Mark Bittman makes the point in his column at the New York Times today, that the biggest killer of Americans isn't guns but industrial agriculture. A point I have made repeatedly with my family over the years. ...the root of that dangerous diet is our system of hyper-industrial agriculture,…
I used to drive by this site and not know the significance. Good news! An amazing prairie remnant has been found in Deer Park. It is called the College Park Prairie, named after an adjacent elementary school. This is a 53-acre prairie pothole remnant with a full complement of pimple…
Over the weekend the signs of spring began to reach out and shake my senses. Apple trees are breaking bud and sending forth blooms. This has been one of the first winters since we planted them that all of the leaves have been off the trees at one time. In…
This hour, with Bill McKibben, we seek perspective, both factual and moral, on human responsibility in a changing natural world. McKibben wrote The End of Nature, the first book on climate change for a general readership, in 1989. "Only in the disappearance of nature as we have known it," he…
Wind power generation in Texas is growing so quickly that it is testing the limits of the state’s electrical grid. The state set a record on March 5 when wind turbines generated 6,272 megawatts of energy, or about 19 percent of the electricity on the state’s main power grid. That…
I found this in my email reading today...It makes you wonder if the modern world is really all that modern after all. Apparently for about a third of the world's population not a whole lot has changed in 21 centuries... Cooking and Heating in the 21st Century. Some two billion…
Welcome to the International Year of Biodiversity You are an integral part of nature; your fate is tightly linked with biodiversity, the huge variety of other animals and plants, the places they live and their surrounding environments, all over the world. You rely on this diversity of life to provide…
All of the folks that are claiming that the Earth is and has been in a cooling cycle are being disingenuous...Using weather trends to infer climate trends breaks down when you watch the averages over any period of time. I can already hear the cries from the climate skeptics...But, here…
If only there was a court to try the cases in... So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement. But 212 representatives voted no... And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a…
Paul Hawken: The New Great Transformation This talk is quite long...but quite good. Take a bit of your day and be inspired...
Image via Wikipedia Back in my youth I discovered The Mother Earth News. It was probably sometime around 1971 that I first came across the magazine. I am sure I first found it at the old Space City News in downtown Houston where I spent a lot of time each…
I saw Patry's post about the medicinal use of red wine in the treatment of influenza... Patry Francis Red wine may prevent swine flu, which is the absolute only reason I drink it. http://www.anotherwineblog.com/archives/4253 I checked my stock and decided I needed to make a "medicine" run...Off to Spec's we…
Standing out in the backyard with my morning coffee as the sun rises, it was still. There was absolutely no breeze stirring, an unusual occurrence for here, at least lately...Cool and damp with dew on the grass, my body warmed by the rising sun. I was astonished to note the…
Stumbling through my news reader I came across a reference and a video of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I have been aware of the work Joel is doing for a while. His success with Polyface is an inspiration that will become more important…
Sometimes you are amazed at the serendipity of life...I discovered Felder Rushing a few years back while wandering the web. I started listening to the podcast of his weekly public radio program, The Gestalt Gardener, and keeping up with his travels. I even posted a link and his picture back…
I have a confession to make...I just discovered Marion Nestle and her blog Food Politics. I know, I'm slow on the uptake sometimes. I find that my feelings about food are becoming somewhat activistic...I am getting more upset by the industrialization of our food on a daily basis. So you…
After eight years of backpedaling by the previous administration on the requirements that it protect the environment, there is a new group in charge. They seem to feel that the laws passed by congress prior to the Bush Administration really are laws...Go figure.
Parched winter months this year have put California agriculture into a tailspin. With a third dry year in a row, the state has been forced to deeply examine its strategies for coping with dry times. Many worry this drought is a harbinger of the long-term impacts of climate change, a…
When I was born in 1952, there were 203,000 farms in Iowa, only 11,000 fewer than when my dad was born in 1926. By 2002, the number had dropped to about 90,000, with roughly the same acreage in production in a state with a population that had remained roughly the…
Currently (on Mon 6:02AM CST from Pearland Regional Airport) Light Rain Temp: 66° Dewpoint: 64° Wind: SE 9 MPH The weather here this winter has seemed to be more spring (or fall) like than any I can recall seeing. Checking the almanac for the past two months is eye opening. Since…
From the web... That’s CalTech engineer David Rutledge, who spoke to EarthSky at a recent science meeting. He said governments around the world have overestimated coal reserves or, the amount of coal still available for energy use. David Rutledge: That estimate, at least for these trends, appears to be high,…
Food is a microcosm of the macrocosm. Eating the right food is part of the solution to the problems of climate change and global hunger.(1) Resurgence Magazine is focusing on Food this month. I often find myself drawn to the subject of food...Not necessarily for reasons that would appear obvious.…
Verlyn Klinkenborg has something to say about what's happened to our view of the stars at night...He starts out this way... If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight world as visible to us as it…
Pre-Election Day Twenty O'Eight While everyone else is focusing on the election tomorrow, Bush and Company are getting a lot of the agenda they tried to pass and failed to do done anyway. The power of the executive office being used better to overthrow the will of the people. They…
This link is as much for me as it is for you few folks who read these daily musings. Farmer in Chief By MICHAEL POLLAN Dear Mr. President-Elect, It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is…
Image via Wikipedia The weather here has been very dry...at least until the past week or so. We have been having a spring-like amount of rain. After complaining for so long about the lack, it seems almost sacrilegious to say anything about the water we needed so bad. After months…
CARSON, NEW MEXICO—When the wind comes up the mesa, which it often does, there is a particular rusted-out old car nearby that whispers the same eerie, long-toned question every time: “Whoooooo?” I sometimes think: “Us.” Out in this remote part of the American Southwest lies the closest thing I have…
Obama is the first political figure since Carter to understand the energy efficiency and conservation approach and actually try to present it to the American people. Republicans want to nip it in the bud -- that's why they are so aggressively jumping on the tire gauge thing. They want to…
The Pleasurable Choice Is the Ethical Choice I like to say that I'm not an an optimist, but I am a person of hope. That is to say, I cultivate the virtue of hope in myself. Hope takes account of the enormity and darkness of challenges and problems, and yet…
The "Party" on Saturday had all of the appearances of being a success. By the time the house was empty and the ticky-tacky leftovers were put away I could once again hit the lazy-boy and reflect on the past couple of weeks of labor and feel good that it was…
Overnight Thompson's price per kilowatt-hour went from 11.8 cents with the now-defunct retailer National Power to 31.7 cents with CPL Retail Energy. During the 19 days last month he had to wait before he was switched to a lower priced plan, he ran up a $385 bill. Top wholesale power…
Wouldn't it make a great birthday present to the country if we could get serious about Energy Independence? Yale Environment 360: As Energy Prices Rise, the Pressure to Drill Builds Perhaps we should be amazed that America’s largest protected area — the 19.2 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) —…
I have never felt that the Corporate pushers of GMOs were looking out for anything other than their own profits. That has led me to look on their actions in an unfavorable light. While this has always been a personal "feeling", I find my concerns expressed very well by this…
I have subscribed to Michael Pollan's website to be sent updates to what's happening in his world. I received a notice that led me to a new environmental website...If you haven't seen it before, go check it out. Yale Environment 360: Michael Pollan on What's Wrong with EnvironmentalismThere are basically…
Maybe the answer to some of our ecological problems... Out of thin air: Successful wind confab in Houston points up Texas' growing role in alternative energy development | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Although it tops the nation in the volume of man-made greenhouse gas emissions fueling global warming, Texas has…
Shifting winds: A victory for island development | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Weather forecasters and climatologists have long warned that unbridled development of the vulnerable Gulf Coast is setting the stage for a disaster that might dwarf the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Coming hard on Katrina's heels was Rita, which…
Check the Guide... Environmental Working Group || foodnews.org Be A Smarter Produce Picker — Get Our Free Guide! EWG always recommends buying organic, but we know you can't always find it. Our new Guide — now in its 5th edition — features the 12 fruits and veggies with the most…
Another Reason To Be A Localvore... Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird? - New York Times Migratory songbirds like bobolinks, barn swallows and Eastern kingbirds are suffering mysterious population declines, and pesticides may well be to blame. A single application of a highly toxic pesticide to a field can…
It's not just the laws that have been passed. It's not just the laws that have been vetoed. It's not just the laws that GW Bush has said don't apply to him as he signed them. In many ways it comes back to the appointments made to the different departments…
Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest - washingtonpost.com The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA.
In the business world the dollar is the religion of choice, with it businesses are able to buy politics. This years political buy has started in the dirtiest business in America. Coal Industry Plugs Into the Campaign - washingtonpost.com A group backed by the coal industry and its utility allies…
Something is strange with my blogs. For some reason my search engine hits are climbing at (for here anyway) unusual rates. Believe me I'm not complaining, I might make some new friends. A five and six fold increase in the number of hits is appreciated, and if most of them…
From my drive home yesterday. The weather was threatening to follow me home...but it didn't. The clouds were amazing. And a little post processing in Photomatix Pro never hurts to bring them out in HDR. I drive by this location regularly since I first discovered it last fall. For a…
Blog Action Day On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind. In 2007 the issue is the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get…
This morning was another of those mornings when the weather outside is livable. Too bad it will not last... Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 102. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. +++++++++++ Andy Griffin is on roll with another essay…
I began thinking of the wordsmiths I enjoy who make their primary living working on the farm. I haven't made it a point to search these folks out, but maybe I should. There is something about the solitude of farm work that seems to allow the wordsmiths it produces to let their words steep and age before they commit them to paper (or electronic replacements thereof).
Our cooler, wetter summer sharply cuts West Nile cases | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Along with greener lawns and lower water bills, this summer's abundant rainfall is being credited with one more benefit: fewer human cases of West Nile virus."This season has been very different from last year," said Sandy…
Jim Hightower | CORPORATE AMERICA’S “CHEAP” IMPORT ADDICTION Let's be honest. China’s trillion-dollar-a-year export economy is based squarely on the country’s deliberate lack of humane standards. That’s precisely why our CEO’s rushed over there – every corner cut, every penny taken from workers and the environment, every product made on…
As a youngster growing up on the Gulf coast I naturally became a bit of a rockhound. Makes sense doesn't it? What with no natural rock formations being available within a hundred miles of where I lived. I think the rocks that first caught my eye, and are still my…
Thanks to Rebecca Blood for the link... I agree with her assessment. It is great advice on living well. Reflections On Italy TODAY WHILE TROLLING the hard drive on my Macbook Pro I came across a .txt file titled "Reflections on Italy." Link: Seat 1A: Reflections On Italy ++++++++++ Walking…
It’s not straight from the VP’s mouth, but it’s straight from his policy book. Energy companies rule and all you folks living in the neighborhood can “just go f— yourselves” to quote on Administration Official.
It looks like it's time to keep an eye on the tropics if you live in this part of the world. Hurricane Dean has reached category 4 and he's still strengthening. He is prognosticated anywhere from the Bay of Campeche in Mexico to the mouth of the Mississippi, due to…
Today's emails contained this week's copy of the "Weeknight Kitchen Newsletter" from The Splendid Table. I've been listening to Lynne Rossetto Kasper on the Splendid Table Podcast for a while now and enjoying it immensely. This week's newsletter contained a link to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch. I had…
For the record...This is day 1 of week 2 Post-Radiation. In a bit of serendipitous follow-up to yesterday's post. My email brings me this from Grist...How to prioritize your organic food dollars to get the most from your budget. On prioritizing organic purchases | By Umbra Fisk | Grist |…
In my internet wanderings and muses I find myself being drawn to many of the same subjects that interested me 3o plus years ago. It appears the wanna be back to the lander, mother earth news reader, Rodale convert from the '60's still resides inside these middle aged bones. Which…
This story caught my interest the other day. A Factory Farm Near You - New York Times Once upon a time, only a decade or so, it wasn’t hard to know where factory hog farms were because they were nearly all in North Carolina. But since those days, the practice…
Todays number is 31...Look Ma, no voice...He said with a raspy whisper. If this doesn't look like the eye of an angry God, I'll eat my fire and brimstone upbringing. I have visions of a bird of prey here... The Helix Nebula Dust makes this cosmic eye look red.…
Lady Bird Johnson dies at 94 | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Lady Bird Johnson, a former first lady, a Texas legend, a woman who used the humble wildflower to teach an entire nation to treasure and preserve the environment, died Wednesday. She was 94. She was a damn fine Texas…
It was a little strange this morning, waking up to the sounds of silence. No thunder, no pounding rain, not even the subliminal sound of water dripping from the eaves, seems very weird. I am sure it won't last as the humidity is at 99% and the temperature is already…
I generally don't just copy someone else's full post. This one twigged on a number of levels so I'll let Jim Hightower say it himself. Jim Hightower | WHY NOT "DRINK LOCAL?" Friday, June 29, 2007 Posted by Jim Hightower Listen to this Commentary In a triumph of marketing over…
Colin Fletcher (photograph, John Sexton/Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association) For most of us who care about ecology and the environment, there was some personal experience that brought us there. For me, it was wilderness hiking, beginning 30-plus years ago in the Grand Canyon and continuing across the American West. Two…
American Agriculture - Do you trust a CEO to decide what you eat? It may just be my inherent distrust of corporations or the complete lack of values most corporations have shown in the course of this country's history, but, I really do not trust my food quality and safety…
Currently: 73° Dewpoint: 72° Wind: NE 3 MPH Humidity: 97% Pressure: 29.98 in Hg Average: High 90° Low 72° Record: High 101° (1978) Low 60° (1955) Today's Sunrise: 6:20AM Today's Sunset: 8:23PM (14:03 hours of sunlight) The forecast is calling for seasonal highs and lows for the day so life…
Tony Snow had this to say about his boss and his environmental policies... Mr. Bush had in fact been “keenly committed both to environmentalism and conservationism from the start.” Must be something in the Kool-Aide up there in the White House. As the NY Times points out in an editorial...…
From the parallel universe of Robert Novak. "Environmentalists' well-financed propaganda operation"...Does the man live in this universe? Industry has been spending many times the amounts the environmentalists have but the truth is still coming thru their lies and distortions. Industry has controlled the conversation for 12 years in congress and…
After listening to some of the hearing on the radio, I am forced to agree with the Post. What does it say about America, that the ruling party for the last decade have placed the biggest obstructionists in positions of power and then blamed the opposition for being obstructionists. THE LAST hearing…
I found the following paragraphs most telling. In an article in the latest issue of the conservative Weekly Standard, Yuval Levin, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, explains the tension between the market and the family as clearly as anyone has: "The market values risk-taking and creative…
John Scalzi started a hell of a conversation. Join in...I'm proud to be an American, but I'm tired of being ashamed of my government. I'm tired of having to count the seconds until this bilious waste of a president is shoved out the door in January of 2009. I'm tired…
I really did not think the oil companies would be this desperate to keep the Republicans in charge but I guess you keep the ones that are letting you get away with it all. I originally predicted gas at $1.98 by the week before the election...I was about a month…