Global Warming Population Bomb

Yer Part of the Fracking Problem

2012-02-03T17:29:00.008-06:00

If you're not part of the solution

Unlike most political or politicized issues such where people feel like they as J. Regular Voter don't have much chance of influencing elected officials to fix what is wrong, fracking is one of those issues where the average person can be influential. For most issues (e.g. job creation, health care coverage, women's rights...) most voters think their only recourse it to vote for the right guy, and bitch on Facebook that "someone ought to [fix, stop someone else from doing it, make it right]" in the name of public awareness. Then they are disappointed when the guy voted for doesn't pull off the job they hoped, or not enough people got behind the awareness. Eventually, all throw their hands in the air and sigh, that we have lost our government to special interest and so we have.

Who reading this thought drilling in the Arctic was a bad idea? Raise your hands? Who bitched on Facebook or via e-blast to make people aware? What happened? Shell Oil got permission to start drilling last August (2011). How many people have Occupied Wall Street or blogged about it or posted on the relevancy of it's message on Facebook? What came of it?

Thing is we, J. Regular Voter, can do something about this and it's not commiserating about it publicly or semi-publicly, using the most vitriolic, emphatic language possible that someone should do something to make it illegal. Nothing will happen. The juggernaut of Big Special Oil Interest, will flick away the vitriolic barbs like flies on an elephant. If all the J. Regular Voters were to band together with the same persistent like-mindedness that has driven the conservative (AKA Republican) special interest agenda we could stop fracking.

"But", you say, "we are like minded. Look at our public message. We all hate fracking and think someone should do something about it." Well that's where the conservative like-mindedness differs from the liberal, tree-hugging, earth loving liberal. The conservative like-mindedness went beyond a shared zeitgeist to becoming an agenda, a very simple agenda that allowed them to get away with so much that we now bemoan. What is that agenda?

Deregulation!

Huh? "But", you say, that's exactly what we are saying when we post on Facebook or e-blast our friends. We need regulation to prevent this." However, it's a no win agenda, cause it takes the power of action out of our hands and puts it in the hands of a few who are woefully under resourced compared to the big special interests who profit from fracking. We need a different agenda. We need an agenda to....

Reduce Demand!

Thats it! That simple! Reduce the demand for natural gas and you reduce the need for fracking. Actually, if we reduce the need for natural gas enough, then fracking becomes a cost that doesn't pay for itself. Let the oil special interest have their arguments about the number of jobs fracking creates or the bad science of the EPA. Don't waste time fighting it. Some, and only some, of what they say is true; just enough to make it hard to argue. Reducing the demand for natural gas will make all that moot. Simple? Yes! Easy? Yes and no!

What is required from each of us is easy. Getting enough of us behind this agenda is not so easy. But there are well over 200,000,000 of us using natural gas so if each of us reduces our usage (AKA demand) the impact could lower the need for gas and the need for fracking. Now, I know a lot of you reading this are thinking if I reduce my natural gas usage it won't make a difference and not enough other will do this. Well, toots, that just lazy and a cop out! Make your agenda to Reduce Demand. Get everyone you know on board with this new agenda Change your public message from, someone ought to do something to...

I know how to eliminate fracking and you can help too

So how do you reduce your natural gas use?

Obviously, you turn down the thermostat, especially when you are not home. When no one is home, 45 degrees will keep the pipes from freezing.
How about planning your stove usage so that you are baking more than one thing, firing up the oven less.
How about shorter showers to reduce heating water. Actually if you purchase those electric water heaters that goes with each tub and sink, you reduce the amount of time the water heater is reheating water to be ready for when you need it.
Pilotless gas appliances.
Shut off the lights when you leave the room (Yep, most utilities burn natural gas to provide you with electricity). Shut off decoration lights
In fact, shut off anything electrical that isn't being used.
Buy as little processed food as possible. Processing food requires heat and most of that heat is generated by natural gas
Reduce purchasing food that is packaged as much as possible. Manufacturing packaging requires a lot of heat, again supplied by natural gas.

That's a lot of inconvenience, but think of the people in Dimrock, Pennsylvania whose water has been so adulterated that it can be lit on fire. Demanding regulation isn't going any place, so if you aren't willing to make these sacrifices, or convince your friends to reduce their natural gas demand, you are part of the fracking problem.

Maybe It's Too Late?

2011-05-24T09:52:00.019-05:00

Or maybe that's just an excuse.

It's hard not to think that Mother Nature/Gaia/The Earth has had enough of us when one looks at the devastation that occured over the weekend in Joplin, MO (a tornado bifurcated the town in a half mile wide path of devastation) while considering the recent Earthquake in Japan. Add to this the over 1,100 tornados just this year attributing to over 420 deaths in April and May alone. The largest outbreak of violent tornados ever occurred in three days between April 25th and 28th; now labled the 2011 Super Outbreak. CNN reported that 2011 could shape up to be the deadiest tornado season ever, and include a graph of increased tornado activity since 1950 that exactly matches the "hockey stick" graph of global warming. Video of the Joplin, MO tornado can show just how deadly they can be

As for Earth quakes, records show that there has beeen a 30% increase of magnitude six earth quakes between 2000 and 2010. Already in 2011 (not even half over) the number earthquakes is almost 2/3rds the number of earthquakes in 2010. At that rate there will be 30% more earthquakes this year than next year. Maybe it's too late to stop what has been set in motion.

Maybe Lovelock is right?

...when he said, "climate change will reduce the human population to a few breeding pairs surviving near the Arctic." The Norwegian seem to think so with the Svarlbad Seed Vault project, collecting seeds and storing them in the arctic should natural disasters ( or war) destroy agricultural resources. Lovelock is the climatologist who put forthe The Gaia Hypothesis that we and the earth are a "single, self-regulating orgnamism." Perhaps, the planet is self-regulating itself.

So does that mitigate our sense of convenience?

Allowing us to continue with our current carbon footprint contributions to the accelorating carbon cycle by, driving everywhere, as often as we want, purchasing and disposing of disposable products rather than reusing, How many disposable cups did you you this week? Bags? Paper towels? I know that washing dishes and carrying your cups and canvas to the coffee shop and grocery store is inconvenient and washing rags is way inconvenient compared to buying disposable paper products. But they are require carbon emissions to manufacture, transport to the store and again to the land fill or recycle center and b e recycled.

Somebody should fix this.

But it should be somebody else? Right? Somebody ought to create cars with no carbon footprint, (not that we can buy enough to replace what is on the road) and disposable packages so that we don't have to be inconvenienced.

Yin & Yang of Green Awareness

2011-05-01T09:01:00.013-05:00

This past weekend I went to La Vida Verde, sponsored by Greenheart a child of The Center for Cultural Exchange who really planned the the event. It kicked off with a plethora of volunteers (kudos to Greenheart for reaching so many people) "cleaning up Wicker Park (the actual park not the neighborhood). My initial reaction was, isn't raking up leaves and mulch sort of an antithesis to being green. After all, aren't leaves and twigs part of the environment and also, isn't the decomposition of leaves and twigs a part of the ecological system? Isn't this "cleaning up" part of the way humans try to order nature. Further, as I joined in, I wondered, aren't we taking work away from potential city workers in an economy where jobs are desperately needed? After seeing, the poundage of disposable bags and eatery packaging as well as bowls, I also wondered how green can this be, all this trash?

However....

...(and it's a big "however") The workshops were tremendous and because of CCI/Greenheart's approach, very well attended. The room was full to standing room for every workshop and all those in attendance went away being all the more greener for having attended.

The first was ostensibly how to make veggie chili in a very green way by Chef David Reyes, representing the Green Chicago Restaurant Coop, but the conversations and question turned toward issues of food purchase that is environmentally more sustainable and less intrusive as well as being healthier. Those in attendance went away discovering how much more invasive meat production is to the environment not only in the excessive amount of carbon emissions (generally around 3,000 grams per burger), but also the tremendous amount of water required to put meat on the table (1 pound requires 1800 gallons of water). From there the discussion went to the reduced carbon output of purchasing local vegetables (or growing one's own as many restaurants do) and saving the extra emissions required to transport food from places like California, the major supplier of food to the country. Included in the discussion was the health benefit of not eating genetically modified fruits and vegetables as can only be purchased in most grocery outlets. From there the discussion turned toward cleaning products, since being clean is regulated by health code, that are green. Most people didn't realize that vinegar can suffice for a surface cleaning product and reduce the invasive chemical impact on the environment.

The next workshop conducted by GreenBox Chicago who showed everyone how to grow shallow rooted vegetables (spinach, chard, lettuce, etc...) and even a deep rooted tomato in containers on roofs and and porches. The side benefit was the knowledge folks picked up on reducing carbon emissions by reducing transportation of vegetables, the help given to the carbon cycle (turning carbon into oxygen) by having more green around and the health benefit of reducing one's intake of genetically modified vegetables. Plus, the health benefit to one's pocketbook. People were shown how they can take wine boxes or in the case of tomatoes, old buckets like the kind that kitty litter is sold in and turn them into micro-gardens from seeds or starter plants. Simple: Get a container, ventilate the bottom with a few holes, line with newspaper, add organic soil and plant. From that point on it's the usual ritual of sun, water and love. Attendees learned that composting was not only valuable toward the growth of plants but an aid in reducing disposed garbage to a landfill. Fundamentally, it's putting food that will rot in a place where it can do that and become something of value rather than just tossed away.

Next on the workshop roster came, Ken Dunne of the Resource Center, who in the gentlest manner explained how to stop disposing of our planet, but reusing and recycling the things that most people assume can be disposed of. Beyond the obvious of reusing packaging containers, how many people thing that perishable food can be reused? At the commercial level, The Resource Center aids restaurants in getting food that would be disposed of to those at risk who need it. On the personal level, perishable can be used for composting.

After that it was to the Greenhouse shop for a bit of soiree including music. Here is where the yin and yang of being green become most evident. The store was fundamentally started based on fare trade products. This often means transporting products from other countries, which translates to a higher carbon output, but I was glad to see that many of the products in the store were made locally by women in need of doing something to create income. Being green and helping people who are economically oppressed are equally noble causes and in this complicated world there will inevitably be noble conflict.

So in the effort to help people become aware enough to practice sustainable and long term green practices, a certain amount of waste and carbon footprint had to be generated. I would like to think of this as collateral damage and would hope that what over 100 people came away with in return for this damage, was practices that overall will treat the planet with respect and nurture, less consumption and disregard.

Yin & Yang of Green

2011-05-01T09:01:00.000-05:00

What's "On" At Your House?

2011-04-25T14:22:00.016-05:00

Gorillas in the air:

Many of you are probably someplace other than your home as you read this. (No one ever messes around online during their own time). So, you'll have to think. What electrical "thingamadobobs" might still be sucking juice threw the ol' 'lectric meter?

Keep in mind that a single 100-watt bulb left on all night will require 500 lbs of coal be burned to keep it lit. That means a single 100-watt bulb left on all night will release 800 pounds of CO2 released into the air; roughtly the equivalent of having 2 gorillas floating above your head. If one third of the people in the U.S. left a light on nightthat would be 800,000,000 lbs of CO2 , or 1 million gorillas floating over your head.

Did you leave your computer on?

If you have a regular CRT monitor, at 240-watts, that would mean 1,200 pounds of coal, releasing 1,920 pounds of CO2, or the equivalent of four adult gorillas and one adolescent floating over you. The computer itself would require 2,460 pounds of CO2, about the equivalent of 7 gorillas.

If half the population of the U.S. were to leave their computers on all day with a regular monitor, that would mean 288 trillion pounds of CO2 in the air, or the equivalent of 720 million gorillas.

So, what's on?

A 25 watt nightlight that's always on in the bathroom would be the equivalent of five flying chimpanzees of CO2.

The stereo? Another five flying chimps. The DVD player? Another five flying chimps.

How about those nice 15 watt accent lights around the building or garden or along the walk. Nine of them would be the equivelant of ten adult gorillas and a teen gorilla.

So what's "on" at your house? Some sort of Flying Primate Circus?

Earth Rising: Lashing Back.....

2011-04-24T09:37:00.044-05:00

....with volcanoes, earthquakes and tornadoes.

Earthquakes? Really?

Yup. As far back as 2007 scientists have considered the possibility of Earthquakes being tied to global warming More recently several papers including The Montreal Gazette spawned by the Japanese earthquake, tied the recent plethora of earthquakes to global warming.

How can this be?

Well, global warming not only impacts the atmosphere, but it impacts the Earth's crust, according to a report in Reuters (2009). In the simplest of explanations, it's due to a lot (billions of tons) of weight being lifted off of the tectonic plates, to huge sections of the Earth's crust that shift during what we call an earthquake. As the weight lifts, the plates will start shifting. This lifting of tremendous weight is caused by the melting of glaciers and the polar ice caps. Andrew Hynes, tectonics expert (plates expert) at McGill, indicates that Vancouver Island (part of Greenland) is "bowed", sticking up and if enough weight is released could cause a major quake.

He also talks about the more complicated aspect of this weight shifting is the pressure changes within the crust. As the weight changes so does the change of fluid (molten rock and water) within the crust. This is like having huge wedges inserted and released into the rocks, causing cracking and collapse. He cites the possibility of volcanoes.

Volcanoes? Oh, no.

Yeah. Afraid so, but since volcanoes haven't recently caused mass death, lets stick to the issue and take that up on another day. It's all related. Course. Gaia - Earth, a single self-regulating organism. However, note that as volcanoes erupt, more carbon emissions will be released into the air and the more the Greenhouse Effect could contribute to global warming; and so on and so on.

Can it get worse?

Probably. In 2003 NASA Reported that the melting of Polar Caps would have "great impact on ocean processes." And I couldn't say it better than they have: "Less ice means more open water. More open water means greater absorption of solar energy. More absorption of solar energy means increased rates of warming in the ocean, which naturally tends to yield faster rates of ice loss."

Worse, yet?

In 2006, Time Magazine portrayed polar cap melting as "the tipping point". Not only will the Earth warm as the oceans increase in volume by absorbing more heat, as the ice melts, exposing the permafrost, the newly exposed soil will decompose releasing methane, a carbon emission, and adding to global warming.

And so it goes and so it goes, eh?

"Nature, it seems has had a bellyful of us" (Kluger, Time, 2006). Whether or not you believe that global warming is caused by us (humans) may be a moot issue. Whether one finds it inconvenient or not The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which includes over 500 independent scientists as well as NASA have reported for over twenty years the impact that humans have had on global warming. Seems the only dissent comes from politicians who pander to the economics of those who might contribute to global warming. The Norwegians are taking this very seriously. They have been packing away every kind of seed known in the advent of global catastrophe and everyone is forced to live in the Arctic. You know, just in case civilization has to start over. So?

You wanna take a chance?

That this is either a bunch of hooey, or that it's too late? Hmmm? Or do you want to do something -- just to be safe. You don't have to become an activist, just simply do what you can to reduce your personal carbon footprint. After all, there are 300 million of us here in the U.S. Here are simple things you can do yourself

Would You Give Up Tupperware To Save The Planet?

2011-04-23T08:43:00.037-05:00

If you could do some small thing, that might help ensure that your children had a habitable planet, would you do it?

Let's say that a small thing was as simple as not buying plastic resealable containers is an effective strategy toward reducing your carbon footprint which is an effective way of reducing global warming that is threatening the quality of life for your children.

How can this be?

Well, it's simple. For every ounce of plastic manufactured to create a container, 0.6 ounces of carbon is released into the atmosphere. Each container weighs about 2 ounces, so if you go count your resealable containers, you can calculate your carbon footprint. Let's say you have 12 resealable storage containers, your carbon footprint is 14.4 ounces (12 x 2 x 0.6). Given that there are 114.5 million households in the U.S. each of which likely has resealable plastic containors, that makes for over 4.6 trillion ounces of carbon released into the air. That's over 304 million pounds or the equivalent of over 50,700 Hummers (the heaviest consumer vehicle). For us folks who are not Hummer types, that the same as 89,000 Toyota Camrys. Now the idea of cabon emissions floating in the air, over your head is obscure and hard to relate to, but think in terms of 50,000 Hummers floating over your head.

Does that mean you can't send lunch to school?

Not at all. Just use what you already have for containers. You have plenty of containers to send food in to work or school. Ever notice how a cottage cheese container looks a lot Tupperware? We acquire so many reusable containers as packaging. You probably throw the stuff out. How about those containers you get a restaurants to send home leftovers?

Speaking of packaging....
Now that you know that over half the equivalent weight of plastic packaging is floating over your heads like so many Hummers and Camrys, any way you think you can reduce your footprint by reducing the emissions creating packaging you bring home? I know you are conscious of your footprint and bring your reusable bag, but that's only half the issue. Ever think of reducing the amount of packaged goods you purchase? I don't mean go with less, just purchase things not requiring packaging (e.g. fresh veggies instead of canned or fozen); or, fresh meats for that matter. Here's something that can not only reduce your packaging, but spare you consuming MSG, Benzoate and a plethora of other chemicals. Ever buy salad dressing or oil? Well, try this. Buy olive oil and vinegar as well as fresh basil, garlic and rosemary. Mix it all together in one of the containers you have saved, such as an empty honey-bear. Shake it up and dispense it from the saved packaging.

Not as convenient as purchasing pre-made, but look up. You can't see them, but all those Hummers and Camrys are up there waiting to crash down on your head

Another "Earth Day" And....

2011-04-22T08:37:00.038-05:00

What?

Where have we come since the first Earth Day? Is care for the planet more grassroots; or more forgotten?

Back in 1970, Earth Day drew huge gatherings all across the country, the kind of gatherings that now happen every weekend -- at the mall.

Oh yeah, there were rallies for Earth Day 2010, sporadic and much smaller in size. The biggest "event" to take place was the explosion of the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that nearly destroyed the Gulf. Today in Fukushima, Japan, citizens will be celebrating Earth Day with a visit limited to 2 hours to gather personal things in the after math of the nuclear power plant explosion over a month ago.

Three years ago, I went to "The Green Festival" here in Chicago and was astounded at the appalling show of carbon emissions-generating consumerism. Booth after booth of organic products (cause everyone know "organic" is green), shipped in from hundreds of miles away in plastic containers hawked their greenness.

Next weekend, I will go to a local park to "revitalize the park" (pick up trash). The event is sponsored by an organization that is fronted by a local store which sells green products. However, when you look at their web site you will see that their specialty is "fair trade" products which they "purchase from over "60 other countries" Other countries means "shipments, means transportation that contributes greatly to the carbon foot print. Still, I feel, having written a novel to save the planet over 16 years ago before "Global Warming Became a buzz word, that I should do something and this is close and convenient and I really don't know what else to do. After all, doing what what can to mitigate carbon emissions and global warming is reliant on daily practices.

So, I will go to mitigate my guilt.

And I will hang out with others who will pontificate about awareness to others who are already aware. And when those who are younger than I (the informed hipsters) will gather at some local caravansary and possibly go off to "hook up" and revel in their "greenness", I will go home and make sure the lights are off and the computer isn't running and the heat is as far down as it should go and not feel a sense of hopelessness.

Awareness is good, but....

What is the point of awareness if it doesn't create change? Where have we come since the first Earth Day? Well, ironically, 1970 is when carbon emissions started to really take off, despite an Oil Crisis and Embargo; according to NASA. This is counter intuitive to what should result from awareness. Also, noted by NASA is that given Earth's 100,000 year cycle we should be entering a cooling phase. Maybe we're not so aware as we think.

Maybe not so ironically, consumer spending increased dramatically until 2008 and tied to this is the increase of disposable plastic packaging creating a huge increase in green house emissions. Personal use of automobiles has increased. I won't make the obvious observation of the impact for that. More homes have air conditioning, which creates a demand on electrical energy production. Again, no obvious observation needed here.

So what is our awareness? Do we not know that our personal lifestyles directly or indirectly attribute to the problems of global warming? Or do we know and just don't care for the inconveniences it may mean?

Will the last person on the planet, please shut off the lights.

Hoisted On Their Own Pitard

2011-04-06T07:08:00.004-05:00

Wake Up Call

At least for the GOP. The study they commissioned to show that human influence over Global Warming was a myth backfired on them when it showed that in fact humans are most likely the reason the reason that the current average temperature of the earth is defying previous climate cycles by getting warmer; not cooler. (Click here for Krugman's Story)

Still, for most the interest in reversing the climate and the implications of a heating up climate engine, is to read about it, and point fingers. That is despite the fact that the U.S. has 3% of the global population it still contributes to over 25% of the carbon footprint. We realize that, yet, continue to demand cars with less emissions output, but few think about driving less. Few will take a reusable bag to shop, preferring the convenience of one of the greatest contributors to carbon emissions (disposable plastic bags). And who weighs the options for carbon footprint when purchasing food? The production of meat contributes more than four times the carbon footprint of vegetables. Buying goods that require shipment of more than 100 miles requires more carbon output. Bananas are the worst and no one considers that you can get more potassium from locally grown avocados, tomatoes or sweet potatoes. How many people remember to turn off lights when they leave a room? A hundred watt bulb left on all night requires 500 lbs of coal. How many use low power fluorescent lights?

No, we prefer convenience, reading about Global Warming and demanding that someone else do something about it.

Please Click on "Non-Local Conscious" (below)

2011-02-12T15:36:00.003-06:00

Please go to the "Non Local Conscious"

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice to....

2008-06-13T14:18:00.005-05:00

…conceive.

Bio-diesel reduces the cost of food by reducing transportation energy costs, but adds more to the carbon footrpint than fossil fuels

Nuclear energy is clean with virtually no greenhouse emission, but what are we to do with the spent fuel.

Immigration allows for less fortunate, impoverished neighbors from the South to carve out a decent life for themselves, but drains over $21 billion dollars out of the economy as it sends it south to subsidize families in Mexico. This doesn’t account for the overhead increased social service and law enforcement costs.

The new “electric” cars to be released will reduce the greenhouse emissions at the tailpipe, but increase emissions at the power plant smoke stacks.

It’s so hard to do the right thing,...

... without doing something else wrong. (Continued below)

It’s enough to make an activist curl into a fetal position and the average person to retreat from the glut of facts and turn to “real” TV where bikini clad beautiful people struggle for survival with the luxury of being able to eliminate those in their society they deem not pulling their weight. Wouldn’t that be nice if we could all get together and eliminate those we think drawing down our economy. But wait, haven’t we seen attempts for that sort of thing? And isn’t the memory of those episodes enough to make one suck in their breath, aghast? Think: Holocaust. The Death March of China. Rawanda.

The one thing that very few are acknowledging is that none of our problems with food supply/costs, global warming, the demand for oil that drives us to war would be a problem if the demand on resources was so much less than what it is. That means too many people demanding too much from the planet.

Not A New Theory

In his 1968 book “The Population Bomb,” Paul Erhlich predicted exactly what we are seeing happening these days with food riots and sky-rocketing food prices resulting in food shortages impacting people at epidemic levels. Before him, going back as far as the late 18th Century.Thomas Malthius noted the lowering infant mortality rates an increase in birth rates as a result of the Industrial Revolution. He predicted with a rather accurate time line, that population would outstrip the planets ability to grow food. Since the Industrial Revolution, the population has doubled every forty years.

Surprise!

What had not been predicted had been the impact of population on Global Warming and how that would in fact accelerate the issues of food costs and distribution. Too many people emitting greenhouse gases faster than the planet can re-oxygenate and farmable land being lost to housing, not to mention the vicious cycle of land lost to flooding as a result of global warming.

What can we do?

Like “reality TV,” do we vote people off the planet who we deem detrimental to our survival. Of course not!

Thoughts like that are so horrendous, that I can only even consider it in the context of humor to show what no-win situation we may have. James Lovelock, author of “The Gaia Movement” thinks we are already 15 years too late and in the next 100 hundred years all the surviving population of the world will be living above the Artic Circle. The rest of the planet will look like Mars. What makes this frightening is that Lovelock is not a fanatical writer, but a scientist. Much of the studies of the International Planetary Committee on Climate which comprises of over 500 independent scientists and agencies including NASA, have indicated that much of Lovelock’s science is correct.

Can We Talk?

Well, we can take a “let’s move forward” approach and possibly mitigate the worst case scenarios. In the U.S. the birth rate peaked in 2002 and has slowly began to drop. However, with the immigration influx our population is still increasing and with less than 4% of the Earth’s population, we contribute nearly 24% of greenhouse emissions. We can do what each of us can do personally to reduce our carbon footprints (Click here for list) and food consumption. (We are the most wasteful population).

What is needed is to become aware and act.

Perhaps we can reduce our own contribution to the population explosion. At least limit to two children to stem the population growth rate, But what would be wrong with a single child as a mitigating factor. Right now it is easy to pass off these considerations. We in the U.S. are not paying the costs. The costs are being realized in Tivulo which no longer exits do to rising sea waters and Bangladesh due to losing 20% of its farmable land or, Haiti or Central Africa where there are riots for food.

And we need to educate.

The largest contributors to the issues of population are those who are the least educated in the issues: impoverished societies of third world countries. However, look around. If you look in both urban and rural areas you will see large families of impoverished, disenfranchised and sometimes ethnic families who have a number of children due to their cultural or religious beliefs. Many of these groups of people live lifestyles far removed from the concerns of carbon footprints and contribution to global warming. Because of their culture and sometimes the struggle of their low socio-economic status, we don’t tamper with their child bearing lifestyles. Fact is we don’t speak to them about issues of population and adverse impact on the planetary whole simply because it is a hard topic and they are too locked in their personal strife to care about other. However like the family with an alcoholic member, or inappropriate abusive behavior, it is the Ecological Elephant in the Global Living. And as members of the Planetary family, we might have to broach the hard subjects with those least willing to listen.

Too hot in the global kitchen!

Certainly, no one is keen on the idea of population control, but it is the tendency of our society to enforce what we can't seem to come to concensus over with discussion. We have enforced laws for parking to keep order in our cities. So what is going to prevent enforcement of population control. And given the nature of pride in heritage what is going to stop ethnic minorities from becoming targets? Perhaps “discussion” as hard as it may be, is the lesser evil.

Click here for things you can do to reduce your own carbon footprint.

It Won't Be Easy To Be Green

2008-05-19T10:51:00.000-05:00

With all the purveyors of the "green" industry hyper-hyping their greenness,it won't be simple to actually be green, though you can easily think that you are.

The not-so-green Green Festival

I can't even begin to imagine the carbon footprint left by the Green Festival this past weekend at Navy Pier, but when I put on my emerald colored glasses and gave the festival the green inspection, everything sort
came out brown, carbon emission brown. (continued below)

The first thing to strike me was the City of Chicago exhibit, which was comprised of about a hundred white cardboard boxes stacked to surround an area of the floor. If I recall, cardboard is made of paper, one of the greatest contributors to the accelerating carbon cycle. Not only does the processing of paper release greenhouse emission, but so does the transportation, then adding to that, it requires the wholesale harvest of trees, which diminishes the Earth's ability to re-oxygenate the carbon emissions.

The second thing I notice, because it is a 40 foot bus, is a climbing wall for children attached to the side of a . What isn't so noticeable is the sign on the back that indicates that is "soy" fueled. Hasn't Organic Valley, owner of the bus, been paying attention to the common media lately. The carbon footprint for creating bio fuels exceeds that of burning just plain old gas. But hey, if "the kids" can climb up the side of it, it must be green -- right?

In the category of Can't-See-the-Forest-for-the-Trees, was the massive psuedo-food industry presence. You know "psuedo food", that food that was brought to us by the marketing geniuses who figured out how to cheaply appeal to the granola minded. You can tell by the packaging that it is organiic, and healthy, until you read the back of the wrapper. I'm talking about the fruit and granola bars that are in reality carbo-sodium delivery systems, filled with rice and gluten (starch) like the ones you by at the healthy grocery store. If you open up one of these healthy fruit bars,
you'll find a ribbon thin layer of fruit compote wrapped in a thick wheat-gluten-carbohydrate cocoon. Then there's the sodium benzoate and potassium benzoate and the calcium casseinate.

Here's an example: The Bumble Bee bar. One of these 2 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch thick bars has 13 grams of fat, and 60 to 70 grams of sodium. That's more sodium and fat than and eight ounce bag of potato chips or Fritos and it's less than three ounces. The carbon footprint for producing, packaging and transporting psuedo-food is the same as junk food, so how is this green?

Well, everyone knows that if it looks organic, smells organic and tastes organic, it must be "green." Think again, Organic doesn't equate to green, though the organic and psuedo-food industry would like to think it is. Take Organic Valley dairy products. It may be organic, but with the carbon footprint required to transport, refrigerated, from California, hardly makes it eco-friendly. However, Organic Valley wants to position themselves in your mind as being green. They had no less than three booths at the festival.

I asked one hawker of an enzyme cleaner, sold through a well known chain of "wholly" good, green and organic products, what made his product so green. He said because it was "fermented" from natural ingredients. Now the word "ferment", generally means some process that does not require heat, such as distilling would. But, I asked and he said, heating was required, which means, carbon footprint, just like every other product on the market. Plus, it came in a disposable plastic bottle, the latest eco-villain to come under media attack for having a massive large carbon foot; so large that the city has put a drinking water bottle tax to dissuade us from buying [roducts in disposable plastic bottles.

The all time chuzpah product has to be Bliss Cleaner, touted as being a "green" cleaner. ignore that it too comes in a disposable plastic bottle and just look at the ingredients, as I did: carbonated water and various fragrances -- that's it!

What is most mind boggling about the festival is a phenomenon like looking at the stars in the sky. We do it all the time, taking it for granted, until you stop and think about the number of stars there are in the sky. Standing on the mezzanine and looking down into festival hall, the realization of the massive amount of paper required to put on the festival and relating that to the number trees cut, milled, processed and transported and will have to be transported away, recycled and transported back, ad infinitum. There is not only the information dissemination, but also the disposable paper required for the food services required to feed 30,000 green groupies.

So is anyone green at the Green Festival?

Yes, of course. There the Sri Lankan company that makes paper out of elephant Dung! Now that's -- er, green? And it helps the elephant which is running out of places to poo in Sri Lanka.

I listen to and spoke with Sharif Abdulla, author of "Creating A World That Works for All" who spoke of the need for everyone to become "mindful" of their own ecological behavior. We can't just pass it off to manufacturers and government to find a way to make us eco-friendly. But as he also pointed out that a crowd of less than fifty people who came to listen to him, how small they were as a gathering compared to the 30,000 people wandering the festival hall, eating free samples of organic-psuedo-food from disposable wrappers, climbing walls, or watching their children draw with crayons on paper and drink milk that had to be brought all the way from California. No one wants to hear what being green really means, since it may mean expectations from them

Majora Carter drew a somewhat more respectable crowd with her frank discussion of how a green economy could be coupled with the need for closing the gap in the economic disparity of the America diasporo. Something she is well well versed to speak about given her past successes in the Bronx. Too bad the hundred or so in attendance was a fraction of a percentage of those attending the festival in the name of being green. Of the truly green speakers I saw, Daniel Pinchback drew the biggest crowd, with his talk of apocalypse by 2012 and the use of psychotropic drugs. So there was green at the Green Festival

What is being Green

Based on what I saw, it was an "image" to be put on like a fashion statement. It reminded me much of the Hippy movement of the 60s, which I am old enough to remember. There were truly those who held the belief in
peace and the unification of humankind in love. Then there are those who just threw on the beads, hear band, tie-dye and dug the vibes of the Grateful Dead. I'll be curious as to who will emerge as the pop icons of the green movement, if there is a movement. I fear it might have been engulfed and absorbed by the Consumer Movement.

So what could have been done? As Sharif Abdulla points out, it does no good just to point out what is wrong. One has to have some suggested course of action. For starters, the food service could have been done with non-disposable dishes. Actually washing dishes doesn't cost more, it just redistibutes the cost back to the vendor, who can rely on the city for trash pickup costs. Parameters could have been set requiring exhibitors to use some greener medium of information dissemination than paper, much of which was thrown away unread. The event coordinators could have set up and vetted the exhibitors against a set of green parameters, meant to filter those who aren't really green and guide those who pass to be more green. I have to wonder, was there any real need for consumer products to be at this festival? Other than some textiles, I didn't see any consumable products that really were eco-friendly. Most all certainly sinned against nature in their manner of packaging.

So for those who really want to be green, best of it to you, but proceed with caution. Being green like anything good has become an industry from which opportunists will try to make money. And they know you want to be green

What No One Will Talk About: The Eco-Elephant in the Global Living Room

2008-05-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

Overpopulation! Too many people for the Earth to sustain!

That's right! There are more people generating carbon footprints (greenhouse gas emissions)than the Earth can reconvert into oxygen (Continued below)

The curve of the population growth -- Hell, explosion -- exactly matches the the curve of the increasing global warming. And, no it is not a typical cycle of the planet. In the past temperature changes have related to cooling, not increased temperature (e.g. the ice age and the Dark Age). Neither of those correlate with population change so indentically.

Since the industrial revolution, world population has doubled every 40 years

The Global Warming - Population Connection

To learn more about the connection between population growth and global warming, click here

And we (the U.S.) are the worst contributors to greenhouse emission

Yup. We have less than 4% of the world population, but contribute to over 25% of the greenhouse emissions. But, you may be saying, China contributes more! On a person by person basis, no they don't. Each Chineses person's carbon footprint is 1/4th of each U.S. citizens carbon footprint. It's just that there is more than 4 times as many Chinese (1.6 billion vs 260 million). That means that whatever you do, eco-good or eco-bad, multiply it by 260 million. If you want to find out what simple things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, click here

This message has been brought to you by The Council To Save The Planet!

For more information or purchase, click here

Global Warming, Population, Overpopulation, ecology, environment, speculative fiction, science fiction

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