Category Archives: Environmental News

Is Big Oil Going After California’s Climate Legislation?

Quick answer, yes, Big Oil is targeting California’s climate legislation. Proposition 23 would cause California to only enforce it’s Global Warming Solutions Act when unemployment is under 5.5% for four consecutive quarters.

That doesn’t sound that bad until you understand that unemployment has only been that low three times since 1970.

Worse, as the article at Grist points out,  the clean energy law has created more jobs than it has damaged. Claiming that green energy solutions damage job creation is a common tactic used to make people think that it’s not something we can afford to do right now.

Funny, I always thought that new technology meant opportunity. Opportunity for individuals to get jobs and for new businesses to grow. Jobs are being created as new technologies become available and improve.

Of course, this isn’t about other businesses. This is about the oil companies protecting their profits. What happens to the rest of us doesn’t matter.

This is where it becomes important to pay attention to who is sponsoring a proposition, or any commercials supporting it. You can learn a lot here in California about what to vote for just by who’s trying to pass or defeat a proposition.

Keep an eye on this one. I expect some really nasty advertising to come around trying to pass Prop 23 in the coming months. I hope my fellow Californians don’t fall for it.

Who Really Won the Supreme Court Decision on the GM Alfalfa Ban?

The Supreme Court issued a ruling on a ban on genetically modified alfalfa seeds that has both Monsanto and environmentalists claiming a win. So who won?

There’s a touch of both. But Monsanto doesn’t come out as clear as they want people to think. They still can’t have their GM alfalfa grown commercially until it’s proven safe enough for the environment. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has to review it first for safety.

That’s where Monsanto could win this one, to my disappointment, although that wasn’t what the Supreme Court was ruling on. So far APHIS thinks the alfalfa is safe. They have a lot of comments to review before giving approval, but it concerns me that they might approve it.

A big plus is that the Court has recognized the potential for environmental harm coming from transgenetic contamination, and that organic farmers should have the right to go to court over gene flow from genetically modified crops to their own crops.

Overall, I’m not happy about GM alfalfa getting closer to being planted, especially when the modification is so that it can withstand more herbicide. The alfalfa in question is one of Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” varieties. More poison being sprayed on crops because they can handle it better isn’t exactly what I’d call a good situation.

Some countries have already banned GM foods and seeds, and I can see their point. We don’t know enough about the effects of genetically modifying our foods, the foods given to animals that people eat, or the effects of modified genes getting out into the wild. This is dangerous stuff we’re playing with.

My one hope at this point for our country is that farmers who are impacted by genes drifting onto their crops take advantage of this ruling and sue whenever there’s a problem resulting from someone else’s use of GM seeds. There are consequences we already know about and that farmers have experienced – let’s see some of that come out in court.

The Link Between Pesticides and ADHD

An article in Time magazine this week brings up a study that has shown a link between pesticides and ADHD. Rates of ADHD have been increasing in recent years, making finding possible causes all the more interesting.

The study itself was published in Pediatrics, and analyzed pesticide residue in the urine of children between the ages of 8 and 15. The highest levels of dialkyl phosphates correlated to a 35% increase in the chance of the child having been diagnosed with ADHD. Dailkyl phosphates are the result of organophosphate pesticides breaking down. Even at low levels, the odds of an ADHD diagnosis were increased.

It’s worth noting that this does not mean pesticides cause ADHD. Correlation does not imply causation, as the saying goes. But this makes the topic worth looking into further.

As a parent, this should be motivation to not use pesticides on your property, and to buy organic produce when possible. One possible source for children to ingest pesticide residue is through fresh fruit and vegetables. You can scrub your produce to remove what you can, but organic or home grown produce that you’ve never sprayed with pesticides is the safest option.

It’s not too late to get a garden going! You may have to start with plants rather than seeds, but do what you can. Tomatoes are pretty easy to grow for many people. Consider planting a fruit tree so that you have a long term source of pesticide free fruits. Join a co-op.

There are plenty of ways to avoid pesticides in your food. You may not be able to get it perfect, but with yet another reason to try, why not get going?

Whaling Keeps Moving Along?

This is just sad. I’m reading an article over on Discovery News about a new deal being worked out on whaling by the International Whaling Commission. The article says the draft of a new deal that has been posted on the IWC’s site doesn’t look good at all, despite claiming to reduce whaling.

Sounds lovely in principle, except what it really does is ban whaling in an area where none takes place anyhow, and opens up a previous sanctuary. The article on Discovery News notes:

the crux of the agreement as presently constituted is that Japan, Norway and Iceland will all be allowed to continue whaling, unchallenged, for the next ten years.

They haven’t even set limits yet, but they’re expected to be basically what the whaling nations want them to be.

The really pathetic part is that the nations that are doing all of this whaling can’t even sell all the whale meat they kill anyhow. They’re just trying to keep things going and hope the market opens up again.

Sad to see that the IWC doesn’t have what it takes to protect the whales. I guess they aren’t paying attention to whale populations.

What it’s really going to take, I suspect, is more people from the whaling countries to demand that whaling cease. Demand is way down in those countries, but there needs to be more insistence that whaling not take place at all. I don’t know what it will take for that to happen.

Does Anthropogenic Global Warming vs. Natural Global Warming Matter?

Reading this post about AGW (anthropogenic global warming) skeptics made me smile. I’ve always been frustrated most by people who agree that climate change is happening but feel that humans aren’t causing it and shouldn’t try to do anything about it. The arguments presented very much mirror my own feelings on the matter, especially:

Even if you deny that GW is man-made, how is this an excuse for inaction? Using the same rationale, would the commenter refuse to put out the fire in his house simply because it was hit by lighting – not a man-made fire?

So often people mistake disbelieving in the causes or existence of climate change as a reason to ignore all environmental issues. That the issues are far more complex than what the cause is seems to escape a lot of people.

Pollution matters.

Even if one doesn’t care about the possibility of climate change, pollution should be a concern. That’s the garbage patch in the Pacific, for example. It’s the litter you see every day on the street. It’s the gunk contaminating our air that comes from cars, burning coal and so forth. It’s the runoff from chemical fertilizers causing dead zones in the ocean.

Limited resources matter.

This is another one some people just have trouble with. Even our oceans aren’t infinite. Our resources aren’t infinite. Potable water resources aren’t infinite.

Change means opportunity too.

A lot of people worry about what making the changes that environmentalists talk about mean to the economy. And certainly buying less means that there will be less consumption. But there’s opportunity there too.

Changing to renewable energy presents tremendous opportunity, for example.  Plenty of chances for businesses to make it big.

Finding ways to do just about anything more efficiently is an opportunity too.

Will it be enough? I don’t know enough to say. No one yet knows if improved technology can dig us out of the hole we’ve dug with current and older technology.

Which side to bet on?

Finally, for me it comes down to which side of the equation I’m willing to bet on.I’d love to be wrong about the potential consequences we’re facing. That would be wonderful.

But denying the possibility and then getting that wrong strikes me as the greater risk overall. Being wrong when denying climate change means risking it all, potentially, or pretty near to it.

I’d rather fight the fire than fuss about the cause or if it even exists.