PostsTrucking Goes Green! more »
Taking Action
This group is for everyone who wants to take action to prevent further global damage and work towards reversing the damage that has been done. Please share ideas about how to help the climate crisis and steps you take to help the environment. Together, we can really make a difference in this world!!
Call to Action: Use hemp's ability as a low cost resource material to make 50,000 plus non toxic products that will help us solve our economic and environmental crisis.
Here's a paper written almost 20 years ago that explains how we can use hemp to help us save ourselves from the evil and stupidity that's been in charge for way to long.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
TOWARDS A GREEN ECONOMY
by Lynn Osburn
The nationwide popularity of Earth Week 1990 festivities seems to indicate the American People are concerned with the continuing degradation of the global environment. The twentieth anniversary celebration of the original Earth Day focused on ways the individual citizen can reduce waste and retard pollution.
The necessity of recycling used materials and lowering power consumption was demonstrated in a plethora of multi-media displays from coast to coast. It was indicated a change in lifestyle is needed to halt the poisoning of earth.
An environmentally conscious populace would prove to be a frugal one if those Earth Week programs were adopted.
Assuming Americans are willing to cut back on energy consumption and muster the effort to recycle their trash, are industrial corporations and energy producers willing to do the same?
Will corporate America drop the aggressive sales pitches wherein billions are spent encouraging people to buy impulsively? Will people be able to kick the mass consumption habit generations in the making? Will corporate America even entertain abstaining from the short term profit fix and consider what the consequences of quick return capitalism has done and will do to future generations of life on earth?
President George Bush's speech, given just days after Earth Week 1990 at the 17 nation conference dealing with global pollution problems held in Washington D.C., drew criticism from European participants. He emphasized scientific and economic uncertainties in what was seen as a White House foot dragging effort on the environmental issue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientists throughout the world agree: the single most effective way to halt the greenhouse effect is to stop burning fossil fuels.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A memo prepared by administration staffers for members of the U.S. delegation read, under the heading Debates to avoid: It is "not beneficial to discuss whether there is or is not warming, or how much or how little warming. In the eyes of the public we will lose this debate. A better approach is to raise the many uncertainties that need to be better understood on this issue." Bush repeatedly stressed the need to find policies that do not limit economic growth: Environmental policies that ignore the economic factor, the human factor, are destined to fail." [Science News, April 28, 1990]
President Bush is proud of the public image his career in the oil industry presents. He is, to say the least, an energy industry celebrity. And he has gone to great lengths to represent himself as the environmental president.
If the Bush administration believes, "in the eyes of the public," they will lose the debate questioning the scientific validity of the greenhouse effect; is it reasonable to conclude they don't believe the excessive accumulation of greenhouse gasses generated by burning fossil fuels is unbalancing the global carbon dioxide cycle? Or is it possible the corporate industrial energy complex that controls the trillion dollar per year energy industry fears profit loss, and unlike the American people, is in no way willing to make a sacrifice in corporate "lifestyle" to help heal the Earth?
President Bush is right about one thing: "Policies that ignore the economic factor, the human factor, are destined to fail." In this case the economic factor and the human factor converge in the dire strait: if we do not convert from a fossil fueled economy to a biomass fueled economy, the human factor will become fossil history on planet earth.
The corporate industrial energy complex is collectively holding its breath on the topic of biomass resource conversion to replace fossil fuels. The industrial energy giants spend millions in public relations explaining how they are environmentally responsible energy producers. Yet it is the fossil fuel resources they peddle that are endangering the fragile ecosphere. The majority of scientists throughout the world agree: the single most effective way to halt the greenhouse effect is to stop burning fossil fuels.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The only way to reduce the ever-thickening blanket of CO 2 warming the earth is to grow more plants to absorb it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was proven in the 1970's that biomass, specifically plant mass, can be converted to fuels that will replace every type of fossil fuel currently produced by industry -- and these biomass fuels are essentially non-polluting.
Fossil fuel materials: coal, oil and natural gas were made by nature from earth biomass that lived over 160 million years ago. Crude fossil fuels contain hydrocarbon compounds that were made by plant life during the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide and water were converted into hydrocarbon rich cellulose. Plants manufacture many other biochemicals in the complex and mysterious act of living, but cellulose and lignin are the compounds that give plants structure, body and strength. They are the main components of plant mass.
Nature took millions of years to concentrate the ancient plant mass into what we call fossil fuels. The eons long process that converted the once living biomass into hydro-carbon rich fossils also compressed sulfur into the fossil biomass. It is this sulfur that causes acid rain when belched out of power plant smoke stacks. According to Brookhaven National Laboratory 50,000 Americans and 10,000 Canadians die each year from exposure to acid rain.
Mankind through the science of chemical engineering can transform modern biomass into hydrocarbon fuels that contain no sulfur because the fresh plant mass contains no sulfur. And the scientific method of biomass conversion into hydrocarbon fuels requires mere hours instead of eons to accomplish.
The inherent problem with burning fossil fuels to power industrial energy systems and economies is the mega-ton release of CO 2 into the air. However biomass derived fuels are part of the present day global CO 2 cycle.
The quantity of CO 2 released into the air from burning biomass fuels is equal to the amount of CO 2 the biomass energy crop absorbed while it grew. If the energy crop is an annual plant then one years biomass fuel when burned will supply the CO 2 needed for the next year's fuel biomass growth. There will be no net increase in atmospheric CO 2.
For over 100 years industrialized nations have burned hydrocarbon fuels that are not part of the current ecosystem. The delicate balance between life and climatic cycles is being undone by injecting ancestral CO 2 into the atmosphere.
The only way to reduce the ever-thickening blanket of CO 2 warming the earth is to grow more plants to absorb it. Yet the Bush administration's plan to plant one billion trees a year will only reduce by 15% the amount of CO 2 predicted for the end of the century. However, U.S. CO 2 production (from burning fossil fuels) will rise by 35% during the same time period. [Science News, April 28, 1990]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp hurds are richer in cellulose and contain less lignin than wood pulp. Hemp paper will make better cardboard and paper bag products than wood paper.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bush Administration's plan is futile as long as fossil fuels remain America's major energy resource. And at the rate forests are being cut down to make the paper our society is wrapped up in, a billion saplings a year will barely compensate for that loss in CO 2 absorption.
Wood happens to be the government's chief biomass candidate to replace the dwindling fossil fuel supply. Officials claim U.S. yearly energy consumption can be met by harvesting one third of the trees in the National Forests on a rotating basis coupled with more intensive silvaculture (tree farming) techniques. Estimated yearly biomass production in the National Forests is one ton per acre. [Progress in Biomass Conversion Vol. 1 Kyosti V. Sarkanen & David Tillman, editors]
The U.S. Forestry Service is the government bureaucracy promoting this ludicrous forests-for-fuel idea. However private industry has been clear-cutting without conscience timber stands not protected in National Forests and Parks. And none of that wood goes into biomass fuel conversion.
The trees of the world are the biosphere's CO 2 cycle safety valve. Trees convert CO 2 into wood. Since a tree will live for centuries, forests can gradually pull the excess CO 2 out of the air. Trees are not only aesthetically pleasing -- they are the cure for our ailing atmosphere.
Is it realistic to halt construction to save trees or ask people to stop using paper? If wood resources cannot hope to meet the demand for lumber, paper and biomass fuels, can any plant be cultivated to meet these needs?
This problem is not new. Civilizations have been exhausting vital resources and dooming themselves for many centuries. Versatility, cleverness and common sense are the hallmark of the ones that survive.
About seventy-five years ago two dedicated USDA scientists projected that at the rate the U.S. was using paper we would deplete the forests in our lifetimes. Those government scientists were endowed with common sense -- something government officials are hopelessly lacking nowadays. So USDA scientists Dewey and Merrill looked for an alternate agricultural resource for paper products l to prevent the disaster we now face.
They found the ideal candidate to be the waste material left in the fields after the hemp harvest. The left over pulp, called hemp hurds, was traditionally burned in the fields when the hemp fiber had been removed after the time consuming retting (partially rotting the hemp stalk to separate the fiber from the hurds) process was completed.
Hemp hurds are richer in cellulose and contain less lignin than wood pulp. Dewey and Merrill found after much experimentation that harsh sulfur acids used to break down the lignin in wood pulp were not necessary when making paper from hemp hurds. Sulfur acid wastes from paper mills are known to be a major source of waterway pollution. The coarse paper they made from hemp hurds was stronger and had greater folding durability than course wood pulp paper. Hemp hurd paper would make better cardboard and paper bag products than wood paper. They found the fine print quality hemp hurd paper to be equal to writing quality wood pulp paper. [ Dewey and Merrill, Bulletin #404, Hemp Hurds As Paper-Making Material, U.S.D.A., Washington, D.C., October 14, 1916.]
The only problem to implementing the paper industry resource change from wood to hemp hurds was machinery to separate hemp fiber from the hurds needed to be developed. Separation was still done by hand after the machine breaks had softened the hemp stalks. The "decorticating" machine that separated the fiber and hurds wasn't developed until the early 1930's. Even Popular Mechanics declared in 1937 that hemp would be a billion dollar a year crop because of this new machinery. And their predictions did not consider hemp's potential as a biomass fuel resource. Unfortunately, hemp was maligned. Its flower tops were condemned as marijuana and subsequently outlawed just when the fiber-hurd separating machinery was perfected.
If America had not been infected with marijuana hysteria, hemp could be solving our energy problems today. When marijuana was outlawed most people did not know "marijuana" was Mexican slang for cannabis hemp. The American people, including doctors who routinely prescribed cannabis extract medicines, thought hemp and marijuana were two different plants. Otherwise hemp prohibition would never have happened.
Eastern Europeans were not subjected to the hysterical anti-marijuana syndrome plaguing the West. Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia among others, continued to make clothing from hemp fibers and medicines from hemp flowers. They pressed the versatile and edible oil from the seeds and used the left over high protein seed mash to make breakfast cereal and livestock feed. And they used surplus hemp for building insulation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GREEN ECONOMY based on a hemp multi-industry complex will provide income for farmers in every state. . . . thousands of new products generating tens of thousands of sustainable new jobs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently in the U.S.A. a private firm, Mansion Industries, has pioneered the use of agricultural fibers to make sturdy light weight construction paneling to replace plywood. Mansion Industries uses straw to make their Environcore(TM) panels. Based on Dewey and Merrill test results, if hemp was an available resource, Environcore(TM) construction paneling would be even stronger.
It's not too late to save our environment, but it is absolutely essential that we start now. Restoring the balance to the biosphere's ecosystem will require courage and determination, but not self-denial. We need not give up our comforts or quality of life.
America stands at the cross roads of greatness and decline. The might of weaponry will not sustain us anymore. Our chance to again lead the world will require the same kind of determination we once initiated to convert our peace time economy into war production during the 1940's. But now the "war mentality" won't help. This time we must be innovative and change the very way we produce our energy resources.
Hemp prohibition must end at once in order to inaugurate a nationwide green economy. To save the world that gives us life we must begin immediately to grow our own energy.
Hemp is the only plant capable of becoming the American biomass energy standard. Hemp grows well everywhere on earth except the polar regions. Hemp will out produce wood at a rate greater than four to one per acre in cellulose/pulp. And by analyzing pre-prohibition hemp crop reports from various States, ten tons per acre becomes a reasonable biomass production figure. Hemp will make ten times more biomass per acre than forest wood.
Wood is not a viable fuel resource. The forests are essential to scrub the excess CO 2 from the air. Soft wood forests should not be harvested for paper products or biomass -- their only economic value. Hemp can supply that need. Hardwood trees should be harvested, utilizing sustainable yield ecology, for board and finishing lumber only. Hemp will make pressed board lighter in weight and more durable than plywood.
Hemp can be grown for: crude biomass fuels on energy farms; fiber/hurds for textiles, pressed board and hurd cellulose products; seed for oil and high protein foods; flowers for pharmaceutical grade extract medicine and recreational herbal products for adults.
The Green Economy based on a hemp multi-industry complex will provide income for farmers in every state. Regions for each hemp agricultural industry application will be established through open free market competition. The historical and traditional hemp fiber growing areas in the eastern U.S. will re-emerge creating new jobs in an old industry. The economically devastated northern plains will see a boom as the nation's energy farming states. Medicinal and intoxicant grade hemp will be grown on less productive higher elevation lands. Mountainous areas have traditionally produced intoxicant quality hemp.
Ironically, the hemp medicine and intoxicant industry will generate the least amount of capital, though it is the target of prohibitionist "reefer" propaganda. The hemp seed oil and food resource industries, and the hemp textile and cellulose industries will develop thousands of new products generating tens of thousands of sustainable new jobs. Hemp energy farming will become the backbone of a trillion dollar a year non-polluting energy production industry. And the petroleum corporations need not fear this for their expertise, hardware and manpower are vital to turn the farmers' raw biomass into refined fuels.
These projections represent a tremendous boon to our flagging economy that can be realized as a by-product of saving our world from human induced biocide. If we as a society have the courage and determination to set upon this bold path to planetary restoration, we can, in our life times, leave a healthier world to our children; and a lifestyle based on renewable resources in a balanced ecosystem that our children can leave to their children for generations to come.
Burning fossil fuels is the major cause of the greenhouse effect. The forests of the world can reverse it, if the trees are allowed to grow.
Hemp is a renewable natural resource capable of providing biomass alternatives to fossil fuels. Hemp cellulose and fibers can supply the demand for all products derived from wood.
Renewable resources mean economic growth and stability.
Please copy. Produced as a public service by:
Access Unlimited
P.O. Box 1900
Frazier Park, CA 93225
805/632-2644
A web search for "hemp economy"
The paper is posted: http://www.ratical.org/renewables/greenEcon.html
For more information on how hemp can help us save ourselves please visit the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org , a private museum with a virtual wing. Read More »
Here's a paper written almost 20 years ago that explains how we can use hemp to help us save ourselves from the evil and stupidity that's been in charge for way to long.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
TOWARDS A GREEN ECONOMY
by Lynn Osburn
The nationwide popularity of Earth Week 1990 festivities seems to indicate the American People are concerned with the continuing degradation of the global environment. The twentieth anniversary celebration of the original Earth Day focused on ways the individual citizen can reduce waste and retard pollution.
The necessity of recycling used materials and lowering power consumption was demonstrated in a plethora of multi-media displays from coast to coast. It was indicated a change in lifestyle is needed to halt the poisoning of earth.
An environmentally conscious populace would prove to be a frugal one if those Earth Week programs were adopted.
Assuming Americans are willing to cut back on energy consumption and muster the effort to recycle their trash, are industrial corporations and energy producers willing to do the same?
Will corporate America drop the aggressive sales pitches wherein billions are spent encouraging people to buy impulsively? Will people be able to kick the mass consumption habit generations in the making? Will corporate America even entertain abstaining from the short term profit fix and consider what the consequences of quick return capitalism has done and will do to future generations of life on earth?
President George Bush's speech, given just days after Earth Week 1990 at the 17 nation conference dealing with global pollution problems held in Washington D.C., drew criticism from European participants. He emphasized scientific and economic uncertainties in what was seen as a White House foot dragging effort on the environmental issue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientists throughout the world agree: the single most effective way to halt the greenhouse effect is to stop burning fossil fuels.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A memo prepared by administration staffers for members of the U.S. delegation read, under the heading Debates to avoid: It is "not beneficial to discuss whether there is or is not warming, or how much or how little warming. In the eyes of the public we will lose this debate. A better approach is to raise the many uncertainties that need to be better understood on this issue." Bush repeatedly stressed the need to find policies that do not limit economic growth: Environmental policies that ignore the economic factor, the human factor, are destined to fail." [Science News, April 28, 1990]
President Bush is proud of the public image his career in the oil industry presents. He is, to say the least, an energy industry celebrity. And he has gone to great lengths to represent himself as the environmental president.
If the Bush administration believes, "in the eyes of the public," they will lose the debate questioning the scientific validity of the greenhouse effect; is it reasonable to conclude they don't believe the excessive accumulation of greenhouse gasses generated by burning fossil fuels is unbalancing the global carbon dioxide cycle? Or is it possible the corporate industrial energy complex that controls the trillion dollar per year energy industry fears profit loss, and unlike the American people, is in no way willing to make a sacrifice in corporate "lifestyle" to help heal the Earth?
President Bush is right about one thing: "Policies that ignore the economic factor, the human factor, are destined to fail." In this case the economic factor and the human factor converge in the dire strait: if we do not convert from a fossil fueled economy to a biomass fueled economy, the human factor will become fossil history on planet earth.
The corporate industrial energy complex is collectively holding its breath on the topic of biomass resource conversion to replace fossil fuels. The industrial energy giants spend millions in public relations explaining how they are environmentally responsible energy producers. Yet it is the fossil fuel resources they peddle that are endangering the fragile ecosphere. The majority of scientists throughout the world agree: the single most effective way to halt the greenhouse effect is to stop burning fossil fuels.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The only way to reduce the ever-thickening blanket of CO 2 warming the earth is to grow more plants to absorb it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was proven in the 1970's that biomass, specifically plant mass, can be converted to fuels that will replace every type of fossil fuel currently produced by industry -- and these biomass fuels are essentially non-polluting.
Fossil fuel materials: coal, oil and natural gas were made by nature from earth biomass that lived over 160 million years ago. Crude fossil fuels contain hydrocarbon compounds that were made by plant life during the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide and water were converted into hydrocarbon rich cellulose. Plants manufacture many other biochemicals in the complex and mysterious act of living, but cellulose and lignin are the compounds that give plants structure, body and strength. They are the main components of plant mass.
Nature took millions of years to concentrate the ancient plant mass into what we call fossil fuels. The eons long process that converted the once living biomass into hydro-carbon rich fossils also compressed sulfur into the fossil biomass. It is this sulfur that causes acid rain when belched out of power plant smoke stacks. According to Brookhaven National Laboratory 50,000 Americans and 10,000 Canadians die each year from exposure to acid rain.
Mankind through the science of chemical engineering can transform modern biomass into hydrocarbon fuels that contain no sulfur because the fresh plant mass contains no sulfur. And the scientific method of biomass conversion into hydrocarbon fuels requires mere hours instead of eons to accomplish.
The inherent problem with burning fossil fuels to power industrial energy systems and economies is the mega-ton release of CO 2 into the air. However biomass derived fuels are part of the present day global CO 2 cycle.
The quantity of CO 2 released into the air from burning biomass fuels is equal to the amount of CO 2 the biomass energy crop absorbed while it grew. If the energy crop is an annual plant then one years biomass fuel when burned will supply the CO 2 needed for the next year's fuel biomass growth. There will be no net increase in atmospheric CO 2.
For over 100 years industrialized nations have burned hydrocarbon fuels that are not part of the current ecosystem. The delicate balance between life and climatic cycles is being undone by injecting ancestral CO 2 into the atmosphere.
The only way to reduce the ever-thickening blanket of CO 2 warming the earth is to grow more plants to absorb it. Yet the Bush administration's plan to plant one billion trees a year will only reduce by 15% the amount of CO 2 predicted for the end of the century. However, U.S. CO 2 production (from burning fossil fuels) will rise by 35% during the same time period. [Science News, April 28, 1990]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp hurds are richer in cellulose and contain less lignin than wood pulp. Hemp paper will make better cardboard and paper bag products than wood paper.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bush Administration's plan is futile as long as fossil fuels remain America's major energy resource. And at the rate forests are being cut down to make the paper our society is wrapped up in, a billion saplings a year will barely compensate for that loss in CO 2 absorption.
Wood happens to be the government's chief biomass candidate to replace the dwindling fossil fuel supply. Officials claim U.S. yearly energy consumption can be met by harvesting one third of the trees in the National Forests on a rotating basis coupled with more intensive silvaculture (tree farming) techniques. Estimated yearly biomass production in the National Forests is one ton per acre. [Progress in Biomass Conversion Vol. 1 Kyosti V. Sarkanen & David Tillman, editors]
The U.S. Forestry Service is the government bureaucracy promoting this ludicrous forests-for-fuel idea. However private industry has been clear-cutting without conscience timber stands not protected in National Forests and Parks. And none of that wood goes into biomass fuel conversion.
The trees of the world are the biosphere's CO 2 cycle safety valve. Trees convert CO 2 into wood. Since a tree will live for centuries, forests can gradually pull the excess CO 2 out of the air. Trees are not only aesthetically pleasing -- they are the cure for our ailing atmosphere.
Is it realistic to halt construction to save trees or ask people to stop using paper? If wood resources cannot hope to meet the demand for lumber, paper and biomass fuels, can any plant be cultivated to meet these needs?
This problem is not new. Civilizations have been exhausting vital resources and dooming themselves for many centuries. Versatility, cleverness and common sense are the hallmark of the ones that survive.
About seventy-five years ago two dedicated USDA scientists projected that at the rate the U.S. was using paper we would deplete the forests in our lifetimes. Those government scientists were endowed with common sense -- something government officials are hopelessly lacking nowadays. So USDA scientists Dewey and Merrill looked for an alternate agricultural resource for paper products l to prevent the disaster we now face.
They found the ideal candidate to be the waste material left in the fields after the hemp harvest. The left over pulp, called hemp hurds, was traditionally burned in the fields when the hemp fiber had been removed after the time consuming retting (partially rotting the hemp stalk to separate the fiber from the hurds) process was completed.
Hemp hurds are richer in cellulose and contain less lignin than wood pulp. Dewey and Merrill found after much experimentation that harsh sulfur acids used to break down the lignin in wood pulp were not necessary when making paper from hemp hurds. Sulfur acid wastes from paper mills are known to be a major source of waterway pollution. The coarse paper they made from hemp hurds was stronger and had greater folding durability than course wood pulp paper. Hemp hurd paper would make better cardboard and paper bag products than wood paper. They found the fine print quality hemp hurd paper to be equal to writing quality wood pulp paper. [ Dewey and Merrill, Bulletin #404, Hemp Hurds As Paper-Making Material, U.S.D.A., Washington, D.C., October 14, 1916.]
The only problem to implementing the paper industry resource change from wood to hemp hurds was machinery to separate hemp fiber from the hurds needed to be developed. Separation was still done by hand after the machine breaks had softened the hemp stalks. The "decorticating" machine that separated the fiber and hurds wasn't developed until the early 1930's. Even Popular Mechanics declared in 1937 that hemp would be a billion dollar a year crop because of this new machinery. And their predictions did not consider hemp's potential as a biomass fuel resource. Unfortunately, hemp was maligned. Its flower tops were condemned as marijuana and subsequently outlawed just when the fiber-hurd separating machinery was perfected.
If America had not been infected with marijuana hysteria, hemp could be solving our energy problems today. When marijuana was outlawed most people did not know "marijuana" was Mexican slang for cannabis hemp. The American people, including doctors who routinely prescribed cannabis extract medicines, thought hemp and marijuana were two different plants. Otherwise hemp prohibition would never have happened.
Eastern Europeans were not subjected to the hysterical anti-marijuana syndrome plaguing the West. Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia among others, continued to make clothing from hemp fibers and medicines from hemp flowers. They pressed the versatile and edible oil from the seeds and used the left over high protein seed mash to make breakfast cereal and livestock feed. And they used surplus hemp for building insulation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GREEN ECONOMY based on a hemp multi-industry complex will provide income for farmers in every state. . . . thousands of new products generating tens of thousands of sustainable new jobs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently in the U.S.A. a private firm, Mansion Industries, has pioneered the use of agricultural fibers to make sturdy light weight construction paneling to replace plywood. Mansion Industries uses straw to make their Environcore(TM) panels. Based on Dewey and Merrill test results, if hemp was an available resource, Environcore(TM) construction paneling would be even stronger.
It's not too late to save our environment, but it is absolutely essential that we start now. Restoring the balance to the biosphere's ecosystem will require courage and determination, but not self-denial. We need not give up our comforts or quality of life.
America stands at the cross roads of greatness and decline. The might of weaponry will not sustain us anymore. Our chance to again lead the world will require the same kind of determination we once initiated to convert our peace time economy into war production during the 1940's. But now the "war mentality" won't help. This time we must be innovative and change the very way we produce our energy resources.
Hemp prohibition must end at once in order to inaugurate a nationwide green economy. To save the world that gives us life we must begin immediately to grow our own energy.
Hemp is the only plant capable of becoming the American biomass energy standard. Hemp grows well everywhere on earth except the polar regions. Hemp will out produce wood at a rate greater than four to one per acre in cellulose/pulp. And by analyzing pre-prohibition hemp crop reports from various States, ten tons per acre becomes a reasonable biomass production figure. Hemp will make ten times more biomass per acre than forest wood.
Wood is not a viable fuel resource. The forests are essential to scrub the excess CO 2 from the air. Soft wood forests should not be harvested for paper products or biomass -- their only economic value. Hemp can supply that need. Hardwood trees should be harvested, utilizing sustainable yield ecology, for board and finishing lumber only. Hemp will make pressed board lighter in weight and more durable than plywood.
Hemp can be grown for: crude biomass fuels on energy farms; fiber/hurds for textiles, pressed board and hurd cellulose products; seed for oil and high protein foods; flowers for pharmaceutical grade extract medicine and recreational herbal products for adults.
The Green Economy based on a hemp multi-industry complex will provide income for farmers in every state. Regions for each hemp agricultural industry application will be established through open free market competition. The historical and traditional hemp fiber growing areas in the eastern U.S. will re-emerge creating new jobs in an old industry. The economically devastated northern plains will see a boom as the nation's energy farming states. Medicinal and intoxicant grade hemp will be grown on less productive higher elevation lands. Mountainous areas have traditionally produced intoxicant quality hemp.
Ironically, the hemp medicine and intoxicant industry will generate the least amount of capital, though it is the target of prohibitionist "reefer" propaganda. The hemp seed oil and food resource industries, and the hemp textile and cellulose industries will develop thousands of new products generating tens of thousands of sustainable new jobs. Hemp energy farming will become the backbone of a trillion dollar a year non-polluting energy production industry. And the petroleum corporations need not fear this for their expertise, hardware and manpower are vital to turn the farmers' raw biomass into refined fuels.
These projections represent a tremendous boon to our flagging economy that can be realized as a by-product of saving our world from human induced biocide. If we as a society have the courage and determination to set upon this bold path to planetary restoration, we can, in our life times, leave a healthier world to our children; and a lifestyle based on renewable resources in a balanced ecosystem that our children can leave to their children for generations to come.
Burning fossil fuels is the major cause of the greenhouse effect. The forests of the world can reverse it, if the trees are allowed to grow.
Hemp is a renewable natural resource capable of providing biomass alternatives to fossil fuels. Hemp cellulose and fibers can supply the demand for all products derived from wood.
Renewable resources mean economic growth and stability.
Please copy. Produced as a public service by:
Access Unlimited
P.O. Box 1900
Frazier Park, CA 93225
805/632-2644
A web search for "hemp economy"
The paper is posted: http://www.ratical.org/renewables/greenEcon.html
For more information on how hemp can help us save ourselves please visit the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org , a private museum with a virtual wing. Read More »
CALL TO ACTION: SUPPORT THE PRO ENVIRONMENTAL TICKET OF OBAMA-BIDEN
On this blog you’ll find many articles on how hemp can remove the excess CO2 from our atmosphere, the cause of global warming. This article deals with one of the effects that could be reversed if we would just stop living by the rules of dead people and remove government restrictions from nature, starting with the hemp plant.
The governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is leading the state that is suing the US Fish & Wildlife Service for their decision to protect polar bears by putting them on the endangered species list.
The new Vice Presidential candidate, with less than two years experience as governor of the state of Alaska, with ties to big oil, Sarah Palin said regarding the matter:
“We believe that the Service’s decision to list the polar bear was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available.”
Yes, her idea of opposing the Bush Administration is to take a stand against the little they are doing for the environment, since it's in the way of big oil.
As Al Gore pointed out years ago in his film An Inconvenient Truth, all honest scientists are saying that global warming is in process, polar bears are dying now from the experience, and the rest of us are in danger too.Below is the link to the press release about how Palin's Alaska’s does not want polar bears on the endangered species list.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2008/polar-bear-08-05-2008.html
For Immediate Release, August 5, 2008
Contact: Kassie Siegel, Center for Biological Diversity, (760) 366-2232 x 302 or (951) 961-7972, ksiegel@biologicaldiversity.org Josh Mogerman, NRDC, (312) 780-7424 or (773) 531-5359 Jane Kochersperger, Greenpeace, (202) 319-2493 or (202) 680-3798
Statement of the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and Natural Resources Defense Council on the State of Alaska's
Lawsuit to Overturn Endangered Species Act Protection for the Polar Bear WASHINGTON— The state of Alaska has filed a lawsuit in federal district court (District of Columbia) challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming.Statement of Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, and lead author of the 2005 petition to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act:“The State of Alaska’s challenge to the protection of the polar bear is a lost cause based on discredited, industry-funded attacks on science. This case has no merit, and the Center for Biological Diversity, NRDC, and Greenpeace will be seeking to intervene in the lawsuit and have it dismissed.”Statement of Andrew Wetzler, director, NRDC Endangered Species Project:“The state of Alaska's response is disappointing, but certainly no surprise. They have taken their cues from industry every step of the way.”Statement of Melanie Duchin, global warming campaigner at Greenpeace USA:“Alaska is on the front line of global warming impacts, and the polar bear is our canary in the coal mine. The state's lawsuit isn’t about the science of global warming and polar bears – it is merely doing the bidding of oil companies that want to drill for oil in sensitive polar bear habitat, without any concern for how that oil will impact the climate when it's burned.”# # #The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 180,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. www.biologicaldiversity.orgGreenpeace is an independent campaigning organization with 2.7 million members worldwide that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions for the future. www.greenpeace.org The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing. www.nrdc.org
Please vote Obama-Biden ’08 www.barackobama.com. Now more than ever, change we can believe in.
For more information on how we can use hemp to save ourselves from the ravages of global warming, visit the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org, a private museum with a virtual wing. The museum's founder, Richard M. Davis has a great book called HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION.
Read More »CALL TO ACTION:
CONTACT ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS
TO USE HEMP TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF
GLOBAL WARMING AND TOXIC ENERGY.
Hemp 4 Fuel - a roll-in from 'Time 4 Hemp'
(Webeo link above to TIME 4 HEMP'S
intro from BILLION DOLLAR CROP)
Artist Statement From Youtube: Added: October 11, 2006
"This is a segment from the film, 'The Billion Dollar Crop' created by John Birrenbach. It was used as a roll-in on the television series, 'Time 4 Hemp' hosted by Casper Leitch. To find out more about the first television series to ever focus on the topic of marijuana, check out 'Time 4 Hemp' where you can find over 80 free video and 100 free audio downloads. Time 4 Hemp cable access © Casper Leitch - 1991 "
Text of webeo from the show Time4Hemp:
"Fuel. Hemp can also be used for the production of methanol.
According to World War II production rates of hemp per acre, we can produce the equivalent of 10 - 15 barrels of oil from one acre of hemp.
If we use the production rates that are in evidence in countries currently producing hemp, we could produce the equivalents of 20-30 barrels of oil per acre of hemp.
Can we fuel the nation with hemp?
The answer is YES!
According to United States Agricultural statistics, in the United States we have an excess of 950 million acres of farm land.
Of that land we planted in 1987 some 450 million acres.
This leaves some 450 to 500 million acres un-planted.
In order to produce the amount of methanol to fuel all of our transportation needs, we would need to plant some 12-34 million acres of hemp.
This would produce the biomass necessary to fuel our country."
This webeo explains how in 1980's energy needs, we could grow our way out of the energy crisis with hemp using only 34 million acres of unused farmland. If our energy needs quadrupled since then, we're only talking about 136 million acres of farmland to grow enough energy to power our needs. Double 136 and it's still only 272 million acres of farmland to solve our energy and have an impact on our environmental crisis. The aftermarket products that come from this vast resource material can have a positive impact on our economy and health care (life empowerment) systems.
Since hemp is a weed, it can grow in many places, inside and out, to contribute to solving our problems now. We're talking hemp biofuel and biomass to power engines cleanly while removing excess CO2, the cause of global warming, from the air as it grows.
YES, WE CAN DO IT NOW!!! WE JUST NEED TO THROW OFF THE LAWS OF DEAD PEOPLE THAT ARE KILLING US, LIKE HEMP BEING ILLEGAL TO GROW.
Hemp is nature's way to remove the oil from the land and change it into useful items like energy.
Hemp is a biomass champion that is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel.
Hemp energy pellets burn clean as biomass to fuel the nation's electric plants.
Anything toxic energy can do, hemp can do better.
The question is 'How many hemp acres do we need to grow our way out of this energy crisis in modern times?' The next logical question is how much hemp do we need to grow to remove enough CO2 to have a reversal impact on the global warming crisis. Research on the second will be posted shortly in a separate blog entry.
Looking beyond the webeo above, let's get to real world calculations. The film clip from Time4Hemp's webeo from the film the BILLION DOLLAR CROP does not explain if they calculated one or 4 crops per year per acre.
We're looking at different energy reference sites for how much energy do we need as a nation and as a planet, given the reality that we all are one. Below are some research links we're using, and will post others here for consideration.
'How many acres do we need to grow our way out of this energy crisis?'
1. How much energy do we need?
Renewable Energy Consumption http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/alternate/page/renew_energy_consump/table1.html
Just How much energy does America Use http://www.2dtime.com/weblog/C1379175330/E1115191134/index.html
International Energy Outlook 2008 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/highlights.html
"Total world energy use rises from 462 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2005 to 563 quadrillion Btu in 2015 and then to 695 quadrillion Btu in 2030 (Figure 1). Global energy demand grows despite the sustained high world oil prices that are projected to persist over the long term. "
Annual Energy Outlook 2008 with Projections to 2030 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/demand.html
Here's some historic numbers of energy use: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/pdf/pages/sec1_3.pdf
2. How many "barrels" "acres" can exceed the nation and the world's projected energy needs?
Of course an effective energy strategy is one that combines clean energies like wind, solar, hydro, magnetic and other biofuels. Working together, we can create a better world for future generations, the real purpose of life.
Tell the politicians, 'we don't need no toxic energy.' Any energy strategy that can hurt us and/or generations ahead should be turned off and replaced with clean, natural and in some cases free energy.
For more information on hemp please visit the USA Hemp Museum, a private museum with a virtual wing. Richard M. Davis is the museum's founder and curator and he has a book called HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION which is a great piece on how to use hemp to solve the problem of global warming.
Other research pages on hemp energy include:
Hemp Biofuels Room, USA Hemp Museum: http://hempmuseum.org/ROOMS/ARM%20BIO-FUELS.htm
Renewables: http://www.ratical.org/renewables/
Fuel and Fiber: http://fuelandfiber.com/Hemp4NRG/Hemp4NRGRV3.htm
Davis is proposing using the successful WWII Hemp For Victory program and solve the problems of global warming and our growing energy needs. We'll be posting his projections here soon and please share your thoughts on this blog.
Read More »How are you?
I am a health advisor with the world's largest Health and Wellness Company. I'm looking to share some valuable health and wellness ideas and thoughts with you. If you have any ways to live a healthier life I would love to hear them.
I come across this the other day and feel we should not pay monies to companies who are selling toxins to us consumers.
So this is a great video on toxins and the companies who try to sell them to us, you may find it very useful. Check it out at
www.AworldChampion.net
User name - freedom
Password - project
If you go to bottom of page you will see videos on health and wellness
And I'm sure you will agree that when you have a company who has done all this plus a lot more it's worth a deeper look into…
The world's first Climate Neutral™ certified company 7 years straight
Resulting in a net zero impact on the environment
And wining the
Global Green USA Organizational Award and about 250 others awards Read More »
I am a health advisor with the world's largest Health and Wellness Company. I'm looking to share some valuable health and wellness ideas and thoughts with you. If you have any ways to live a healthier life I would love to hear them.
I come across this the other day and feel we should not pay monies to companies who are selling toxins to us consumers.
So this is a great video on toxins and the companies who try to sell them to us, you may find it very useful. Check it out at
www.AworldChampion.net
User name - freedom
Password - project
If you go to bottom of page you will see videos on health and wellness
And I'm sure you will agree that when you have a company who has done all this plus a lot more it's worth a deeper look into…
The world's first Climate Neutral™ certified company 7 years straight
Resulting in a net zero impact on the environment
And wining the
Global Green USA Organizational Award and about 250 others awards Read More »
Call to action: Develop a new energy policy that does not include toxic energy. Use hemp biofuel, solar, magnetic, hydro, wind and other clean, non toxic sources of power.
With hemp biofuel as the foundation of a clean energy policy, we can grow our way out of our global warming and energy crisis. A wise energy policy includes non toxic energy, of which there is an abundance.
Hemp can help solve both the energy and environmental crisis we are in. The cause of global warming is too much CO2 in the atmosphere and much of it got there because of how we produce energy. Rather than taking the oil from the soil using natural means like the hemp plant, we've put what looks like rape machines, oil drills, and take as much as we want without consideration of if the earth needs her oil to operate the planet like we need oil for our bodies.
There is a webeo from the early 90's that is posted on Youtube, the link is below that gives the math on how we can grow hemp on unused farm land (not mentioning the government owned unused land) to solve our energy crisis. Since hemp scrubs the air of excess CO2 as it grows, it will help with the environmental crisis we are in too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPxcLnpgX8w
Hemp 4 Fuel - a roll-in from 'Time 4 Hemp'
Artist Statement From Youtube:
Added: October 11, 2006
"This is a segment from the film, 'The Billion Dollar Crop' created by John Birrenbach. It was used as a roll-in on the television series, 'Time 4 Hemp' hosted by Casper Leitch. To find out more about the first television series to ever focus on the topic of marijuana, check out http://www.Time4Hemp.com where you can find over 80 free video and 100 free audio downloads. Time 4 Hempcable access © Casper Leitch - 1991 "
Text of webeo:
"Fuel. Hemp can also be used for the production of methanol.
According to World War II production rates of hemp per acre, we can produce the equivalent of 10 - 15 barrels of oil from one acre of hemp.
If we use the production rates that are in evidence in countries currently producing hemp, we could produce the equivalents of 20-30 barrels of oil per acre of hemp.
Can we fuel the nation with hemp?
The answer is YES!
According to United States Agricultural statistics, in the United States we have an excess of 950 million acres of farm land.
Of that land we planted in 1987 some 450 million acres.
This leaves some 450 to 500 million acres un-planted.
In order to produce the amount of methanol to fuel all of our transportation needs, we would need to plant some 12-34 million acres of hemp.
This would produce the biomass necessary to fuel our country."
Yes we can use hemp to grow our way out of our energy crisis. Though the piece above was from the early to mid 90's and the size of the nation has grown, we still have enough unused land to grow the hemp needed to both scrub the air of excess CO2 and provide a clean, easily renewable energy source.
Tell the politicians, we don't need no toxic energy. What we need is hemp to solve our energy crisis.
Hemp is nature's way to remove the oil from the land and change it into useful items like energy. Our greed got the best of us and we pulled the oil at a rate faster than natural. The result, global warming.
Hemp is a biomass champion that is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel.
Hemp energy pellets burn clean as biomass to fuel the nation's electric plants.
For more information on hemp please visit the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org, a private museum with a virtual wing. Richard M. Davis is the museum's founder and curator and he has a book called HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION. Read More »
With hemp biofuel as the foundation of a clean energy policy, we can grow our way out of our global warming and energy crisis. A wise energy policy includes non toxic energy, of which there is an abundance.
Hemp can help solve both the energy and environmental crisis we are in. The cause of global warming is too much CO2 in the atmosphere and much of it got there because of how we produce energy. Rather than taking the oil from the soil using natural means like the hemp plant, we've put what looks like rape machines, oil drills, and take as much as we want without consideration of if the earth needs her oil to operate the planet like we need oil for our bodies.
There is a webeo from the early 90's that is posted on Youtube, the link is below that gives the math on how we can grow hemp on unused farm land (not mentioning the government owned unused land) to solve our energy crisis. Since hemp scrubs the air of excess CO2 as it grows, it will help with the environmental crisis we are in too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPxcLnpgX8w
Hemp 4 Fuel - a roll-in from 'Time 4 Hemp'
Artist Statement From Youtube:
Added: October 11, 2006
"This is a segment from the film, 'The Billion Dollar Crop' created by John Birrenbach. It was used as a roll-in on the television series, 'Time 4 Hemp' hosted by Casper Leitch. To find out more about the first television series to ever focus on the topic of marijuana, check out http://www.Time4Hemp.com where you can find over 80 free video and 100 free audio downloads. Time 4 Hempcable access © Casper Leitch - 1991 "
Text of webeo:
"Fuel. Hemp can also be used for the production of methanol.
According to World War II production rates of hemp per acre, we can produce the equivalent of 10 - 15 barrels of oil from one acre of hemp.
If we use the production rates that are in evidence in countries currently producing hemp, we could produce the equivalents of 20-30 barrels of oil per acre of hemp.
Can we fuel the nation with hemp?
The answer is YES!
According to United States Agricultural statistics, in the United States we have an excess of 950 million acres of farm land.
Of that land we planted in 1987 some 450 million acres.
This leaves some 450 to 500 million acres un-planted.
In order to produce the amount of methanol to fuel all of our transportation needs, we would need to plant some 12-34 million acres of hemp.
This would produce the biomass necessary to fuel our country."
Yes we can use hemp to grow our way out of our energy crisis. Though the piece above was from the early to mid 90's and the size of the nation has grown, we still have enough unused land to grow the hemp needed to both scrub the air of excess CO2 and provide a clean, easily renewable energy source.
Tell the politicians, we don't need no toxic energy. What we need is hemp to solve our energy crisis.
Hemp is nature's way to remove the oil from the land and change it into useful items like energy. Our greed got the best of us and we pulled the oil at a rate faster than natural. The result, global warming.
Hemp is a biomass champion that is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel.
Hemp energy pellets burn clean as biomass to fuel the nation's electric plants.
For more information on hemp please visit the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org, a private museum with a virtual wing. Richard M. Davis is the museum's founder and curator and he has a book called HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION. Read More »
Call To Action:
We've made nature's hemp plant illegal and wonder why we have a problem with the environment.
The melting ice caps are releasing enough methane gas to burn on top of ice as demonstrated in the three web videos (webeos) below.
FARTING ICE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B36EoEuKjVg
Methane Gas from Arctic Lakes and NASA Climate Report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKIdXXc54LA&feature=related
COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdaR33FqnfU&feature=related
This can't be a good thing.
Hemp does not remove methane gas, but is a biomass champion at scrubbing the air of excess CO2, the cause of global warming, as it grows.
For more information on hemp and global warming I urge you to download the n/c ebook edition of HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION by Richard M. Davis, founder and curator of the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org.
http://www.hempmuseum.org/H4V/H4VAGWS.pdf Read More »
We've made nature's hemp plant illegal and wonder why we have a problem with the environment.
The melting ice caps are releasing enough methane gas to burn on top of ice as demonstrated in the three web videos (webeos) below.
FARTING ICE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B36EoEuKjVg
Methane Gas from Arctic Lakes and NASA Climate Report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKIdXXc54LA&feature=related
COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdaR33FqnfU&feature=related
This can't be a good thing.
Hemp does not remove methane gas, but is a biomass champion at scrubbing the air of excess CO2, the cause of global warming, as it grows.
For more information on hemp and global warming I urge you to download the n/c ebook edition of HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION by Richard M. Davis, founder and curator of the USA Hemp Museum, www.hempmuseum.org.
http://www.hempmuseum.org/H4V/H4VAGWS.pdf Read More »
Hey everybody. I would first of all like to deliver a sincere apology to all of my friends here at We and to all those who have joined the Demands for the Candidates group. I have been inactive the past week-and-a-half due to a severe accident involving my father-in-law. He has been in an intensive care unit at a major hospital in my area, and for a time we were not sure if he would make it. I am sure everyone will understand, but I still feel a sense of regret that I have not been working as I had wanted to originally with the group.
Anyways. Me being in a hospital waiting room for so many hours this past week has allowed me a lot of time to think about the We Campaign and the group, Demands for the Candidates, I have founded here. I would like to share some of these thoughts and opinions which I have had time to formulate. They go something like this...
While I have not had any time to post or write, I have had snippets of time where I was able to check my email. It would be and understatement to say the Demands for the Candidates group has had a significant response. Some of this response has been negative however. I have, so far, 83 emails from people telling me that while they (mostly) support what Demands for the Candidates objective is, their is no way they could join such a group because even though they support Al Gore's plan, they will vote this November for their favorite presidential candidate regardless of whether that candidate has adopted and endorsed Al Gore's plan.
This has been a real eye-opener to me. It made me think a whole lot about the purpose of the group, where it is headed, and how effective it can be in making change. I have come to two conclusions.
Conclusion 1:
The group, Demands for the Candidates, will ultimately be unsuccessful in its mission to affect the presidential candidates environmental policies.
Through a combination of Barack Obama not wanting to endanger losing votes in the 'Center' due to seeming extreme, and John McCain receiving large donations from companies that would be financially damaged by Al Gore's plan, we can safely assume that neither candidate would be willing to move very far at all away from their current environmental policies.
Along with this is the fact that, as I have already mentioned, people will (for the most part) vote for their favorite candidate regardless of whether that candidate supports Al Gore's plan. And the candidates know this.
Conclusion 2:
The continuation of Demands for the Candidates in its current form will be a futile effort.
The Demands for the Candidates group must either be reformed or deleted. After all, isn't the purpose of the We Campaign as a whole to put pressure on not only the presidential candidates, but to ALL public officials? So isn't it redundant to create an organization within another organization that has the same purpose as the first organization?
All that being said, I would love to here from anyone who has any thoughts on what can be done at this point. I will be looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.
Thank you,
Michael
Anyways. Me being in a hospital waiting room for so many hours this past week has allowed me a lot of time to think about the We Campaign and the group, Demands for the Candidates, I have founded here. I would like to share some of these thoughts and opinions which I have had time to formulate. They go something like this...
While I have not had any time to post or write, I have had snippets of time where I was able to check my email. It would be and understatement to say the Demands for the Candidates group has had a significant response. Some of this response has been negative however. I have, so far, 83 emails from people telling me that while they (mostly) support what Demands for the Candidates objective is, their is no way they could join such a group because even though they support Al Gore's plan, they will vote this November for their favorite presidential candidate regardless of whether that candidate has adopted and endorsed Al Gore's plan.
This has been a real eye-opener to me. It made me think a whole lot about the purpose of the group, where it is headed, and how effective it can be in making change. I have come to two conclusions.
Conclusion 1:
The group, Demands for the Candidates, will ultimately be unsuccessful in its mission to affect the presidential candidates environmental policies.
Through a combination of Barack Obama not wanting to endanger losing votes in the 'Center' due to seeming extreme, and John McCain receiving large donations from companies that would be financially damaged by Al Gore's plan, we can safely assume that neither candidate would be willing to move very far at all away from their current environmental policies.
Along with this is the fact that, as I have already mentioned, people will (for the most part) vote for their favorite candidate regardless of whether that candidate supports Al Gore's plan. And the candidates know this.
Conclusion 2:
The continuation of Demands for the Candidates in its current form will be a futile effort.
The Demands for the Candidates group must either be reformed or deleted. After all, isn't the purpose of the We Campaign as a whole to put pressure on not only the presidential candidates, but to ALL public officials? So isn't it redundant to create an organization within another organization that has the same purpose as the first organization?
All that being said, I would love to here from anyone who has any thoughts on what can be done at this point. I will be looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.
Thank you,
Michael
http://www.recyclebank.com/
everyone check this site out!
Place all your recyclable materials into one cart for curbside pick up.
Carts have an identification tag that is recorded by the recycling truck.
The amount recycled is converted into RecycleBank Points, which you can use to order rewards.
RecycleBank not only helps divert trash from landfills through increased recycling activities, but it also rewards members for recycling with RecycleBank Reward Points.
Currently, our curbside members can earn 2.5 RecycleBank points for each pound of recyclable materials.
everyone check this site out!
Place all your recyclable materials into one cart for curbside pick up.
Carts have an identification tag that is recorded by the recycling truck.
The amount recycled is converted into RecycleBank Points, which you can use to order rewards.
RecycleBank not only helps divert trash from landfills through increased recycling activities, but it also rewards members for recycling with RecycleBank Reward Points.
Currently, our curbside members can earn 2.5 RecycleBank points for each pound of recyclable materials.
A few hollows down the road from me there is a guy who has built his house in a novel way. For three years he spent his summers tearing down old out buildings on local farms. By saving all the lumber and some very creative use of a saw he built a house. Now there is nothing unusual in this you might say but this place is different. IT'S BEAUTIFUL! When I went to see it I was expecting this tumble down eco-cabin and was floored. As you drive up a short gravel drive-way you round a corner and see a natural wood structure that has the darkened appearance of old furniture achieved by an oil based stain (I know its not eco but it was used for a very valid reason... It preserves and waterproofs the wood beautifully and the idea is never to have to do it again) which was applied liberally over several years. The overall effect makes it look as though it grew from the landscape. He has used fruit trees and herbs along with such flowers as lavender and rose to achieve a garden as nice as any I have seen on HGTV.
Inside he didn't skimp on his flooring. Natural bamboo makes for one of the most beautiful floors I have ever seen (I am not sure what color stain he used but it looks deep red like cherry or rosewood). For his kitchen and bathroom tile he used, GETS THIS, old slate roofing tiles. They, due to age and damage, had to be cut in irregular shapes that make for a beautiful random patterns and look as nice as the $3.00/sq foot stuff at Home Depot. His kitchen counters are old bowling alley lanes cut to fit and make a fantastic overall look by lightening an otherwise dark space. Cabinets were taken fro a remodel of his neighbor and refaced to match the flooring. His fireplace is built of an assortment of foundation stones and river rock that, while cacophonous, is not unpleasing. He didn't skimp on windows... Pella double hung... or insulation. Keeping the house as energy efficient as possible was a priority. Now here's the rub... he didn't build the house as an eco project. He built it to save cost. This amazing structure (I only covered half of it) cost him less than $20,000 to build and looks nothing like an eco home is generalized to appear like.
I wanted to bring that up because it occurs to me that he did a fantastic thing that deserves mention (He asked that I omit any reference of his name or actual location.). I wonder if I could do that as well. It could be carried farther I suppose but it would, I think, compromise the overall look of the place.
Without meaning to he created a house that is over 70% recycled material and while other eco options exist that could be used in place of paints and stains I believe that the recycled material more than offsets the footprint. Further he did this project on the cheep and it was so successful he is doing his garage in the same manner.
Now that's solving a problem!
world without end,
sean
Inside he didn't skimp on his flooring. Natural bamboo makes for one of the most beautiful floors I have ever seen (I am not sure what color stain he used but it looks deep red like cherry or rosewood). For his kitchen and bathroom tile he used, GETS THIS, old slate roofing tiles. They, due to age and damage, had to be cut in irregular shapes that make for a beautiful random patterns and look as nice as the $3.00/sq foot stuff at Home Depot. His kitchen counters are old bowling alley lanes cut to fit and make a fantastic overall look by lightening an otherwise dark space. Cabinets were taken fro a remodel of his neighbor and refaced to match the flooring. His fireplace is built of an assortment of foundation stones and river rock that, while cacophonous, is not unpleasing. He didn't skimp on windows... Pella double hung... or insulation. Keeping the house as energy efficient as possible was a priority. Now here's the rub... he didn't build the house as an eco project. He built it to save cost. This amazing structure (I only covered half of it) cost him less than $20,000 to build and looks nothing like an eco home is generalized to appear like.
I wanted to bring that up because it occurs to me that he did a fantastic thing that deserves mention (He asked that I omit any reference of his name or actual location.). I wonder if I could do that as well. It could be carried farther I suppose but it would, I think, compromise the overall look of the place.
Without meaning to he created a house that is over 70% recycled material and while other eco options exist that could be used in place of paints and stains I believe that the recycled material more than offsets the footprint. Further he did this project on the cheep and it was so successful he is doing his garage in the same manner.
Now that's solving a problem!
world without end,
sean
As if the recent spill on the Mississippi was not indication enough... As if, it was not acknowledged as the most fragile habitat on the planet... As if they could ever be satisfied ... The great bloated tic called OIL is at it again. Their most recent target... The Arctic Circle. That's right all you penguin lovers big oil's next move will be to destroy all life in the Arctic.
Supporters of the push for arctic drilling use the Alaskan pipeline as an example of how safe and efficient it will be. As usual big oil has ignored all scientific and ecological evidence of contrary opinion by using carefully selected statistics quoted out of context to support their claims. "There is enough oil there to support the world demand for three years..." one oil exec was quoted as saying.
Despite the fact that the same oil executive says that the technology to build these huge platforms is currently in the realm of science fiction it appears that plans to develop these areas are plowing ahead like a juggernaut.
So just to recap... Big Oil now wants to destroy our beaches, tear up the tundra, waste billions of tons of water extracting oil from shale (as much water per ton as Denver uses a day), and have no accountability for any ecological damage as demonstrated by the recent ruling on the Exxon Valdez debacle. At what point do we start to tell these colossus' NO! They have gotten their way for so long they no longer seem to recognize government regulations. For that matter government has forgotten that they can regulate big oil. Remember that big oil is counting on the majority remaining silent during this push to suck the last drops of oil from the earth's crust. We must act!
Wow, gee, Hey Mr. President, could I be on the Mars Mission since you plan to make the Earth uninhabitable.
world without end,
sean
Supporters of the push for arctic drilling use the Alaskan pipeline as an example of how safe and efficient it will be. As usual big oil has ignored all scientific and ecological evidence of contrary opinion by using carefully selected statistics quoted out of context to support their claims. "There is enough oil there to support the world demand for three years..." one oil exec was quoted as saying.
Despite the fact that the same oil executive says that the technology to build these huge platforms is currently in the realm of science fiction it appears that plans to develop these areas are plowing ahead like a juggernaut.
So just to recap... Big Oil now wants to destroy our beaches, tear up the tundra, waste billions of tons of water extracting oil from shale (as much water per ton as Denver uses a day), and have no accountability for any ecological damage as demonstrated by the recent ruling on the Exxon Valdez debacle. At what point do we start to tell these colossus' NO! They have gotten their way for so long they no longer seem to recognize government regulations. For that matter government has forgotten that they can regulate big oil. Remember that big oil is counting on the majority remaining silent during this push to suck the last drops of oil from the earth's crust. We must act!
Wow, gee, Hey Mr. President, could I be on the Mars Mission since you plan to make the Earth uninhabitable.
world without end,
sean
I'm looking to buy an electric 2-wheeler. The pros and cons of a scooter, bike, and moped are interesting. My short commute involves a fairly steep hill which I'm not sure the scooter would handle. At first I thought an electric bike would be the way to go
http://egovehicles.com/home/
("climbs hills like Lance Armstrong")!
but the "mopeds" - particularly the XM-3500Li looks to be the closest thing to perfect I've seen.
http://www.x-tremescooters.com/electric_mopeds/xm-3500li/xm-3500li.html
75-80 mile range per charge, and up to 55 mph?! I might as well park the Prius for most of the year!
Has anyone had any experience with these electric modes of transportation? Any thoughts??
Chris in Keene, NH
http://egovehicles.com/home/
("climbs hills like Lance Armstrong")!
but the "mopeds" - particularly the XM-3500Li looks to be the closest thing to perfect I've seen.
http://www.x-tremescooters.com/electric_mopeds/xm-3500li/xm-3500li.html
75-80 mile range per charge, and up to 55 mph?! I might as well park the Prius for most of the year!
Has anyone had any experience with these electric modes of transportation? Any thoughts??
Chris in Keene, NH
While I must applaud GM's new concept car the "Volt" I await its release with some degree of trepidation. Ford now has a Hybrid SUV that uses soy based foam in its seat cushions.... Hey fabulous!
Now for the bad news...GM's the Volt is huge, way bigger than it needs to be. In fact it's the same size of some luxury sedans. While this will appeal to those of the mind set that bigger is better, it fails to recognize that bigger also means it requires more resource to build. Further, A GM executive was quoted, on N.P.R., as saying that it will cost $10,000 more than a normal car. Hmmmmm. Lets do some math. If the AVERAGE GM car runs around $30,000 and this car is going to cost $10,000 more... it quickly becomes apparent that the average Joe and his family will not be able to afford it. If most people cannot buy the car it solves nothing.
I mention this to notate that there is a car, called the "G-Wiz" available in England that runs around $18000 US, however, to the best of my knowledge; it cannot be purchased in the states. WHY! It occurs to me that this little love, by virtue of being more affordable, would go much further towards solving our energy crisis that the megalithic Volt.
Now we get to the new Ford Hybrid SUV (sorry I forget the name.) Great news! It gets a whopping 26 MPG highway. GRRRR! You know, back in the 1990's gas was relatively cheap. In this market of cheap gas there came unto the land a small car by an unheard of company called Geo. The car was the Metro 3cyl. It got 52 MPG and in its stripped down no option form ran about $6000-$7000. I know this because I bought another model that came out later called the Storm. I mention this because My 1991 Geo storm (that has had indifferent maintenance, random infrequent oil changes, and I don't remember the last time I checked the tires) get better Gas mileage than this new Hybrid. How does this solve anything?
Now the question becomes apparent why aren't the US car manufacturers applying their brain-pans to creating a car that could compete with the second hand market? If India can create a fuel efficient car for around $5000 I refuse to believe that our car manufacturers are unable to do the same with an electric or mega fuel efficient hybrid (perhaps go back to the 90's and revamp the metro 3cyl with a hybrid system).
Now it will seem to some of you that I am running down these efforts by US auto manufacturers and I am sure I will be vilified by some members for stating these facts while, in fact, I applaud GM's new concept car... they are currently in negotiation with the large electric conglomerates as to how to power them and new smart grid technologies that will assist in using the entire power production grid more efficiently. AWESOME! I applaud Ford whose Executive, at the recent celebration of the model T's 100th anniversary, stated that the electrification of the car is the next big step in automobile technology. FANTASTIC! But we must remember that all the technology in the world will not help if the people can't afford it. Again, I applaud the big three's efforts in this area but while they're working in this direction they need to think about small cheep options for people who mainly shop the secondary market, an ideology that Henry Ford himself would embrace as he demonstrated with the model T's being "cheap enough for a person making an average wage".
We won't be through this crisis until everyone is driving more efficient electric or hybrid cars. Hell, just bringing back the 3cyl metro would make a huge difference. There are currently foreign designs out there that could work that we cannot buy here. If they can do it so can we.
world without end,
sean
Now for the bad news...GM's the Volt is huge, way bigger than it needs to be. In fact it's the same size of some luxury sedans. While this will appeal to those of the mind set that bigger is better, it fails to recognize that bigger also means it requires more resource to build. Further, A GM executive was quoted, on N.P.R., as saying that it will cost $10,000 more than a normal car. Hmmmmm. Lets do some math. If the AVERAGE GM car runs around $30,000 and this car is going to cost $10,000 more... it quickly becomes apparent that the average Joe and his family will not be able to afford it. If most people cannot buy the car it solves nothing.
I mention this to notate that there is a car, called the "G-Wiz" available in England that runs around $18000 US, however, to the best of my knowledge; it cannot be purchased in the states. WHY! It occurs to me that this little love, by virtue of being more affordable, would go much further towards solving our energy crisis that the megalithic Volt.
Now we get to the new Ford Hybrid SUV (sorry I forget the name.) Great news! It gets a whopping 26 MPG highway. GRRRR! You know, back in the 1990's gas was relatively cheap. In this market of cheap gas there came unto the land a small car by an unheard of company called Geo. The car was the Metro 3cyl. It got 52 MPG and in its stripped down no option form ran about $6000-$7000. I know this because I bought another model that came out later called the Storm. I mention this because My 1991 Geo storm (that has had indifferent maintenance, random infrequent oil changes, and I don't remember the last time I checked the tires) get better Gas mileage than this new Hybrid. How does this solve anything?
Now the question becomes apparent why aren't the US car manufacturers applying their brain-pans to creating a car that could compete with the second hand market? If India can create a fuel efficient car for around $5000 I refuse to believe that our car manufacturers are unable to do the same with an electric or mega fuel efficient hybrid (perhaps go back to the 90's and revamp the metro 3cyl with a hybrid system).
Now it will seem to some of you that I am running down these efforts by US auto manufacturers and I am sure I will be vilified by some members for stating these facts while, in fact, I applaud GM's new concept car... they are currently in negotiation with the large electric conglomerates as to how to power them and new smart grid technologies that will assist in using the entire power production grid more efficiently. AWESOME! I applaud Ford whose Executive, at the recent celebration of the model T's 100th anniversary, stated that the electrification of the car is the next big step in automobile technology. FANTASTIC! But we must remember that all the technology in the world will not help if the people can't afford it. Again, I applaud the big three's efforts in this area but while they're working in this direction they need to think about small cheep options for people who mainly shop the secondary market, an ideology that Henry Ford himself would embrace as he demonstrated with the model T's being "cheap enough for a person making an average wage".
We won't be through this crisis until everyone is driving more efficient electric or hybrid cars. Hell, just bringing back the 3cyl metro would make a huge difference. There are currently foreign designs out there that could work that we cannot buy here. If they can do it so can we.
world without end,
sean
I read the info on Make Your Utility Carbon Free and decided to contact my utility provider, Relient Energy.
I sent them an email advocating selling more electricity from renewable sources and also providing a breakdown for current and potential customer on how much of their electricity is from renewables. This last point is important, because it empowers people to make a more informed choice.
I also contacted them via online chat and asked if there was any information available on what % of their electricity sold is from renewables. The representative started to tell me about thier Wind offering. I put it a different way and they finally said 'no', such information is not available.
Do your part and contact your local utility provider. With enough inquiries they may take some positive action.
Anyone know if there's any such information available on the net that provides a breakdown of the source of energy? Even if it is by state (and not utility) it would be useful.
Hi all for those of you who don't know I'm in the middle of a fight for my right to speak. It's all very hush hush. However, has anyone heard of this plan the European Union has for using African deserts to generate solar power for Europe? If so could you please enlighten me?
world without end,
sean
ps... I'm all for it if Africa finally would get some of the relief they desperatly need, ie: some sheckles in the coffer....
world without end,
sean
ps... I'm all for it if Africa finally would get some of the relief they desperatly need, ie: some sheckles in the coffer....
As gas prices keep rising, even tasks like mowing the lawn is becoming more expensive. Sick of paying more to get the job done? Even if the gas was cheap, who likes mowing the lawn anyway? Well, there's a solution: edible estates!!
Yes, it's what it sounds like. People participating in the "Edible Estates" project transform their lawns from green, grassy plots, to areas filled with organic fruits and vegetables. This project was started in 2004 by a man named Fritz Haeg. He has designed the gardens very well, producing an attractive and useful yard area. The gardens feature produce such as blueberries, strawberries, beets, lettuce, and herbs.
Imagine walking along the sidewalk and instead of coming across yet another well-manicured greener-than-green lawn practically drowned in pesticides, you see beautiful organic blueberry bushes! You can't help but pluck off a few luscious berries as you pass by.
What better time than this to transform your own yard into an edible paradise? Not only would you trim down your mowing costs, but you would also save money on buying produce. The environment will also thank you for reducing your gasoline and water use, and ending your lawn's dependence on pesticides and herbicides (if you currently use them). I'm willing to bet you could also become quite popular with the neighbors, especially after offering them some of your fresh fruits and veggies.
For more info, check out http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/main.html
Yes, it's what it sounds like. People participating in the "Edible Estates" project transform their lawns from green, grassy plots, to areas filled with organic fruits and vegetables. This project was started in 2004 by a man named Fritz Haeg. He has designed the gardens very well, producing an attractive and useful yard area. The gardens feature produce such as blueberries, strawberries, beets, lettuce, and herbs.
Imagine walking along the sidewalk and instead of coming across yet another well-manicured greener-than-green lawn practically drowned in pesticides, you see beautiful organic blueberry bushes! You can't help but pluck off a few luscious berries as you pass by.
What better time than this to transform your own yard into an edible paradise? Not only would you trim down your mowing costs, but you would also save money on buying produce. The environment will also thank you for reducing your gasoline and water use, and ending your lawn's dependence on pesticides and herbicides (if you currently use them). I'm willing to bet you could also become quite popular with the neighbors, especially after offering them some of your fresh fruits and veggies.
For more info, check out http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/main.html
Answer: 0.00 dollars.
Based on the facts outlined by the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Minnesota spends about 1/2 billion dollars annually on coal to pay for electrical generation. Back of the napkin calculations show that generating electricity by wind instead of coal would cost 10 billion dollars. (This is the amount needed to build roughly 7,000 turbines.) This is similar to the price of a huge mountain of coal-- a mountain that Minnesota would consume in 20 years, which is the lifespan of a wind generator. Because turbines could be located closer to sources of consumption, it's likely that less power would be lost due to resistance. Currently about half of the power generated by coal is lost to resistance. About 12 plants service the entire state. My calculations do not take into account this aspect of wind generation, but it could provide an additional boon.
Based on the facts outlined by the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Minnesota spends about 1/2 billion dollars annually on coal to pay for electrical generation. Back of the napkin calculations show that generating electricity by wind instead of coal would cost 10 billion dollars. (This is the amount needed to build roughly 7,000 turbines.) This is similar to the price of a huge mountain of coal-- a mountain that Minnesota would consume in 20 years, which is the lifespan of a wind generator. Because turbines could be located closer to sources of consumption, it's likely that less power would be lost due to resistance. Currently about half of the power generated by coal is lost to resistance. About 12 plants service the entire state. My calculations do not take into account this aspect of wind generation, but it could provide an additional boon.
If America is to achieve Energy Independence then we must allow small and moderate sized electricity projects that contribute to the electricity supply of our country.
Currently, each electricity provider has different procedures, requirements and pay rates.
We must begin to treat the Electricity grid as a national system. There must be a standard across the nation for interconnection as well as a National Electricity Backbone, that will connect the rural low electricity demand areas with their large and renewable resources in our countryside with our high electricity demand urban centers on the coasts.
Currently, each electricity provider has different procedures, requirements and pay rates.
We must begin to treat the Electricity grid as a national system. There must be a standard across the nation for interconnection as well as a National Electricity Backbone, that will connect the rural low electricity demand areas with their large and renewable resources in our countryside with our high electricity demand urban centers on the coasts.
splendidtable.publicradio.org/locavore_nation
better for the enviroment and healthier....I've been doing it for years....
going quiet for a while.waddle along without me.
sean
better for the enviroment and healthier....I've been doing it for years....
going quiet for a while.waddle along without me.
sean
Feeling stressed? Sad? Hormonal? Reach for that oh-so-yummy sweet, smooth, goodness of chocolate. Yessss!! It's my favorite, too. However, is the chocolate industry yet another bad guy in the growing list of environment-hacking products and industries?
Cocoa plants are natives of rainforests. The plants typically grow in the shade, far beneath the sheltering canopies of the forests. However, this natural method of growing cocoa isn't so efficient for raking in profits. Therefore, cocoa bean growing countries such as Ghana hack down the forests to plant cocoa under the directly blaring sun. The regular lifespan of the tree is between 75 and 100 years. Perhaps the new "improved" way of growing these plants makes planting and harvesting more efficient, but it shortens the plant's life span to as little as 30 years. When the tree dies, the soil is stripped of nutrients, and farmers are forced to cut down more forests for more land to plant more trees.
How long can they keep this process up? Some people, including myself, are becoming skeptical. I'd be willing to bet that sometime in the not so distant future, the price of chocolate will begin to climb as resources continue to dwindle. Eventually, perhaps even within the next twenty years, chocolate may become a very rare and expensive treat.
We can enjoy our chocolate now before it disappears, or we can stop enjoying it now so it doesn't continue to destroy parts of our world.
mmmmmmm… chocolate… could you live without it?
Cocoa plants are natives of rainforests. The plants typically grow in the shade, far beneath the sheltering canopies of the forests. However, this natural method of growing cocoa isn't so efficient for raking in profits. Therefore, cocoa bean growing countries such as Ghana hack down the forests to plant cocoa under the directly blaring sun. The regular lifespan of the tree is between 75 and 100 years. Perhaps the new "improved" way of growing these plants makes planting and harvesting more efficient, but it shortens the plant's life span to as little as 30 years. When the tree dies, the soil is stripped of nutrients, and farmers are forced to cut down more forests for more land to plant more trees.
How long can they keep this process up? Some people, including myself, are becoming skeptical. I'd be willing to bet that sometime in the not so distant future, the price of chocolate will begin to climb as resources continue to dwindle. Eventually, perhaps even within the next twenty years, chocolate may become a very rare and expensive treat.
We can enjoy our chocolate now before it disappears, or we can stop enjoying it now so it doesn't continue to destroy parts of our world.
mmmmmmm… chocolate… could you live without it?
Ok everybody, the ball is now rolling on getting our presidential candidates on the bandwagon for change! Demands for the Candidates has opened up shop as a group on WeCanSolveIt.org. I am very excited about the possibilities here.
So far there have been over 1.4 million members sign up on the We Campaign, all of them calling for change in our energy policies. Imagine now if we got some of those people calling for Obama and McCain to ramp up their energy policies or risk losing votes. Do you see what I see? I see both candidates scrambling to try and gain votes by doing exactly what I suggest and trying as hard as they can not to lose any votes by ignoring the issue.
We need to make this election revolve around one thing... climate change! And the only way we are possibly going to be able to do this is by using our power as individuals in a democracy, the power of the VOTE!
Let's send a message to the candidates telling them we demand, not want, but DEMAND that they pay attention to the millions of people out there wanting a shift in the way America works.
Join Demands for the Candidates and help me put some real pressure on those who want the White House.
Thanks,
Michael
So far there have been over 1.4 million members sign up on the We Campaign, all of them calling for change in our energy policies. Imagine now if we got some of those people calling for Obama and McCain to ramp up their energy policies or risk losing votes. Do you see what I see? I see both candidates scrambling to try and gain votes by doing exactly what I suggest and trying as hard as they can not to lose any votes by ignoring the issue.
We need to make this election revolve around one thing... climate change! And the only way we are possibly going to be able to do this is by using our power as individuals in a democracy, the power of the VOTE!
Let's send a message to the candidates telling them we demand, not want, but DEMAND that they pay attention to the millions of people out there wanting a shift in the way America works.
Join Demands for the Candidates and help me put some real pressure on those who want the White House.
Thanks,
Michael
Posts By Month
