All Entries in the "Agriculture" Category
They Still Sing
by Einar Du Rietz About 50 years ago, the book Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson was published, and triggered an environmental debate that has been going on since then. Lot’s of articles are written about this these days, and, Cato Institute, among others, has published an essay collection. Carson passed away in 1964, and I [...]
Happy Earth Day Humans
by Einar Du Rietz Only weeks after the peculiar, entirely symbolical and possibly dangerous Earth Hour gimmick, it’s now the 42′nd Earth Day. Hard to be against the Earth, but I’ve never understood the tendency to use these events to suggest an ongoing conflict between the earth and humanity. CFACT International President David Rothbard comments: “Celebrate them [...]
They Don’t Want To Hurt You – They Just Want Your Money
by Einar Du Rietz The heroic boy scouts collected money, went to a village in deepest Africa and helped develop a well. A few month later, excessive use had dried it up and the final result was an extension of the desert. Examples of unintended consequences (and sometimes plain stupidity) in development aid are numerous, some [...]
No Honey
by Einar Du Rietz “Honey has always been considered an entirely pure product for the purposes of food labelling laws. But Europe’s highest court has now decreed that pollen is an ingredient of honey rather than an intrinsic, natural component.” writes the Telegraph watch?v=qeGtaSWzFRA for more honey. It just so happens that I’m quite allergic. Not [...]
No More Butter on the Fish
by Einar Du Rietz Yesterday, I watched that widely acclaimed movie by Nora Ephron about Julia Childs and her later follower. Marvelous. And somehow, all about butter. I seldom use butter, as I prefere olive oil, but for certain dishes it’s the best option. All sorts of fish, for example. How interesting then that there is [...]
The New Antidote – Garlic
by Einar Du Rietz That it was fairly good for preventing colds I knew, but now apparently garlic is the way to prevent global warming. Reports euractiv: “Reducing farm animals’ wind by adding garlic to feed could substantially reduce greenhouse emissions, according to research by West Wales’ scientists featured by Euronews. An organosulphur compound obtained [...]
Organic cucumbers (Sprouts?) kill 14 in Germany
An outbreak of E-coli contamination in organic cucumbers has sickened 1,200 people and killed 14. Scores of victims have lost all kidney function as a result of the infection with many forced to use dialysis. Green campaigners routinely attack fruits and vegetables grown and protected using efficient modern methods. No evidence exists that “organic” foods [...]
Who’s the Real Villain
by Einar Du Rietz There are real environmental problems. Not necessarily those threats lazy journalists and politicians demand you to solve, but more often caused by the government. One of the most blatant examples is found in the oceans, in particular those areas controlled by the EU. Millions of Euro are wasted in the incomprehensible [...]
The Climate Mystery
by Einar Du Rietz In the never ending debate on what really triggered WWI, an interesting observation is that August 1914 was one of the warmest months in Europe, during the last century. With no AC, politicians simply went bananas. Naturally, the underlying factors were multiple; trigger happy, sometimes very old, politicians and officers, negligence to [...]
Greens realize worth of nuclear energy and GM foods
The Daily Telegraph reports that green campaigners are abandoning old prejudices and embracing nuclear energy and genetically modified foods. The activists now say that by opposing nuclear power they encouraged the use of polluting coal-fired power stations, while by protesting against GM crops they prevented developing countries from benefiting from a technology that could have [...]
A Matter of Taste
by Einar Du Rietz After being approved by the national governments in the EU, Thrombin has now found it’s way into the parliament, by way of the environmental committee, which – not surprisingly – found a majority for proposing a ban. Thrombin is also, more popularly, known as “Meat Glue”, creating connotations that set off a lot [...]
I Didn’t Do It I Was Not Even There
by Einar Du Rietz On March 21, incidentally my birthday, a friend from Iceland called me and said she had organized some fireworks for me. What a pity she could not set off the second eruption one week ago. With all airline traffic closed down in most of Europe, as today, the Climate conference in Bonn would have been [...]
Monsanto, mon amour
In truth, there is no such thing as absolute safety; but this fundamental human need may explain the excessive search for certainty in particular as the world seems awash with a constant flow of disconcerting events. It seems obvious then to assume that risk is the opposite of safety. But it isn’t: as inaction also [...]
The power of forecasting
by Jacob Arfwedson In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt asked his administration to undertake a vast exploratory study of future technologies. A group of researchers eventually produced a voluminous report with fascinating insights. There was only one little glitch: the document did not foresee television, plastics, jet planes, organ transplants, laser technology, or even ballpoint pens. [...]
The Solar Cycle, Climate, Carbon and Crop Yields: EIKE Berlin
On April 17th and 18th members of the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) gathered at Humboldt University in Berlin for their annual meeting and to discuss the latest developments in climate research and policy. Participants agreed that the current climate debate serves the interests of energy companies and the makers of solar panel [...]
