This is taken
from the Internet, sent to us by Sandra Mardigian.
The person writing is a petroleum geologist, commenting
on a newspaper article titled "Drilling for
oil the digital way":
"Technology won't change the timing of the
crash much, but it could help flatten the decline
curve and thereby make the crash less severe. .
[T]he peak was either in 2000 or will be here within
a few years despite the incredible technological
advances that the industry has undergone. . Incredible
technological advances have not helped the declining
discovery rate so far, so there is no reason to
think that more technology will make any difference.
. Recent history of the industry shows that advanced
technology (e.g. 3D seismic, direction drilling,
smart wells, etc.) drastically increases production
rates, and correspondingly vastly increases depletion
rates. . One of the main reasons that major oil
company management is interested in such technologies
is that it allows them to reduce costs by firing
lots of geologists, geophysicists and engineers.
The paradigm is the same as replacing factory workers
with machines. However, the oil business is fundamentally
different from manufacturing and manufacturing paradigms
do not work well in the oil industry. . If the industry
wants to find more oil then it needs to use the
advanced technology AND retain experienced staff,
and perhaps even hire more staff. This is not what
the majors are doing. They are cutting staff, growing
by acquisitions, and paying management fat bonuses.
In other words, they are cashing-out rather than
reinvesting in the remaining risky, marginal profits."
There is an
enlightening article by Elisheva and Misha Rauchwerger
in the Spring 2004 issue of the CobWeb. It describes
what they experienced after the cob house they were
building illegally (in northern California) was
turned in to the building department. What we have
included here is only a brief outline of their experiences
and conclusions. We recommend that anyone considering
building their own house read the original article.
"During this process, we learned about the
code requirements for residential construction,
and the aspects of our existing building that were
not in compliance that we would have to mitigate.
The people working in our building department and
local, experienced builders were invaluable as guides
for making intelligent decisions as owner builders.
We learned this the hard way. We also discovered
that the majority of the codes were reasonable and
sensible, and would have prevented errors that we
regretted making in our original construction. We
did have to contend with codes that we found to
be absurd as well." After spending much time
and money trying to bring their structure up to
code they realized that "the cost of renovation
could be as much as three to five times that of
new construction." They decided to tear the
building down after learning that the foothill pine
posts they had used would be subject to decay from
wicking up moisture through the cement they rested
on. The couple continues: "We share this information
because we have lived it, and hope others do not
have to. .[W]e have experienced that working on
the legal side of building codes has been much more
easy, fair, fruitful, satisfying, and enlightening,
than dealing with the consequences of working on
the illegal side. .Our passion for cob kindles our
belief that the more people who personally experience
it, the more heartily the natural building movement
will ignite. We have also come to the conclusion
that cob will never be a viable option for attaining
sustainability in the Western world, the chief transgressor
concerning energy use, without moving through the
building codes. . Having to wrestle with the bureaucracies
may seem a creative hindrance, but developing a
piece of property incurs a steep learning curve.
The potential losses from decisions made in ignorance
can be financially devastating."
Information
in this article comes from "Food joins academic
menu in Berkeley school district," by Kim Severson
in the August 29, 2004 issue of the San Francisco
Chronicle.
With the encouragement of Chez Panisse founder Alice
Waters and a $3.8 million start-up grant from her
foundation, Berkeley educators are writing a curriculum
to incorporate food as a core part of the Berkeley
school system." According to Waters: "Every
school day, children will be taught the value of
cooking a meal and eating it together. 'This is
not just changing the food in the cafeteria and
making that an educational experience. This is for
every single child. It's a core curriculum. Instead
of just fueling up so we can live our lives, food
has to be part of our lives, an enrichment of our
lives that is connected to history and culture and
time and place. And that must begin at the very
earliest stage.'" To begin with, there will
be a pilot program at three schools beginning in
2006. It is estimated "it will take an additional
$5 million to get the new curriculum into all the
Berkeley schools." However, "backers of
a new obesity center planned at Children's Hospital
and Research Center in Oakland have signed on in
an effort to attract grants from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and federal agencies."
Fabian Pacheco,
former Ecology Action intern from Costa Rica, sent
us this press release from the Central American
Alliance for Protection of Biodiversity. We are
reprinting excerpts:
"Monsanto-the company responsible for more
than 90% of industrial releases of transgenic organisms
in the world-has decided to withdraw its request
to release genetically modified corn in Costa Rica
and to pull out of the country. Environmentalists
in Costa Rica are still working to strengthen the
campaign for a GMO-free country. Members of the
National Commission on Biosafety say that Monsanto's
withdrawal is a success for social groups that have
been leading a campaign against the expansion of
transgenic crops in Costa Rica. . The Biodiversity
Network-Costa Rica calls on all parts of the ecological
movement and people's organizations of other countries
in the region to be alert. Monsanto is leaving Costa
Rica, but it will go to other countries where it
can sell its transgenic crops without much noise."
These statistics are taken from "Signs
of Nutrient Decline" in the June/July 2004
issue of Mother Earth News:
- A study in Great Britain showed that "the
concentration of eight essential minerals in 20
fruits and 20 vegetables has declined, and water
content has increased in fruits over the last
50 years."
- "Fruits and vegetables grown using synthetic
chemical nitrogen may contain an average of 20
percent less dry matter and more water compared
to organic crops fertilized with slower-release
natural sources of nitrogen. Higher water content
means lower nutrient concentrations per pound
of produce."
- "According to the USDA's Nutrient Database,
factory-farm eggs contain 20 percent less iron
and 59 percent less vitamin A than they did in
1975." And from a collection of studies from
Jo Robinson (website www.eatwild.com): These factory-farm
eggs contain significantly less carotene than
eggs from pasture-raised chickens, are lower in
vitamin E, vitamin B-12, vitamin A, folic acid
and omega-3 fatty acids.
- "Initial studies have found that the concentration
of every measured element except potassium declined
when wheat was grown at high levels of CO2, and
four out of five elements in brown rice declined."
These are some
comments made by Jules Pretty at a sustainable agriculture
seminar in Iowa. Pretty is director of the Centre
for the Environment and Society at the University
of Essex England. This information was originally
printed in "Cheap" Food Ain't Cheap"
in the Winter 2003 issue of Northland Berry News.
"We have come to view farming landscapes as
being primarily bread baskets, yet agriculture is
more than about producing food. We get many positive
things from agriculture, including clean water,
cohesive communities, rural employment, flood protection,
aesthetically pleasing landscapes and biodiversity."
He points out the side effects that are not included
in the market price: taxes for subsidies, cleaning
up the environment, and paying for the damage to
our health. For 1999-2000 he assessed the negative
side effects of agriculture in Great Britain. When
elements such as pesticide removal from water, off-site
costs of soil erosion and bacterial outbreaks were
included, Pretty found 'hidden' costs (in U.S. equivalents)
of about $85 per acre.
Information
for this article is taken from "Growing corn
in Mexico, post NAFTA," by Don Lotter, posted
on the Rodale Institute website August 3, 2004.
"Mexico is the center of origin and diversity
for corn. Nearly a hundred major corn landraces,
genetically distinct local varieties also known
as criollo varieties, exist in Mexico. Up until
recent decades, these varieties of corn supplied
local tortillerías." However, these
days most of the corn used in tortillerías
comes from "high-yielding" varieties heavily
subsidized by the Mexican government and produced
through large-scale agriculture.
In an ejido that the author checked, "in Mexico's
central highlands an hour's drive north of Mexico
City," most of the corn grown is to feed animals.
Close to Mexico City, "there is a substantial
demand for meat." One ejido member stated "For
the price we get for corn, it's not worth growing
it for sale. Feeding it to animals and then selling
the animals pays better."
However, in other areas, "farther from affluent
urban areas . imports of cheap, subsidized US corn
have been killing the Mexican small farmer, who
has depended on the corn crop for sale as well as
domestic consumption." The Mexican government
supported its corn farmers with subsidies until
the early 1990s, when Mexico bought into the "free"
market. In 1996 Mexican corn imports increased by
120% from the previous year. "Mexican farmers'
income from the government fell from 33% to 13%.
. It is now well established" that imports
of highly subsidized US corn "constitute 'dumping.'"
Its price is 25% lower than its true cost.
These are excerpts of news releases
sent to us by Sandra Mardigian. They give examples
of how the rise in the price of natural gas is affecting
businesses and farmers:
- The Mississippi Chemical Corporation
announced the permanent closure of its melamine
and urea operation and its No. 1 ammonia facility
in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. The company says
that securing a stable customer base with profitable
pricing has been difficult in the current marketplace.
The company is a leading North American producer
of nitrogen and phosphorus products used as crop
nutrients and in industrial applications.
- In a news release at the end
of March, the Terra Nitrogen Company announced
it would shut down its production facilities at
Blytheville, Arkansas, in May. Company officials
concluded that expected markets might not justify
the investment needed to keep the plant running.
The company cited continuing high prices for natural
gas needed for the production process, and competition
from imports.
- An Extension Economist in Texas
recently took today's increased fuel cost and
applied it to a wheat farmer's budget. "Over
30 percent of the budget is fuel or fuel-related,
which includes fertilizer, custom harvesting and
driving the equipment."
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