February 24, 2006

Dogs Drafted in Pest War

Welcome to the Vine Mealybug Sniffer Dog Project. Faced with the use of hard core pesticides* to get rid of this nasty new pest, the Vine Mealybug Workgroup started looking into other options, as you can read here. The idea is quicker detection, quicker eradication and less use of chemicals. I love being on the cutting edge.

*Pesticides such as organophosphates and carbamates -- such icky stuff, most growers don't use it anymore. They are both cholinesterase inhibitors. If you don't know what that is, you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it's bad. Unless you have Alzheimer's apparently.

January 06, 2006

Watching as the world vanishes

An important read from the International Herald Tribune

Fanaticism is a driving force here, as it often is behind great crimes. This is a crime against nature, and this fanaticism is economic - the belief that money and profit should outweigh all other considerations, including survival of the species.

November 14, 2005

how organic, exactly?

I'm probably late to the party on this one, but I just heard about this one today. A recent Senate vote weakened the USDA Organic standard by allowing the definition of "organic" to include all sorts of artificial substances:

Ominously, the Senate's act would strip power to decide which synthetic substances can and cannot be used from the National Organic Standards Board, a 15-member panel made up of a mix of farmers, processors, retailers, scientists, consumer advocates, environmentalists, and certifying agents. Although the board is appointed by the USDA chief, it has acted independently -- and by most accounts, responsibly -- in its ten-year history, approving only 38 synthetic ingredients.

The Grist article (linked above) has some good comments at the end, from both sides of the fence. My favorite quote from one of them:

If the USDA and the dominant companies in the OTA continue to ignore consumer and organic community expectations..., we will set up our own label, certification, and accreditation system and point out to consumers that "USDA Organic" means "grade B organic," and that consumers looking for "grade A" will have to look for our new label.

Unfortunately, it's just this kind of label confusion that the USDA Organic program was supposed to resolve in the first place. Sigh.

inherit the wind (power)

Now that's what I'm talkin' about. The UK government, which recently started supporting wind power in a big way, just completed a study that shows that wind is a stable, continuous source of energy in the UK, and has been for as long as they have records. In fact, it seems to provide more energy during winter, when it's needed most. Imagine that: a fact-based approach to evaluating energy resources. What a novel idea.

August 31, 2005

hurricanes and climate change

The question of hurricanes and their relationship to climate change ("global warming") has come up a few times recently, so I'm making a few notes here:

Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years,
(abstract) from Nature.

The links between hurricanes and climate change,
from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

It certainly looks like the models of cyclone strength as related to sea surface temperature are well developed and useful in predicting future trends. I personally think they provide enough support for a causal link meme, namely "these storms are getting worse because of global warming", even if that meme gets oversimplified in transmission.

August 24, 2005

all aboard the greasebus

I'm surprised I haven't mentioned the Greasecar before, but another project goes one louder: Greasebus. I like the idea of tooling around powered by other peoples' waste products.

July 09, 2005

Technotrash

These guys at Green Disk have an innovative idea for recycling your techonotrash. You use a technotrash can, of course!

May 03, 2005

forty-second streeeet!

A group called vision42 has proposed making the entire length of 42nd Street in New York City car-free. The existing street would become a pedestrian area with a light rail line down the center.

As the New York Times points out, the idea is not new, but it seems like this time it may have a better chance of succeeding. The group is organized and thorough, and the city is hoping to improve its chances for the 2012 Olympics.

April 18, 2005

Happy Earth Day!

Well, it's Friday, April 22nd that is the official Earth Day, but I figure it's good to celebrate the whole week. So here are some friendly tips on better environmental living.

I still have trouble with #22, though. I suck at getting it right the first time . . .

April 14, 2005

our bold atomic future blah blah blah

WorldChanging has a good overview of the arguments for and against nuclear power as a solution to the current (and near future) oil/global warming/environment crisis. My personal view is that nuclear power can be useful in a few isolated cases, but improving efficiency and developing distributed alternative energy (solar, wind, geothermal) is a better use of our time and effort.

Oh, if only we could harness the mighty power of Internet debate!

March 08, 2005

Green Belt Movement

Environmental conservation, community development and women in Kenya plus a Nobel Peace Prize . . . I mean, one woman really can make a difference.

February 13, 2005

All's Fair in Sustainable Living

A good reason to visit the Midwest this June? Thanks to Glen for sending me the link.

December 27, 2004

where old Apples go to die

...or "yet another reason to buy a Mac". Over the past few years, Apple has set up a hardware recycling program for old computers. If you send your old Mac to them, they'll disassemble it and recycle the parts, diverting up to 90% from the landfill. If you live in Cupertino, they'll even take your old PCs.

The program has been very successful, recycling hundreds of tons of materials each year. The Apple site has a fascinating recycling flow diagram which shows where all that stuff ends up.

October 12, 2004

California Habitat

Cool site for plant geeks like me -- thought I'd let y'all in on the action. :) It's got pictures and info and a how-to-turn-your-garden-into-wildlife-habitat section. What's not to love? Scroll down on the first page for an awesome picture of a monarch chrysalis.

July 26, 2004

That's why they call it 'hazardous'

It may sound obvious to anyone who knows me, but hazardous, tricky clean-up of nuclear sites is for me the single compelling reason to avoid nuclear power as a major energy source. I don't worry nearly so much about Chernobyl-style accidents as I do about subtle, continuous contamination of an ecosystem due to nuclear byproducts.

Continue reading "That's why they call it 'hazardous'"

June 29, 2004

Science, Policy, and Ozone

With the ongoing controversy over global climate change, it's interesting to look back at a big scientific controversy from the 80s and 90s, CFCs and the ozone layer. The CFC industry fought change for 20 years, but it turned out to be a) a worse problem than even the "doomsayers" anticipated and b) less costly to fix than even the best estimates. A very complete overview of how science, business, and politics collide.

January 19, 2004

Global Green Gab

Earth talk is a discussion community and learning network dedicated to bringing about global environmental sustainability through environmental advocacy. Established January 20, 2004