08-08-2008, 02:20 AM
Hi mella l -what is Klein's newest book and why is it perhaps too incendiary to go into here? (BTW, I’ve tried to send these questions to you a couple of times via the Punaweb PM system but the emails keep failing -a full inbox, maybe?)
Another new and closely related article may be of interest as well: “Mother Earth’s Triple Whammy” by John Feffer of the Institute for Policy Studies, published online in www.TomDispatch.com (a project of The Nation Institute).
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174945/j...reans_now_
Feffer, like Johannes in the Words of the Lagoon epilogue, points out factors contributing to the sudden catastrophic local failure of external-resource dependent food production systems when those localities are at the end of long and increasingly stressed supply chains. He observes these failures have indeed already been occurring and are early warning signals akin to canaries perishing in coal mines. Places such as Puna, the Big Island and the Hawaiian Islands in general --being isolated, at the end of long supply chains, externally-dependent for petrochemical fuels and agricultural chemicals, having a fairly dense population to feed, and with a limited amount of highly erosion-vulnerable agricultural land available-- are basically also canaries in the global coal mine.
Here following are some germane points highlighted from his insightful article for Puna’s consideration and possible local application, especially in a year when a batch of potential new policymakers are running for election and wooing local votes. Do Puna's prospective representatives have plans which meet these criteria?
Feffer writes:
Any response that doesn't address all three converging trends --rising energy costs, stagnant per-capita agricultural production, and climate change-- will ultimately fail... The last time food prices shot up, in the 1970s, the U.S. response was to put more land into agricultural production... But [this approach to] American agriculture is no longer an option. "For the first time in our history, we're pushing up against the edge in terms of quality land," says Otto Doering, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. "We're in a somewhat fixed box." ...The same applies to the world at large. Although rainforests are still being transformed into farming plots and pasture --only increasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere-- humanity is reaching the limits of arable land.
In the long run, the only realistic response is a comprehensive program to address, in tandem, the triple crises of energy, climate, and land and water resource exhaustion. If policymakers take into consideration only one, or even two, of the components of this trinity, they may well end up doing more harm than good....
Certainly organic farming will play a role here. Although Green Revolution guru Norman Borlaug has dismissed organic agriculture as incapable of feeding the world, an important new study published by Cambridge University Press shows that organic systems in developing countries can produce 80% more than conventional farms....
Integrated farming systems that rely on sustainable energy -- solar, wind, tidal -- will also be critical. No-till agriculture can cut down on energy use and soil erosion....
Yesd, indeed. If only the folks on Easter Island, way back when, had access to this information when they were electing their new batch of policymakers.
By the way, if you refer directly to the full original article at www.TomDispatch.com then you will find all sorts of informative hotlinks to sources, documentation, and further explanation embedded throughout the text.
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FAIR USE NOTICE: This post may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,‘ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman
"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."
NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Another new and closely related article may be of interest as well: “Mother Earth’s Triple Whammy” by John Feffer of the Institute for Policy Studies, published online in www.TomDispatch.com (a project of The Nation Institute).
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174945/j...reans_now_
Feffer, like Johannes in the Words of the Lagoon epilogue, points out factors contributing to the sudden catastrophic local failure of external-resource dependent food production systems when those localities are at the end of long and increasingly stressed supply chains. He observes these failures have indeed already been occurring and are early warning signals akin to canaries perishing in coal mines. Places such as Puna, the Big Island and the Hawaiian Islands in general --being isolated, at the end of long supply chains, externally-dependent for petrochemical fuels and agricultural chemicals, having a fairly dense population to feed, and with a limited amount of highly erosion-vulnerable agricultural land available-- are basically also canaries in the global coal mine.
Here following are some germane points highlighted from his insightful article for Puna’s consideration and possible local application, especially in a year when a batch of potential new policymakers are running for election and wooing local votes. Do Puna's prospective representatives have plans which meet these criteria?
Feffer writes:
Any response that doesn't address all three converging trends --rising energy costs, stagnant per-capita agricultural production, and climate change-- will ultimately fail... The last time food prices shot up, in the 1970s, the U.S. response was to put more land into agricultural production... But [this approach to] American agriculture is no longer an option. "For the first time in our history, we're pushing up against the edge in terms of quality land," says Otto Doering, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. "We're in a somewhat fixed box." ...The same applies to the world at large. Although rainforests are still being transformed into farming plots and pasture --only increasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere-- humanity is reaching the limits of arable land.
In the long run, the only realistic response is a comprehensive program to address, in tandem, the triple crises of energy, climate, and land and water resource exhaustion. If policymakers take into consideration only one, or even two, of the components of this trinity, they may well end up doing more harm than good....
Certainly organic farming will play a role here. Although Green Revolution guru Norman Borlaug has dismissed organic agriculture as incapable of feeding the world, an important new study published by Cambridge University Press shows that organic systems in developing countries can produce 80% more than conventional farms....
Integrated farming systems that rely on sustainable energy -- solar, wind, tidal -- will also be critical. No-till agriculture can cut down on energy use and soil erosion....
Yesd, indeed. If only the folks on Easter Island, way back when, had access to this information when they were electing their new batch of policymakers.
By the way, if you refer directly to the full original article at www.TomDispatch.com then you will find all sorts of informative hotlinks to sources, documentation, and further explanation embedded throughout the text.
-------------------------------------------------------------
FAIR USE NOTICE: This post may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,‘ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
-------------------------------------------------------------
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman
"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."
NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(