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 all, we should. But as faithful followers of CFACT know, today’s environmentalism (at least the kind that gets all the attention) isn’t so much about reveling in the beauty of nature and its amazements as it is in using this lofty matter to hammer away at human productivity, prosperity, and plenty. Saddest and ironic of all, of course, is that people prospering is the very thing that helps us steward the environment the best.”

 You might add that without humans, there wouldn’t be an Earth Day, or that without human action, in the form of development and exploitation, there would be no humans. Ecological nostalgia is sometimes tempting to some, but I believe we all realize that if time travel was possible, none of us would survive even minutes in a prehistoric era.

 So, let’s take the opportunity to celebrate the innovations that increasingly is making it possible to lead a life even in areas still ridden by hardship. Not of prehistoric proportions, but at least with meagre possibilities to adjust housing and clothing to the weather, choose what we eat, or even have access to fresh drinking water.

Today’s sunny news is that Brittish scientists now have shown that hidden groundwater resources wating to be exploited in Africa, may amount to a hundred times the more shallow wells being used today.

  ”We estimate total groundwater storage in Africa to be 0.66 million km³ (0.36–1.75 million km³). Not all of this groundwater storage is available for abstraction, but the estimated volume is more than 100 times estimates of annual renewable freshwater resources on Africa. Groundwater resources are unevenly distributed: the largest groundwater volumes are found in the large sedimentary aquifers in the North African countries Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan. Nevertheless, for many African countries appropriately sited and constructed boreholes can support handpump abstraction (yields of 0.1–0.3 l s⁻¹), and contain sufficient storage to sustain abstraction through inter-annual variations in recharge.” (Environmental Research Letters)

Getting access to this life saving resource will require skill and technology. Luckily, both have been let to flourish in parts of the world, less hurt by dictatorships, wars, socialism and misguided green activism and legislation.

Might appreciate some real support - not corruption and stupidity

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 probably myths by now. Distributing loads of pork to Muslim countries. Rushing factory building until the installation collapse on top of people. The literature is also quite extensive. A useful introduction, or summary may be this.

Important to remember is that humanitarian catastrophes are seldom, if ever, caused by real villains in these cases, hence the words unintended and aid. Wars, planned famine and genocides are indeed orchestrated by evil, but they are never intended by the do-gooders.

The problems occur both with voluntary help and government programs, though the latter, for natural reason, tend to be more dangerous. As a matter of fact, lot’s of people working with government aid are smart, caring people, but often trapped in the system. One such hazard is the idea, launched some decades ago, and implemented in some countries, to legislate allocation of a minimum level of GDP to the foreign aid budget. Both the government, and the associated authorities are then forced to spend the annual funds.

Some countries try to make the best of the situation, for example by allocating funds to emergency help rather than budget support. Pouring money into a corrupt countries state budget most often leads to, in the less evil scenario, the money going straight into a Swiss bank account, or, which is worse, into buying weaponry used against neighbours or the country’s own population. On the other hand, budget support can also be the only way to boost investments in infrastructure. An alternative to building governmental roads and airports is of course to let private companies both develop, build and own. Such investments tend, if they are even allowed, however to be quite risky for the entrepreneur, facing the constant threat of both war and plain nationalization. The only simple solution, if not sufficient, seems to be to, to the extent possible, minimize governmental aid and let the not so small private, international networks do the job.

CFACT did have some other activities in Copenhagen as well

At the COP 15 in Copenhagen, remember, when the whole world was in hysteria over global warming and the last chance to halt it, one of the things that came out of the – otherwise generally considered catastrophic – meeting, was a pledge by developed countries to help third world countries, that somehow would be hurt the worst by weather changes. And not aloud to burn fossil fuels to develop, you might add. The discussion then moved to a hassle over if this, quite substantial sum, could be included in the budgets for foreign aid, or if it should be earmarked on top of these.

I spent most of the time in on of the cafeterias in the middle f it all. A great place both to write, go through collected material and listen in on the neighbours. Working was out of the question when a quite substantial African delegation nicked most of our chairs (luckily not the one I was sitting in) and started a loud meeting. It was in French, but I can tell you that it was not about global warming, or about the environment at all. It was about how to get as much money as possible from the naive tax payers up North.

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 a current butter crisis in the stores. The cows to blame? Some people have actually suggested that.

But then there is this peculiar thing called the Butter Mountain in the EU. Simply put, a surplus (according to the politicians), calling for regulations within the CAP system, and – surprise – you suddenly have a shortage.

Let’s see what comes next. In Venezuela, one of the largest coffee been producers in the world, there is currently a coffee shortage.

In all cases of shortages, my Professor once told me, look for the price mechanism. And if a politician has meddled with it.

Sure, I can live without butter (after all there are substitutes), maybe even coffee, but there are worse situations out there, where regulations, or simply playing around with the market, cause real starvation.

Maybe we should just skip this project

That it was fairly good for preventing colds I knew, but now apparently garlic is the way to prevent global warming.

Reports euractiv:

Hope the cows will like it. Personally, I a fan, especially when I’m eating cows, but I don’t want it in my milk.

And the report does not mention the smell. And not any other potential side effects. What about the bugs? At least on humans, garlic is believed to be a repellant. Will this in turn affect the bird life? Guess a new bunch of money would be welcome, before the entire idea is picked up by the Comission, for a garlic cow directive.

Guess the five millions were well spent so far. At least the garlic growers and distributors will think so.

DENNIS AVERY

I can’t help but praise Michael Specter’s new book: Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Specter warns that we live in a world where the leaders of African nations prefer to let their citizens starve to death rather than import genetically-modified food grains. Childhood vaccines have proven to be the most effective public health measure in history, yet people march on Washington to protest their use. Fifty years ago pharmaceutical companies were regarded as vital supports for our good health and lengthening life spans; now they are seen as callous corporate enemies of health and the environment.  READ MORE

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 of alarm clocks. As a matter of fact, it is a perfectly natural product; a coagulation protein which together with the fibrous protein fibrin can be developed into an enzyme, that can be used for sticking together different pieces of meat.

In other words, a ban would be highly symbolical. The Thrombin doesn’t show and doesn’ t taste, and above all, is not dangerous. The glued steaks however, are often built with meat that otherwise would have been thrown away. Something to contemplate for those who argue that eating steak contributes to climate change.

A general misunderstanding is that this process is misleading the consumer. Of course it would be, if most consumers were not aware of what they consume. On top, there areother regulations concerning the display of information, something which is probably unnecessary, as the market pressure on the producers is so strong anyhow.

But, maybe some days, some people just want a cheaper piece of meat to fry up, instead of carefully selecting among the delicacies. People have different preferences, and these also tend to change from time to time.

I’m not a big beefeater myself, but a favourite restaurant in Brussels is a small Serbian place, run by a family of butchers who buy a fresh animal every morning and then adjust the menu during the course of the day. Sometimes I enjoy paying a premium at the few European restaurants that offer Argentinian steak. It’s often worth it. Some people only want locally produced food, others only meat from their home countries. Some only go to the local butcher, whom they know, others visit supermarkets.

Why politicians, and in particular EU parliamentarians should have anything to do with this is a mystery. Or maybe it’s not. Politicians want to act, and especially appear responsible. The meat eaters foot the bill.

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 and wind turbines, but neglects sound science.

“It is very encouraging to see the positive response from taxpayers, business people and a growing number of scientists to what we do,” said EIKE President Dr. Holger Thuss. “If the science is bogus and the economics don’t work, sooner or later policy makers will be forced to develop an exit strategy from their doom-and-gloom scenarios. I don’t see how they can reach any of their objectives at the upcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen.”

Dr. Horst Borchert of Mainz University presented an evaluation of a huge sample of measurements of atmospheric gases. He concludes that, “there can be no doubt about a link between solar activity and global temperatures. All the data points in this direction.” Dr. Borchert’s evaluation will be be published soon.

Dr. Werner Köster, Professor of Agriculture at the University of Duisberg, Essen, concurred with the findings of Craig and Keith Idso that carbon increases in the atmosphere improve crop yields. Dr. Koester pointed out that increased carbon dioxide leads to increased food production. “Carbon dioxide is the most ignored fertilizer of the 20th century,” Dr. Köster said.

The institute chose its 2009-2011 board, electing Dr. Holger Thuss President, Michael Limburg, Vice-president and Wolfgang Mueller, Secretary General. They discussed membership, rules and the upcoming COP 15 conference in Copenhagen.

The European Institute for Climate and Energy was founded in 2007 by scientists, economists and organizations and citizens from all walks of life to independently reassess current climate science. CFACT Europe is proud to be a founding member. EIKE’s advisory board has grown to include renowned scientists from throughout the world.

By PAUL DRIESSEN (Washington)

Norman Borlaug just turned 94 – and is still going strong

During the “Eat This” segment of their docu-comedy series BS, Penn Jillette beat Teller in a round of their “Greatest Person in History” card game. Penn needed just one card: Norman Borlaug.

Nobel Prize Laureat Norman Borlaug

This Iowa farm boy and University of Minnesota agriculture graduate lived Thomas Edison’s maxim to the fullest. “Invention,” Edison once remarked, “is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Dr. Borlaug did most of his 99% in the sweltering fields of Africa, India, Mexico and Pakistan.

At 94, and despite having cancer, the “Father of the Green Revolution” is still “an Energizer Bunny,” his daughter Jeanie says. He serves as a consultant, attends occasional conferences, and graciously let my daughter interview him for a high school paper.

Decades ago, while neo-Malthusians were predicting mass famine, Borlaug used Rockefeller Foundation grants to unlock hidden (recessive) genes and crossbreed different wheat strains, to create new “dwarf” varieties that were resistant to destructive “rust” fungi. The shorter plants were also sturdier, put less energy into growing leaves and stalks, and thus had higher yields.

He also taught modern farming methods to Third World farmers and persuaded governments to lift price controls and permit the use of chemical fertilizers, thereby generating unprecedented harvests. Mexico became self-sufficient in wheat by 1960, India and Pakistan soon did likewise, and Borlaug next helped China, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries achieve great success with wheat, corn and rice.

When the Nobel committee awarded him the 1970 Peace Prize, it said his work had saved a billion lives. Borlaug simply observed that “you can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery.” He later won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal.

In 1985, he began working with former President Jimmy Carter to bring a Green Revolution to Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing intensive modern farming methods with new hybrid and biotech seeds on existing fields, to reduce the need to slash and burn wildlife habitat, as soil nutrients are exhausted.

Unfortunately, their progress may be undermined by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his misleadingly named Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. Annan says biotech crops are unsafe, untested, and likely to enslave poor farmers to mega-corporations and expensive seeds. He wants to battle Africa’s chronic poverty and malnutrition with “traditional seeds” and methods.

Dr. Borlaug fears that would be a devastating failure. As he said during a 2005 biotechnology conference, sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality at the United Nations, he sees no way the world can feed its hungry population without genetically engineered (GE) crops, especially if it relies more on biofuels.

He has little patience for “well-fed utopians who live on Cloud Nine but come into the Third World to cause all kinds of negative impacts,” by scaring people and blocking the use of biotechnology. These callous activists even persuaded Zambia to let people starve, rather than let them eat biotech corn donated by the USA. They also oppose insecticides to combat malaria – and fossil fuels, hydroelectric dams and nuclear power to generate abundant, reliable, affordable electricity for poor nations.

“Our planet has 6.5 billion people, says Borlaug. “By all means, use manure. You can’t let it sit around. But if we use only organic fertilizers and methods on existing farmland, we can only feed 4 billion. I don’t see 2.5 billion people volunteering to disappear.” To feed everyone with organic and traditional farming, we would have to plow millions of acres of forests and other wildlife habitat, he calculates. If, instead, we continue to use commercial fertilizer and hybrids, and have strong public support for both biotech and traditional research, “the Earth can provide sufficient food for 10 billion people.”

Producing 7 billion gallons of ethanol in 2007 required corn grown on an area the size of Indiana – plus vast amounts of water, insecticides, fertilizers and petroleum. It’s a primary reason World Food Program operating costs rose 40% since June 2007, forcing the WFP to ration food aid, and millions to go to bed hungry. That is unsustainable – morally, economically and ecologically.

Biotech crops have higher yields; provide enhanced nutrition; are more resistant to insects, fungi and disease; and require less water and insecticides. New varieties are being developed that grow better in drought and flood conditions, and even supply vaccines and anti-diarrhea nutrients (as in Ventria Bioscience’s GE-rice-based oral rehydration solution). Ongoing research will ensure that genes that once protected crop plants will be replaced by new ones, as plant pathogens continue mutating.

Genetically engineered crops are more stringently regulated and tested than any others – unnecessarily so, say many scientists. Americans have eaten well over a trillion servings of food containing genetically engineered ingredients, without a single instance of harm to people or habitats, notes former FDA biotech director Henry Miller – whereas organic spinach sickened and killed a number of people in 2007.

Biotechnology actually frees poor farmers from the shackles of Nature’s destructive forces. They pay more for seeds, but less for insecticides and water, get higher yields and make more money. South African farmers who’ve switched to GE crops attest to this.

Elizabeth Ajele: “The old plants would be destroyed by insects, but not the new biotech plants. With the profits I get from the new Bt maize (corn), I can grow onions, spinach and tomatoes, and sell them for extra money to buy fertilizer. We were struggling to keep hunger out of our house. Now the future looks good. If someone came and said we should stop using the new maize, I would cry.”

Richard Sithole: “With the old maize, I got 100 bags from my 15 hectares. With Bt maize I get 1,000.” Thandi Myeni: “The new Bt cotton means I only spray two times, instead of six. At the end of the day, we know the crop won’t be destroyed and we will have a harvest and money.”

Bethuel Gumede: “By planting the new Bt cotton on my six hectares [15 acres], I was able to build a house and give it a solar panel. I also bought a TV and fridge. My wife can buy healthy food and we can afford to send the kids to school.”

Farmers in Brazil, China, India, the Philippines and other countries share similar stories.

His accomplishments have made Norman Borlaug a household name in parts of Africa, though not in America. That’s partly because he did most of his work overseas. But it also reflects the fact that his favorable views on chemical fertilizers and biotechnology put him at odds with environmentalists and journalists who don’t share his perspectives on these issues.

Leon Hesser’s fascinating and inspiring account of Dr. Borlaug’s life and successes may finally bring him the fame he deserves. “The Man Who Fed the World” does what I’ve always loved about biographies: it shows how one person can change the world. Now out in paperback, the book will ensure that Norman Borlaug’s incredible legacy will live on – as will the billion-plus people whose lives he saved.

Paul Driessen

Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for CFACT and the Congress of Racial Equality.  His Eco-Imperialism: Green power · Black death is available in German and English from CFACT Europe.
© Paul Driessen April 2008

CFACT is proud to offer its German translation of Alex A. Avery’s The Truth About Organic Foods

Two years ago, the the most talked about book on organic foods in over a decade was issued in English – now, with the support of CFACT Europe, it is available to the 100 Million or so German speaking consumers: Alex Avery’s The Truth About Organic Foods.

If you wonder if organic foods are worth their high price, if the marketing claims of organic advocates are true, or if the organic foods are really more nutritious, safer, and better for the environment – this book will answer these and many other questions on organic or “biological” food.

However, “The Truth About Organic Foods” is not polemic, but a science-based book written for the average consumer that gets past the endless marketing hype. In plain, non-technical language, Avery strips bare organic myths.

Instead of platitudes and promises, Avery gives you the facts – from independent university studies and neutral government sources. He even quotes extensively from organic activists, revealing in their own words the substance of their claims that the benefits of organic farming outweigh those of conventional farming.

German title:
Alex Avery: Die Wahrheit über Bio-Lebensmittel.
Dt. Erstauflage. Aus dem Amerikanischen.
ISBN 978-3-940431-01-1. Jena 2008. 256 S. 24,50 Euro (D, A).

Order direct from CFACT Europe’s publishing partner: bestellung@tvrgroup.de ]]> http://cfact.eu/2008/02/05/the-truth-about-organic-foods/feed/ 0 http://cfact.eu/2007/01/02/biotech-transgenic-potatoes-supply-polymer-for-sustainable-diapers/ http://cfact.eu/2007/01/02/biotech-transgenic-potatoes-supply-polymer-for-sustainable-diapers/#comments Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:50:17 +0000 Holger Thuss http://cfact.zoeinc.com/?p=776 Transgenic Potatoes Yield Sustainable Diapers

HOLGER THUSS (Jena)

A simple way to kill small talk (or exit a Christmas card list) is to declare that you’ll serve your guests genetically modified food and then explain your affection for biotechnologists work with transgenic plants.

Many have heard that “dangerous” “gm” crops will allow killer tomatoes to escape Frankenstein’s laboratory to take over the earth. Some Christians even insist that biotech causes plants to resist inects, interfering with God’s creation which they believe is a sin.  What they might not have heard yet, besides the fact that the Bible considers locusts a plague and a menace, is the ability of many newly developed transgenic plants to produce renewable resources, an approach that is an environmentally friendly and economically competitive way to supply raw materials to industry.

Researchers at the University of Rostock developed a potato that allows production of biodegradable polymers.  Polymers are usually made from fossil fuels and used in the production of washing powder, cement, or diapers (to name just a few).  Even better: the potato polymer comes from the leftovers of potatoes that were already used to produce industrial starch.

Senior researcher Prof. Inge Broer of Rostock University says that during the last few years her team succeeded in increasing the polymer production of the potatoes to such an extent, that industrial production of the substance could be imminent.   Best of all, the new bio-polymer is biodegradable once the diapers or washing powder are used.  If we can get past our childlike fears of being conquered by franken-potatoes, this new technology will greatly contribute to a cleaner environment.

Not convinced? Here’s the summary of Prof. Broer’s report:

“The production of biodegradable polymers in transgenic plants in order to replace petrochemical compounds is an important challenge for plant biotechnology. Polyaspartate, a biodegradable substitute for polycarboxylates, is the backbone of the cyanobacterial storage material cyanophycin. Cyanophycin, a copolymer of L-aspartic acid and L-arginine, is produced via non-ribosomal polypeptide biosynthesis by the enzyme cyanophycin synthetase. A gene from Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 encoding cyanophycin synthetase has been expressed constitutively in tobacco and potato. The presence of the transgene-encoded messenger RNA (mRNA) correlated with changes in leaf morphology and decelerated growth. Such transgenic plants were found to produce up to 1.1% dry weight of a polymer with cyanophycin-like properties. Aggregated material, able to bind a specific cyanophycin antibody, was detected in the cytoplasm and the nucleus of the transgenic plants.”

The full report appeared in: Plant Biotechnological Journal (2005) 3, pp. 249-258. Prof. Inge Broer’s website: http://www.auf.uni-rostock.de/iln/bt/