Where's blogfish?

Just back from trips to Scotland, Vietnam, and Germany.  Busy, busy, and invisible.  

I found a lot of energy and activity in Vietnam dedicated to making the pangasius (fish farming) industry more sustainable.  Efforts like this have been criticized recently as greenwashing. 

Something's wrong when this sort of green "GOTCHA!" is viewed as strong. 

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Sustainable shrimp farming

Growing shrimp right in Belize.  It can be done.



Thanks: Revkin

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Welcome to the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene--the human epoch on earth--has begun.  Some scientists believe the name is apt because we are the driving geological force on earth.

Yes, earthquakes and volcanoes can make us blanch, but we're still driving change more than anything else.  According to The Economist, humans and our livestock outweigh all other large animals, and we have made much more nitrogen available to plant and animal life on earth.  The problems start when our plants and animals are done with that nitrogen, and it leaks out into the biosphere.  Or when we worry about the effects of our CO2-producing combustion.

Does it matter what we name this era on earth?  Yes, because we need to take responsibility for all the change we're producing in planetary systems.  We need to apply our engineering smarts to putting some things back the way we want them.  Lower CO2, less free nitrogen, etc.

It's geoengineering, that bogeyman that some want to avoid.  But it's too late, we've been geoengineering for too long to pretend we can fix things without using our technological abilities.

I think the Dire Journal is right, welcome to the Anthropocene.

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Carp ninjas

Wild times bring wild responses.  Peoria fishermen are finding a new way to hunt the absolutely crazy jumping carp that are invading waters in the midwestern US...they've become carp ninjas.  Check out the video above.

Thanks to:  Switchboard

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Playing God with the Earth

"We are as Gods and have to get good at it."

-Stewart Brand, author Whole Earth Catalog

It's time to get brave and admit we're running the earth. Then we can put to rest the quaint notion of "don't mess with Mother Nature." It's helpful to hear this from Stewart Brand, a person seen as an icon of living in harmony with the earth.

No matter that we're running the earth by default choices, such as our unwitting choice to increase CO2 in the atmosphere and ocean. We are already playing God with the planet, so we have to get good at playing God.

This is actually a liberating change, although somewhat scary. Admitting we run the earth allows us to start making choices of HOW to run the earth. This is better than getting stuck on the false debate of whether or not we should do geo-engineering. We are doing it already and we need to do it smarter.

Why does Stewart Brand matter? Because he has credibility on the issue of making smart choices and now he thinks the green movement is making some dumb choices

Brand's Whole Earth Catalog, started in the 1960's was a bible of the hippie/enviro/liberal/earth-lover world when I was young. It carried the information needed to make smarter choices to live in harmony with the earth.

From an opening page of the 1968 edition of the Whole Earth Catalob:

Function

The WHOLE EARTH CATALOG functions as an evaluation and access device. With it, the user should know better what is worth getting and where and how to do the getting. An item is listed in the CATALOG if it is deemed:

1. Useful as a tool,
2. Relevant to independent education,
3. High quality or low cost,
4. Not already common knowledge,
5. Easily available by mail.

CATALOG listings are continually revised according to the experience and suggestions of CATALOG users and staff.

Purpose

We are as gods and might as well get good at it. So far, remotely done power and glory—as via government, big business, formal education, church—has succeeded to the point where gross defects obscure actual gains. In response to this dilemma and to these gains a realm of intimate, personal power is developing—power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG.

The 1968 catalog divided itself into seven broad sections:

• Understanding
• Whole Systems
• Shelter and Land Use
• Industry and Craft
• Communications
• Community
• Nomadics
• Learning

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