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This is the weblog of
Raymond Powers.
Here I will be sharing what I find of import, humor, concern, inspiration and on the transformational edge
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A Quote:
If you can explain it, you aren't experiencing it.
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Raymond lives in Ojai, where the time now is:
03:21PM
Unique Readers:
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Public Domain
Everything I've written here, except my copyrighted
essays, poetry, lyrics, and music is hereby placed in the public
domain. The quotes from other people's writings, and the pictures
used might or might not be copyrighted, but are considered fair
use. Thus the license here would best be described as:
Primarily Public
Domain.
Please ask permission if there is any question in
regards to public domain usage.
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| Thursday, May 19, 2005 |  |
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19 May 2005 @ 17:45
All of the below articles come from the Organic Consumers Association webste
BREAK THE CHAINS ON WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY WITH A HOUSE PARTY!
Just in time for World Fair Trade Day, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is pleased to announce our next House Party film and action pack, featuring the new documentary, Coffee with the Taste of the Moon. Starting May 14th the OCA and allies around the world will promote Fair Trade and organic goods, like coffee, chocolate and tea. Certified Fair Trade goods provide a fair price for farmers, create sustainable economic opportunities for global communities, and offer an alternative to so-called "Free Trade." Make everyday Fair Trade Day!
USDA WILL ALLOW MISLEADING ORGANIC LABEL CLAIMS TO CONTINUE
In a controversial move, the USDA has announced that it will not monitor or police "organic" label claims on body care products nor allow companies that use certified organic ingredients to display the "USDA Organic" label. This complete turnabout in policy essentially gives the green light to unscrupulous companies to label non-organic body care products as organic, whether they are or not, while penalizing companies that have gone to the trouble and expense to source certified organic ingredients. This USDA ruling contradicts a previous 2002 directive that stated that if a body care product contains certified organic ingredients, it could be labeled as such. The new directive will likely reduce the demand for organic ingredients and feed stocks from organic farmers by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sign petition to the USDA HERE
I THINK, THEREFORE I AM... A LAB MOUSE
An ethics committee at Stanford University has approved a proposal to create mice with brains made almost completely of human brain cells. Stanford law professor Hank Greely, who chaired the ethics committee, said the board endorsed this procedure based on the assumption that the animal would probably not experience higher levels of human thought, given the size and shape of the mouse brain. The committee recommended closely monitoring the mice's behavior and immediately killing any that display "human-like behavior," although, admittedly, no one quite knows how an observer would be able to truly distinguish whether or not a lab mouse is thinking and feeling like a human.
Learn more and speak your mind HERE
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| Wednesday, May 18, 2005 | |
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18 May 2005 @ 17:48
My friend Eric sent this to me. It's a fairly large download, but pretty quick if you have cable or dsl.
It's wonderfully funny way to share the importance of buying and eating organic.
A recent communique from the Meiners Oaks (a small suburb of Ojai, CA where I iive) Liberation Front...
in a grocery store, in a galaxy not so far far away...
Store Wars
Join the adventures of Cuke Skywalker, Obi-Wan
Cannoli, Chewbroccoli and the rest of the Organic
Rebels fighting against Darth Tader and the Dark Side
of the Farm.
And if you like the movie, pass it on!
UPDATE:
Star Wars Spoof Touts Organic Produce, Angers Conventional Farmers
June 06, 2005 — By Dennis Pollock, The Fresno Bee
An online video spoof of Star Wars that touts organic produce with characters like Chewbroccoli and Obi Wan Cannolies not have everybody in the produce industry smiling.
Its depiction of conventional farming as the dark side has angered some and prompted at least one industry spokesman to resort to his own brand of humor with an edge.
"It's one of the best spoofs I've ever seen," said Tim Chelling, vice president for communications with Western Growers Association in Irvine. "But when it comes to some of the facts presented, as far as consumers go, the farce is not with you."
The Organic Trade Association and Free Range Studios collaborated for "Store Wars: The Organic Rebellion."
The Web-based five-minute movie is at www.storewars.org.
Its debut was timed to the release of the blockbuster movie "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
This particular movie opens with shopping carts menacingly moving through space and appearance of a "Death Melon" rather than a Death Star.
It's peopled by fanciful puppets with names like Cuke Skywalker, Princess Lettuce, Ham Solo, C3 Peanuts, TofuD2nd Yogurt.
Lord Tader is a russet potato described as "now more chemical than vegetable."
Among the movie dialogue that irked produce industry leaders is Obi Wan Cannoli's observation about "the dark side of the farm."
"An empire of pollution and pesticides has ruthlessly conquered the market, with unsustainable, short-sighted practices like genetic engineering, irradiation and massive chemical pesticide use," he says.
That's "outrageous," said Jennifer Tong, director of food safety and nutrition outreach for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association in Washington, D.C.
"Our organization strongly supports organics, but it's extremely short-sighted to make such attacks on conventional farming," Tong said. "Using scare tactics is not a good way to build the organic business."
Katherine DiMatteo, president of the Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass., points out that the words "conventional farming" do not appear in the movie.
"We weren't particularly trying to target anything except what practices are prohibited in organic production," DiMatteo said.
The Web site had more than 2 million hits in its first two weeks. Its target audience is "a new generation of organic consumers, especially 'Gen Xers' who grew up loving Luke, Leia and Han, and are now increasingly concerned about making healthy food choices for their families," according to the group's news release.
DiMatteo said the costs for producing the video and hosting it on a Web site were less than $30,000.
"There are certainly opinions on both sides," DiMatteo said. "We're thrilled by the mini-movie on multiple levels, and I know that opinions are all over the spectrum."
Asked if she has has any regrets about the movie and responses it has evoked, she said, "I don't feel that it was anything I should think about in that way -- regret or no regrets."
Kathy Means, vice president for government relations with the Produce Marketing Association in Newark, Del., said the movie is "attention-getting and clever."
But she added, "It's irresponsible to scare people away from products that are safe" at the same time that "we're trying to get people to eat more fruits and vegetables."
Free Range Studios, the makers of Store Wars, also made the 2003 Web film "The Meatrix," which used animation and pointed humor to question the treatment of animals in "factory farms."
"The Meatrix" drew sharp criticism at the annual convention of Western United Dairymen in Fresno in February.
"The Web can be a source of information or misinformation," said Michael Marsh, CEO of Western United Dairymen in Modesto, the one-time home of Star Wars creator George Lucas.
Marsh sees "Store Wars" as "whimsical, some of it is kind of silly. It's very creative."
"But it's trying to effectively bash produce that is wholesome and healthy and produced for the majority of Americans by raising some spectre of fear," he said. "That's a dangerous thing for somebody to engage in. It's clearly an expanding niche market, but I hope they grow their niche on the basis of the quality of their products rather than by denigrating wholesome foods."
Yogurt has the last words in the movie:
"When the market you visit keep your family and your planet safe from the dark side by choosing organic. May the farm be with you always." More >
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| Monday, April 11, 2005 | |
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| Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | |
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29 Mar 2005 @ 21:11
Amid warnings that climate change may have serious impacts on salmon and steelhead, the recovery of the southern steelhead becomes even more critical. The southern steelhead has evolved to survive the extremes brought on by southern California's drought and flood cycles. As water temperatures rise in the Pacific Northwest, native steelhead populations may be replaced by their southern cousins. see story below:
Global warming may be making rivers too hot
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/217366_warming24.html
If current warming trends continue unchecked, more than 20 percent of the Pacific Northwest's rivers could become too hot for salmon, steelhead and trout by 2040, according to a Northwest Wildlife Federation report. The report, released yesterday, predicts that rising regional temperatures could disturb the delicate balance of seasonal stream flows -- making spring flows happen earlier, reducing summer flows to a trickle, or rendering winter flows so high that gravel beds used as nesting sites could get scoured away.
"Salmon in the region are struggling to survive amid dams, water diversions and development along river shorelines," said Paula Del Giudice, director of the group's Northwest Natural Resource Center in Seattle. "Global warming will add an enormous amount of pressure onto what's left of the region's prime cold-water fish habitat."
(03/24/05) Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/217366_warming24.html
Paul Jenkin
Environmental Director
Surfrider Foundation Ventura County Chapter Coordinator, Matilija Coalition
(805) 648-4005 paul@matilija-coalition.org
www.matilija-coalition.org
www.surferspoint.org
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| Friday, February 25, 2005 | |
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25 Feb 2005 @ 21:34
'Green Building' Trend Grows
February 25, 2005 — By Hubble Smith, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas home builders are putting in low-energy appliances, heat-resistant windows and desert landscaping in an effort to conserve natural resources, part of the "green building" trend in residential construction.
They're on the right track, but they need to start with the building's "skin" to really save energy, said Ray Wickstrom, a Las Vegas sales representative for Phoenix Systems and Components.
The problem is that too many builders are stuck in a wooden frame of mind, he said. Instead of using lumber to frame walls, windows and roofs, they should be using insulated concrete forms, a building method that's been around for about 40 years.
"It's like an Oreo cookie," Wickstrom said. "The outside of the form is expanded polystyrene and the inside is concrete."
Expanded polystyrene is the same material used for disposable coffee cups, where one-eighth inch of insulation protects you from 180-degree coffee, he noted.
If you looked at an infrared thermal image of a conventionally built home, you'd see heat loss across the entire wall, Wickstrom said. The windows would be white-hot. The same image of a home built with insulated concrete forms shows minimal heat loss, resulting in lower energy bills.
Building a home with the concrete forms costs about the same as building it with two-by-four wood framing, anywhere from $150 to $200 a square foot. The result is a "zero-energy" home that can create more energy than it needs, which can be sold back to the electrical power grid. By the Department of Energy's definition, a "zero energy" home is one that saves 50 percent in energy use, Wickstrom said.
Phoenix Systems claims homeowners will pay 72 percent less on heating and cooling bills than a similar wood-frame home built to the standards of a typical American home.
Homes built by companies such as Pardee Homes are certified as "Energy Star" by the U.S. Department of Energy and EPA for construction technology that results in a 33 percent reduction of energy use. The components that go into an "Energy Star" home rating deal with the walls, roof, windows and heating and air conditioning.
Debra March, director of the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said energy-efficient construction can be achieved by using different insulation and building materials.
"You have Pardee Homes. They pride themselves on being a green builder and I'm sure there's some work on the commercial side, too," she said. "The cost of doing business has become so expensive, so developers are looking at ways to save money in the design."
Lied Institute is presenting a course March 5 on energy-efficient construction, taught by Neil Opfer of the UNLV Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Wickstrom said he pitched Phoenix Systems' technology to Pulte and KB Home, two of the top builders in Las Vegas. He said Pulte did a study on it and KB was concerned about finding qualified workers who could install the system.
"They're all stuck in the old paradigm of a wooden frame structure," he said. "Even if it's not my material, I'd support anyone who uses the system."
One advantage of Phoenix Systems is the web that holds the polystyrene forms together, preventing a "blowout" when the concrete is poured, Wickstrom said. The ties are placed 8 inches apart with thick flanges embedded just below the interior and exterior wall surfaces that provide the same nailing surface as a two-by-four stud, he said.
American PolySteel Forms, another polystyrene insulation product, was used to build the Salvation Army apartments on Owens Avenue in 1996.
"Overall, if there's a better way to build, I haven't found it yet," Richard Baines, distributor of APS Building Systems in Las Vegas, said at the time.
In addition to being incredibly energy efficient, insulated concrete form homes are strong and quiet and resistant to fire, insects and mold, Wickstrom said. "What we're building here," he said, "is a 300-year home, not a 30-year home."
Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
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| Tuesday, February 8, 2005 | |
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8 Feb 2005 @ 20:27
01/26/2005
Bella Via: The future in sustainable communities
By Silvia Casabianca
Frank Oaks presented Bella Via, his project for a sustainable community, at the Botanical Garden on Jan. 15.
Fifteen years ago, Frank Oakes, a third generation farmer, had a vision that grew over time as he started to share it with friends and neighbors. The vision developed into Bella Via, meaning beautiful way a dream sketched on a piece of writing, and a hope that someday, like in the well-known John Lennon's lyrics, "the world will live as one."
As Oakes became a skilled organic grower, and eventually the president of the Florida Organic Growers Association, his dream fleshed out with the input of like-minded people into the project that he presented last Jan. 15 to an audience of 30 people at the Naples Botanical Garden.
"The concept is so simple and so fine," he said.
Bella Via is a prototype for a totally new kind of intentional community: One that embodies the principles of sustainability, green building materials and techniques, environmentally-friendly products, certified organic farming and sustainable agricultural practices; renewable energy sources, social consciousness, holistic health and wellness.
"This community is technologically very easy to put together, and it will be wonderful to live in it," said Oakes.
All homes will be built "green" and none will be over two stories. They will have no garages, which will compensate much of the cost of implementing solar power. Photovoltaic units will be interconnected underground to the Florida Power & Light (FPL) grid. If the system generates more than the house is consuming, it's selling power back to FPL that will credit the user. Collected rainwater will be used for all showering and cooking needs.
"How to fund, how to operate and what rules we'll have make the difficult part," said Oakes. "We want to create a covenant that holds the parameters within which we'll live, excluding as many problems as we can. I don't like rules and regulations, and I believe that freedom comes from responsibility. So, ideally, if people are responsible, rules become unnecessary."
As it's planned today, Bella Via would be a community with 1,908 dwellings for 4,200 people, with a 40 acre organic vegetable farm, a 45 acre fruit and berry farm and citrus grove, an assisted living facility, a charter school and a 160,000 square feet retail and professional service complex. It will consist of apartment buildings, condominium buildings and a community center with soccer and football fields and a golf course.
"Like a town in the mid-50s," said Oakes, "it is a self-contained community, where people know and support each other and facilities are at a walking distance."
"This is no utopia and no place for Grizzly Adams," said Oakes. "But it's a huge step, a replicable experiment."
The 640 acres community would offer anything that anyone might need and people who live in the community will simplify their lives as much as possible, reducing sickening levels of contemporary stress to a minimum.
No chemicals or machines using fossil fuels will be allowed inside the community. The need to own automobiles will be greatly reduced, with the consequent saving costs in maintenance and car insurance. A fleet of community-owned cars would be parked in the periphery of the community for those who need to rent them. Bio-diesel buses will provide transportation in and out of Naples. This fuel will come from the grease and fats from the restaurants operating on the grounds and from soy grown on the farm.
There will be two doctors living within the community that will pay nothing for homes and will have no liability concerns. A significant salary will derive from a voluntary self-insurance and a low fee paid per consultation.
John Voell II, who's been involved in the project, also addressed the audience.
"I encouraged Frank to record his ideas and transcribe them to paper. He inspired me. It's about a place I'd dreamed I might live in someday. The whole idea is leaving as little a footprint on earth as possible," said Voell.
Main concerns expressed by the audience were ownership and market value of homes in Bella Via. Should the property exist as a non-profit land trust? Then, what happens when somebody moves out?
"Homes will cost less, land will cost less," said Oakes. "This will be a cradle-to-grave community. People won't move in from an investment point of view. The investment is on lifestyle. People will be able to live for much less in this community, so they will be able to save money."
Many people in the audience seemed to have already moved to a healthier, greener living.
John Puig, 33, said he was enthusiastic about the project. "I already grow organics, eat healthy and ride my bike to work. I don't even own a TV."
Kimberly Cavalier, who already knew about the project through Oakes, said she also has a healthy lifestyle and encourages people to do as much.
About the possible location of Bella Via, Oakes mentioned East Naples and also the appealing cost of land in Hendry. "Besides," he said, "there are fewer regulations in Hendry. Collier seems to be stiff on a number of things. Our community would make 11 percent of the population, which would give us even some political power."
Should Bella Via's lots be owned or should they be 99-year leases? Should the lots have a fixed price or exist in the free market? How should the community be governed? These and many more questions will be the subject matter of discussion among the 20 people who signed for a committee created at the Botanical Garden. They will produce a covenant in the next six months. More people are expected to join the committee now that Bella Via's Web site is in place and offers a blog for people to express concerns and contribute thoughts about the project.
"This is for everybody and not only for granola heads," said Oakes. "I hope this becomes a reality and others will emulate us."
Visit the Web site at: www.bellaviacommunity.com.
More >
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| Saturday, January 15, 2005 | |
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15 Jan 2005 @ 03:15
A Tidal Wave of Lessons Learned -- an ENN Commentary
January 13, 2005 — By Duane Silverstein
The environmental community has long proclaimed the importance of keeping mangrove forests and coral reefs intact as a means of buffering coastal villages against the impact of severe storms. Sadly, the recent tsunami has provided vivid and gruesome proof of how correct this warning was. Consider this comment from Seacology Prize recipient Anuradha Wickramasinghe of Sri Lanka: "Due to mangrove vegetation, the tsunami damage to my village is not severe like other nearby villages that cut their mangrove forests down to make room for industrial shrimp farms." Or this comment from Dr. Felix Sugitharaj of the hard-hit Andaman Islands: "Mangrove forests saved my village from the sort of destruction experienced at the nearby nation's capitol of Port Blair. Compared to Port Blair, human loss and house damage have been minimal."
The news media is now also reporting on the important buffering effects of intact coral reefs and mangrove forests. Somewhat surprisingly, on December 31, 2004, The Wall Street Journal led this charge when it published a comprehensive article detailing the increased damage and loss of life to those villages that no longer had healthy reefs and mangroves near their shore. This is lesson number one from the recent tsunami: you can't cut down mangrove forests or destroy coral reefs in the interest of short-term financial gain without paying a horrific price sooner or later. Try as we might, you just can't fool Mother Nature.
There is a second lesson to be learned from this terrible tragedy: listen to the wisdom of the local people in deciding what type of aid they need. My organization, Seacology, focuses on preserving the environments and cultures of islands throughout the globe. We have many projects in the Indian Ocean and fortunately only four of these were damaged by the tsunami. While we will stand by our projects and will pay to repair or replace them all, we realize there is significant human suffering that has to be addressed as well. This realization came all too easily, as I have visited our project sites and have met many individuals who perished during the tsunami. We knew we wanted to establish a tsunami relief program but we wanted to do it in a way that was cost effective, targeted, had no red tape, no overhead and where we knew where every single cent we raised was going. And so we targeted four villages which have hosted Seacology projects -- one in Sri Lanka, one in The Maldives, one in Thailand and one in the Andaman Islands.
We then asked our contacts who are highly respected leaders in each of these villages to identify what the local people feel are the priority needs for tsunami relief. We figure they would have a better idea than we would, sitting in an office in the U.S. The needs are as different as they are interesting. In the village in Sri Lanka, all the fishing equipment was destroyed and the fishermen can no longer earn a living. They requested new fishing nets and equipment, which is exactly what we will provide (cost per family: $95). In the Andaman Islands each family wants 20 chickens and a goat so they will have a long-term source of food and income (cost per family: $30). If someone had asked me on December 27 what the most critical needs of the impacted villages would be, I am sure that the provision of chickens and goats would not have been on the top of the list.
By and large, the vast majority of people living in the tsunami region of the Indian Ocean never advocated mangrove deforestation, yet it is they who paid the price -- in many cases the ultimate price -- for this foolhardy policy that benefited large industrial shrimp farming and other development interests. By listening to island villagers in the wake of this terrible natural disaster, we can help rebuild their livelihoods and insure that buffer zones remain intact to protect life and land in these vulnerable coastal regions.
Duane Silverstein is the executive director of Seacology, a non-governmental organization with the sole focus of preserving island environments and cultures throughout the globe.
Source: ENN
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| Tuesday, January 11, 2005 | |
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11 Jan 2005 @ 06:36
EBay, Intel Launch Initiative to Recycle Used Electronic Gadgets
January 07, 2005 — By Rachel Konrad, Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — EBay Inc. and Intel Corp. launched a recycling program Thursday to motivate Americans to safely dispose of mounting piles of used computers and other electronic gadgets.
U.S. consumers retire or replace roughly 133,000 personal computers per day, according to research firm Gartner Inc. EBay lists roughly $2.5 billion worth of new and used computers every year, as well as $2.5 billion worth of consumer electronics such as cellular phones, gaming equipment and hand-held computers.
But because relatively few people are willing to pay for professional recycling, and many don't want to dispose of hard drives that contain personal data, machines often end up in basements, garages and spare bedrooms. If improperly disposed, PCs can leak a plethora of toxins into the environment, including lead, cadmium, chromium and mercury.
"You don't want to throw them out, and you don't know what to do with them," said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, who launched the "Rethink" initiative at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The effort is centered around a Web site, at [link] , where Americans with unused gadgets can get information on how to get rid of them safely. The site includes a downloadable program that will erase all data from hard drives, ensuring that the owners' financial and other data can't be shared.
Other corporate sponsors include Apple Computer Inc., Gateway Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., International Business Machines Corp. and Ingram Micro Inc., as well as the U.S. Postal Service, which in some cases will help deliver PCs to eBay drop-off locations or recycling centers.
According to a study commissioned by San Jose, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, roughly half of all U.S. households have working but unused consumer electronics products. Roughly 400 million gizmos will be thrown out by 2010.
The gizmos, ranging from old MP3 players and home media centers to million-dollar servers at large corporations, can be resold. Or eBay will connect owners with charities, such as educational nonprofits that distribute used PCs to poor communities.
Or consumers can simply dispose of products at nearby recycling centers, which will be listed on the site. Rethink will only link to recyclers that promise not to dump the machines in landfills in developing nations -- a growing source of environmental toxins in China and southeast Asia.
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| Wednesday, December 8, 2004 | |
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8 Dec 2004 @ 23:56
This article appears in YES! magazine Summer 1997 Issue: Money: Print your Own!
Local Currency Resources
Elderplan Inc. 6323 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220 718/921-7990 [link] An HMO that issues service credits to seniors who help one another
LETSystems Landsman Community Services Ltd. 1600 Embelton Cres. Courtenay, BC V9N 6N8 Canada 250/338-0213 contact: Michael Linton email: Ics@mars.ark.com [link]
A hub of LETS creativity E.F. Schumacher Society 140 Jug End Road Great Barrington, MA 01230 413/528-1737 email: efssociety@aol.com [link]
Many links to local currencies and community economics. Offerings include:
Local Currency News, a new quarterly to be co-edited by Paul Glover and SusanWitt $25/year Local Currencies: Catalysts for Sustainable Regional Economicsby Robert Swannand Susan Witt $5 Second Annual Decentralist Conference, June 27-29, 1997 to be held inWilliamstown, MA, on community economics including local currencies.
Time Dollar Institute P.O.Box 42160 Washington, D.C. 20015 202/686-5200 email: yeswecan@col.com www.timedollar.org/
Time Dollars software available at this site Womanshare 680 West End Avenue New York, NY 10025 212/662-9746 (ph. & fax) [link]
Woman's skills exchange Other organizations: New Economics Foundation 1st Floor, Vine Court 112-116 Whitechapel Road London E1 1JE, UK Tel: +44 (0) 171 337 5696 email: info@neweconomics.org [link]
Offerings include:
LETS on Low Income, by Helen Barnes, Peter North and Perry Walker, the firstsystematic study of LETS in poor areas. £8.40 includes postage. Community Works! A Guide to Community Economic Action, a detailed listing ofcommunity economic action initiatives in the UK, £3 postage paid. Service Credit Program Center on Aging 1240, HHP Building College Park, MD 20742 301/405-2545 email: kt39@umail.umd.edu [link]
Provides technical assistance and materials on service and credit programs, including a free newsletter To Your Credit, and a directory of US service credit programs.
International Reciprocal Trade Association 53 River St. Milford, CT 06460 email: BNIRAY@aol.com [link]
Fosters the interests of the commercial barter industry.
BOOKS:
Whole Life Economics: Revaluing Daily Life by Barbara Brandt New Society Publishers, 1995, $17 (paper)
A critique of "addictive" economics and a road map to an economy of whole people and communities.
Time Dollars by Edgar Cahn & Jonathon Rowe Rodale Press, 1992
Out of print but worth looking for -- on community-enhancing credit systems.
Short Circuit: Strengthening Local Economies for Security in an Unstable World by Richard Douthwaite Green Books, 1996, £15 (paper)
Comprehensive and insightful stories of the development of community-based economies.
New Money for Healthy Communitiesand Money and Debt: A Solution to the Global Crisis both by Thomas Greco, Jr. $19 and $11 respectively, post-paid, order from: PO Box 42663 Tucscon, AZ 85733
One of the true visionaries of new money critiques the global financial system and proposes a redesign. Interest and Inflation Free Money: Creating and Exhange Medium that Works for Everybody and Protects the Earth by Margrit Kennedy, Declan Kennedy New Society Publishers, 1995, $15 (paper)
Shows how interest leads to drive for exponential growth, concentrates wealth, and affects every purchase. Proposes a new equitable and sustainable monetary system. The Economic Renewal Guide: A Collaborative Process for Sustainable Community Development by Michael J. Kinsley Rocky Mountain Institute, 1997, $18 (paper)
A handbook for building sustainable local economies -- draws on RMI's hands-on work in communities throughout the US.
Invested in the Common Good by Susan Meeker-Lowry New Society Publishers, 1995, $17 (paper)
Communities respond to globalization and economics-as-usual through activism and creating alternatives.
Get A Life! How to Make A Good Buck, Dance Around the Dinosaurs and Save the World While You're At It by Wayne Roberts and Susan Brandrom Get A Life Publishers, 1995, $20 (paper) 2255B Queen St. East, #127 Toronto, Ontario, M4E 1G3
Practical, inspiring guide to creating a living in harmony with the Earth and your self.
[link] More >
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| Monday, November 22, 2004 | |
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22 Nov 2004 @ 20:12
Putin adviser says Kyoto 'smoke screen'
World Net Daily | November 20 2004
Treaty will create Soviet-style 'monster' threatening freedom
An adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin warns the Kyoto protocol ratified by his country is a propaganda "smoke screen" that will create a "supranational bureaucratic monster" threatening human freedom, similar to the Soviet Union's.
For most of the world, writes Andrei Illarionov in the Financial Times, the protocol, set to become an international treaty next year, is "bad news."
"Like fascism and communism, Kyotoism is an attack on basic human freedoms behind a smokescreen of propaganda," he said. "Like those ideologies of human hatred, it will be exposed and defeated."
Illarionov -- whose views, the British paper noted, did not necessarily reflect those of the Russian authorities -- asserted the Kyoto protocol is destructive for science and the environment, public health and safety, economic growth and the international fight against hunger and poverty.
The protocol, the presidential adviser contended, is scientifically unsubstantiated.
"Climate change is an inalienable feature of Earth," he argued in his Financial Times piece. "But it is not proved that concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes changes in global temperature.Variations in energy flow from the sun determine our climate much more than anything else, including emissions of greenhouse gases. Historically, global temperature has fluctuated more than the increase of 0.6° Celsius over the past 100 years cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."
He pointed out that in the past, the Earth's climate was warmer, the global temperature rose faster, sea level was higher, floods were more severe, droughts lasted longer and hurricanes were more devastating than in the 20th century.
"Climate change is real, but it is caused by forces of nature, not of humankind," he asserted.
Illarionov contended "propaganda" wrongly equates greenhouse gases with air pollutants.
"Yet none of the six gases referred to in the Kyoto protocol is considered toxic," he said. "The protocol tackles none of the real air pollutants. What is more, modern environmental cleaning processes are based on chemical reactions that create additional carbon dioxide as a by-product. Limiting such emissions means limiting implementation of the most efficient technologies."
He also contended Kyoto is "devastating" to economic growth, because limiting emissions means limiting energy consumption, economic activity and technological progress.
Kyoto's followers already are paying a heavy price, he says, noting that since 1997, slower emissions growth in 17 pro-Kyoto, high-income countries coincided with slower growth in gross domestic product in comparison to non-Kyoto nations such as the U.S., Australia and South Korea.
Illarionov warned enforcement of Kyoto would remind Russians of the days of the communist Soviet Union.
"The Kyoto protocol requires a supranational bureaucratic monster in charge of rationing emissions and, therefore, economic activities," he said in the Financial Times piece. "The Kyotoist system of quota allocation, mandatory restrictions and harsh penalties will be a sort of international Gosplan, a system to rival the former Soviet Union's."
The Russian adviser insisted the majority of humankind does not accept this system, despite claims of worldwide support.
Even with Russia's ratification, he pointed out, 75 percent of the world's CO2 is emitted by the 89 percent of the world's population living in countries not "handcuffed" by Kyoto's restrictions.
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| Thursday, November 11, 2004 | |
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11 Nov 2004 @ 05:02
Living Free and Easy
by John Gartner
Wired News
Hundreds of homeowners in California never worry about paying their electric bills on time. It's not because they are careless; it's because they live in new "zero-energy" homes that produce as much electricity as they consume. These homes are not multimillion-dollar prototypes -- they are entry-level homes using commercially available products.
Zero-energy homes reduce energy demand by up to 70 percent using the latest energy-efficiency technologies, and generate all the electricity they need from photovoltaic solar panels. The term zero-energy home was coined by the Department of Energy as part of a program to create technologies for homes that would produce all of their own energy by 2010.
While the goal has not been achieved, commercial companies and researchers have created technologies that today allow homes to provide all of their own electricity while greatly reducing the amount of fossil-fuel (natural gas, oil or coal) energy required.
According to the DOE, 26,172 energy-efficient homes have been constructed as part of the agency's Building America program. Homeowners in the Vista Montana community of Watsonville, California, where single-family dwellings start at $250,000, have lopped 90 percent off their utility bills, according to Nicole Gittleson, vice president of Clarum Homes, which built the houses.
Gittleson said the company will build 267 homes this year that can generate nearly all of their electricity using solar-panel systems capable of generating 2 to 3 kilowatts of electricity. She said any electricity produced that exceeds what the homes need is sold back to the energy utility, as required by California's net metering law. Net metering enables homeowners to sell energy during the day at the highest rates, which can make up for the cost of any extra energy needed at night.
Gittleson said one of the methods used in the Vista Montana homes to reduce energy consumption is the tankless water heater. Tankless devices heat water as needed instead of keeping a large water tank hot and continuously drawing energy.
Tim Merrigan, a senior program manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said using state-of-the-art energy-efficiency technology adds from $10,000 to $20,000 to the cost of a new home. In these homes "the (monthly) utility bill often goes down more than the mortgage goes up," so the payback is immediate, according to Merrigan.
Completely energy-self-sufficient homes will likely be built in some regions of the United States by 2010, Merrigan said. Temperate areas of the West are the easiest places to build these homes, while humid areas of the Southeast are the most challenging since they require more cooling, he said.
In addition to Clarum Homes, Premier Homes, Pardee Homes, Centex Homes and others are building houses that reduce utility bills by 50 percent or more, according to the DOE.
Installing windows that keep heat out in the summer and retain it in the winter is an effective method of reducing energy costs, according to Joe Wiehagen, a senior research engineer at the National Homebuilders Association. For example, spectrally selective windows block out unseen ultraviolet light and solar heat while allowing visible light to pass through, Wiehagen said.
Wiehagen said electrochromic technology from Sage Electrochromics saves energy by darkening windows to almost black to block heat from entering. The windows, which change tint at the press of a button, can be linked to a programmable thermostat to automatically block or allow light to pass through depending on the temperature. "These windows can be used anywhere, and may show just as much benefit in cold climates as in hot climates," he said.
Wiehagen said prefabricated insulating panels used in framing walls and roofs also aid in making zero-energy homes possible. Many newer homes were built with the central air/heating system in the uninsulated attic, where it can be subject to extreme temperatures, he said. Installing panels above the attic insulates the top of the house, so the "conditioned attic has far fewer losses" in heating and cooling, according to Wiehagen.
The ground is also a good source of heat for zero-energy homes. Wiehagen said geothermal heat pumps can collect underground heat through a loop of pipes and use an electric compressor to concentrate the heat and pump it to the rooms of the house.
Homeowners looking for the highest return on their investment should put money into energy-efficiency technologies before installing solar panels, Wiehagen said. "You can cut your energy bill by 50 percent without photovoltaic solar panels," he said. More >
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| Wednesday, November 3, 2004 | |
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3 Nov 2004 @ 15:31
I lived in Matilja Canyon for five years. Many of my friends still live there. A paradise of a place with this dam on one end of the river. This is an important removal for the residents of that area and the ecological health of the area.
Southern California Dam Outlives Its Usefulness, But Removing It Presents a Costly Challenge
November 01, 2004 — By Tim Molloy, Associated Press
OJAI, California — The Matilija Dam isn't much of a dam anymore; on rainy days, it looks more like a waterfall. A pile of sediment has built up so high behind the dam that when just an inch of rain falls, water spills over in glistening cascades.
The dam's aging concrete also chokes off sediment and nutrients that could nurture the riverbanks and restore Ventura County beaches downstream. So it's got to go.
But tearing down the Southern California structure presents a costly challenge. The sheer size of its removal will make it one of the most complicated in the country, and the project will carry an expected price tag of $130 million.
"It's not just something that you can go in there and remove in a day," said Steve Evans, conservation director of the Friends of the River, which monitors dam removals across California.
Environmentalists and engineers agree the Matilija Dam has outlived its intended purpose. Officials add that demolishing the 198-foot-high dam would ultimately improve the area's ecosystem, helping restore endangered steelhead trout by allowing them to swim upstream and spawn and by allowing sand to flow downstream and restore eroded beaches.
Jeff Pratt, director of the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, said the sediment makes the reservoir all but useless. The protection district is leading the removal effort.
Plans to remove the Matilija Dam meet state coastal protection requirements. The dam, built in 1947, was created as a means of providing flood control to a handful of small downstream communities and recharging groundwater supplies used by farmers in the sparsely populated Ojai Valley.
Now, the dam cradles mostly rocks and pebbles and is clogged with 6 million cubic yards of sediment.
"For a long time we looked at the benefits of water development — dams, levees, and such — and ignored the costs," said Daniel McCool, a University of Utah political science professor who studies environmental issues. "Now the things that were damaged by the levees and dams are the things that we value."
Part of the Matilija is already gone. Workers took out slabs built with substandard materials, reducing the dam's height to 165 feet in the middle. As the rest is removed, the watershed district will take steps to avoid flooding along the 16 miles of the Ventura River that leads to the Pacific Ocean.
Nationally, at least 145 aging dams have been torn down in the last five years for a host of reasons, including safety.
Among other restoration projects:
Environmentalists want to restore the Louisiana coastline, harmed by dams and channels on the Mississippi. In central Florida, ecologists are removing human-made channels from the Kissimmee River that destroyed wetlands and wildlife.
And on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, planning is under way to dismantle the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and the 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam as part of a $182 million plan to restore the Elwha River, reopening 70 miles of salmon and steelhead habitat.
The Matilija's removal won't begin until at least 2007. A proposed plan has been presented for public comment, and funding will need to come mostly from Congress.
The riverbank ranges from lushly shaded to dry and craggy where the river goes underground.
To help what fish remain, engineers designed a series of small pools leading to a holding pond where the trout would be picked up and driven upstream by truck. But rocks carried over the dam by water broke the fish ladder.
The leading proposal for removing the dam calls for gradually pumping 2 million cubic yards of mud to the flood plain downstream. After temporarily stabilizing the rest of the sediment, crews would break the dam down a section at a time, said Pam Lindsey, a watershed district ecologist.
Among the land that could be partially flooded is the riverside estate of Brooks Greene-Barton, a former real estate broker. Greene-Barton supports the dam's removal, even though he and his wife were in escrow to sell the 10-acre property when the prospective buyer backed out because of flooding concerns.
Instead of filing suit, Greene-Barton hopes to lease his land to the district. As an added benefit, he would retain the lush riverbank where his two Labrador retrievers can still play.
"If you love trees and you love the forest, they come back," he said.
Source: Associated Press
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| Friday, September 24, 2004 | |
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24 Sep 2004 @ 01:40
Dell and HP Expand Recycling Programs
July 14, 2004 — By Matt Slagle, Associated Press
DALLAS The world's two largest personal-computer manufacturers have gotten a little greener.
Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. announced free, temporary programs Tuesday to encourage U.S. consumers to recycle toxin-filled computers and electronics.
Beginning next week, Dell customers in the United States who buy a new Dimension desktop or Inspiron notebook computer can recycle their old computers free. The offer expands on a free recycling program the company has had for printers since March 2003.
Rival Hewlett-Packard, meanwhile, has teamed with retailer Office Depot to offer free recycling for computers, digital cameras, fax machines, cell phones, and other electronics.
Consumers can drop off electronics at any Office Depot store between Sunday and Labor Day. The service is limited to one computer system or other electronic device per customer per day.
Environmental groups, which have long blasted the computer industry for lax recycling efforts, lauded the news. Only about 11 percent of electronics are recycled.
"Finally, consumers and small businesses have some options that don't charge you to do the right thing," said Robin Schneider, executive director of the Austin-based Texas Campaign for the Environment.
The group is one of three that teamed up for the Computer TakeBack Campaign, which monitors the recycling efforts of the world's computer makers.
In May, the campaign published a report that ranked the recycling programs of Dell and HP above many foreign competitors. A year earlier, Dell fared poorly in the report, mainly for its use of prison workers who earned 20 cents to $1.26 per hour to recycle hardware.
Round Rock, Texas based Dell now uses two domestic recycling companies and says none of the parts will end up in overseas landfills. Palo Alto, California–based HP has recycling centers in Roseville, California, and near Nashville, Tennessee.
Michael Rosenstein, Dell's director of consumer e-business, said the new program was in reaction to demands from consumers and environmental groups. He would not say how long Dell's limited offer would last.
The Dell program lets consumers get free recycling as part of the checkout process on its Web site. Buyers will get two prepaid shipping labels, one for the computer, one for the monitor and instructions to put old equipment of any make or model in the boxes that contained the new equipment. DHL will pick up the boxes for free.
Those not buying new Dell computers can buy home pickup recycling for $5 per unit; the price had been $15.
HP also has a mail-based computer recycling plan that costs consumers $35. Similarly, IBM Corp. accepts mailed-in computers, printers, and monitors by any manufacturer for a $30 fee, with shipping included.
Source: Associated Press
More >
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| Saturday, September 18, 2004 | |
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18 Sep 2004 @ 14:22
Man-Made Rainforest Baffles Scientists
By Charles Arthur
Technology Editor
The Independent - UK
9-15-4
A Man-Made rainforest that should have taken millennia to evolve has baffled scientists by springing up in just 150 years.
Rainforests should take millions of years to develop the highly complex, interactive ecosystems for which they are famed, in which every species fills an essential niche.
But the forest on Green Mountain, Ascension Island, in the mid-Atlantic sprung up chaotically from a mixed bag of botanical scrap brought in by the Royal Navy in 1843.
And the introduced species have thrived at a rate that has stunned experts and could trigger a rethink of conventional ecological theory, New Scientist magazine reports today.
When Charles Darwin stopped off at Ascension Island in 1836 on the home stretch of his long journey on the Beagle, he described it then as "entirely destitute of trees". Lying 1,200 miles from the nearest continent, the volcanic island was almost barren because of its remoteness, with only about 20 plant species, mainly ferns.
But in 1843, an ambitious British scheme for revitalising the island began, with Royal Navy troops planting thousands of trees a year, using seedlings from Argentina, South Africa, and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.
Soon the bare white mountain was cloaked in vegetation and renamed Green Mountain. By the early 20th century the mountain's slopes were covered in guava, banana, wild ginger, the white-flowered Cleroden drum, Madagascan periwinkle and eucalyptus from Australia. A thick bamboo forest crowned the summit.
Now Green Mountain is a thriving tropical forest, yet it grew from species collected randomly. Conventional theory suggests complex ecosystems only emerge through a slow evolution in which different organisms develop in tandem to fill particular niches.
But Green Mountain suggests that natural rainforests may be constructed more by chance than by evolution.
Dissident theorists call this "ecological fitting". It says species do not so much evolve to create ecosystems as make the best of what they have.
"The Green Mountain system is a spectacular example of ecological fitting," David Wilkinson, from Liverpool John Moores University, told New Scientist. "It is a man-made system that has produced a tropical rainforest without any co-evolution between its constituent species."
But Alan Gray, an ecologist at the University of Edinburgh, argues that the few surviving endemic species on Green Mountain would still be co-evolving and may form the framework of the new ecosystem, meaning the newcomers may be structurally irrelevant.
Even the new species may not be such a random collection.
"Many of the imports may have come from the same place, importing their co-evolutionary relationships," said Gray.
©2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved
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| Thursday, August 5, 2004 | |
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5 Aug 2004 @ 08:27
I think (?) this is a good thing. However I want to know where the goods are being taken for recycling. Much of the US e-waste ends up in Asia and is severly polluting and killing people and planet.
Office Depot and HP to Offer Industry's First Free Nationwide In-Store Electronics Recycling Program
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2004--
Environmental Stewardship Initiative Extends HP Recycling Service to All Office Depot Retail Locations in Continental U.S.
Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) and HP (NYSE: HPQ)(NASDAQ: HPQ) have developed the country's first free, nationwide, in-store electronics recycling program in which customers can drop off any brand of unwanted electronics at any of Office Depot's more than 850 retail locations in the continental United States.
The program, which runs from July 18 through September 6, 2004(1), will leverage HP's electronics recycling expertise and Office Depot's retail presence to offer consumer and business customers the most comprehensive, convenient and environmentally responsible electronics recycling service available.
Office Depot and HP will collect and recycle a broad range of information technology and digital entertainment products from any manufacturer, including desktops, notebooks, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, handhelds, digital cameras, fax machines, desktop copiers, flat panel displays, monitors, TVs (27" or smaller), TV/VCR combos and cell phones. All products collected from Office Depot stores will be recycled at HP's U.S. recycling facilities in Roseville, Calif. and near Nashville, Tenn.
"This is the latest example of Office Depot's commitment to implement industry-leading initiatives that encourage the use and distribution of environmentally preferable products and services," said Tyler Elm, director of Environmental Affairs for Office Depot. "We will continue to work with our business partners, environmental organizations and other stakeholders to provide our customers with the resources and knowledge they need to be environmentally responsible."
"Environmental responsibility is not only a part of HP's business strategy, it has become an integral component of the customer experience," said Lee Ray Massey, senior vice president, Imaging and Printing Group - Americas, HP. "This unique program with an important partner in the retail channel allows us to bring our recycling capabilities directly to consumers in a remarkably easy-to-use way."
"We are excited about the partnership that Office Depot and HP announced today," said Thomas P. Dunne, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "We look forward to this program increasing convenient opportunities for electronics recycling in the U.S. and leading to other productive partnerships among retailers, manufacturers and governments."
Full program details, as well as in-store drop-off instructions and locations, are available at [link]
With return and recycling operations in more than 30 countries, HP recycled more than 102 million pounds of unwanted computer products globally in 2003. More information on HP's recycling program is available at www.hp.com/recycle.
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| Friday, May 14, 2004 | |
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14 May 2004 @ 18:15
http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm#action
HERE TO TAKE ACTION!
Over the past few weeks America's organic
standards have once again come under heavy
attack. First the USDA's National Organic Program
(NOP) announced on April 14 that they would no
longer monitor or police "organic" labels on
non-agricultural products, literally opening the
door for unscrupulous companies to put bogus
organic labels on products such as fish, body
care products, pet foods, fertilizer, and
clothing.
In the case of Bogus Organic Labels on fish
[link]
and Cosmetic industry shams
[link]
bodycare products, the marketplace is already
starting to become flooded with products bearing
the organic label, even though the production
methods (industrial fish farms) or content
("organic" shampoos with organic claims based
upon added water) in many of these products
violate traditional organic principles. Besides
giving the green light to bogus organic labels
the new USDA "scope policy" penalizes genuine
organic companies that have begun sourcing,
certifying, and labeling their products as
organic.
Corporate agribusiness and the biotech lobby have
apparently decided that strict organic farming
practices and the booming organic market
constitute a threat to their bottom line, and
have called on their friends in the Bush
administration USDA to degrade organic standards
and prepare for a restructuring of organic
production so as to facilitate the use of
industrial agriculture practices such as
pesticides, antibiotics, non-organic feed, growth
hormones and even genetically engineered animal
drugs.
Monsanto's govt. ties click [link]
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| Sunday, May 2, 2004 | |
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| Friday, April 30, 2004 | |
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30 Apr 2004 @ 13:42
Sustainable Biodiesel
By Tim Castleman
4-30-4
Biodiesel is great, but there are a few things we should include in every conversation about Biodiesel:
1) Imagine if just 10% of the people using petro-diesel switched to biodiesel - that would create demand for twice as much as the supply of waste oil available. While it is a great idea to process waste vegetable oil and use it again, promoting biodiesel as a replacement for petro-diesel with no modification in consumption is unsustainable and socially irresponsible.
2) In that case, (even now already), oil formerly grown for food will be used for fuel instead. Example: a company named World Energy provides biodiesel to the Marine corps that is made from virgin soy oil. The military can afford it, regular folks can't. Using food as fuel to preserve overconsumptive lifestyles is unsustainable and socially irresponsible.
3) America already consumes 6 to 10 times per capita the amount of energy consumed in the rest of the world, teaching people they can keep this up is unsustainable and socially irresponsible.
4) It would be foolish to burn biodiesel in a stationary generator - it would run fine on vegetable oil with no processing beyond filtration. To promote biodiesel for generating electricity is unsustainable and socially irresponsible.
5) Conservation. Again, western culture simply consumes too much. Devising alternative sources of energy to support unsustainable living is unsustainable and socially irresponsible.
To be clear, biodiesel is far superior to petro-diesel in many regards, and will in fact help reduce climate change. However, to offer it as a replacement for petro-diesel at current consumption rates would be a disaster. It is imperative that consumption is reduced significantly, otherwise the legacy we will leave our descendants is unsustainable and socially irresponsible.
Tim Castleman
www.fuelandfiber.com More >
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| Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | |
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27 Apr 2004 @ 15:45
Global Population Decerease?
There is indeed a population shortfall trend developing in Western Europe, Russia and Japan. In Ireland, for instance, families have an average of 1.8 children today, slightly below the "replacement level" of two children per couple. Couples in Italy, Germany and Spain have just 1.2 to 1.3 children each. The average fertility rate in Europe is 1.45. Both Russia and Japan are at 1.3.
But it's simply not true that world population is shrinking, because these trends are overcompensated for by the very rapid population increases taking place in the world's poor and least-developed countries. According to the United Nations, population growth in less-developed countries is growing at an annual rate of 1.46 percent, nearly six times faster that the .25 percent growth taking place in the most heavily industrialized regions of the world.
We are currently adding 77 million people to the globe annually, with 21 percent of that increase coming from India, 12 percent from China and five percent from Pakistan. Three countries, Bangladesh, Nigeria and the United States each contribute four percent of the world's annual growth. In the U.S., where the average fertility rate was 2.05 in 2002, population growth is due largely to immigration.
From 6.3 billion people on the planet today, the United Nations projects we will grow to 8.9 billion by the year 2050. Half of that projected increase will occur in just eight countries, seven of them in Africa and Asia. It is interesting to consider that it took all of human history until 1800 for world population to reach its first billion; from there the second billion took only until 1930. Now, just 75 years later, we've passed the six billion mark.
Many environmentalists feel that human population growth is the most important environmental issue of all. The sheer number of people added to the planet each year easily erodes the "per capita" gains made by conservation measures. Globally, the population growth-induced accelerated loss of forestland results in a reduced ability for ecosystems to absorb the also-increasing carbon dioxide emissions that exacerbate global warming. Further, the expansion of human activity and associated loss of habitat are the leading causes of the unprecedented extinctions of plant and animal species worldwide.
In the United States, we lose two acres of farmland every minute, according to the American Farmland Trust, and a serious water shortage is developing nationwide, with aquifers once considered inexhaustible now drying up. In poor countries, population growth exacts its toll in the form of abject poverty and chronic food and water scarcity. More >
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| Tuesday, March 30, 2004 | |
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30 Mar 2004 @ 23:15
Waiter, There's A Drug In My Rice
By Kristen Philipkoski
Wired News 3-30-4
The California Rice Commission on Monday approved a biotech company's request to grow the state's first crop genetically modified to contain a drug.
The rice commission narrowly passed the proposal by a 6-5 vote. The commission advises the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which has the final decision on whether Ventria Bioscience of Sacramento can plant its pharmaceutical crop. If the agency approves, the company could be the first to commercialize such a product.
The rice is genetically modified to produce two human proteins that fight infection: lactoferrin and lysozyme. Some rice growers and environmental groups oppose the project, saying the rice could contaminate regular crops and damage the export market.
"Consumers in Japan will not accept (genetically engineered) contamination of any crop," said rice farmer Greg Massa in a statement. "The decision to approve Ventria's guidelines is bad news for farmers and California's rice industry."
But Ventria's proteins could be a big step forward in preventing infections in infants. Lactoferrin and lysozyme are present in breast milk, and protect babies from ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory tract infections, meningitis and other infections. But these protective proteins disappear when a baby stops breast feeding or doesn't receive breast milk at all. Researchers at Ventria were first to develop a human form of these proteins that could become therapies.
Ventria believes growing rice that produce proteins like lactoferrin and lysozyme in rice could be a cheaper way to develop drugs than building and maintaining expensive manufacturing plants.
But environmental groups and consumer advocates sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 2003 for inadequate oversight of pharmaceutical crops. Companies like Dow Chemical and Monsanto are experimenting with corn, soybeans, tobacco, rice and sugar crops to find a cheaper way to mass-produce drugs.
Opponents say growing the crops in open fields endangers organic and conventional crops, as well as human health. And it's not just an issue environmentalists and consumer advocates are worried about, said Paul Achitoff, managing attorney of Earthjustice in Hawaii.
"Even food-processing corporations are very upset about this as well, because they know all you need is one shipment of corn flakes that has a contraceptive in it and there's a real problem, obviously," Achitoff said.
In 2002, federal officials ordered ProdiGene, of College Station, Texas, to burn 155 acres of corn and 500,000 bushels of soybeans because the crops had been contaminated by the company's pharmaceutical corn, which had been genetically engineered to produce an experimental diarrhea vaccine for pigs.
"Contamination is inevitable under this protocol, and the CRC did not act in the best interests of California rice farmers or consumers," said Renata Brillinger of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture.
"Instead of the normal 30-day public comment period that would exist with any other regulation, this fast tracking allows a 10-day review by CDFA," said Rebecca Spector of the Center for Food Safety. "The CDFA level is really the time where we depend on the public to be able to submit comments. We hope that the secretary of agriculture will review the proposal under the normal public review process."
"This is kind of a big mess," she said. "We requested that they wait to see how FDA and USDA are going to regulate this before approving this planting protocol. Ventria is taking advantage of this regulatory vacuum and in the meantime has gone through the regulatory bodies in California."
Ventria executives were not immediately available for comment.
Ventria's proposal restricts the production to counties that do not currently grow rice: San Luis Obispo, Kern, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial.
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Sounding Circle - Category: Permaculture
