Conservation Blog

Tell Obama Your Environmental Ideas

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:33:34 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog I got this from Team Obama: To give you a behind the scenes look at the Transition and provide a window to how the team is approaching climate issues, we filmed this meeting of our Energy & Environment Policy Transition Team and interview with team member Heather Zichal. Watch the video, then tell us [...]

Recession is Good

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:32:49 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog I had this email exchange with JB. JB: I hope that green jobs can help pull us out of this slump… DZ: The green job thing is BS. JB: Why do you think the “green jobs” is BS? DZ: Because they are looking for govt subsidies. JB: Do you think Pickens is wasting his millions on it [...]

More on CAFOs

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:32:00 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog BB asks: I am doing research on the support of CAFO’s by the federal government. I understand that there are direct subsidies given to concentrated farms (EQIP, etc.), but those subsidies seems minimal relative to the indirect grain subsidies that CAFO’s receive. If Obama were to substantially decrease indirect subsidies to CAFOs, do [...]

Cutting Fat or Muscle?

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:31:00 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog A guest post from JWT… Let’s start with Pacific Institute’s report. It says we could save 3.4 million AF by installing drip irrigation. At $1,000 AF, that would cost something like $9 billion. The governor has demanded a 20% reduction in urban water use. Currently, all urban water use is about 9 million AF, [...]

Australia is rubbing its hands due to nuclear new build

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:20:19 +0000

Submitted by The Low Carbon Kid Blog Uranium mining is expanding all over Australia. The Government is relishing the idea of making lots of money from the nuclear renaissance being predicted (but not yet proven). Australian greens are fast losing the optimism they felt when the Labor Party won the last election. It’s clear that the temptation [...]

Ramp it up - investment in low carbon technology

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:51:46 +0000

Submitted by The Low Carbon Kid Blog The last issue of the New Scientist contains a one page ad from the Carbon Trust offering £3m to £6m funding for partners in oil-from-algae technology. The Low Carbon Kid wrote about this concept 17 months ago. He highlighted it because many of the problems present with the traditional oilseeds [...]

Ramp it up - investment in low carbon technology

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:45:32 +0000

I Tip My Hat to the People Wearing the Tinfoil Hats

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:43:47 +0000

Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog I was going to link to a website that was serious about tinfoil hats. It seems almost inconceivable, but it appears that the webmaster didn’t pay his hosting fees. I guess foil is kind of expensive. Anyway, the things that I want to write about are paranoia and hysteria. I have come into [...]

“People Can’t Afford to Be Wasteful”

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:42:47 +0000

Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog Here is an awesome quote from Beth over at Fake Plastic Fish: …this is a new, fierce economy, baby. People can’t afford to be wasteful, and I’m freakin’ glad. She was speaking from experience, having just reformatted several PCs at her workplace rather than simply getting replacements. I expected to eventually see some reports [...]

Wooden Cutting Boards Pwn Plastic

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:40:40 +0000

Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog I was reluctant to say that wooden cutting boards are safer than plastic. Luckily, somebody else did a great job of assembling the conflicting research and concluding that it is inconclusive. The bottom line is that careful food safety is vitally important regardless of your choice of materials. Wood is a better choice [...]

Trash talk on January 8th in Princeton

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:39:02 +0000

Submitted by everydaytrash TALK: “GARBLOGGING” 4:00 p.m. The world of “garbloggers” is diverse and ever-growing, ranging from artists sharing work made out of recycled materials to armchair environmentalists tracking their own waste to make a political statement. Leila Darabi, creator of the blog everydaytrash, will give an overview of the many voices talking and tracking trash online and [...]

The garbage of gadetry

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:37:50 +0000

Submitted by everydaytrash Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by everydaytrash A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project yields some amusing and educational findings: half of gadget users need help to get their smart phones, cell phones and computers to work; many of these devices break; and users experience a range of emotions when [...]

Poll Results — Consumption Choices

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:35:37 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog Hey! There’s a NEW poll to the right —–> My consumption of water is MOST affected by Current supplies of water 23% 15 The price of water 11% 7 Habit and/or convenience 35% 23 Nothing (I use what I use) 30% 20 People around me 2% 1 66 votes total So, I made a mistake on this question — it seems that “Habit and/or convenience” [...]

Ethanol Smack Down

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:34:25 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog I got this from a PR person: “On Tuesday, a wide array of organizations came together to call on the next Administration and Congress to repeal subsidies for ethanol in light of its harmful effects on the environment, consumers and numerous industries.” Most of these organizations are food processors worried about higher food [...]

Teaching Bleg

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:33:16 +0000

Submitted by Aguanomics Blog I got this yesterday: I teach an undergraduate course on natural resource economics, and I’ve got somewhere between 1 and 2 weeks currently devoted to water issues. I’ve been using Tietenberg’s chapter on the subject, augmented by a couple of chapters from Haddad’s book on California water markets, and the Wikipedia article on [...]