You are browsing the archive for Living Green.

At last! Formaldehyde is officially classified as a carcinogen

June 11, 2011 in Living Green

Yesterday, the NIH finally handed down a report officially classifying formaldehyde as a carcinogen:

Government scientists listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen, and said it is found in worrisome quantities in plywood, particle board, mortuaries and hair salons.They also said that styrene, which is used in boats, bathtubs and in disposable foam plastic cups and plates, may cause cancer but is generally found in such low levels in consumer products that risks are low. Frequent and intense exposures in manufacturing plants are far more worrisome than the intermittent contact that most consumers have, but government scientists said that consumers should still avoid contact with formaldehyde and styrene along with six other chemicals that were added Friday to the government’s official Report on Carcinogens. Its release was delayed for years because of intense lobbying from the chemical industry, which disputed its findings.

________________________________________________

BACK STORY:  WIN AGAINST DAVID KOCH’S INSIDIOUS INFLUENCE

Last year, the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer reported that billionaire David Koch, whose company Georgia Pacfic (a subsidiary of Koch Industries) is one of the country’s top producers of formaldehyde, was appointed to the NIH cancer board at a time when the NIH delayed action on the chemical. The news was met with protests from environmental groups. Faced with mounting pressure from Greenpeace and the scientific community, Koch left offered an early resignation from the board in October.

An investigation by ProPublica found that Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and James Inhofe (R-OK) had used their power to add years of delay to the report. The piece linked Vitter to lobbying from Koch’s Georgia Pacific company, which has plywood plants in Louisiana.

Proclaim the Queen!

    CLIMATE KILLERS–ROLLING STONE, A MUST READ

    January 15, 2010 in Energy, Environment, Living Green

    Tim Dickinson has written another great political expose that appears in the Rolling Stone.  It is titled: The Climate Killers. In it, he identified the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming.

    They are as follows:

    1. The Profiteer Warren Buffett

    2. The Disinformer Rupert Murdoch

    3. The Fake Protester Jack Gerard (head of the American Petroleum Institute)

    4. Burning Man, Rex Tillerson Exxon Mobil

    5. The Dirty Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu

    6. The “Matt Drudge of Denial–Marc Morano

    7.  God’s Denier Sen James Inhofe from Oklahoma [Someone needs to tell this jackass to visit a few superfund sites in his own state like the one Quapaw Oklahoma, for example.]

    8.  The Power Player, David Ratcliff, head of Southern Company America’s second dirtiest electric utility.  He has assembled an army of 63 lobbyists.

    9. The arm twister, Dick Gephardt, former House majority leaders and now lobbyist for Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private sector coal company.

    10. The pundit, George Will–he heads up corporate funded “science”

    11. The Know Nothing, Tom Donohue, president U.S. Chamber of Commerce

    12. The Coal Baron, Don Blankenship, CEO Massey Energy  Global warming, he insists, is nothing but “a hoax and a Ponzi scheme.” His fortune depends on such lies: Massey Energy, the nation’s fourth-largest coal-mining operation, unearths more than 40 million tons of the fossil fuel each year — often by blowing the tops off of Appalachian mountains.

    13.  The Hack Scientist – Fred Singer– a former mouthpiece for the tobacco industry, the 85 year old Singer is the granddaddy of fake “science” designed to debunk global warming.   The retired physicist who also tried to down play the danger of the hole in the ozone layer is still wheeled out as an “authority” by the polluters.

    14.  The Flip flopper–Sen John McCain (’nuff said)

    15. The Inquisitor, Rep Joe Barton, Republican Texan.  Barton is a mini version of Sen. James Inhofe

    16. The Tea partiers, Charles and David Koch, CEO and Exec. VP. Koch Industries.  Multibillionaire brothers who run the nations largest private energy company.  Over the years they have lavished millions on climate deniers at the Heritage Foundation.

    *****************************************************************************

    QUEEN’S ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

    As I mentioned in a previous post, I am beginning to think that the topic of global warming is a faux issue–not that global warming itself is faux, but rather that pitting the left against the right to argue regarding the theories of global warming is one way to put the status of doing anything about it on hold.

    Instead of falling for the  manipulations of these people listed above, why don’t we just drop the intellectual discussions, and simply start demanding that they clean up the messes that they have already made and insist that THEY, not the taxpayers foot the bill for it?

    Surely that would be more productive than bickering over whether or not global warming is “real.”

    ******************************************************************

    TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY KINGSTON PLANT AND OTHER EXAMPLES OF WANTON DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

    In December of 2008, a coal ash storage pond in Tennessee ruptured, spilling more than a billion gallons of ash slurry laden with heavy metals — a spill 50 times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster — into tributaries of the Tennessee River. In a new report that was prompted by the Tennessee incident, the EPA detailed 44 “high hazard potential” coal ash storage pond dump sites across the country.

    Responding to watchdog pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed the locations of 44 “high hazard” ash dumps, where a failure of the containment structure — like the disaster at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant in east Tennessee last December — could kill large numbers of people.

    A 2007 assessment by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that at least 23 states already have poisoned surface or groundwater supplies from improper disposal of coal ash, including Texas, Virginia, and the Carolinas.

    Proclaim the Queen!

      June 15, 2009 in Living Green, Pop Culture

      NoonSolar Augusta Tote

      Are you tired of those designer purses, but would feel lost without an outrageously expensive purse slung over your shoulder?  Here is a solution:

      BUY A SOLAR PURSE

      Noonsolar August Tote
      This solar-powered leather tote uses a two-sided design with solar panels on one and a front pocket that tabs down with collar studs on the other.  With a roomy interior, the bag canhold all your essentials and  collect solar energy to charge cellphones and iPods.

      Materials
      Bavarian, chrome-free, vegetable taned and dyed, full grain cowhide leather, hand dyed hemp/cotton fabric with natural pigments, and organic hemp/cotton lining.

      Sustainability
      This solar bag has an integrated solar panel to harness the sun’s energy and uses materials and fabrics that are ethically sourced and/or environmentally friendly.

      PRICE  $412

      BUY NOW

      Proclaim the Queen!

        A world powered by algae? Perhaps

        May 25, 2009 in Living Green, Strategies

        Queen’s Comments: Algae-based energy is one of the possibilities for plant-based fuels that many people think is very promising. In fact, some experts think that it might even beat out corn, sugar cane or even switchgrass as an environmentally friendly biofuel feed stock. As an added benefit, algae thrives on common water pollutants like phosphorous, so farming it in a controlled way can be a profitable strategy for cleaning up spoiled waterways near power plants and industrial sites.   MORE

        Proclaim the Queen!

          Upside down tomatoes? I’m inspired!

          April 28, 2009 in Gardening, Living Green

          farmergirbw.jpg picture by eeberry

          QUEEN’S COMMENTS: It’s been a while since I’ve talked “garden.”  As you may have surmised by now, my passion for gardening ebbs and flows.  Later today if our monsoon here in Dallas lets up I’ll get out and take a few photos of you.  You can compare my zuchinni plant from about 8 weeks ago to its size today.

          I just read on the Internet today about Upside down tomatoes and I’ve decided that I’m going to try them out.  Here are the instructions if you want to follow me in this adventure:

          1. Obtain an old 5 gallon paint bucket with the snap-on lid.

          2. Turn it upside down and using a utility knife, cut about a 3 inch hole in the bottom of the bucket.

          3. Cut a 3 inch hole in the center of the lid too.

          4. Place some newspaper in the bottom of the bucket to cover the hole.

          5. Fill the bucket using a 40 lb bag of potting soil.  (a 40 pound bag will completely fill a five gallon bucket with none left over.

          6. Snap the lid on the bucket

          7. Turn it upside down.

          8. Cut a couple of slits in the newspaper

          9. Use your fingers  or a spoon to reach inside the 3 inch hole and fashion out a small cavity so the entire tomato plant, roots and all can fit inside.

          10.  cover with soil and pack in.

          11.  Allow plant to stay right side up for a week so roots can get a grip.

          12. Now you’re ready to hang the tomato plant upside down!

          So, what’s so great about growing tomatoes upside down?

          1) Not as disease prone as tomatoes growing on the ground.

          2) More difficult for animals and bugs to get to the plants

          3) No need tilling or weeding!

          You can read more about growing upside down tomatoes at the following websites:

          Upside down tomato plant

          Mini Farm Homestead

          Mount Vernon News

          Old Fashion Living

          Proclaim the Queen!

            Happy News! Carbon Free Electricity.

            April 9, 2009 in Energy, Living Green

            Meet Bob Potter, 88. He started his hardware company when he was just 83 with technology that grew out of his work on the Manhattan Project back in the 1940s. Potter Drilling is developing a deep-drilling technology to tap geothermal heat miles below the earth’s surface — heat that could be used to generate carbon-free electricity. Read More

            Proclaim the Queen!

              Hemp may soon be legal in the USA.

              April 3, 2009 in Environment, Gardening, Living Green

              http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/images/hemp01.gif

              Queen’s Comments:  At last a little Sanity!

              I read in Huffington Post that ” .   .   .   a bipartisan group of agitating members of Congress introduced legislation Thursday to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp.

              Currently eight states — Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia — allow industrial hemp production or research, but federal law, which requires nearly-impossible-to-obtain-permits to grow hemp, trumps those state laws. The new bill would allow states to craft their own policy.

              Hemp, a cousin of marijuana that can’t get you stoned, is considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration to be a controlled substance because it kind of looks like pot.  .   .    .  MORE

              QUEEN’S ADDENDUM: Here is an added footnote. By allowing Hemp crops, the government would be doing a HUGE amount of damage to the pot market.  Hemp, which is not smokable, degrades pot plants via cross pollination.  No self-respecting marijuana grower would want his plants any where near a Hemp field.

              MORE ON HEMP FROM WIKI

              Industrial hemp has many uses, including paper, textiles,   biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, and fuel. It is one of the fastest growing biomasses known, and one of the earliest domesticated plants known.  It also runs parallel with the “Green Future” objectives that are becoming increasingly popular. Hemp requires little to no pesticides, no herbicides, controls erosion of the topsoil, and produces oxygen. Furthermore, hemp can be used to replace many potentially harmful products, such as tree paper (the processing of which uses chlorine bleach, which results in the waste product polychlorinated dibensodioxins, popularly known as dioxins, which are carcinogenic, and contribute to deforestation, cosmetics, and plastics, most of which are petroleum – based and do not decompose easily. The strongest chemical needed to whiten the already light hemp paper is non-toxic hydrogen peroxide.

              If you’ve ever tried hand lotion from hemp oil, you know how great this plant is.

              Proclaim the Queen!

                Victory for Mountaintops today!

                March 24, 2009 in Environment, Living Green

                This afternoon the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it was suspending review permits for two mountain top removal coal mining operations and putting hundreds more coal mining permits on hold.

                This will delay 150 to 250 permits being sought by companies wanting to begin blasting  mountain tops to get coal.

                Those permits are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, an agency that has been criticized by environmental groups. The Corps has been sued for failing to thoroughly evaluate the environmental impact of mountaintop removal, during which forests are clear-cut and mountaintops are blasted apart to expose coal seams; the rock and dirt left behind is dumped into adjacent valleys, affecting the course and health of waterways.

                The EPA’s decision is a powerful statement for good science and common sense, and it’s an amazing first step towards ending mountaintop removal and creating a new, green and just economy in Appalachia.

                This is a big victory for our effort to end mountaintop removal coal mining — but here’s what you can do to make it just the first of many victories to come:

                1. Call the White House and thank the administration for using sound science and common sense to put a hold on the permitting process. You can call the White House at 202-456-1111 or click here to be connected.
                2. Help make the EPA’s decision permanent by telling Congress to pass the Clean Water Protection Act, which would outlaw the valley fills that the permitting process seeks to allow.
                3. Spread the word about the disastrous effects of mountaintop removal coal mining by inviting your friends and family to join you at iLoveMountains.org.
                Proclaim the Queen!

                  One Person CAN make a difference: Thomas Midgley did.

                  March 11, 2009 in Energy, Living Green, Pop Culture

                  Thomas Midgley  was an American mechanical engineer turned chemist.  He developed both the tetra-ethyl lead  (TEL) additive to gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and held over a hundred patents. While lauded at the time for his discoveries, today his legacy is seen as far more mixed considering the serious negative environmental impacts of these innovations. One historian remarked that Midgley “had more impact on the atmosphere  than any other single organism in Earth’s history.

                  Who says that one person can’t make a difference!

                  Proclaim the Queen!

                    Yes, there are answers for Sustainable Food Solutions

                    March 10, 2009 in Community, Gardening, Living Green

                    farmergirbw.jpg picture by eeberry

                    Farmer Queen Advises: Plant Now

                    Here are a few answers for you from GLOBAL STEWARDS:

                    AND AS THE QUEEN CONTINUES TO ADVISE:  Plant your garden now and encourage at least one other person in your community to do the same.

                    1. Agroecology
                      the science of applying ecological concepts and principles to the design, development, and management of sustainable agricultural systems.
                    2. Allotment Gardening
                      a concentration in one place of a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individual families. In allotment gardens, the parcels are cultivated individually.
                    3. Biodynamics
                      comprises an ecological and sustainable farming system, that includes many of the ideas of organic farming. It is based on the anthroposophical teachings of Rudolf Steiner.
                    4. Community Gardens
                      small plots of land allocated to groups of people by some organization that holds title or lease to the land, sometimes for rent, sometimes simply as a grant of land.
                    5. Community Supported Agriculture
                      a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production.
                    6. Certified Organic Farming
                      relies on developing biological diversity in the field to disrupt habitat for pest organisms, and the purposeful maintenance and replenishment of soil fertility. Organic farmers are not allowed to use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
                    7. Composting
                      used in gardening and agriculture as a soil amendment.
                    8. Fair Trade Food Products
                      an organized social movement which promotes equitable standards for international labor, environmentalism, and social policy in areas related to the production of labeled and unlabelled goods, which may range from handcrafts to agricultural commodities.
                    9. Farmer’s Markets
                      are markets, usually held out-of-doors, in public spaces, where farmers can sell their produce to the public. Products at farmers’ markets are renowned for being locally-grown and very fresh.
                    10. Food Sovereignty
                      a concept advocated by a number of farmers’, peasants’, and fishermen’s organizations, namely the claimed “right of peoples to define their own food and agriculture,” in contrast to having food largely subject to international market forces.
                    11. Forest Gardening
                      a permaculture food production and land management system based on replicating woodland edge ecosystems, substituting trees (such as fruit or nut trees), bushes, shrubs, herbs and vegetables which have yields directly useful to humankind.
                    12. In Vitro Meat Substitute (a.k.a. Cultured Meat)
                      meat produced in vitro, in a cell culture, rather than from an animal. Has the potential to be safer, more nutritious, less polluting, less resource intensive, and more humane than conventional meat.
                    13. Local Food
                      a principle of sustainability relying on consumption of food products that are locally grown.
                    14. Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (goal #1)
                      eight goals that all 191 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. Goal number 1 is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
                    15. Masanobu Fukuoka’s No-Till Grain Cultivation
                      one of the pioneers of no-till grain cultivation. His system is referred to as “natural farming”, Fukuoka Farming, or the Fukuoka Method.
                    16. No-Till Farming
                      also known as conservation tillage or zero tillage is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage.
                    17. Perennial Food Crops
                      the Land Institute is working to create food crops that are perenials instead of annuals that require fewer chemicals and would eliminate tilling that erodes our soil.
                    18. Permaculture
                      a design system which aims to create sustainable habitats by following nature’s patterns.
                    19. Seed Saving
                      the practice of saving seeds from open-pollinated vegetables and flowers for use from year to year. This is the traditional way farms and gardens were maintained.
                    20. Sustainable Agriculture
                      integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities.
                    21. Urban Agriculture
                      the practice of agriculture within or surrounding the boundaries of cities.
                    22. Vegan Organic Gardening
                      aims to produce organically grown foods and other crops whilst minimizing (preferably eradicating) the exploitation of, or causing of harm to, any living creature.
                    Proclaim the Queen!