[Biofuel] Be wary of biotech lettuce experiments

2008-01-12 Thread Kirk McLoren

  

  Be wary of biotech lettuce experiments  
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/29099
 

 The Salinas Californian recently reported on a talk by Professor Henry 
Daniell, who was here to promote cultivation of drug-producing lettuce.
  The biotechnology industry has long hoped to use plants, including common 
food crops, to produce high-profit new drugs. It is worth noting that Daniell 
is not only an academic; he is also the founder of Chlorogen, Inc., a company 
that hopes to profit from these so-called 'pharm' crops.
  Salinas farmers should be leery of lettuce pharming. The California lettuce 
industry is still reeling from consumer fears of E. coli contamination. Imagine 
the uproar from healthy salad eaters when they learn that California lettuce 
growers are planting untested, experimental drugs near the lettuce that is 
destined for our supermarkets. 
  Scientists say there is no way to keep untested drugs produced in food crops 
out of the food supply. Even the editors of the pro-biotechnology science 
journal Nature Biotechnology warned:
  'Don't use food plants for producing drugs,' because of the health risks.
  Consumers, including our children, who may unknowingly eat pharmed lettuce 
could get an uncontrolled dose of an untested, biologically active drug - with 
unknown consequences.
  As reported in The Californian, Daniell claims that farmers growing untested 
drugs in lettuce will face no new regulations. This sounds frighteningly 
similar to the promises made by the world's leading pharm crop company, 
ProdiGene, to Midwestern farmers.
  Although the company promised farmers would face 'no new growing practices' 
if they chose to plant ProdiGene's untested drugs in their corn, this lax 
attitude cost some farmers more than they bargained for. Half-a-million bushels 
of Nebraska soybeans were ordered to be destroyed when the unapproved ProdiGene 
drug-corn contaminated the soy crop.
  Daniell claims that contamination would not be a concern because his 
drug-producing lettuce can't cross with natural lettuce varieties.
  But, ProdiGene's corn did not cross-pollinate with soybeans: It contaminated 
soybeans with volunteer drug-corn from the previous season's seed grown on the 
same land. The drug corn went undetected in the soybean field that was 
harvested the following season.
  Cross-pollination is one of many potential routes of contamination. Other 
unapproved biotech crops have contaminated safe, natural varieties during every 
stage of production. Contamination occurs through seed mix-ups, wind or animal 
seed dispersal, not thoroughly cleaned farm equipment and storage bins, 
improperly labeled seeds, and numerous other unpredictable ways, often from 
human error.
  Danielle's system for avoiding cross-pollination relies on the hope that 
genes inserted into a plant's chloroplast cells will not be a contamination 
problem, since they are a part of the plant's DNA that does not mix in 
pollination. But, a 2003 study found that genes can move between the 
chloroplast and nuclei of plants, and they did so more often than researchers 
expected. This means that Danielle's untested drug plants could cross-pollinate 
with lettuce destined for our dinner tables.
  Given all the potential human errors that could lead to contamination, and 
the biological reality that it is impossible to fully contain these untested 
drug plants, it is clear that lettuce pharming is a dangerous idea for Salinas.
  If growers in the Salinas Valley are looking for new markets, they should 
look to safer, healthier, and organic markets, not an untested, risky pharm 
crop that will do more harm to the industry than good. 
  CHARLES MARGULIS is a spokesman for the Center for Food Safety, a national 
advocacy organization dedicated to challenging harmful food production 
technologies and promoting sustainable alternatives. He is a graduate of UC 
Berkeley and of the California Culinary Academy.
  By CHARLES MARGULIS
The Californian, 7 January 2008
http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080107/OPINION/801070317


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Re: [Biofuel] We need these cars *#

2008-01-12 Thread Zeke Yewdall
Yes  those cheap indian cars will increase pollution somewhat,
because the target buyer is people who now use motorbikes or bikes.
Smog might actually be less than with motorbikes if they are replacing
two cycle bikes, but CO2 is pretty certain to increase (as it also
will with higher horsepower engines that he seems to favor, oddly).
And even a small car is alot bigger than a motorbike or bike, so
traffic congestion is likely to get worse too.

However... the rest of his statements only serve to show his own
ignorance about how the rest of the world lives.  Perhaps he'd like to
try an annual income of $3,000?  Or $300?

Z

On Jan 11, 2008 5:03 PM, Fritz Friesinger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Hi all,
 there was a radioshow on CBC 1 on thursday afternoon talking about the new 
 lowcost car from India!Cost here in Canada approx.2 300$can.So this stupid 
 announcer said: People who can not afford a more expensive car should walk or 
 take public transport!
 What a qualifiing statement (for his very own intelligence)
 And he went on whit statments that can Cars should have much more than a 30HP 
 or so engine,you need more power on the road!
 Well my first car ,a LLoyd Alexander TS had a full 17HP and run top 125Kmh!
 And further the guy went... we dont need those cheep cars the gonne 
 excellerate the pollution level !
 Fritz

   - Original Message -
   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org
   Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 9:51 AM
   Subject: Re: [Biofuel] We need these cars *#


   Dear Kirk,

I don't know whether this particular model is for
   me, but I am sure there will be many competitors over the next
   decade.

The Zenn folks are to be congratulated.  I think the U.S. balance of 
 payments deficit would improve over time if we were to
   import large numbers of Zenns and less gasoline/diesel/crude.

I think we need to be concerned with battery safety
   and the mine-to-landfill environmental impacts of the batteries.

In my case, the electricity would come from wind
   and small hydro when parked at home; so I welcome the age of the electric 
 car.

   Regards,

   Wendell

   From: Kirk McLoren [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   Date: 2008/01/11 Fri AM 01:57:22 CST
   To: biofuel Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
   Subject: [Biofuel] We need these cars

   
 The ZENN (zero emissions no noise) car. Video, 10 min
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3c
   
   
   
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Re: [Biofuel] interesting refrigerator

2008-01-12 Thread Tom Thiel
Hi Tom,

Thank you so much for your post.
We've been way back for 5 years and the decision tree is quite 
different from that of the plug in culture.

Regarding refrigeration: it is a significant energy user and when watts 
are precious we take notice. My solution is quite simple in our cold 
climate of Northern New Hampshire USA where it is colder more than 
warmer than refrigeration temperatures. I put the refrigerator in an 
insulated cavity on an outside wall with vents (manually operated) to 
allow more and/or less access to outside air. The primary purpose of 
regulation was to keep the refrigerator from freezing. Since the 
refrigerator itself is also insulated, it averages temperatures over 
time and freezing has not been a problem, so vent operation is very 
minimal. In summer the (normal electric) refrigerator blows its waste 
heat (and noise) outside. Spring and Fall, the compressor sometimes 
comes on and works efficiently against cool outdoor temperatures.

I'm installing a small chest freezer using same principles. I had ruled 
out a freezer due to excessive power consumption before the north 
wall concept.

Small, personal innovation can produce satisfaction beyond savings. How 
nice that is.

Tom Thiel

On 10 Jan, 2008, at 9:47 AM, Thomas Kelly wrote:

 Hi Chip,
 You wrote:
 And yes, for the record, I am not a big fan of 'payback costs'
 when it comes to passive vs utility consumption.

 When the power goes out, passive systems continue to work.

 Some aspects of payback can be difficult to quantify or even 
 anticipate.

 Gardening:
  Shovel $37 (US)
  Rake ($26)
  Pitchfork ($32)
  Hoe ($30)
  Small Hand Tools ($76)
  Seeds/Plants   $__, etc.
  The experience of gardening; growing your own food:  Priceless.

  While one could argue that vegetable gardening is profitable, 
 what
 about flower gardens? What about people who grow fruits and vegetables 
 and
 give most of them away w/o concern for payback period?
  Some things that are simply joyful ... as in full of joy. We take 
 joy
 in doing them.. Some take joy in the little dollops of independence 
 that we
 feel by producing our own food or by getting off the grid. I wouldn't 
 know
 how to put a price on joy or independence.
   It certainly is an interesting refrigerator. When I see a 
 creative
 idea/design implemented by human hands it takes on the qualities of 
 art.
 Pouring a cold glass of milk from the interesting refrigerator   
 .
 priceless.

  Not so much to jump on the question re; payback period for the
 refrigerator; it is a valid question. They did mention in the section 
 Solar
 Electricity that they would have had to pay $30,000 to run wiring to 
 their
 home. It might be that given their situation, the interesting 
 refrigerator
 made perfect economical sense as well; another example of appropriate
 technology.

  Thanks for the original post Kirk. I've been playing around with 
 some
 ideas for at least pre-heating water going to my boiler (heat  hot
 water)using a solar collector and maybe even my woodstove, to lower the
 amount of fuel I use.
Tom

 - Original Message -
 From: Chip Mefford [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org
 Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:01 AM
 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] interesting refrigerator


 John Mullan wrote:
 I've seen that before.  Excellent idea.  I wonder how much all that
 copper, insulation, etc. would cost (for purpose of payback period)?

 When calculating the 'payback period' be sure to deduct (or add)
 the cost of a couple of medium term power outages, as folks all
 across the mid-west have seen over the last few winters.

 And yes, for the record, I am not a big fan of 'payback costs'
 when it comes to passive vs utility consumption.

 When the power goes out, passive systems continue to work.

 ___
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 Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
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Re: [Biofuel] interesting refrigerator

2008-01-12 Thread Thomas Kelly
Hello Tom,
  Thank you so much for your post.
Nice of you to say.

 Regarding refrigeration: it is a significant energy user and when watts
 are precious we take notice. My solution is quite simple in our cold
 climate of Northern New Hampshire USA where it is colder more than
 warmer than refrigeration temperatures.
{snip}

Your solution makes perfect sense. Why use those precious watts to cool 
something when there's plenty of cool on the other side of the wall?

 Small, personal innovation can produce satisfaction beyond savings.
 How nice that is.
   Well said.
 Tom K.


- Original Message - 
From: Tom Thiel [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] interesting refrigerator


 Hi Tom,

 Thank you so much for your post.
 We've been way back for 5 years and the decision tree is quite
 different from that of the plug in culture.

 Regarding refrigeration: it is a significant energy user and when watts
 are precious we take notice. My solution is quite simple in our cold
 climate of Northern New Hampshire USA where it is colder more than
 warmer than refrigeration temperatures. I put the refrigerator in an
 insulated cavity on an outside wall with vents (manually operated) to
 allow more and/or less access to outside air. The primary purpose of
 regulation was to keep the refrigerator from freezing. Since the
 refrigerator itself is also insulated, it averages temperatures over
 time and freezing has not been a problem, so vent operation is very
 minimal. In summer the (normal electric) refrigerator blows its waste
 heat (and noise) outside. Spring and Fall, the compressor sometimes
 comes on and works efficiently against cool outdoor temperatures.

 I'm installing a small chest freezer using same principles. I had ruled
 out a freezer due to excessive power consumption before the north
 wall concept.

 Small, personal innovation can produce satisfaction beyond savings. How
 nice that is.

 Tom Thiel

 On 10 Jan, 2008, at 9:47 AM, Thomas Kelly wrote:

 Hi Chip,
 You wrote:
 And yes, for the record, I am not a big fan of 'payback costs'
 when it comes to passive vs utility consumption.

 When the power goes out, passive systems continue to work.

 Some aspects of payback can be difficult to quantify or even
 anticipate.

 Gardening:
  Shovel $37 (US)
  Rake ($26)
  Pitchfork ($32)
  Hoe ($30)
  Small Hand Tools ($76)
  Seeds/Plants   $__, etc.
  The experience of gardening; growing your own food:  Priceless.

  While one could argue that vegetable gardening is profitable,
 what
 about flower gardens? What about people who grow fruits and vegetables
 and
 give most of them away w/o concern for payback period?
  Some things that are simply joyful ... as in full of joy. We take
 joy
 in doing them.. Some take joy in the little dollops of independence
 that we
 feel by producing our own food or by getting off the grid. I wouldn't
 know
 how to put a price on joy or independence.
   It certainly is an interesting refrigerator. When I see a
 creative
 idea/design implemented by human hands it takes on the qualities of
 art.
 Pouring a cold glass of milk from the interesting refrigerator
 .
 priceless.

  Not so much to jump on the question re; payback period for the
 refrigerator; it is a valid question. They did mention in the section
 Solar
 Electricity that they would have had to pay $30,000 to run wiring to
 their
 home. It might be that given their situation, the interesting
 refrigerator
 made perfect economical sense as well; another example of appropriate
 technology.

  Thanks for the original post Kirk. I've been playing around with
 some
 ideas for at least pre-heating water going to my boiler (heat  hot
 water)using a solar collector and maybe even my woodstove, to lower the
 amount of fuel I use.
Tom

 - Original Message -
 From: Chip Mefford [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org
 Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:01 AM
 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] interesting refrigerator


 John Mullan wrote:
 I've seen that before.  Excellent idea.  I wonder how much all that
 copper, insulation, etc. would cost (for purpose of payback period)?

 When calculating the 'payback period' be sure to deduct (or add)
 the cost of a couple of medium term power outages, as folks all
 across the mid-west have seen over the last few winters.

 And yes, for the record, I am not a big fan of 'payback costs'
 when it comes to passive vs utility consumption.

 When the power goes out, passive systems continue to work.

 ___
 Biofuel mailing list
 Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
 http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel

 Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
 http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html

 

Re: [Biofuel] Fwd: Cute Video with important messages

2008-01-12 Thread Thomas Kelly
David,
 You wrote:
The local farmers here love Wal-Mart!

 I don't know where your here is. I also don't know if things have 
changed dramatically in the last year or so but 

I was visiting friends in Florida (southern US) during September of '06.
I commented that I thought there would be better produce in their 
supermarkets. The tomatoes, peaches and strawberries reminded me of what is 
available in December. I was told that they, the friends, bought most of 
their produce from local farm markets rather than from the large 
supermarkets.
 On the way home to New York, I stopped at a farm stand in Georgia, the 
peach state, and bought half a bushel of fresh, delicious peaches. I asked 
if I could get the same local peaches in Walmart and was told No. The 
young lady told me that the large supermarket chains deal with suppliers 
that can deliver peaches, and other fruit and vegetables, all year round. 
The local farmers can't do that. Their produce was sold at farm stands, 
farmer's markets, and some of the small local markets  .  not the larger 
supermarket chains.
 When I returned home I spoke to the owner of our small, local market. 
He seemed to agree with what I was told. He dealt with a distributor that 
could assure delivery of produce year round. He does offer local produce 
during the spring, summer and into the fall.
 I've heard that the Walmarts of the world are now offering organic 
produce. I have neither seen nor heard of them featuring locally-produced 
meats or produce.
 Maybe things have changed. Maybe your here is very different from my 
here.
   Tom
- Original Message - 
From: David Lawson [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 11:05 AM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Fwd: Cute Video with important messages


 What exactly is so wrong with Big Box Stores? I can go to one store and 
 buy most everything I need and granted some things I don't really need but 
 want just the same. I don't have to drive 15 miles to five different 
 locations to buy the things I can buy at one location. It is not just 
 about convenience but about efficiency both in my time as well as 
 resources. Think about the overall resources to get products to five 
 different stores or five products to one store! It is not just about my 
 efficiency but about the efficiency at which we use all resources. My 
 local box store buys 90% of its fresh produce from local suppliers when it 
 is available. So instead of driving 24 miles one way to the farmers market 
 I can go less than 1 mile round trip to buy the very same produce.

 Regards,
 David
 Chip Mefford [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Kirk McLoren wrote:


 Cute video, 9 min, with some important messages about consumption.

 http://www.alternet.org/blogs/workplace/73239/

   This film was selected for the 2008 Sonoma Environmental Film Festival.

 It is a cute video. But I have some issues with it.

 Is this about big box vs local business? or is it just
 yet still another slam against WallMart?
 Near as I can tell, it's just more slamming of WallMart.

 That's just fine with me on one level. WallMart certainly has
 it coming.

 But on many other levels, I think it's mostly a waste of time,
 and here's some reasons why.

 The video isn't going to change anyone's point of view, I don't think.
 Folks who still accept the WallMart model, are under much more
 pressure from WallMart than they are from local businesses. This
 pressure is well understood by folks who have built up the
 consumer mindset over the last 150-200 years quite well. It's
 subliminal and quite powerful. The wallmart overlords (heh)
 understand it really well. Hence the push for the green paint,
 all the hype about skylighting, 'organic' groceries, etc.
 This (effective) approach at heading off 'doubts' in the mind
 of the 'consumer' works.

 Being of a skeptical (and yes, ofttimes cynical) mindset, noise
 from wallmart about organic sets off alarm bells with me. But
 not with 'joe public consumer'. Attacking WallMart outright,
 as this video does, just shuts 'joe public consumer' down, and
 closes out any discussion. 'Jpc' already has their mind made up,
 and attacks neatly sidestep the debate. Folks who understand
 how debates work, know what I mean.

 IMO, a better approach would have been a stronger 'sales pitch'
 of the local business, farmers market and a lot less pejorative
 coverage of the big box. Just from a point of debate, there is
 a lot of apples vs oranges in that video. I see this more and more
 in short videos of this sort.

 In my quite limited experience, there are 'broad scale' farmers
 who are really good folks, and small scale farmer's market types
 who are complete jerks. That said, the trend is quite clear.

 There is optimism, and there is pessimism. There is advocacy
 and there is criticism. For some reason, there seems to be
 a lot of focus on criticism 

Re: [Biofuel] We need these cars

2008-01-12 Thread Terry Dyck

Hi Kurt,
 
Maybe having fewer cars will help our environment but why not take that a big 
step forward and have both fewer cars and non polluting cars?  Also, why not 
have non polluting trucks, trains and ships?
Just working on one commitment is not enough.  Only conservation or only carbon 
free transportation is not enough to drastically reduce global warming.  We 
need to do both.
 
Terry Dyck Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:05:40 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 
sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: Re: [Biofuel] We need 
these cars  Kirk McLoren wrote:  The ZENN (zero emissions no noise) car. 
Video, 10 min  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3cI 
respectfully beg to differ. We need -fewer- cars, rather than more or  
equivalent numbers of quiet cars.  -Kurt  
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Re: [Biofuel] Fwd: Cute Video with important messages

2008-01-12 Thread Terry Dyck

Hi Chip,
 
Excellent video.  Independant merchants do not need over paid CEO's and 
underpaid staff and slave wages for the 3rd world manufacturing workers.
The cruelty to factory farmed chickens is really terifying.  If every one 
patronized independent local stores more we could solve a lot of problems, 
including better more satisfying employment for people and more protection for 
the environment.
 
Terry Dyck Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:41:49 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 
sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Fwd: Cute 
Video with important messages  Kirk McLoren wrote:  Cute video, 9 
min, with some important messages about consumption.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/workplace/73239/This film was selected 
for the 2008 Sonoma Environmental Film Festival.   It is a cute video. But I 
have some issues with it.  Is this about big box vs local business? or is it 
just yet still another slam against WallMart? Near as I can tell, it's just 
more slamming of WallMart.  That's just fine with me on one level. WallMart 
certainly has it coming.  But on many other levels, I think it's mostly a 
waste of time, and here's some reasons why.  The video isn't going to change 
anyone's point of view, I don't think. Folks who still accept the WallMart 
model, are under much more pressure from WallMart than they are from local 
businesses. This pressure is well understood by folks who have built up the 
consumer mindset over the last 150-200 years quite well. It's subliminal and 
quite powerful. The wallmart overlords (heh) understand it really well. Hence 
the push for the green paint, all the hype about skylighting, 'organic' 
groceries, etc. This (effective) approach at heading off 'doubts' in the mind 
of the 'consumer' works.  Being of a skeptical (and yes, ofttimes cynical) 
mindset, noise from wallmart about organic sets off alarm bells with me. But 
not with 'joe public consumer'. Attacking WallMart outright, as this video 
does, just shuts 'joe public consumer' down, and closes out any discussion. 
'Jpc' already has their mind made up, and attacks neatly sidestep the debate. 
Folks who understand how debates work, know what I mean.  IMO, a better 
approach would have been a stronger 'sales pitch' of the local business, 
farmers market and a lot less pejorative coverage of the big box. Just from a 
point of debate, there is a lot of apples vs oranges in that video. I see this 
more and more in short videos of this sort.  In my quite limited experience, 
there are 'broad scale' farmers who are really good folks, and small scale 
farmer's market types who are complete jerks. That said, the trend is quite 
clear.  There is optimism, and there is pessimism. There is advocacy and 
there is criticism. For some reason, there seems to be a lot of focus on 
criticism before advocacy. I'm not sure that's the best approach, for very 
many reasons.  I could nitpick this video, there are problems with the facts 
as presented. But so what? I'd rather advocate for small/local businesses and 
small/local growers/diaries/farms.  End of the day, for a legion of reasons, 
the Big-Box approach is fundamentally broken, it won't work out in the long 
run and so, I'd say, pay them no more mind (or money :) Focus on what works, 
will work, and get on with it. The more you live this, the more you'll find 
friends/co-workers/acquaintances with questions. You can refer them to this 
list :)  --  ___ Biofuel 
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