The_Green_Republican's story links

There seems to be more evidence mounting in the ongoing Perflurooctanoic Acid (PFOA) debate. PFOA is used in the production of Teflon and other non-stick surfaces and is found in the packaging of candy bars, microwave popcorn, fast food packaging like french fry and pizza boxes, bakery items, drinks, paper plates, and a host of "stain resistant" products such as carpets. Other well-known brand names containing PFOA include Stainmaster, Scotchgard, SilverStone, Fluron, Supra, Excalibur, Greblon, Xylon, Duracote, Resistal, Autograph and T-Fal.

North Pole Area (still image cut out from the first image shooting)This is a still image taken out from the first moving image shooting when the KAGUYA flew from the northern area of the "Oceanus Procellarum"(*1) to the center of the North Pole.As the altitude near the North Pole is high, the angle of the coming sunlight was lower, thus the shade of the crater topography looks long in the image.

Piles of corn cobs on Darrin Ihnen's family farm would have been considered field waste not too long ago. Now they represent potential energy.

Poet, a Sioux Falls-based company that has been making ethanol from corn for more than 20 years, is working with Ihnen and several farm equipment manufacturers to develop ways to harvest, store and transport cobs that could one day join kernels as an alternative fuel source.

South Florida is one of the wettest regions in the country, but this year it's caught in a drought. 

Its water-management district instituted the toughest usage restrictions in history last spring.

But it's not enough, experts say, that's why South Florida is turning to another solution: water reuse. One of the most innovative ways to reclaim wastewater is to treat it to the point where it's nearly potable and then to let land – a natural filter – finish the job.

They found that infants raised on organic dairy products are a third less likely to suffer from allergies in the first two years of life than those fed conventional food.

Researchers who made the discovery are unsure why organic food prevents allergic reactions - but believe its higher than normal concentrations of fatty acids play a role.

The findings will fuel the debate over whether organic food is healthier than conventional produce.

To Kline and his customers - he said he has sold about 10 tons of fertilizer this year - the key to nutritious, disease-resistant vegetables, berries and fruits is healthy, mineral-augmented soil.

In other words, healthy soils lead to healthy plants and grasses, which in turn lead to healthier consumers.

Over the years, Kline has developed a line of 10 organic fertilizers customized for trees, berry plants, vegetables, lawns and other landscapes that have become the heart and soul of the business.

It seems a surprising suggestion. Can it be true that what we put on our dinner plates could have an effect on global warming? It appears so. A new report is to warn the livestock industry generates 8 per cent of all UK greenhouse gas emissions - but that eating some meat is good for the planet. It will also say organic farming may be no better than intensive methods for reducing emissions, though organic practices have other advantages.

Physician-scientist Wilhelm Reich, best known for his claims of a cosmic life force associated with sexual orgasm, died in federal prison, and the government burned tons of his books and other publications and destroyed his equipment.

But half a century later, a small number of scientists and other believers are working to advance the European-born psychiatrist's work on what he called "orgone energy" — a theory largely forgotten in the scientific mainstream.

Not all ethanol is created equal. Scientists say the real hope for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and pursuing energy independence lies in cellulosic ethanol. That's ethanol that could be brewed from things like corn stalks, straw, wood chips — things we normally throw away.

Companies have been racing to find cost-effective ways to make this form of ethanol. A company called Range Fuels in Georgia is scheduled to break ground Tuesday on the world's first plant for making cellulosic ethanol.

According to officials in the state of Georgia, one solution to a drought gripping the normally soggy US Southeast is to take up the battle cry of "man versus mussel."

Gov Sonny Perdue says the US Armr Corps of Engineers has been allowing Georgia's water to flow to endangered mussels and other species in Florida and thereby preventing state residents from sprinkling their yards and hosing down their cars.

Organic food is more nutritious than ordinary produce, and contains higher quantities of antioxidants which help ward off heart disease and cancer, according to an extensive four-year study.

The scientists found that antioxidant levels in organic milk were up to 90 per cent higher than in conventional milk, as well as finding up to 40 per cent more antioxidants in organic vegetables.

With the organic certification of Charles Krug Winery's Page and Homefinders vineyards by California Certified Organic Farmers , the Peter Mondavi Family is now among Napa Valley's top producers of organic.

The conversion to organic production is a notable departure from standard viticulture practice in Napa Valley, but entirely consistent with the Peter Mondavi Family’s long record of innovation.

Paradise Bay, the first resort with a utility-grade windmill takes sustainable tourism a few steps further by implementing sustainability in every aspect of her activities.

Homeowners in San Francisco can now enter a contest where the winnings (up to $5,000) go to groups of people (from a neighborhood, school, condo complex) who cut their electric and natural gas bills the most in a month, compared with the similar monthly period a year earlier.

A3k comments: Perhaps it’s time for someone to create a volunteer organization that will go to the homes of people struggling to pay utilities and do some of the basics to reduce their energy use.

In just a few decades the world’s population will hit nine billion, leading to the essential question: Can this many humans survive and try to improve their lives without depleting the planet?