ecologicalanarchism

[ecologicalanarchism]

solar fields, forever. rutland, vermont

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colorful eggs from the farmers market!

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street recycling bins in downtown Rutland, Vermont!

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boooom. thanks Occupy

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Posting from Salt Lake City, China yesterday. You can't see the mountains surrounding the valley from the city, and you can only see the outlines of buildings from the university hospital looking down. Breathing in particulates sucks, and the state is slow to act even though the EPA has demanded we bring our valley into attainment under the Clean Air Act. Under the state's implementation plan (SIP), industries in the valley such as the Tesoro refinery are allowed to actually increase emissions over the next ten years. Makes sense, right?

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.... wow.

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Many organic farmers rely on raw manure as a fertilizer, but the FDA says it's a safety risk.

MMMMMM manure!

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You can avoid some chemicals by eating organic food, but that’s not an option for everyone. Besides, even that doesn’t address issues involving heavy metals or salmonella or god knows what else in our food supply. These are environmental problems, and one governmental responsibility on which everyone ought to agree is that environmental problems should be regulated until they’re solved.

Mark Bittman, Dietary Advice for Gluttony Season

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Despite mounting evidence of its catastrophic effects, world leaders seem unable to deal with the crisis. One reason for that is the politicisation of climate science itself, with some groups trying to undermine the consensus among experts about global warming and its effects.

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There's evidence that using antibiotics to help pigs grow faster doesn't make economic sense.

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Here is a fun article to read if you were still doubting the ability of corporations to buy politicians....

House, Set to Vote on 2 Bills, Is Seen as an Ally of Wall St.

in summary, these bills:

were written by wall street lobbyists

take away regulation to limit excessive financial risk taking (this seems like a particularly good idea in the shadow of the great recession)

result in campaign contributions from corporations to representatives who vote yes

have support from both parties in the House

are not for the people

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Scientists have delved deeper into the mystery of dying bees, and discovered that the cause of the problem is more pervasive than thought.

While the overarching issue is simple -- chemicals used on crops kill bees -- the details of the problem are increasingly more complex, including what can be sprayed, where, how, and when to minimize the negative effects on bees and other pollinators while still assisting in crop production. Right now, scientists are still working on discovering the degree to which bees are affected and by what. It will still likely be a long time before solutions are uncovered and put into place. When economics come into play, an outright halt in spraying anything at all anywhere is simply impossible.

GROW ORGANIC GODDAMNIT

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If we ignore the environment, won't it just go away? -- Stephen Colbert

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At a time when half of Americans are near or below the poverty line, according to the Congressional Budget Office, America’s enormously profitable corporations are paying an effective tax rate of 12.1%, the lowest in the world. Yet, despite these numbers, the rich stooges of the super-rich string-pullers insist on continuing their corporate welfare while further slashing the food pantries of the poor. Think by Numbers illustrates: 

About $59 billion is spent on traditional social welfare programs. $92 billion is spent on corporate subsidies. So, the government spent 50% more on corporate welfare than it did on food stamps and housing assistance in 2006.

The Corporate Welfare Queen | Definition: Corporate Welfare

n. Financial aid, such as a subsidy, provided by a government to corporations or other businesses.

The Cato Institute estimated that, in 2002, $93 billion were devoted to corporate welfare. This is about 5 percent of the federal budget. To clarify what is and isn’t corporate welfare, a “no-bid” Iraq contract for the prestigious Halliburton, would not be considered corporate welfare because the government technically directly receives some good or service in exchange for this expenditure. Based on the Pentagon’s Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) findings of $1.4 billion of overcharging and fraud, I suppose the primary service they provide could be considered to be repeatedly violating the American taxpayer.On the other hand, the $15 billion in subsidies contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to the oil, gas, and coal industries, would be considered corporate welfare because no goods or services are directly returned to the government in exchange for these expenditures.

Tax breaks targeted to benefit specific corporations could also be considered a form of welfare. Tax loopholes force other businesses and individual taxpayers without the same political clout to pick up the slack and sacrifice a greater share of their hard-earned money to decrease the financial burden on these corporations. However, to simplify matters, we’ve only included financial handouts to companies in our working definition of corporate welfare.

Whenever corporate welfare is presented to voters, it always sounds like a pretty reasonable, well-intended idea. Politicians say that they’re stimulating the economy or helping struggling industries or creating jobs or funding important research. But when you steal money from the paychecks of working people, you hurt the economy by reducing their ability to buy the things they want or need. This decrease in demand damages other industries and puts people out of work.

Most of the pigs at the government trough are among the biggest companies in America, including the Big 3 automakers, Boeing, Archer Daniels Midland, and now-bankrupt Enron.

(Read Full Text)

It is not the poor who are “cheating” an inherently broken system—this is how capitalism works. 

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a great day to take the bus.

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