23 Feb
Abuse of the environment has created an ‘absolutely unprecedented’ emergency, say Blue Planet prizewinners.
A collective of scientists and development thinkers have warned that civilisation faces an ‘unprecedented emergency’. Celebrated scientists and development thinkers today warn that civilisation is faced with a perfect storm of ecological and social problems driven by overpopulation, overconsumption and environmentally malign technologies. Continue reading
22 Feb
Source: Environmental working Group
Posted by Don Carr in 2012 Farm Bill, Policy Plate on February 21, 2012 | no responses
On Friday afternoon (Feb. 17), the Environmental Protection Agency gave its OK to increasing from 10 percent to 15 percent the amount of ethanol – most of it from corn – blended into the gasoline supply. Since older cars can’t safely use E15, that’s likely to become a nightmare for owners who fill up with the wrong fuel. Every major automaker has warned that millions of vehicle warranties will be voided if drivers fill up with E15, and many consumers will find themselves pulling into gas stations that could have as many as four pumps to choose from: one for widely used E10 (up to 10 percent ethanol); one for E15; possibly one for E85 (between 70 and 85 percent ethanol); and maybe one for old-fashioned gasoline. To help drivers choose the right one, Environmental Working Group’s analysts created an Ethanol Blends Guide and Fact Sheet. The analysis provides easy-to-use information about the new fuel. Continue reading
20 Feb
Wednesday 14 February 2012
by: Peter Montague, AlterNet | News Analysis
The American Electric Power coal plant in New Haven, W.Va., in September 2009. As Congress debates legislation to slow global warming by limiting emissions, engineers are tinkering with ways to capture and store carbon dioxide, the leading heat-trapping gas. (Photo: Kevin Riddell / The New York Times)
By ignoring global warming, the U.S. is painting itself (and the world) into a corner. But now the fossil fuel industry has prepared an escape for us. You may not have heard of it, but the escape is called “carbon capture and storage” or CCS for short. It has never been tried on anything like the scale needed to limit global warming, so it’s a colossal experiment with the future of civilization at stake. More on that in a moment, but first let’s look at the corner we’re in: Continue reading
20 Feb
By Tom Philpott
Wed Feb. 15, 2012 3:00 AM PST
Over in France, a farmer has successfully sued Monsanto for pesticide poisoning. The farmer claims he suffered a raft of neurological troubles after inhaling the agrochemical giant’s Lasso herbicide while cleaning his sprayer in 2004. The court’s ruling against Monsanto “could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides,” according to Reuters. Continue reading
19 Feb
Posted by Don Carr in 2012 Farm Bill, Policy Plate on February 17, 2012
Welcome to EWG’s Policy Plate, where we plan to serve up a daily helping of food and farm news during the 2012 farm bill debate.
E&E News had smart piece yesterday about how nitrogen pollution threatens human health and speeds climate change. E&E reporter Umair Irfan writes:
However, about half of all nitrogen for agriculture ends up running off the soil and into the air or water. Runoff depletes oxygen in oceans and rivers, creating dead zones. It can also lead to large blooms of algae that choke out other species while contaminating drinking water. In addition, excess fertilizer spraying increases reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere. Continue reading
16 Feb
NUREMBERG, Germany, Feb. 15, 2012-The European Union and the United States announced today that beginning June 1, 2012, organic products certified in Europe or in the United States may be sold as organic in either region. This partnership between the two largest organic-producers in the world will establish a strong foundation from which to promote organic agriculture, benefiting the growing organic industry and supporting jobs and businesses on a global scale.
The organics sector in the United States and European Union is valued at more than $50 billion combined, and rising every year. Continue reading
13 Feb
The Weston Select Committee for Sustainability and Friends of the Weston Public Library are pleased to co-sponsor the timely film Food Inc. to be shown this Friday, February 17th at 7 PM in the Community Room of Weston Public Library. The film reveals surprising information about how our food is produced and how methods of production will affect the American diet in the future. The film grapples with production practices, some disquieting, that all consumers should be aware of. Continue reading
13 Feb
Cleaning house doesn’t mean nasty chemicals have to pollute your home. Your next home cleaning campaign or daunting do-it-yourself projects can be done without poisoning the air or tainting your local water supply. Most of our safer alternatives will even save you money, too. Continue reading
6 Feb
February 3rd, 2012
With the failure of the Super Committee process last fall, Agriculture Committee leaders now resume work on the 2012 Farm Bill through a more normal process that involves hearings, committee mark-ups, and a committee and floor amendment process. The current farm bill expires on September 30, 2012, and Congress must take action on farm policy by then if it wants to avoid reverting to 1949 farm law — the fallback permanent law for the farm bill. That action can come in the form of passing a stand-alone farm bill, attaching a farm bill proposal to another bill, or passing a short or long-term extension of current law either as a stand-alone measure or attached to something else. Significant political, budget, and committee factors will influence that choice as well as the timing of the farm bill process this year. Continue reading
2 Feb
by Will Allen and Ronnie Cummins
In his state of the union address this week, President Obama talked about the American promise - the promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.
“The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive,” he said. “No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important.”
Climate scientists might beg to differ.
Most of the President’s speech focused on economic reforms. He proposed energy reforms almost exclusively in the context of adding jobs and growing the economy.
But what good is a healthy economy on a planet too sick to sustain human life? Continue reading
