Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published December 22, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Jeremy Marr When I finally admitted defeat the other day and wound up having to compost my bees , I vowed to learn all I could from other beekeepers before getting another hive. Ever since I installed my first bee hive , I've been amazed by how much there is to learn about these furry flying pollinators. ...
Read more...published December 21, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Darren Blackburn / Creative Commons You're probably aware that nitrogen runoff into rivers contributes to the growing problem of ocean dead zones, but according to new research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences human-caused nitrogen loading in the world's rivers is a much greater source of greenhouse gas emissions, in the form of nitrous oxide ...
Read more...published December 17, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: Screenshot via HSUS Despite what seems like increased media attention on some of the cruelty and environmental abuses at factory farms over the last year, the worst practices continue unchecked. The latest exposé comes from a factory farm owned by a subsidiary of the world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods. Through an undercover investigation in Virginia, the Humane ...
Read more...published December 15, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Permaculture Media While regenerative coppice forestry may be struggling to take off in the US , in the UK Ben Law's stunning woodland house has shown many people around the world that there are a myriad of ways to work with our woodlands to create building materials, fuel and food from what surrounds us. Roundwood timber framing ...
Read more...published December 15, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Anstiftung und Ertomis Emma has already shown us some beautiful edible container gardens , courtesy of our readers; we've seen a gorgeous urban orchard complete with a repurposed dumpster/ping pong table , not to mention an under-used train statio... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the original: Extreme Container Gardening - Prinzessinengartens in Berlin (Video)
Read more...published December 14, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Resilient Planet Yesterday I posted on ResilientCITY —the new project from the makers of the End of Suburbia. And earlier today I posted, from that same project, an interview with Rob Hopkins about the difference between sustainability and resilience , and why it matters. But another excerpt from the movie is just as revealing about what it ...
Read more...published December 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: wolfpix , used under Creative Commons license. The puzzle of the red bees of Brooklyn may now be solved , but conclusive answers regarding the larger honeybee mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder remain elusive. Nevertheless, in my roundup post about the epic fight to save the bees , I noted that the British Beekeepers ... Read the ...
Read more...published December 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Markarthu Christine has discussed the risks and benefits of raw milk before. And with Senate Bill 510 potentially putting raw milk in danger , and with armed police reportedly swooping on organic coops in Ohio , the battle over if and how food regulations designed for an industrial ... Read the full story on TreeHugger See more ...
Read more...published December 9, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Alex Proimos / Creative Commons If you don't subscribe to the print version of Mother Jones you may have missed what seems to be a really sort of creepy story about how the US beef industry is not so subtly waging war against sustainable and slow food advocates, who are inspired in part by Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's ...
Read more...published December 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Soil Association Earlier this week John was musing about how "peak fertilizer" could make manure a valuable commodity once more , and if Gene Logsdon's guide to managing manure is to be believed, some mega-farmers are getting back into... Read the full story on TreeHugger See the original post here: Is "Peak Fertilizer" Nearer Than We Think? New ...
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A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
How to grow tastier tomatoes and how to make food taste sweeter without sugar: just two amazing discoveries from a study of the chemical interactions underlying tomato flavor preferences Read the rest here: The Secrets of Tasty Tomatoes Discovered - Can ...
