Yep, your right. Notice taht the info came from the EPRI. They have a
vested interest in promoting electric mowers and anything else that uses
electricity. The manual mowers are best
Peace,
Carolyn Feser
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed, 3 Jul 1996, Laura Franklund
wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, 21 Jun 1996, Carolyn Feser wrote:
>
> > i just got a notice off the environmental news network that states
> > "According to the Electric Power Research Institute, the environmental
> > benefits of replacing half the residential walk-behind gasoline mowers
> > in the contry with electric mowers is the air quality equivalent of
> > ellimination the hydrocarbon exhaust of more than two million cars. For
> > more information, contact Lori Telson, EPRI, (415)855-2272."
> > That includes the emissions from the power plant. Think how much we
> > could change with manual mowers !
> > peace,
> > CArolyn resOn Fri, 21 Jun 1996, Stephen R. Figgins
> > >
>
>
> Hey, what about hydro-electric plants that dam the rivers (I am thinking
> specifically of the mighty Columbia)? Even when they don't pollute the
> air, they end up slowing the rivers to a crawl and stifling the Salmon
> and other important wildlife (it is all important). So I am all for push
> mowers too, or nothing at all if it isn't on the damn lease.
>
> - laura
>
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Jul 3 15:32:19 1996
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 15:32:13 -0600 (MDT)
From: mary simmons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: ecofem <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Meat-eating = anti-ecofeminism
Sandra's observation that land in the western US is only suitable for
livestock grazing begs for comment.
In the first place, the arid land in the western US is PARTICULARLY
unsuitable for livestock grazing. The grasses that
USED to grow here were chewed down to root level by cows who do that sort of
thing (as opposed to buffalo who do not). Large areas of the West HAVE been
turned into dust bowls due to cattle grazing.
Cows are not indigenous to this area, and are quite destructive. The Rio
Grande Valley USED to be waist high in native grasses. Now it is mostly
bare dirt due to the overgrazing of cattle. The
belief that this land is "only suitable" for livestock as opposed to
agricultural pursuits smacks of the "manifest destiny" attitude that
is/was responsible for many reprehensible and coincidentally
environmentally destructive activities (cattle grazing and dam building
being the most notable) we Americans embraced in the last 50 years.
We built a quarter of a million dams in this
country so as not to let all that water "go to waste". We graze (and
subsidize) cows on land in the West so as not to let this otherwise
"unsuitable" land "go to waste".
We do NOT *have* to consume every resource, use every drop of water,
every acre of land. It is NOT our right.
The only moral issue, IMO, is whether or not our activities are
sustainable. My reason and education tell me that beef-eating is not.
Mary
University of New Mexico
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Jul 3 16:10:44 1996
; 4 Jul 96 10:00:39 +1200
Date: Thu, 04 Jul 1996 09:58:45 +1200
From: "STEFANIE S. RIXECKER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Gypsum mining closure in Cuatro Cienegas - support needed
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Lincoln University
This was forwarded to me. I thought it might be of interst to some
on ECOFEM.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
This is a request for letters to government agencies in Mexico in support of
a recent controversial, but ecologically wise, conservation management
decision. Please help us get this message widely distributed and generate as
many letters as possible.
Last week state and federal environmental authorities stopped gypsum mining
in the protected area of Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila. Proyeso, the company
closed down, is filing suit to revoke the closure and is stirring up
discontent among employees and local citizens. They employ about 120 people
in this town of about 12,000, and have been doing so for a long time. The
gypsum deposits they mine are the most easily mined, but others will remain
available so this closure will not necessarily put them out of business.
Many local residents of this generally low-income town are highly supportive
of conservation initiatives, but if this hits them economically as hard as
I'm sure Proyeso will argue it will, they could be swayed. The closure
announcement, however, included an offer from the government of alternative
employment for those affected for a year, and help to find the community
less damaging long-term economic alternatives. This is the first major
federal and state action implemented under the recent federal declaration of
this valley as a protected area and the government will need all the support
it can get to back this politically difficult and precedent setting decision.
Those unfamiliar with the unique biodiversity, high endemism and otherwise
special nature of this small desert valley with its thousands of springs and
diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats will find more information at
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www/fish/dfc/geograph/mex/coa/4cienega/cc_
top.html) and in an article (Mexico's Desert Aquarium) in the October 1995
National Geographic. Suffice it to say here that it is a very special place,
both scientifically and aesthetically, and highly deserving of the
conservation actions the government has taken.
The gypsum dunes have long been mined and are already severely depleted, but
the declaration of the area as a "Protected Area" by the Mexican Federal
government is only a couple years old. The dunes are ecologically important,
harboring a number of endemic plants, and being very scenic, are also a
potentially important tourist attraction. The mining not only directly
destroys the dunes, but the mining activity threatens virtually the entire
ecosystem of the valley in many ways and air pollution from the gypsum
processing plant decreases visibility in the normally clear desert air.
Tourism is currently growing quickly and becoming an important economic
resource for the local community that is likely to prove to be one of the
few truly renewable and sustainable resources for the local economy. Tourism
could be managed in such a such a way as to be compatible with conservation
objectives.
This politically difficult and precedent setting conservation decision
should be applauded and supported. Please address letters (in English or
Spanish) to both of the following federal and state officials:
M. en C. Julia Carabias Lillo
Secetaria del Medio Ambiente,
Recursos Naturales y Pesca (SEMARNAP)
Anillo Periferico Sur 4209, 6 Piso
Fracc. Jardines en la Montana
Delegacion Tlalpan
C.P. 14210
Mexico, D.F.
Lic. Rogelio Montemayor de Seguy
Gobernador de Coahuila
Palacio del Gobierno
Saltillo, 25000 Coahuila
Mexico
Thanks for your support.
Dean Hendrickson
--
Dean A. Hendrickson, Curator of Ichthyology, Texas Natural
History Collection, R4000, University of Texas, Austin, TX
78712-1100, U.S.A.; phone/FAX (512)471-9774 / 9775;
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~deanhend/
TNHC data bases etc.- http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www
************************************
Stefanie S. Rixecker
Department of Resource Management
Lincoln University, Canterbury
Aotearoa New Zealand
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
************************************
