Can wood feed the world?
Wood is used for everything from kitchen tables to baseball bats, but might it also be a source of food for a growing world population?
Subsidies to wind and solar dwarf those to “big oil” — but wait! There’s more!
Oil depletion allowances, the first category, principally apply to small independent producers, with similar benefits available for all mineral extraction, timber industries, etc., allowing them to pass the depletion on to individual investors. Large integrated corporations haven’t been eligible for these since the mid-1970s. Expensing indirect drilling costs involves writing off expenses in the year incurred rather than capitalizing them and writing them off over several years. Closing this “loophole” would only change the timing of taking he expense, not the total amounts of the so-called “subsidy.” The third category, a tax credit for taxes paid to foreign nations, is available for all international companies. This provides an offset to foreign taxes, often paid as royalties, so that the companies aren’t taxed twice on the same income.
Why should “organic” mean “untested”?
Organic farmers in many developing countries – such as Turkey, the apparent origin of this outbreak – still use raw human sewage to fertilize crops! In many people’s opinion, that practice qualifies as “organic” – whereas using safe modern fertilizers and insecticides does not! Even worse, feces contamination cannot be washed off. It’s embedded in the plant.
Think local, shop global
Are foods like lettuce, eggs and beef better for you if they’re grown locally in your area, than if they’re shipped in from far away? Not necessarily . . .
Latest Eco-Scare: Peak Fertilizer
You’ve heard alarmist claims about the world running out of oil, but how about fertilizer? Strange as it may sound, an article in the journal Nature recently made the claim that there is an impending shortage of two important fertilizers . . .
Radical Greens ignore science in their fight to “save the bees”
Activists aren’t asking for investigation into these problems – which calls their science, sincerity and integrity into question. Their track record on DDT and malaria underscores this modus operandi. The activists get money, publicity, power and phony solutions – and end up hurting the very things (bees and people) they profess to care so much about.
Collapse of bee colonies is latest target for anti-pesticide groups
Enviros are exploiting bee's colony collapse to ban pesticides. The evidence points elsewhere.
How ethanol programs cause 200,000 deaths each year
The EPA claims that ethanol, a fuel made from corn, has only a minimal impact on food prices. But Sam Kazman, general counsel for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, disagrees. . .
EPA dreams of rivers and streams
Having spent years collecting data on the condition of rivers and streams, and found these bodies of water needing additional “protection’ and “restoration,” the agency is making the case for action under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This four-decade-old statute already gives EPA vast powers to impose new regulations – none of them requiring the consent of Congress.
FDA’s poisons the well for fruit tree farmers
To the horror of growers from Florida to Oregon, the FDA is proposing strict new food-safety standards that many growers are convinced will put them out of business.
Many “Green” policies trample on people, environment, science and ethics
One would think these paradigm shifts would alter environmentalist thinking and government programs designed to replace “disappearing” oil and gas with wind, solar and biofuel energy. But hell hath no fury like an environmentalist scorned. Any attempt to revise laws, regulations or subsidies is met with derision, outrage, expanded rules and funding, and new allegations, grievances and justifications.
80% of Obama farm bill going to food stamps
As his reality-challenged reelection campaign swung through drought-ravaged swing state Iowa earlier this month, Candidate-in-Chief Obama accused his new VP candidate nemesis Rep. Paul Ryan of being “…one of those leaders in Congress standing in the way “…of a farm bill that would “provide relief and certainty to U.S. farmers and ranchers.” He said, “So, if you happen to see Congressman Ryan, tell him how important this farm bill is to Iowa and our rural communities. It’s time to put politics aside and pass it right away.” The farm bill that President Obama was referring to, and that the Senate had [...]
Western wildfires — horrific, devastating — and fueled by foolishness
Millions of Americans watched their evening news in horrified fascination. The Colorado Springs wildfire had doubled in size overnight, to 24 square miles – half the size of San Francisco – as 50-mph gusts carried fiery branches from exploding treetops across fire breaks, down Waldo Canyon and into fresh stands of drought-dried timber.
Right to farm under assault in Virginia
A new small business near Virginia’s picturesque Shenandoah Valley is threatened with extinction at the hands of county officials who are determined to twist the law in order to snuff out a local agricultural enterprise.
Commonsense wisdom from African farmers
If you want to learn what farmers think (and need), talk to African farmers – not to bureaucrats, environmental activists or politicos at the Rio+20 United Nations summit in Rio de Janeiro. You’ll get very different, far more honest and thoughtful perspectives.