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Think again

This article in today's NYT highlights new research that shows that locally produced food in some instances may actually be more energy intensive than food imported from hundreds or thousands of miles away. While this may surprise many environmentalists, it shouldn't.

A lot of factors contribute to the total energy/carbon footprint of food, and the distance the food travels is only one dimension. But there are many other reasons to question the "local is always better" logic.

For example, importing grains can be an amazingly efficient way for areas lacking in water to conserve water resources. Dried grain is light, doesn't require refrigeration, and is nutritious. Areas like the Midwest that receive lots of rainfall are great areas for grain production, while deserts in California are not.

There is an added dimension as well. Many developing countries rely on agricultural exports to generate foreign currency so that they can buy medicines, cellphones, clothes, and all sorts of goods that help them improve their material standard of living. If everyone in the developed world suddenly stopped importing their food, they would be further impoverished.

None of this is to suggest that food miles are not something to be conscious of, but they aren't the only thing. One of the insights from economic analysis is always to focus on the root of a problem, because of the law of unintended consequences. If energy consumption or carbon emissions is the real problem, then policies aimed directed at energy or carbon costs are the best way to address the issue, not a secondary dimension such as food miles.

Turning the seas into sterile wastelands

I don't eat meat, or fish, or, as a friend puts it, anything with a face. (This comes up because in the Midwest, when you tell your host you are a vegetarian, you will be asked, "What about chicken? Do you eat that?" So you need a quick summary that describes the boundaries of your food weirdness.)

Occasionally people will assure me that I should be eating fish for the health benefits. After watching an extraordinary documentary feature called Deep Trouble by the BBC, I'm content to stay a herbivore. Less mercury that way too.

Deep Trouble is a lengthy, absorbing, and depressing special feature on a DVD that contained two episodes from the Beeb's magnificent Blue Planet series. The DVD I just watched was from Netflix, and it had the "Tidal Seas" and "Coasts" episodes.

One searches for a parallel to the way we're treating the seas ... about the best one I can come up with is the wholesale slaughter of the buffalo (or bison, I can't get it straight in my head) in the 19th-century western U.S. Massive killing to take only the tiniest, choicest morsels, meanwhile denuding the habitat and the creatures that depended on it.

Vegetarianism: not just about saving land animals.

Umbra on salt

Dear Umbra, What’s up with salt, environmentally speaking? Is it good for the Dead Sea if I buy Dead Sea salt (but then it travels halfway around the world)? Am I getting trace amounts of Bad Stuff in any sea salt these days? Is a big box of Morton iodized salt going to overload the […]

Yet another distortion to correct a distortion

Anybody who closely follows U.S. agricultural policy appreciates the journalism of Philip Brasher and his team at the Des Moines Register. One of Mr. Brasher's recent articles highlights a feature of the farm bill recently passed by the House of Representatives that probably few people have heard of: the "Healthy Oils Incentive Program."

According to the website of freshman Congressman Nick Lampson (D-Stafford, Texas) -- who recently underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery -- the Healthy Oils Incentive Program would create a "one-time incentive" to encourage development and commercialization of certain oilseeds and healthy oils to replace the use of trans fats in foods. Naturally, there is a connection here with biofuels.

The green cartopia ain’t likely to happen

Kurt Cobb writes a smart and sensible review of Who Killed the Electric Car? Excerpt follows:

It contains some transformative measures

Contentious round of voting Saturday night, and the heavy threat of the president's veto pen, but if we can get through the political fog, the House may well have accomplished something truly monumental.

Two big pieces in the energy bill worth noting, and following closely in any subsequent compromise. Both are transformative for our electricity markets -- an area where past energy bills (at least since 1993) have favored the status quo over true reform. In addition, with >50 GW of already identified potential for zero-carbon electricity from industrial waste heat sources (compare to the entire US nuclear fleet at 100 GW), this has the potential to massively reduce carbon emissions associated with power generation, to a degree not likely (at least in the near term) from any other legislative activity:

Test Drive

New York to paste “global warming index” stickers on some new vehicles New York has become the second state in the U.S. to require new cars and light trucks to bear a “global warming index” sticker. (We’ll give you a minute to guess which one was first.) The law, which begins with the 2010 model […]

We Could’ve Sworn Someone Was Already Working On That

Bush confirms plans for U.S.-hosted climate summit Late last week, President Bush solidified plans for an international climate summit in September. The meeting, to be hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will convene 12 to 15 industrial and developing countries, including India and China, to discuss long-term climate goals. But critics are jumping all […]

Dream a Little Ream of Me

House passes ambitious energy bill, Bush threatens veto The first national renewable-energy standard. Revoked oil-industry tax breaks that will help pay for clean energy. Funding for green job creation. A carbon-neutral federal government. What’s all this, the deluded longings of some kooky environmentalist? Nope, it’s a few of the features of the massive energy bill […]

A look at Bill Richardson’s environmental platform and record

Update: Bill Richardson dropped out of the presidential race on Jan. 10, 2008. Bill Richardson has been an advocate for clean energy and action against climate change during his tenure as governor of New Mexico from 2003 to the present, and now, as a Democratic presidential candidate, he’s pushing perhaps the biggest and most far-reaching […]