Category: Energy & Sustainability

By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Democracy, Energy & Sustainability, Ethics-International, Social and Economic Justice Tagged with , , ,

A government is finally taking action against Monsanto, which has a long history of abusive practices involving genetically modified crops.

In this instance, the company stands accused of stealing brinjal (a kind of eggplant) and developing GM varieties in an attempt first of all to extract biodiversity riches from the local populace without compensation, and second, to mislead others about whether they were engaging in GM once they had it. In the past, Monsanto has had a particularly disgusting habit of letting its GM crops contaminate other farmers’ fields, including organic growers, and then suing the victims for using its seed without permission. I am glad to see a government finally going after this corporate bully that plays fast and loose with our food safety.

Lots of bloggers have picked up this story, but it doesn’t seem like the mainstream media have paid attention. I finally located a mainstream media report: an English-language public affairs show on French TV covering India’s lawsuit against Monsanto.

Let’s hope this action is the first of many similar actions of governments protecting their people against these outrages.

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By Posted on Posted in Energy & Sustainability, Frugality/Frugal Fun, Green Business, Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,

According to a new study by Environmental Health Perspectives, biking instead of driving for trips under five miles turns out not only to be healthful, cleaner, more fun, etc.–it’s also apparently good for the economy to replace car trips with bike trips.

As a long-term bike fan (and sometime bike commuter all the way back to high school), I’m not surprised.

(via @undriving)

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Energy & Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Green Business Tagged with , , , , , ,

Two commentators demonstrate why solar continues to be viable, and why the dramatic and very public failure of Solyndra has nothing to do with the viability of solar.

On Huffington Post, Graciela Tiscareño-Sato writes, in “A Teaching Moment About the Green Economy,” of several brilliant entrepreneurs who are helping us take big steps toward a green economy, emphasizing multiple benefits such as saving cost and carbon and creating jobs at the same time. Her examples (all from the Latino world, incidentally) cover the building industry (specifically, solarizing schools in California), fashion, eco-consulting, and more.

And in the New York Times, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman points out that Solyndra’s failure was directly related to the success of solar. Solyndra’s model was based in high prices and scarcity, but as solar becomes more popular, the energy equivalent of the computer industry’s Moore’s Law kicks in; we get ever-more-powerful, cheaper, more effective systems as the quantity goes up. Solyndra couldn’t compete with the new low-cost solar providers. (Note: this is a different aspect of the same article I blogged about yesterday.)

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By Posted on Posted in Demographics/Psychographics, Energy & Sustainability, Politics

Even a majority of Republicans, according to this detailed survey of Americans’ feelings on alternative energy in Huffington Post.

A popular slogan during the 1960s was “If the people lead, the politicians will follow.” Might be time to bring that one back.

Thanks to C Gauvin for the link.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Energy & Sustainability, Green Business Tagged with , ,

A lot of visionary people out there are convinced that pretty much anything in the waste stream can be turned to more productive use. And quite a number of them are building low-cost houses out of other people’s discarded junk.

The above link takes you to several articles, with cool photos, about various people who are doing just that. (Note that the first, second, and fourth links all cover the work of one man, Dan Phillips of Huntsville, Texas—but with different pictures and narrative).

What I love about this kind of approach is that it simultaneously accomplishes multiple goods:

  • Provides low-cost housing at a time when so many have lost their homes
  • Reduces landfill waste, and thus extends the life of our landfills
  • Demonstrates the viability of other approaches than throwing stuff to rot slowly in a huge heap
  • Reduces the need to harvest virgin materials, and thus cuts back on environmentally destructive practices such as clear-cutting and strip-mining
  • Eliminates the release of significant carbon and other greenhouse gases compared to construction from new materials
  • Encourages all of us to use our creativity and ingenuity  to address the problems of our time
  • Shows yet again that one person can make a difference
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By Posted on Posted in Advertising, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Green Business, Green Marketing Tagged with , , , , ,

Here’s a company that’s been selling hand-made recycled art papers since 1998 (think about really cool and classy invitations)—and has just developed a new paper line using post-brewery barley as one of the ingredients—and being smart marketers, billing it as the first beer paper. They sponsored this morning’s HARO, and thus, I learned about them. I clicked over half expecting some very rough page put up by a few carousing fratboys–boy, was I wrong! These people love the earth and love what they do, which is obvious on every page of their site.

The firm is called Twisted Limb, out of Bloomington, Indiana. I love their sustainability page, too.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Energy & Sustainability, People Helping People, Politics, Protests and Crackdowns, Social and Economic Justice Tagged with , , ,

I love this! Recognizing that they need to be part of the solution and not just the agitation, permaculture experts have started some deep green initiatives including graywater recycling–at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, home to the original Occupy Wall Street demonstration/encampment.

Once again, the protests remind me of the remarkable communities we had during the Seabrook occupation and our subsequent incarceration at various national guard armories, back in 1977.

Note: if they can do permaculture in an impermanent camp in a city park, we should be able to do it all over the country and the world in our permanent dwellings.

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