thegreekdog wrote:I probably went a little over board, I'll admit that. My issue is that we're talking about a carbon tax and things like that which will have an effect not on big business or rich people, but will have an absolutely huge negative effect on the middle class, working class and poor. I think we're doing this ass backwards. We should bring the environmentally friendly stuff up first before penalizing the environmentally unfriendly, when the punishment has such a negative effect on people financially.
Al Gore is absolutely relevant to all this as he is the one that is pushing the carbon tax. He's not cutting back his own effect on the environment, in fact, it has probably increased what with his world tour. What he is doing is ensuring that he'll have a whole lot more money. He's not concerned about the environment, he's concerned about himself. And his efforts are going to hurt a whole lot of people in the world.
To a point, I think you are correct.
However, the problem is that big businesses right now have too many benefits on their tables.
I mentioned fertilizer above, but it actually reveals in a microcosm what I mean. I believe in mostly organic production. ( I don't disdain something simply because its "not organic", but I look at overall impacts). For a lot of reasons, the absolute best fertilizer you can have is animal waste. People debate which is best, but the truh is that each has its place, its benefits and drawbacks. Animal waste is superior to just vegetable compost because of its composition, because there is less chance of disease transmission, etc. Essentially, in a sustainable system, the animals recycle the vegetable "waste" in a variety of ways.
Vegetable composting can work, though you don't gain quite the same nutrient mix. You always have more of a net loss, because you never put back quite what you take out. The extra step is missing. Also, if you fail to compost absolutely properly, you will transmit any organism (fungus, etc.) that might have been harbored in the plants. This is a big problem right now with early blight, for example. Folks are being advised NOT to compost affected plants.
The key is to use animal waste well. The ideal is to properly compost (so germs are killed) or otherwise treating it (with heat, ultraviolet rays, etc.). Note that even if ruminant or chicken waste is not treated properly, there is still little chance of human-obtainable diseases to be transmitted because of the digestion process, etc. Also, ruminants (traditionally) eat grasses and other things that we don't eat, so there is yet another step removed from the vegetables.
You also have to compost so you break down the nitrogen, etc. and don't "burn" the plants.
OK, so I am a firm believer in organic, particularly animal waste. EXCEPT. I cannot find it in any of my local stores. No where! I did have a private source, but no longer. Everyone I have asked already has takers for their fertilizer. So, what do I do? I do compost, but that is not sufficient for my newly expanded garden. So, I either gave up having a garden or bought commercial fertilizer. Even then, I looked for organic stuff. Except ... the organic fertilizer was $12.00 for a little package. It would have cost me over $60 to cover my garden. Its not just that this would mean my graden would cost me money instead of saving me money, I just plain did not have $60 then to spend.. period. I did not have it! So, I got a 50 pound bag of 10-10-10 for $7.00.
How did this happen? You used to be able to walk into any hardware or garden store and buy composted manure or steer manure for cheap. Now, regulations from folks who hear horror stories of diseases from vegetables in Mexico (often involving human waste or other human contamination) and decide this means that cow manure is a threat, combined with a reduction in US beef production all mean that manure is not available like it was.
THAT is the sort of connections I talk about, the sorts of solutions I mean. If those folks really understood how diseases were passed on, they would not worry. However, there is a large group of conservatives and even some idiotic liberals who have a vested interest in seeing that only the surface and partial truth is put forward. Add in a media that sells more from sensational news than sense .. and you have today.
I am going to look for alternatives. I may wind up getting something over the internet or maybe I will luck into a local source. (part of the problem this year was timing... I had no idea it would be such an issue). However, I know darned well most of my neighbors are not going to put forth that effort. For them to change, we need to get manure back in our local stores.
For that to happen, we need to make the companies putting out fertilizer so cheaply pay more of the real costs thier product encurs. For example, we know that despite directions, most homeowners use about 10 times as much pesticide as they need. One requirement is to improve labeling so its even more clear that people need to follow directions. But, the other part is to say to the company -- we know that no intructions on your part are going to fix this. Either we limit who gets to have it or we tack on a surcharge to pay for the cleanup.
Except .. here is where I typically hear you saying "no taxes .. taxes bad... etc."
What we REALLY need is to get past the labels and catch phrases and try to really understand. What we need is sense, not nonsense. Sense on ALL fronts.
