Sustainable agriculture depends on biodiversity
By green_ways on Feb 28, 2007 | In * Essential Reading, *Sustainability
Sustainable agriculture depends on biodiversity
Kevin Parris, OECD Agriculture Directorate*
Agri-food production relies on biodiversity. Yet farming can weaken it. Increasing food production will mean finding ways of expanding agriculture without upsetting our planet’s biological interdependence.
Ed note:An article that looks at the relationship between farming and biodiversity and establishes lines of exploration needed in order for farming to be sustainable. Kind of short and not too in-depth but a good outline for getting a handle on the relationships and ideas required for sustainability.
Corporate titans launch new climate change campaign
By admin on Feb 21, 2007 | In *Climate
Corporate titans launch new climate change campaign
Tue Feb 20, 4:09 PM ET
NEW YORK (AFP) - Heavyweight companies including General Electric and Citigroup joined forces in a high-profile campaign against global warming, demanding that governments mandate caps on greenhouse gases.
The three-year-old Global Roundtable on Climate Change launched a new strategy backed by over 85 companies and groups including Air France, metals giant Alcoa, German pharmaceuticals maker Bayer and insurer Allianz.
Light at end of tunnel for British coal-mining industry
By admin on Feb 21, 2007 | In * Peak Oil, *Climate
Link: http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=163461
Light at end of tunnel for British coal-mining industry
02-20-2007, 04h57
CWMGWRACH, Wales (AFP)
With lights twinkling brightly from their helmets, a group of miners emerge caked in dust from a deep coal-mine in the village of Cwmgwrach in south Wales.
The reopening of Cwmgwrach (pronounced Kumrak) marks a much-needed glimmer of hope for Britain's mining sector, which has been blighted by social and economic problems since the 1980s.
After 60 years of decline, the industry has been shaken up by technology which has slashed energy wasted in the coal-mining process -- while also cutting carbon dioxide emmissions.
Crop production worst in 20 years
By admin on Feb 21, 2007 | In *Climate, *Sustainability
Crop production worst in 20 years
Rice farmers are feeling the effects of the drought, with dire forecasts for summer crop production figures.
Rice farmers are feeling the effects of the drought, with dire forecasts for summer crop production figures.
The drought will slash Australia's summer crop production to its lowest level in more than 20 years.
Washington's $8 Billion Shadow
By admin on Feb 21, 2007 | In * Essential Reading, Politics-Domestic, USA-Fascism
Link: http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/119055
Washington's $8 Billion Shadow
Mega-contractors such as Halliburton and Bechtel supply the government with brawn. But the biggest, most powerful of the "body shops"—SAIC, which employs 44,000 people and took in $8 billion last year—sells brainpower, including a lot of the "expertise" behind the Iraq war.
By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
ED NOTE: This is a very long and well researched article on SAIC, perhaps the largest of the "governmental" corporations of the new American outsourced government. Can we say Neo-Fascism? This is absolute must read material.
Cleaner Coal Is Attracting Some Doubts
By admin on Feb 21, 2007 | In *Climate, *Sustainability, Politics-Domestic
Cleaner Coal Is Attracting Some Doubts
Jeff Swensen for The New York Times
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: February 21, 2007
NYTimes
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — Within the next few years, power companies are planning to build about 150 coal plants to meet growing electricity demands. Despite expectations that global warming rules are coming, almost none of the plants will be built to capture the thousands of tons of carbon dioxide that burning coal spews into the atmosphere.
Court Endorses Law’s Curbs on Detainees
By admin on Feb 21, 2007 | In Politics-Domestic, USA-Imperium
Court Endorses Law’s Curbs on Detainees
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: February 21, 2007
NYTimes
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a new law stripping federal judges of authority to review foreign prisoners’ challenges to their detention at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The decision set the stage for a third trip to the Supreme Court for the detainees, who will once again ask the justices to consider a complex issue that tests the balance of power among the White House, Congress and the courts in the murky context of the fight against international terrorism.
Cooling the Planet
By admin on Feb 20, 2007 | In *Climate, *Sustainability
Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18175/page1
Cooling the Planet
If we can’t adequately reduce or sequester carbon emissions, are more-radical alternatives like orbital mirrors a solution to climate change?
By Mark Williams
In the past two decades, various novel planet-cooling technologies have been proposed--improbable, monumental projects such as putting into orbit giant mirrors with thousand-kilometer diameters or clouds of trillions of wafer-thin, butterfly-light lenses.
Expert doubts PA can make renewable fuel
By admin on Feb 20, 2007 | In * Peak Oil, *Sustainability
Link: http://www.readingeagle.com/re/news/1624420.asp
Expert doubts state can make renewable fuel
Gov. Rendell's push for energy independence may be overly optimistic given Pennsylvania's agricultural capacity, an agronomy educator says.
By Darrin Youker
Reading Eagle
Gov. Ed Rendell wants to see Pennsylvania farmers grow enough crops to produce a billion gallons of renewable fuels each year to reduce the state's dependence on foreign oil.
But the plan could die on the vine because there isn't enough farmland to produce grain for energy while also keeping up with agricultural needs, according to a local agriculture expert.
Bangladesh: At the mercy of climate change
By admin on Feb 20, 2007 | In *Climate, *Sustainability
Link: http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2283929.ece
Bangladesh: At the mercy of climate change
It is more exposed than any other country to global warming. And a series of unusual events - from dying trees to freak weather - suggest its impact is already being felt. Justin Huggler reports from the Sundarbans nature reserve
Published: 19 February 2007
The Sundarbans nature reserve in Bangladesh's south-west is one of the last untouched places on Earth - and home to the largest population of tigers left in the wild. But the trees in the Sundarbans have suddenly started dying. And not just that: they have started dying in a way nobody has seen before, from the top down.
Rising sea levels present China with 'unimaginable challenges'
By admin on Feb 18, 2007 | In *Climate, *Sustainability
Rising sea levels present China with 'unimaginable challenges'
Fri Feb 16, 3:19 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - Shanghai, Guangzhou and other large coastal cities in China could face "unimaginable challenges" if global warming continues and the oceans keep rising, state media has said.
A report released recently by the State Oceanic Administration has warned of a rapid rise in sea levels that threatens China's densely populated east coast, the China Daily reported.
"The speed is astonishing," said Lu Xuedu, the deputy director of the environmental division of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Water found under Antarctic ice to raise sea level forecasts
By admin on Feb 18, 2007 | In *Climate, *Sustainability
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2014547,00.html
Water found under Antarctic ice to raise sea level forecasts
Alok Jha, science correspondent
Friday February 16, 2007
The Guardian
Scientists have detected a network of lakes and rivers of rapidly moving water under the thick ice sheet of West Antarctica, a discovery that will force a revision of predictions of global sea levels as the sheet melts due to climate change.
Market led to shortages, not lower prices
By admin on Feb 18, 2007 | In * Peak Oil, Politics-Domestic
Market led to shortages, not lower prices
By Gary A. Long
For the Monitor
February 17. 2007 9:30AM
Energy use in New England is increasing steadily, nowhere faster than in New Hampshire. Yet no major power plants are under construction in the region.
The region's wholesale electric energy pool manager, ISO-New England, projects that shortages could occur by next year. It predicts that energy demand by 2015 will require 4,300 megawatts of new generation capacity, the equivalent of about nine large new power plants.
ED NOTE:People are starting to wake up to the fact that deregulation of electrical power has increased prices and decreased reliability. This is an editorial from the backwoods of New Hampshire. Yep, they are waking up.
Greenhouse gases hit new high
By admin on Feb 18, 2007 | In *Globalization, *Sustainability, Int'l Finance
Greenhouse gases hit new high
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent Fri Feb 16, 12:16 PM ET
OSLO (Reuters) - Greenhouse gases widely blamed for causing global warming have jumped to record highs in the atmosphere, apparently stoked by rising emissions from Asian industry, a researcher said on Friday.
"Levels are at a new high," said Kim Holmen, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute which oversees the Zeppelin measuring station on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard about 1,200 km (750 miles) from the North Pole.
ED NOTE: The real price of cheap prices at Wal Mart
Mexico's PPemex faces drying field, no funds to update refineries
By admin on Feb 18, 2007 | In * Peak Oil
Link: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0217pemex.html
Pemex faces drying field, no funds to updat
Sergio Solache
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Feb. 17, 2007 12:00 AM
MEXICO CITY - When an al-Qaida faction this week urged militants to attack U.S. oil suppliers in Mexico, Canada and Venezuela, it was a recognition of the powerful world role played by Petroleos Mexicanos, the Mexican oil monopoly.
Government-owned Pemex is the United States' second-largest supplier of petroleum after Canada and ranks No. 6 among the world's biggest oil exporters. The threat by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula prompted the Mexican government to send troops to bolster security at pipelines and refineries on Friday.
ED NOTE: An interesting article, filed with facts and figures. Except that nowhere does it mention production numbers which shows Mexico going off the production cliff.
Wild grass could hold key to clean fuels of the future
By admin on Feb 18, 2007 | In * Peak Oil, *Sustainability
Wild grass could hold key to clean fuels of the future
Sat Feb 17, 6:14 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A wild grass found in Asia and Africa could hold the key to dreams of providing an alternative to fossil fuels blamed for global warming, experts said.
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Miscanthus, a perennial grass native to subtropical and tropical regions of Africa and southern Asia, was the ideal plant for producing ethanol at a lower cost than corn, currently the most widespread source of the fuel.
Organic challenges conventional for yield potential in current Rodale tests
By green_ways on Feb 17, 2007 | In * Essential Reading, *Sustainability
Organic challenges conventional for yield
potential in current Rodale tests
Decades of soil improvements produce better soil quality and allow organic corn production to move beyond yield parity, while providing better resilience in drought and wet years.
By Dr. Paul Hepperly
Posted February 16, 2007: Since 1981, the Rodale Institute has conducted the longest-running scientifically controlled comparison of organic and conventional crop production systems in the United States. When it comes to drawing conclusions from this research, timing is everything. What looked good in the short term doesn’t look so good now. From this point in time, it’s the organic farming practices that now stand out for multiple long-term benefits—and for increasing yield potential.
Ed note: Cutting edge organic research from the Rodale Institute is now challenging many of our previous beliefs and conceptions about soil fertility and production.
PetroChina to Explore Arctic Shelf with Rosneft, Gazprom
By admin on Feb 13, 2007 | In * Peak Oil, Politics-Foreign, USA-Imperium
Link: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=41133
PetroChina to Explore Arctic Shelf with Rosneft, Gazprom
Xinhua Economic News Monday, February 12, 2007
Russia's remote oil-rich Arctic Continental Shelf may welcome joint exploration by PetroChina, Russia's Rosneft and Gazprom, the first two largest oil and gas companies in Russia, a Russian media outlet reported. According to the media, PetroChina is expected to provide capital and essential equipment, in exchange for the right to exploit Arctic oil and gas and the related agreement would be signed in the second quarter of this year.
ED NOTE: While America has entered into its greatest strategic defeat in Iraq, and alienated most of the world; Russia and China begin planning the development of the Russian Arctic oil provinces opened up by global heating. As a nation, we are in very deep do do.
Is the Deadly Crash of Our Civilization Inevitable?
By admin on Feb 13, 2007 | In * Peak Oil, *Globalization, *Sustainability
Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/47963/
Is the Deadly Crash of Our Civilization Inevitable?
By Terrence McNally, AlterNet. Posted February 13, 2007.
An interview with author Thomas Homer-Dixon about the social, political, economic and technological crises we face and how long we can sustain the lifestyle that brought them about.
Humankind is doing more things, faster, across a greater space than ever before, producing changes of a size and speed never seen before.
Thomas Homer-Dixon compares our current situation to driving too fast along a country road in a dense fog. Some ignore the fog and keep their foot pressed on the accelerator, but most of us feel like fairly helpless passengers on this wild ride.
Fears for North Sea output grow
By admin on Feb 13, 2007 | In * Peak Oil
Link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2c6bc00c-bb17-11db-bbf3-0000779e2340.html
Fears for North Sea output grow
By Ed Crooks, Energy Editor
Published: February 13 2007 04:19 | Last updated: February 13 2007 04:19
Oil and gas production in the North Sea is now expected to be about 10 per cent lower over the next few years than previously thought, according to the leading survey of the state of the industry.
The faster than expected decline in production is bad news for Britain’s energy security, increasing the country’s dependence on imported oil and gas, and also for the exchequer.
