Tag Archives: The Guardian

The journey of one thread of plastic from your washing machine to your dinner

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The Guardian is one of the few mainstream news sources I almost always appreciate. I was particularly impressed by The Guardian’s recent account of how a thread of microplastic finds its way from your washing machine to your dinner. The story is clever, informative, and deeply disturbing. Read the full story here, and/or check out these key quotes from the story:

The story starts with a single thread of polyester, dislodged from the weave of a cheap, pink acrylic jumper [i.e., sweater] as it spins around a washing machine. This load of washing will shed hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic fragments and threads.

Along with billions of other microscopic, synthetic fibres, our thread travels through household wastewater pipes. Often, it ends up as sewage sludge, being spread on a farmer’s field to help crops grow.

Spread on the fields as water or sludge, our tiny fibre weaves its way into the fabric of soil ecosystems. A worm living under a wheat field burrows its way through the soil, mistaking the thread for a bit of old leaf or root. Continue Reading →

Anticipatory DISobedience

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We’re hearing a lot about “anticipatory obedience.” Terrified of what President Trump might do, some media, universities, corporations, and even individuals are choosing to censure themselves. One of the earliest examples happened last fall, when the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times (both owned by billionaires) chose NOT to endorse a candidate for President.

Historian Timothy Snyder has been warning people and institutions against caving in to authoritarian power in advance. Snyder was quoted in The Guardian, saying, “the major lesson of the Nazi takeover, and what was supposed to be one of the major lessons of the twentieth century: don’t hand over the power you have before you have to. Don’t protect yourself too early.”
Continue Reading →

How some animals are adapting to climate change

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With so many reasons to feel despondent about the state of the world, I was greatly encouraged last week by this article in The Guardian: Shrinking trees and tuskless elephants: the strange ways species are adapting to humans.

I had no idea that so many species are evolving — and evolving quickly! — in response to humanity’s massive footprint. Fox squirrels, for example, have done particularly well in our Des Moines neighborhood of Sherman Hill. On our block, they now own most of the houses, while the rich, loose soil of Birds & Bees Urban Farm is their preferred pantry for nut storage.

To be clear, we have to stop messing up the planet. Plants and animals evolving is not the long-term solution. The sixth major extinction continues, alas. But the adaptations presented in The Guardian story are intriguing, encouraging, and worth noting. Charles and I talk about some of them during the first segment of this week’s program, as a lead-in to our discussion about viruses and whether bird flu might jump to humans. Continue Reading →

A tied election where both candidates won

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Here’s a feel-good story from a mostly feel-bad election. In Galt, California, Matthew Pratton and Bonnie Rodriguez each got 3,882 votes for one seat on the city council. After jokesters (including Pratton) suggested the election be decided by a milking contest, a chicken chase, or wrestling in Jell-O, the parties settled on drawing straws.

Pratton won the draw. But here’s what I love, love, love about this story. Another member of the council, Rich Lozano, had to resign because he was elected to a different office. So Pratton and the other council members appointed Rodriguez to fill the vacant seat.

Aw. So much winning! For real. Continue Reading →

Why going vegan won’t solve climate change

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Veganism. I have nothing against it, nor any other diet, for that matter. Raw. Paleo. Carnivore. Breatharian. Bring it on. It’s your call. Why? Because I believe in freedom (unlike the Republican majorities at the Iowa Statehouse, it seems).

What I have trouble with is the occasional “vegangelical” who calls me a climate hypocrite because my Locavore diet includes meat. Even my favorite mouthpiece of the Mainstream Media, The Guardian, has an entirely lopsided take on the role of animals in agriculture and dining.

The main problem is that many vegan and vegetarian arguments against meat lump large-scale industrial production in with sustainable alternatives. That’s unfair, disingenuous, and actually harmful. Continue Reading →

Do Climate Bill’s weaknesses outweigh strengths?

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There’s an excellent article in The Guardian this week, giving voice to some of the countervailing viewpoints on the Climate Bill. It’s titled “Landmark US climate bill will do more harm than good, groups say.” I highly recommend you read it, and I’d greatly appreciate your feedback.

Some of the article’s highlights:

[T]he bill makes a slew of concessions to the fossil fuel industry, including mandating drilling and pipeline deals that will harm communities from Alaska to Appalachia and the Gulf coast and tie the US to planet-heating energy projects for decades to come.

Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, said: “This new bill is genocide, there is no other way to put it. This is a life or death situation and the longer we act as though the world isn’t on fire around us, the worse our burns will be. Biden has the power to prevent this, to mitigate the damage.” Continue Reading →

Don’t Get Fooled Again

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Y’all know the song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” by The Who? Any time Big Oil reps flap their yappers, that song should be playing in our heads.

Big Oil. The industry Rachel Maddow calls “the richest, most destructive industry on Earth.” The industry that, thanks to Exxon Mobile, made Russia the deadly oil-and-gas powerhouse it is today. The industry that lied to us repeatedly about the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Make no mistake: The primary force behind this mad rush to build 60,000 miles of CO2 pipeline is Big Oil (specifically Continental Resources, Valero, Black Rock, Wolf). Consistent with its past track record, Big Oil is lying about CO2 pipelines. Continue Reading →

The biggest climate criminal is not who you might think

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More than any force in the world, the US mainstream media could provide the spark that gets us to turn the corner on climate. If the media covered climate like they’ve covered COVID, the public would be on board for deep personal and political action in short order. …

In 2016, partly in response to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ignoring climate change during the presidential campaign, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes devoted a solid week to the climate emergency. Great start. Then Hays and MSNBC dropped their focus as quick as you’d drop a smoldering family portrait charred in a western wildfire. Why? According to Hayes, the problem was that “every single time we’ve covered [climate change] it’s been a palpable ratings killer.” Continue Reading →