A Garden Grows in Washington? It should do.

During WWII, Americans grew 40% of the fruits and vegetables we ate in backyard Victory Gardnes. We need new Victory Gardens, this time to win the battle against global warming and environmental degradation. Right now food travels an average of 1500 miles to reach our plates, and consumes enormous amounts of fossil fuels even before it hits the road. We need to grow more of our own food so that our grandchildren have enough food to eat. What better place to highlight such an idea than on the White House lawn?

Here's a video making that modest proposal to the next president.



And a petition he's started to that end on his website promoting edible landscapes. Pretty. Yummy. What's not to like?

End the Junk Mail!

Sign the petition to create a no-mail registry on the model of the no-call registry taking you off sales call lists. Save your time, save the environment.

Peak Oil Made Easy (but no less earth shaking)

A wonderfully coherent, easy to understand discussion of peak oil, frrom the upcoming documentary What a Way to Go.

Once Again--Stop Using Food for Fuel

There was some question lately about a leaked IMF report saying 70-75% of the recent precipitous rise in food prices was linked to the increasing use of food crops for bio-fuels. The IMF quickly came out and said that in fact it was a preliminary report. A months later, the report is out and says the same exact thing.

Grist has a good rundown on the report and the earlier hubbub.

The bottom line, however, is clear. We are facing the prospect of dramatic global warming and the possibility of having passed the peak supply of oil. We need alternatives, but policies based on money grabs by vested industrial industries, i.e. offshore drilling and crop based biofuels aren't going to be solutions. Just money grabs. We're subsidizing this process, encouraging it. Of course, we're also still subsidizing oil companies. It's time to stop.