"meat reducers"--so hot right now

Cheers to a new wave of meat eaters: meat reducers!

Vegetarian Star and Ecorazzi recently covered Chipotle founder Steve Ell's identification as a meat reducer:

“I used to think of meat in the center of the plate. Today, I am a meat reducer. This means I eat less meat and make sure that the limited meat I do eat is of the highest quality. My plate is comprised of seasonal and local vegetables with meat as an accompaniment. While this is a healthier diet, the main reason I now eat this way is because it tastes better and I feel better.” Read more

Love it.

Perhaps in time, Steve Ell's will join Steve Wynn and Bill Clinton in the "rise of the power vegans."

conservation just got a little easier

In my humble opinion, "going green" doesn't happen in the flip of a solar-powered light switch; it's a process. But sometimes, one's "greening" seems to plateau. If you need some inspiration, here are some goodies I just pulled from Ecorazzi.

The Staple-Free Stapler.

I try and use paper clips as often as possible since they are re-usable--but this is so much cooler! You can get it on Amazon.

Biodegradable Shoes.

When I read about biodegradable shoes, I assumed said wonder shoe would be fugly. But I was wrong. Oat rocks the eco-shoe rather well, and I am eagerly awaiting a release in the United States.

after pressure from Greenpeace, Costco improves seafood policy

Some people say that in a romance, passion eventually dies. To all those people, I would just like to say that Greenpeace still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside--especially this huge Costco victory.

Thanks to pressure from Greenpeace and over 100,000 Greenpeace grassroots activists, Costco has publicly announced that it will:

- Eliminate 12 red list species, unless the company can find an MSC-certified option, including:

- Atlantic cod
- Atlantic halibut
- Chilean sea bass
- Greenland halibut
- Grouper
- Monkfish
- Orange roughy
- Redfish
- Shark
- Skates and rays
- Swordfish
- Bluefin tuna

-- Pledge to play more of a leadership role within aquaculture;

-- Partner with World Wildlife Fund to examine its remaining wild-caught species and determine how to best transition to the most sustainable alternative; and

-- Acknowledge the role that the canned tuna industry plays within the global sustainable seafood movement and is in the process of shifting to more sustainable tuna sources in all sectors (fresh, frozen, and canned).

Gotta love the power of consumer pressure.

GMO Woes: The Biggest Problem with "Frankencrops"

At least from my perspective, the biggest talking point regarding GMOs is a sort of panic that mutant plants will take over the earth. While cross-contamination is a legitimate concern particularly impacting conventional and organic farmers, I believe it is second to a bigger issue.

If you're a long-time reader, you may be surprised that I am less up-in-arms over cross-contamination than you might expect. This past summer, I had the opportunity to discuss GMO crops with a scientist/attorney (rare combo) from a liberal non-profit. He made a valid point: natural selection favors only those traits which make a given species better suited for survival. With regard to GMO crops generally, however, one must take action for the "benefit" of the GMO plant to be conferred.

For example, Monsanto crops that are genetically modified to survive heavy dosages of herbicide (RoundUp Ready) only confer a benefit if and when the crops are sprayed with Monsanto. Thus, these plants are not better suited or more likely to survive in the wild than their non-GMO counterparts. Note that this is not the case with all genetically engineered plants. Take the GE eucalyptus created by ArboGen. Already considered an invasive species, the cold-tolerant GE eucalyptus has some serious environmental implications--particularly because these thirsty suckers minimize groundwater, rendering their environments highly flammable.

In sum, the issue of GMOs and cross-contamination warrants serious consideration (particularly when GMOs like the ArboGen eucalyptus may be released for a field trial without an appropriate Environmental Impact Statement)--but it's not my number one source of acid reflux.

My number one concern is that when a crop is engineered to be resistant to chemicals, farmers who normally use such chemicals sparingly and as needed are now incentivized to douse their crops in toxins; better to immerse your crops frequently than sparingly, risking crop failure. I think the Organic Consumers Association does a great job of underscoring the concern of herbicide abuse and rallying activists--but the organization really undermines its own legitimacy when it uses terminology like "merchant of death" to describe Monsanto. In this case, the facts speak for themselves.

GMOs are a tricky issue because different kinds of GMOs present different issues. It's difficult to inherently write them off as "good" or "bad." What we really need is a nuanced discussion and a flexible regulatory scheme. Don't hold your breath.

GREENPEACE VICTORY

I'm really excited to report that Greenpeace won its campaign in Slovakia to change Slovakian law, allowing local communities to weigh in on the establishment of uranium mines near them. This is particularly great news for me, as I worked on this campaign a couple years ago in Slovakia with the Greenpeace Organizing Term. Check out the full scoop from Greenpeace:

The campaign was started three years ago by a coalition of groups which included Greenpeace. In Slovakia, any petition gaining 100,000 signatures must be discussed by the country’s parliament. The coalition’s petition gained 113,000 and it was delivered to the parliament in September last year.

This week the campaign was victorious when, in a momentous decision, the Slovak parliament agreed on legal changes to geological and mining laws to give more power and control to local communities, municipal and regional authorities. This will allow them stop or limit geological research of uranium deposits and to stop proposed uranium mining.

This is a huge achievement for the Slovak environmental movement and should be an inspiration for groups around the world. For the first time in Slovak history non-governmental organisations were able to collect over 100,000 signatures, have an environmental issue submitted to the Slovak parliament by a petition, and to achieve a change in the law by a petition.

This does not mean a complete ban on uranium mining in Slovakia but gives significant powers to local and regional authorities in the mining permission process. All 41 municipal authorities facing proposed uranium mining projects in their territories have already declared their opposition. There’s an excellent chance that Slovakia’s uranium will never see the light of day.

cancer, neurotoxicity, and cosmetics

Remember The Story of Stuff? Well, Annie Leonard is at it again with The Story of Cosmetics.



From a gendered perspective, heteronormative women suffer the most from toxic cosmetics; it's difficult to reap the social "rewards" of sexism without some makeup, nail polish, and a good perfume.

If you're concerned about what you're rubbing on your face or buying for your family, check out the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic safety database, Skin Deep.

And yes, I realize that toxins in moderation may not be poisonous--but we're talking about using several products a day, every day, for a lifetime (while drinking contaminated water, breathing contaminated air, and eating contaminated food, no less).

giving back to your dry cleaner

Now that I'm a working woman in a walking city, my dry cleaning bill has more than quadrupled since my days of air conditioning during LA gridlock.

Aside from the added expense, I began suffering from another increase--an army of fugly metal hangers in my closet. For months, I have felt too guilty to throw them away (you know, one-timers headed straight to the landfill)--until I had a brilliant idea.

Why don't I just return the hangers to the dry cleaner? My dry cleaner does not advertise itself as eco-friendly, but was still mighty happy to take all the hangers back for re-use. Awesome.

The Vanishing of the Bees, part II

Nearly a year ago, I blogged about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

In sum, billions of bees are dying faster than they can be replaced. Their dead bodies reveal pathogens and disease. While the exact cause is unknown, all fingers point to modern agriculture: we are poisoning bees with our excessive use of toxic agro-chemicals, and severely straining them by transporting and working them year round.

A 2007 National Academy of Sciences report "blamed the decline of pollinators around the world on a combination of habitat loss, pesticides, pollution and diseases spilling out of greenhouses using commercial bumblebees."

Today I had the opportunity to chat with a very reputable scientist in the agricultural world. Turns out, the honey bee situation has not improved in the last year. According to her, at this rate (40% loss in one decade), domestic produce production will die within 10 years...almost.

Turns out, climate change is prompting the migration of the africanized honey bee, also known as the "killer bee." The Center for Invasive Species Research reports:

Immigration of africanized honey bee results in a greater density of highly defensive bee colonies. Africanized honey bee respond to activity near their colonies with increased numbers of stinging bees over much greater distances. This can make them life-threatening, especially to people allergic to stings or with limited capacity to escape (the young, old and handicapped), and to confined livestock or pets. In each country into which they have migrated, they have killed humans and animals. Beekeeping is also disrupted by africanized honey bees, which are more difficult to manage and transport. Maintaining colonies of European bees in areas with africanized honey bees is the best defense, but to do so beekeepers face greater expense, more difficulty finding sites for bees because of public fear, and greater liability concerns.

With regard to using our domestic bees are a defense, my source told me that because of vanishing bee populations, the killer bees will just take over.

Obviously, I prefer highly-aggressive bees to no bees (and thus no domestic produce), but the situation ain't pretty. While the exact cause of honey bee disappearance remains "unproven," the writing is on the wall. Just another price we pay for modern agro business...

oil spill--blessing in disguise?

While coverage of the oil spill makes me cry, the disaster might prove beneficial after all. In its nascent stage, the spill cast energy reform as a "political impossibility," primarily because compromises expanding offshore drilling attracted otherwise-opponents to the measure. Post-spill, those compromises would be pulled, and opposition would increase.

But that assessment was nearly a month ago. Six weeks later and still no solution, the spill has become truly frightening. So frightening that, despite my heated criticism of Obama's stagnant efforts to push an energy bill in the past, looks like we are both singing different tunes. Now the President is actually willing to do something, and now I believe it.

The New York Times reports:

President Obama will call Wednesday for rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks to oil companies, and will vow to push for climate change legislation “in the coming months,” setting the stage for another potentially divisive battle in Congress. full article

Holler.

cancer caused by environmental exposure is "grossly underestimated"

In advocating for energy reform, it's important to recognize that climate change is ultimately immaterial in taking a stance. Global warming in only one piece of the puzzle; even without it, the overall picture is crystal clear.

Case in point: the recent 240 page report published online by Obama's cancer panel, stating

[the] proportion of cancer cases caused by environmental exposures has been “grossly underestimated.” It warns of “grievous harm” from chemicals and other hazards, and cites “a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer.” full article

This comes as no surprise. Check out an older post on the dangers of living in proximity to a coal plant. The biggest problem is that, where people live near such facilities, making causal connections is much easier. When it comes to water, air, and food contamination for people sprawled around the country at large, it's more difficult to make correlations.

Some more on the report:

Nearly 80,000 chemicals are in use in the United States, and yet only a few hundred have been tested for safety, the report notes. It criticizes the nation’s regulatory approach, calling it reactionary rather than precautionary, which means that the government waits for proof of harm before taking action, instead of taking preventive steps when there is uncertainty about a chemical. Regulation is ineffective, the panel says, in part because of inadequate staffing and financing, overly complex rules, weak laws, uneven enforcement and undue industry influence.

The report looks at contaminants from a variety of sources: industry, agriculture, air and water, medical imaging and contaminated military sites. It also considers natural hazards, like radon gas in homes and arsenic in drinking water. The report concludes, “At this time, we do not know how much environmental exposures influence cancer risk.” more

This is not without criticism. An epidemiologist from the cancer society claims the work is

“unbalanced by its implication that pollution is the major cause of cancer,” and had presented an unproven theory — that environmentally caused cases are grossly underestimated — as if it were a fact. more

We'll see how the issue progresses. Frankly, Obama has made it clear to me where he stands. See Obama's Betrayal and Dirty Little Energy Secrets.

Regulators Approve First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S.

Factory farms? No. Wind farms? Yes, please.

Check out some exciting news:

After nine years of regulatory review, the federal government gave the green light Wednesday to the nation’s first offshore wind farm, a highly contested project off the coast of Cape Cod.

The approval of the 130-turbine farm gives a significant boost to the nascent offshore wind industry in the United States, which has lagged far behind Europe and China in harnessing the strong and steady power of ocean breezes to provide electricity to homes and businesses.

But hold your horses:

Several regulatory hurdles remain, and opponents of the wind farm have vowed to go to court, potentially stalling Cape Wind for several more years. full article

loosey goosey coal mining regulations

The safety regulations of coal mining is perhaps as horrifying as its environmental impact. The recent West Virginia coal mine explosion (that left no survivors) shines light on limp violation-reduction policies that keep dangerous coal mines up and running.

[T]he mine had received 204 violations that were deemed serious and significant over the previous two years, well above average...Since the start of 2009, the records show, the mine had at least 50 notices of problems that Massey knew existed but failed to correct. more

Why didn't a pattern of violations warrant closure of the mine?

Officials of the mine safety agency said that they were bound by the current regulations, which require them to issue warning letters, and that if companies successfully reduce their rate of violations by 30 percent, they are not to be found to have a pattern of violations...Companies can escape the added oversight even if they continue to be worse than the national average. more

and coal companies rigorously appeal their citations:

Massey appealed at least 37 of the 50 citations for serious safety violations that it received last year...At a hearing in February, Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, complained that the growing number of appeals by coal companies threatened to “render the federal efforts to hold mine operators accountable meaningless.” Mining safety experts have expressed similar concerns. more

Seems like appealing citations is the least offensive defense tactic on Massey's list. Massey CEO Don Blankenship

poured in $3 million, to unseat a justice he expected would rule against Massey in a lawsuit. It was so much money, his strategy backfired. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the newly elected state justice was too tainted by Blankenship's money to rule on the case. more

If you're a frequent reader of The Colonic, Massey Energy might sound familiar. Recall that in September of 2009, Massey and Verizon teamed up and threw an anti-environmental hoopla at the West Virginia coal mine to rally against the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

NY says no more outdated nuclear cooling

Great news:

In a major victory for environmental advocates, New York State has ruled that outmoded cooling technology at the Indian Point nuclear power plant kills so many Hudson River fish, and consumes and contaminates so much water, that it violates the federal Clean Water Act.

The decision is a blow to the plant’s owner, the Entergy Corporation, which now faces the prospect of having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build stadium-size cooling towers, or risk that Indian Point’s two operating reactors — which supply 30 percent of the electricity used by New York City and Westchester County — could be forced to shut down.

...But the strongly worded letter from the Department of Environmental Conservation, issued late Friday, said flatly that Indian Point’s cooling systems, even if modified in a less expensive way proposed by Entergy, “do not and will not comply” with New York’s water quality standards.

...Sucking so much water causes plankton, eggs and larvae to be drawn into the plant’s machinery, or entrained, and the water pressure also causes fish to be trapped, or impinged, against intake screens, the state said.

Full article

2009 LCV scorecard is out

How did your members of Congress score? Check it out.

Tell Your Legislators To Support The Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310)

Take action here.

DIRT! The Movie explains:

The Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310) in the House and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696) in the Senate—will sharply reduce mountaintop removal coal mining. These bills will protect the quality of life for Appalachian coalfield residents who face multiple challenges as a result of mountaintop removal coal mining.

what to do with sludge?

I enjoyed this resource regarding sludge alternatives from Sludge News:

Prevention -- the cost effective solution -- is the place to start: prevent hazardous waste from entering the sewer in the first place, prevent the exploitation of the myth that wastewater treatment and its associated technologies can fix any problem, and prevent the poisoning of our food supply with sewage sludge.

...Next, initiate a moratorium on the land application of sludge -- because there is no scientific evidence that this practice is safe.

...implement policies that discourage the use of water to carry wastes.

...What to do with the tons of sludge leaving wastewater plants each day?

Don’t put it on food chain crops, ball fields, parks, gardens, or yards. Instead, treat it as the hazardous waste it is. Keep it away from the public - isolate it from life. Put sewage sludge - whether “treated” or not - into lined sanitary landfills with proper leachate collection systems. If it fails the TCLIP test, it should go to a RCRA Subtitle C landfill for hazardous waste. Otherise it should go to a Subtitle D landfill.

Landfills are the only safe interim option we have until we can find other solutions, solutions that do not put sludge into the air (incineration), on our food (land application), or in our water (disposal at the outfall pipe).

say no to sewage sludge in San Francisco

If you haven't read my post on sewage sludge, take a gander, and then take action here.

Here is an update from the Organic Consumers Association:

Sewage sludge contains everything the sewage treatment plant was able to remove from the sewage - plus every new chemical and pathogen formed in the mad synergy of this chemical soup, including virulent, antibiotic-resistant bacteria created through horizontal gene transfer.

San Francisco public officials have helped the toxic sludge industry score a major victory in the Bay Area, where they've been able to convince hundreds of regional (non-organic) farmers to spread the hazardous material on farm land and pasture, and have actually been able to get city residents to take hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic sludge and spread it over their backyard and community gardens.

San Francisco is a strategic battleground to stop the sludge industry from poisoning more farms and communities. In 1998 the organic community rose up and banned the use of sewage sludge in organic farming. Now it's time to ban its use on farms, gardens, lawns, and land in general.

Skin Trade: what's your skin worth?

Check out this documentary coming out on the fur industry:



Admittedly, the trailer is kind of odd. What's with the intro and weird background music?

Visit Skin Trade The Movie for more info

Sea Shepherd activist sneaks onto whaling boat to execute citizens arrest

Ecorazzi reports:

Both the Sea Shepherd and the Institute of Cetacean Research are reporting that Pete Bethune, captain of the sunk Ady Gil, earlier today boarded the Japanese whaling security vessel that hit his boat.

According to Paul Watson, Bethune boarded the Shonan Maru No 2 under the cover of darkness using a jet ski — most likely the same one that was on-board the Ady-Gil. “His mission is to attempt a citizens arrest of the skipper of Shonan Maru No 2 for the destruction of the Ady Gil and attempted murder of six Ady Gil crew,” Captain Watson said.

He said Mr Bethune had a bill for $3 million to present to the Japanese boat’s skipper and a demand for surrender.

Watson added that he anticipated Bethune would be kept as a prisoner — but more likely is the fact that there’s no easy way to return him. In a press release, the ICR noted that a similar stunt by the Sea Shepherd two years ago ended when an Australian ship acted as a mediator and returned two activists that had illegally boarded.

“In this latest incident, there is no vessel available to act as a go between to return Mr Bethune,” the press release concluded.

More details as we get them.

[UPDATE: From a Sea Shepherd release]

Captain Bethune boarded the whaling ship under cover of darkness from a Jet Ski as the Shonan Maru 2 was travelling at 14 knots in the Southern Ocean. His first attempt failed when he fell into the frigid waters, but despite this the crew of the Shonan Maru 2 failed to see him and he successfully boarded the whaler without detection.

Captain Bethune’s breaching the security of the whaling fleet security vessel remained undetected for one and a half hours.

At 0800 Hours, once the sun had risen, Captain Bethune calmly knocked on the bridge wing door, entered the wheelhouse, and presented himself to the Captain of Shonan Maru 2 where he informed the skipper that he was under arrest for the sinking of the Sea Shepherd ship Ady Gil on January 6th, 2010.

All radio communications with Peter Bethune ceased at 0805. The Shonan Maru 2 did acknowledge that Bethune was onboard.

ocean acidification: the other carbon problem

Whether or not you legitimate claims of human-made climate change, there is another carbon problem--ocean acidification.

The ocean is praised as a carbon sink, or place that carbon can go instead of the atmosphere. But as we continue to pollute and the ocean continues to absorb carbon, the ocean becomes more acidic. The acidity is starting to dissolve seashells. This has major effects on underwater ecosystems, and people who depend on them.

At this rate, we will profoundly alter the ocean's chemistry, and who knows what sea life will adapt.