail.”

Bottom line, we are not going to solve our climate crisis without the use of some really high powered technology number crunching computing power. (Google) There are some really big projects in the works according to the article. Not all climate related, but it gives an idea of what is possible. Here are some:

The CluE Initiative
Lanworth
Large Hardon Collider
e-discovery firms: Fios, Attenex
Europe Media Monitor
ESSENCE
Global emerging infections surveillance and Response system
Google Mapreduce
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
Majumdar (bone research)
Fastcast ( tracking airfare)
Catalist (political forecasting)
Microtargeting example: Republican National Committee Voter Vault and Aristotle Inc.
(give them false information!) Aristotle Inc.
Narrowcasting
Visualizing Data: Watson Research Center: Martin Wattenberg: Many Eyes

Central Florida Green Guide and Friends

I have yet to meet these folks but I hope too soon. They seem to have a good network of interested folks who are working on moving Central Florida forward into sustainable practices.

Green Gorilla cartoon

Click here to see video

This was a good attempt to create a cartoon that was entertaining and teaches about environmental issues. Hope there are more to follow.

Carrotmob - Wow!

Click here to see video

Click here to see video

Click here to see video

In a nutshell, carrot mob is an idea that Brent Schulkin came up with and it is brilliant. Whether or not it can be replicated is to be seen, but here's how it works:

Brian went to small ma-pop stores and asked the question: How much of your earnings would you be willing to use toward making your store more eco-friendly, if we sent all of our friends to shop at your store on that day? Each store bid on how much they would set aside for an eco-friendly upgrade. The bids started at 10% but the winner pledged that 22% of their earnings would be used for the eco-friendly upgrade and they won.

So on a date set, the "mob" came to shop at this store. The carrot is like a gold star for doing something good. So this store got the carrot and the carrot mob came out to support this store. Typically the store brought in $3,000 on a good day. The day of the carrotmob, the store earned over $9,000 in three hours. The 22% that they pledged was used to change out some of the lighting they had in the store and lower their energy consumption. Lots of the food items were donated to the local food bank and there was a free concert afterwards.

So carrotmob worked! The environmental community won something and the business owner was rewarded for their decision to use some of the proceeds for helping to make their business a little greener.

Wow! What a fantastic idea. Kudos to Brent.

Taking a Break- enjoying Harry Potter

Interestingly, I read an article in the New York Times about how people were feeling a bit overwhelmed by the "green" message that was beginning to permeate the media. They highlighted that for everyone one solution that was proposed, there were two other groups and views that argued against it. I realize this is all part of the democratic process, but it can be tire you out at times.

How true... I"m just taking a break from it and working on finishing the 5th book of Harry Potter, "The Half Blood Prince." Boy is that an uplifting story series. What an amazing writer JK. Rowling is and what a gift she gave to our all of us.

Tim Russert dies

It feels like a meteor has hit the earth and created a huge crater in the earth's crust. He was a voice for all Americans and the standard bearer for truth telling. It feels like the earth has moved under our feet. How will we ever replace his voice, his passion, his commitment, his drive and his dedication to to our country? Thank you for your gift to all of us... You will be sorely missed.

Jeffrey Sachs: Love him or Hate him- his new book

Here is a video of him talking about his new book. Some hiss at him others sing his praise. He was instrumental is spreading the "shock therapy" in Bolivia and Russia. You can read about him on Wikipedia. He also is much spoken about in Daniel Yergin's book/PBS series, "Commanding Heights." In layman's terms: Jeffrey Sachs use to promote on a global stage the Milton Friedman, neo-liberal, free markets will solve all problems if left alone by governments doctrine, etc. He was a true believer. I don't know if he still believes parts of this ideology, but he is definitely taking a different stance now and seems to favor a modified approach to solving our world's problems. He now has become an eco-economic advocate for government interventions that will stop us from destroying our habitat and our planet. He is practical, not an alarmist, but looking for solutions.

I just ordered his book from Amazon, so I'm looking forward to reading it, understanding that there are many critics of Mr. Sachs. Should be an interesting read though.

Here are his points in his video: What we need to do as soon as Bush is out of office and he prays McCain will not be elected.

1. Get out of Iraq $200 billion
2. End Bush tax cuts $250 billion dollars
3.Invest in sustainable technology- New National Institute for Sustainable Technology $30 billion: battery, biomass, solar, food supply needs R & D
4. Global Commons: Need a cooperative framework
Ratify: Kyoto reach agreement on post Kyoto framework
Ratify: Convention on Biological Diversity
Ratify: UN Convention of the Law of the Sea
5. Honor: Geneva Convention
6. Stop corn to ethanol program - $6 to $7 billion No corn based ethanol. Corn needs to be used for food. It makes not sense because it still produces green house gases and it drives up food price. It is a profound blunder. $6.5 billion dollars wasted
7. Invite world leaders of Dry-land regions to a world conference and discuss water conservation.
8. Reinstate giving money to United Nations’ population fund to help control world growth.
9. Rebuild competence in Washington: cabinet level-Department for Sustainable Development. Interlink climate, food, water production—Cabinet Level Department
10. The Millennium Development Goals put into practice in policy.

Jibjab has a funny on Global Warming

I have a real case of "eco-anxiety" when I think about the problems our planet is going to be facing in the near future. It's nice sometimes though to find a way to interject humor into the argument. Jibjab, two very clever guys, came up with a really good take on Global Warming. I've watched this five times already. Thanks guys for this great parody of the Bush doctrine on Global Warming.

Zero Emissions not possible

I am on Facebook and recently saw a group called: "Zero Emissions Day on September 21." I don't get this. Even if we were dead, we would not be zero emission because our decaying body would emit carbon. Carbon is a natural part of the life process. Our bodies are made of carbon. Every creature, tree, organism has carbon. Carbon is the glue that holds life together. (PBS has a great video series on carbon.) Without carbon there would be on life on this planet. So saying that we want zero emission, isn't possible.

If we are talking about not using transportation or any appliances the create CO2, I guess we can do that for one day, one hour. But it's not a sustainable solution. I don't know many people who are willing to go back to living like cave men.

I like what I read in one article. What we are faced with is a design problem. We designed our environment to conflict with nature. Now we have to go and redesign how we make things, use things, and what we do afterwards with the items. I know that this is oversimplification, but I'm getting sleepy and need to go to sleep. I have a big day tomorrow.

So, yes, I'll try to reduce my carbon footprint on the 21st of September, but I will also try to find ways that will help in small ways, every day.

Pleasantly Surprised with Orlando Green Expo 2008

I really didn't know what to expect at the Orlando Green Expo. The newspaper made it sound like it wasn't much of an event, but out of curiosity, went to see for myself. It was much better than expected. Vendors were interesting, some legit, others green-washing and a few that were clueless. Enjoyed talking to the different exhibitors...It was fun to quiz them on how they were green. If you are at the green expo, you would think you would know the answer to the question, wouldn't you?

There were a few notable vendors that I will come back and write about later. For now though, just a note to say, great job to all those who organized the Expo. Orlando can be proud. It was a good start.

Here is the vendor list: Click here.

Solar Energy

I've been reading and studying a lot about Solar Energy lately. There are hundreds of different ways that scientists and engineers are attempting to produce energy from the sun. One of the many technologies I head about is called Solar Thermal Power. If I understand it correctly, the unique idea is to collect the solar rays and heat water or a liquid that can be used as steam which will turn the turbines that produce electricity. It is different in that all the solar materials are used to concentrate the light onto one source and that source is then used to heat the water or liquid. This to me makes sense.

Any way, here is a good article that highlights the various plants that are being built around the world that are solar thermal energy plants.

Ten Ways to Change the World with Social Media

Good article on Sustainblog about ways to use Social Media to push an agenda forward, like saving the planet.

Can the human race change?

Link for picture: Click Here

Not a fun article to read in the Los Angles Times about Jim Hansen's statement last week:

A few weeks ago, NASA's chief climatologist, James Hansen, submitted a paper to Science magazine with several coauthors. The abstract attached to it argued -- and I have never read stronger language in a scientific paper -- that "if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."

The article goes on to say that in order for us to succeed, we would have to have perfect governments all pulling together toward a common goal. The questions remains, are we as a species able to do this?

Look at what was reported in the New York Times today. There are thousands of dead bodies floating in the rivers from the deadly cyclone that smashed into Myanmar. People say, it's not their job to deal with the dead. Refugees staying in schools for shelter are thrown out so that the government can hold a referendum that will keep them in power. The government is more worried about them retaining their power than allowing aide from foreign governments attempting to send desperately needed supplies to keep people from dying.

And we think the whole human race is going to suddenly wake up and "do the right thing"?

Fat Chance!

Happy Mother's Day

Oh wow, are these amazing pictures or what?

It's hard to pick which one strikes me the most, but these are some amazing pictures of glacers and icebergs. Here is one that was breathtaking called: Striped berg - by Steve Nicol

Waste Paper Furniture?

Now that's creative. It just shows you that some people are really working on finding a solution instead of saying there is nothing that can be done. I once had a student that made a wallet out of duct tape. It was great. Not very green, but it showed creative thinking. This is very creative too. Hope they can find an eco-friendly resin. By designer: Jens Praet.

Google's Google Earth Blog has Animation for Cyclone Nargis

Google Earth Image and Animation for Cyclone Nargis

This was an interesting animation of the Cyclone. I can't imagine the Burmese government not telling the citizens in the path of the storm that a gigantic cyclone was coming. I've read a recent estimation of 100,000 dead. The Google Earth animation is really frightening. This was a huge HUGE storm. I live in Florida! We have had our share of hurricanes. Having lived through three hurricanes in one year, this really makes me nervous.

The We Campaign New Ads

We campaign has two new ads. They are part two of the Sharpton / Robertson and Pelosi / Gingrich ads. The message basically says, "all that's missing is you." I'm not yet sure how I feel about these ads. They are basically plain vanilla. Time will tell how effective they are.

Dear Al 'Galileo' Gore,

A modern day Galileo. Galileo tried to explain that the earth was NOT the center of the universe. He too was persecuted for this by the Catholic church who refused to abandon outdated or incorrect teaching.

Fast forward to the 21st century and global warming. How dare Al 'Galileo' Gore say that our thinking about our carbon consumption is wrong. The nerve to suggest that we should tax carbon. How dare he say that we might be turning our planet into an Inferno.

Galileo died in 1642 and was pardoned for his heresy September 1, 1999. It only took 3 1/2 centuries for the Catholic church to admit they were wrong.

Hang in there Al, you will eventually be vindicated...

Technological Breakthrough In Fight To Cut Greenhouse Gases

Newcastle University have pioneered breakthrough technology in the fight to cut greenhouse gases. Let's see where this goes....

Al Gore's TED 2008 video

Religion is not about belief but about behavior.

Faith without works is dead.

Our laws have to change. Believing that we can overcome the climate challenges we face without changing the laws is empty hype. We as citizens have to beat the drum and demand change. What is the change? Put a price on carbon. Here is his video...

Now isn't that a beautiful word!

I'm really looking forward to reading

Britton Blog - An American Student in Galway, Ireland

Spin, spin, spin! Change is in the wind!!

Hillary vs. Obama
Hillary wins, but not by much. She has the main Democratic states. But wait, the main Democratic states have not delivered for the last two elections. They have not been able to bring the “other states” along. Obama has been able to win the “other states”. What if the change is that the old core Democratic states don’t get to decide this time around? What if the other “lesser states” are the ones who select the Democratic candidate this time around? Well, that would be change now wouldn’t it?

Earth Day inspiration

Click Here to go to their website.

In an effort to find some inspiriting cities doing interesting things for Earth Day (Earth Week) I happened upon Earth Fair New York. Of course this show what political leadership does. Bloomberg is the mayor.... Our political leaders in Orlando... Well, let's just say that they have not shown the same leadership and therefore Earth Day in a yawn and a blip on the screen. Way to go New York for leading the way!

Earth Day -- Earth Week

I don't know why, but I feel totally uninspired this week in regards to Earth Day. Wear Blue, wear green, call congress. Yup, I do and I will. I guess I will try to do my spring cleaning with green products. I have been cutting back on water and I'm trying to teach some 5th graders about the need to be eco-aware. Not much is happening in Orlando except for a few articles in the paper about "Green" things that you can buy. Is there something I'm missing?

If we care about the animals

Why do we allow such inhumane practices to exist?

Here are causes that I believe in. If anyone doubts that public attention and pressue can change the actions of corrupt individuals nad companies, recall the recent backlash of the public when they discovered how cows were treated on their way to becoming school lunches. Actually they showed some of the less offensive footage. If people saw what they really do to cows...

Here are some good animal welfare causes to respond to:


Demand Better Treatment of Breeding Dogs and Puppies
Downed Farm Animals Need Your Help!
Help Pass Legislation to Toughen Dogfighting Laws!
Help Pass the Bear Protection Act
Help Save Wild Horses and Burros
Help Stop the Philippines' Illegal Dog Meat Trade
Our Pets Deserve Safe Food
Protect Pets in the Final Farm Bill!
Stop Canned Hunting
Support the Charitable Remainder Pet Trust Act
Support the Polar Bear Protection Act
Tell Allergan that Mice Should Not Die for BOTOX
Tell Health and Human Services to Stop Funding Invasive Research & Testing on Chimpanzees
Unplug Internet Hunting
Chickens and Turkeys Deserve Humane Treatment, Too!
Urge Canada's Minister of International Trade to Stop the Seal Hunt
Urge the Department of Defense to Help Animals in Iraq
Watch Our Undercover Footage of U.S. Horses Exported to Mexico for Slaughter -- Then Take Action
Right Whales Need Our Protection
Choose Compassion As Your Fashion
Farm Animal Stewardship for Federal Purchases
Florida: Make the Sexual Abuse of Animals a Crime!
Protect Animals in the Uniform Code of Military Justice
Protect Turtles and Public Health
Protect Wildlife from Highly Toxic Chemicals
Send a Thank you to the US Attorney's Office
Support "Buck's Bill" (the Pet Safety and Protection Act)
Support Senate Resolution to End Seal Hunt
Support the Animal Welfare Accountability Improvement Act
Support the Captive Primate Safety Act
Together We Can Stop Canada's Cruel Seal Hunt
We Need The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007
Wyoming: Stop Prairie Dog Contest Kills

Sundance Channel's Green Widget

Best Green Blogs

Green Netizen is now listed on the

Best Green Blogs Directory

:-)

The New Face of Global Hunger- the dirty little secret about Global Warming

Photo Source: Click here

If you can stand the pop up ads on Time Magazine's website, there is an interesting article about the new faces of global hunger its implications. The rising prices of oil, the growing costs of CO2 reduction, the free market policies that have decimated many small farmers are adding up to a global famine. The agriculture stocks were leading on Wall Street a couple of weeks ago. "There's gold in them there hungry bellies" the market cried. So the stocks soared. The law of supply and demand. When a resource is scare and the demand is high (food) the price rises.

One reason food prices are going up because of GW's misguided policy of ethanol production from corn. Less corn to eat, the scarer the commodity. The scarcer the commodity, the higher the price of that commodity. But ethanol investors lost billions because there were a glut of investors flooding the market with capital to develop this new "green fuel." And so on and so on... Anyway, a couple of good links:

Amy Goodman's interview with a World Food expert and Time magazine.

Fred Krupp's call to action for US Presidential canidates

Matrix by Silo: click here

This is the same point I tried to make yesterday about the on coming battle over climate change. Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund, reaffirms this argument in a recent interview on CNet news.

We've had a national stalemate over climate-change policy seemingly forever. Do you think that might change soon?

There's a 90 percent chance that within the next 18 to 24 months, we will get a strong cap and trade bill. It will be here because all three presidential candidates have come out in favor of the idea.

But why has Washington dodged the question on how to deal with greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels for so long?

The science is overwhelming. Why haven't politicians moved more quickly? There are entrenched interests which want to keep the status quo...We've made this our main priority by far but we're up against big, vested interests. Also, the issue's been polarized and become part of the political divide in this country. It's been identified with liberal Democrats and there's been an almost religious conviction among almost half the population that this can't be true. They hear their opinion leaders like the president and (Sen. James) Inhofe saying it can't be true. Getting past that divide has been really, really hard. But I think we're past that.

Skeptics speak out about Global Warming. But...

Click Here for video:

Heartland Institute, Joseph Bast, has a 20 minute interview explaining how the science of climate change is shifting, and how a little global warming would be a good thing, and the reason not to vote. (download the original). This was published in Scientific America. Interesting interview. He makes it sound like there are skeptical scientists that are offering another view about the 'global warming' debate. He says that 3/4 of the world's scientists don't believe that it is caused by climate change.

He sounds very scholarly. However, a closer look at their organization, Heartland Institute, you will see that Heartland Institute features an Internet application called PolicyBot which serves as a clearinghouse for research from other think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council, and Cato Institute. Joseph claims in his interview that "he hates politics and politicians" but he spends ten minutes parroting the message in his video is definitely a neoconservative message that brought us George Bush, Dick Cheney, the Sub prime lending mess etc. His employer is the clearing house for their policies statements that go out to the politician who then decide what rules that we should live by.

Sorry if I'm a skeptic about his "independent" analysis of the global climate change debate. There were no corporate sponsors for this event, however, the organizations they represent are heavily subsidized. This is so disingenuous.

This video is evidence of the economic warfare that we are about to engage in over the idea of Global Warming and CO2 reduction. The Skeptics vs. The Alarmists. There are serious economic interests at risk. Many of the skeptics represent the current status quo, the economically entrenched powers that command the economy at the highest levels. They are about to come out swingint and they are going to warp themselves in a cloak of credible science while expounding their economic dogma that spreads doubt into the debate. This in tern will cause more confusion and ultimately reinforce the status quo. Behind the scenes, there will be big money at stake and we will see the clash of the titans as this plays out.

Don't get me wrong. I welcome a true scientific debate about Global Warming. But I don't want people to be fooled either. Right now, I'm not optimistic. People are too busy at work, at home, and with the kids to pay attention to the details. Unfortunately, the devil will be in the details and our media will be chasing ratings and profits instead of real news. Stories will trickle out while the bulk of the content will not address the these issues. And so much is at stake...

Google's got SearchMe competition

As much as I LOVE GOOGLE, I do wish that there was an easier way to search for things that I am trying to find. I recently came upon a new search engine called: SearchMe.com That would make searching so much easier. Hope Google is paying attention and can come up with a similar option. Or better yet, buys the company :-)

Now that's smart

Photo Source: Click here

Flexenclosure's base station, called E-site, combines a wind turbine and solar panels. Article states that this is being used in developing countries. SMART!

Using Art for Environmental Activism

Robert Bateman's blog, "Groundswell" uses art to show what very likely could happen if a proposed oil pipeline is built from Alberta’s tarsands to the B.C. coast. I've been there. It's such a beautiful place; a real ecological jewel. We have considered moving there because of the natural beauty of this area. And now they want to risk it by opening it up to oil transporation. I can not imagine people sitting back and letting this happen.

I feel like we are living in the movie, "The Lord of the Rings." The dark forces that are trying to destroy our earth keep getting stronger and stronger. A small band of warriors are trying to stop them. Show this to children. They will understand. They will speak to the hearts of their parents make them see what is at stake. How can we look at our children and allow this to keep happening over and over again? It is their future that is at risk.