Latest Articles
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Distributing industrial-ag commodities vs. reviving local-food economies
Across the globe in various ways, people are observing the U.N.’s "World Food Day." (Over on the Washington Post, Kim O’Donnel has a pointed "by the numbers" take on the event.) I’d like to compare two World Food day ceremonies, one in Des Moines, the other in Mozambique. In Des Moines, former U.S. Senators Bob […]
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EPA not great at regulating stormwater pollution, says report
Stormwater pollution from cities and suburbs is fouling the nation’s waterways, and the U.S. EPA is failing to do much about it, says a new National Academy of Sciences report commissioned by the EPA itself. Rain and melted snow run along paved surfaces — which show up more and more frequently these days — picking […]
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Lester Brown talks about renewable energy expansion
On a conference call Wednesday, I asked Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, whether the recent financial meltdown would effect the burgeoning solar, wind, and geothermal industries. He responded that while investment of all kinds will be more difficult, a renewable energy jobs program could provide the same kind of stimulus that […]
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Age-old cooking and preserving techniques could relieve food insecurilty worldwide
Today is World Food Day, and it’s time to assess the prospects for the short- and long-term future of our food. As I write this, there are more than 100 million new starving people in the world since last year. As I write this people in Iceland, one of the world’s richest nations, are wondering […]
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Safety is for extremists
“Senator Obama will tell you, as the extreme environmentalists do, [nuclear power] has to be safe.” — Sen. John McCain, at the 15 Oct. 2008 presidential debate
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Toyota Prius again tops EPA list of most fuel-efficient cars
It’s almost 2009 — do you know where your fuel-efficient car is? (And with oil dipping below $70 a barrel, do you care? Oh, calm down, we kid.) The U.S. EPA has released its annual list of the most and least fuel-efficient vehicles. Topping the list: the you-ain’t-cool-unless-you-have-one Toyota Prius, achieving an estimated 48 miles […]
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Hog farms can benefit rural agriculture and community
I spent last Thanksgiving on a 320-acre farm in Pocahontas County, Iowa where Jerry Depew grows corn and soybeans, and for more than 10 years, has also raised hogs. Jerry never has more than several hundred hogs at a time, and while this used to be commonplace on Iowa farms, most small and mid-sized hog […]
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How the new European carbon standard could backfire
Last week’s action by the European Parliament to adopt the “Schwarzenegger clause” as a requirement for new coal plants built after 2015 shows the danger of locking in well-intentioned half-measures. The Schwarzenegger clause is a California regulatory requirement that emerged out of SB 1368, enacted in 2006 and rightly hailed at that time as a […]
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Political press takes on green jobs with less than stellar results
I’m of two minds about this Politico piece on green jobs. On one hand, it’s nice to see the notion getting into the political bloodstream. On the other hand, it does a woefully bad job of distinguishing the candidates and contains one horrific and fundamental error of fact. First, the error. Witness: The American Physical […]
