Eating Meat = Global Warming

Interesting posting at the NYT's Green Inc. blog. First cites 2006 UN report that livestock is responsible for 18 % of greenhouse gas emissions. But then a recent Archives of Internal Medicine editorial stating that water use is 2-5 times greater worldwide for animal-source food than basic crops such as legumes and grains. Also states that livestock production accounts for 55% of the erosion process in the U.S. and 1/3 of the total discharge of nitrogen and phosphorous to surface water.

See the blog and links at http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/

Two Critical Takes on 'Greening' of Chicago

Several interesting and quite different pieces question the city's dedication to a sustainable future.
Tribune environmental reporter Michael Hawthorne has a piece in this morning's paper looking at the commitment by City Hall back in 2001 to reduce dependence on traditional energy, and the little progress made since. See it at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-daley-green-power-bd22-mar22,0,6177898.story.

"But more than two years after the deadline he set, the city continues to get nearly all of its power from coal, natural gas and nuclear plants, according to records obtained by the Tribune."

And Chitown Daily News has an interview with urban historian Harold Platt of Loyola University Chicago.

"On biodiversity, Daley is doing pretty good, but then take something like transportation ... With the air pollution from cars and congestion, I think it’s a miserable failure. Where has Daley been in terms of promoting public transportation? Even the Olympic committee said that’s been one of the city’s worst failings, public transit. So it’s not just lefty green tree-huggers, even outside, the world committee has been looking at Rio, Madrid, and we don’t measure up."

To see Chitown's interview, go to http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/A_green_city_skeptic,23953

White House + Gardening

Wondered at all recently if the Obamas were the first WH occupants to have a garden? Well, not surprisingly Eleanor Roosevelt had a Victory Garden there during the war. But the story goes back much further. And ofcourse, the web being the web, someone has made a short animated history of WH gardens. In this case it's Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International, leader of the "Eat The View" campaign. Roger's piece, on Vimeo, says that at the peak of the Victory Gardens movement Americans grew 40% of their own fruit and vegetables. See several animated pieces at: http://vimeo.com/1767242

Incidentally, the video says that the average distance that food travels to U.S. plates is 1,500 miles. Is that possible? It's 1,190 miles Chicago to Miami... A little snooping around the web led to a study (Tim Lang, Thames Valley University) that says:

"An increasing proportion of what Americans eat is produced in other countries, including an estimated 39 percent of fruits, 12 percent of vegetables, 40 percent of lamb, and 78 percent of fish and shellfish in 2001.4 The typical American prepared meal contains, on average, ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States."

The link (posted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Iowa) that cites Lang's study also shows a color graphic illustrating the rise in the percentage of grapes, pineapples, artichokes and asparagus that are imported to the U.S. It's at http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/files/food_travel072103.pdf

Climate Change Warned in Video from 1958(!)

This piece of video from 50 years ago lays out the dangers of excessive carbon dioxide, down to the southern coasts of the US falling to rising waters, the melting of glaciers, etc. See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lgzz-L7GFg.

So, what are the obvious excesses of today that we know are inherently wrong but that we ignore?

Europeans Shed Light on Encouraging Solar

NYT piece on growing US interest in following the European (German and Spanish) model for encouraging solar energy. It's the 'feed-in tariff,' whereby governments mandate that a utility must pay higher rates for green electricity. See it at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/business/energy-environment/13solar.html?em

Majora Carter on TED.com

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at Majora Carter's speech on www.ted.com. Her informative, passionate speech on Greening the Ghetto is up at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html. While you're at it, take a look at Malcolm Gladwell's speech on TED.

Green World-Mundo Verde Symposium

This past Friday I moderated a panel at Symposium on the greening of architecture, put together by the US GBC, HACIA, Instituto Cervantes and Sao Paulo-Illinois Partners. The agenda is at www.haciaworks.org. Tried to look at the growing green collar jobs movement and how it affects the world of Latino architects, developers and other construction people in Chicago. Thanks to Ald. Manny Flores for sharing his vision for a sustainable city as well as to Paige Finnegan of LEED Council, Aurelio Zarzosa-Ramirez and Lourdex Gonzalez of Primera Construction for all sharing interesting perspectives.