Re: [Biofuel] Plastic bag revolt spreads across Britain
Butcher paper is still in use in a few stores around here, as well. The end of plastic bags would put an end to the paper or plastic question and, that would put an end to my baffling carry outs. I answer the question with plastic, support the local economy. Seldom do they make the connection of the plastic bags, to the local petroleum production. Doug, N0LKK Kansas USA inc. Thomas Kelly wrote: My local market still cuts meat while you wait or while you shop. You can also call in an order so it will be cut, wrapped and ready when you arrive. It is wrapped in a thick paper, perhaps wax coated. They tear it off a big roll, wrap the cut of meat, and use the price sticker to keep the paper from unwrapping. The same paper is used to wrap cold cuts (sliced ham, turkey, roast beef) and cheese. Just picked some up. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Plastic bag revolt spreads across Britain
:) on reading the bag recycling method. my thought process ran; I just washed them, why would I want them to fall on *my* floor? Besides that the inside of the bag is what ends up needing the cleaning. On recycling glass milk bottles, how much higher would the energy input be? Hot water to sterilize them for re-use. Heavier trucking loads, both ways. I'm not old enough to remember dry bulk goods, I don't recall my parent's generation mentioning it. I always they where prepackaged in paper like flour and some sugar still is today, before plastic arrived. Doug, N0LKK Kansas USA inc. Keith Addison wrote: You haven't seen our kitchen floor. You must be a city slicker. Storage bags are okay, and useful (ziplock), it's the shopping bags that cause the problems. Don't plastic bags come from oil wells? When I was a kid the stores had the dry-goods stuff (beans, grains and so on) in wooden bins and barrels, they scooped it out onto scales on the counter and then tipped it into a paper bag for you. Greens and fruit were also in paper bags, or wooden boxes or hessian sacks. Milk was in returnable bottles, bread was wrapped in tissue in a brown paper bag, can't remember how the meat got packed but the butcher cut it for you while you waited (greaseproof paper?), same at the fishmonger. I guess we'll have all that again, if the local food movement has its way. Just in case you thought I was being nostalgic, not at all, looking to the future. :-) Best Keith ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Crosspost: ‘GREEN’ WALMART: AN O XYMORON?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/message/10300 NEAL PEIRCE COLUMN For Release Sunday, June 24, 2007 © 2007 Washington Post Writers Group ‘GREEN’ WALMART: AN OXYMORON? By Neal Peirce WalMart has been harvesting kudos for its dramatic “green” promises. Even Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council have gone on record praising the massive retailer’s intentions to reduce electricity usage in its stores 20 percent by 2013 and to double the fuel economy of its trucks by 2015. But author-activist Stacy Mitchell has tossed a firecracker into the WalMart-environmentalist lovefest. In a Grist magazine article and subsequent interview, she acknowledges that WalMart’s commitments are no mere “greenwashing” -- that they will in fact save substantial electricity, oil and carbon impact. But the green moves miss the mega-point, insists Mitchell, author of the recent book “Big-Box Swindle.” WalMart along with such chains as Target and Home Depot divert customers from close-in neighborhood or town shopping to the outer fringes of metro areas. In fact the big retail boxes have displaced tens of thousands of neighborhood and downtown businesses and focused the necessities of life into huge stores that draw car-borne shoppers from large areas. Longer and longer drives are necessary to buy milk or bread, pick up a container of paint or a lawnmower part. A principal result: shopping-related driving grew by a stunning 40 percent, three times as fast as driving for all purposes, from 1990 to 2001 (the last reported period). By 2001, Americans were logging over 330 billion miles going to and from the store. A conservative estimate puts the current figure at 365 billion miles, producing 154 million metric tons of CO2 annually. Mitchell estimates that since WalMart accounts for 10 percent of all U.S. retail sales, its share of the driving-caused emissions is 15.4 million metric tons -- and likely more because the chain leads the way in auto-oriented store formats and locations. And that figure is in addition to the 15.3 million metric ton figure the company itself reports as the “carbon footprint” for its U.S. stores and trucks’ power needs. “By embracing WalMart,” Mitchell insists, “groups like NRDC and Environmental Defense are not only absolving the company of the consequences of its business model, but implying that this method of retailing goods can, with adjustments, be made sustainable.” NRDC’s Jon Coifman agrees this country’s current sprawling development form is “extremely” detrimental environmentally, pushing oil consumption and carbon emissions up significantly. But it’s “not a useful or viable option,” he suggests, “to wish the big-box genie back into the bottle.” NRDC has never issued a press release on the counsel that it is giving WalMart on technical CO2 issues. But it believes, says Coifman, that if the goal is lowering carbon impact wherever possible, “you can’t not deal with the largest single business enterprise on the planet.” The dilemma the enviros face is that the big-box companies’ intend to keep on sprawling out to new store locations. Despite some recent slowdown, WalMart plans to keep expanding by a rate of several dozen super-stores a month. If its goals are fulfilled, Mitchell estimates, the company by 2015 will have expanded its domestic footprint by 20,000 more acres. The new land will largely consist of CO2-absorbing fields and forests, turned by the construction of the stores and their parking lots into generators of surface oil and other petrochemicals that get swept into nearby lakes and streams during heavy rains. The same amount of retail space, notes Mitchell, could be absorbed in an existing city or town fabric for about a fifth of WalMart’s typical land consumption. Auto trips would be shorter, many more errands done on foot or by bike. Which raises the question: how much new retailing do we need? The American landscape is already littered with thousands of dead malls and vacant strip shopping centers. As Jonathan Miller writes in PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ yearly advisory to investors, “The most over-retailed country in the world hardly needs more shopping outlets of any kind.” When I caught up with Stacy Mitchell last week, she was in Augusta, Maine, ecstatic about just-approved state legislation to slow down big-store expansion. Before approving any store 75,000 square feet or larger, Maine towns will be obliged to commission an independent economic study of the impact on jobs, public services, and the community’s downtown, followed by a public hearing. The pathbreaking Maine bill was pushed by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, with which Mitchell’s affiliated, helped by a coalition of 180 small business owners. Not surprisingly, it was opposed by the Maine Merchants Assn. (including WalMart and Target) and Maine Chamber of Commerce. So here’s the intriguing future issue: How will major environmental groups choose sides as grassroots
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
The state and FedGov.Inc are making incredible sums due the current price of petrol via taxes. I'm not surprised that indirect fees and fines are now being imposed on the everyday biodiesel, SVO and WVO crowd. I'm sure more draconian measures are in the works. FedGov.Inc never saw a tax it did not like. How dare everyday citizens take the bull by the horns and declare their energy independence!! More bad news. I met a gent at the Clean Air Expo in Phx a few weeks ago. He was driving a Carl's Jr. WVO Cummings diesel. There were two other smaller franchises in his association that were planning to turn their WVO into biodiesel for sale at their gas station / restaurants locations in CA and AZ. My suggestion is to get contracts for your WVO supplies now. The days of free WVO are coming to an end. That's the main reason I am doing Jatropha cultivation experiments. Best of Luck, JQ Daymi Henegar wrote: Hello! I am from California. Have been making biodiesel for several months, and loving it. Only problem is that in order to obtain a license to carry used veggie oil (any amount), from restaurants, you have to spend $175 for the actual license (not bad); but in order to get the license you must show proof of insurance on a commercial vehicle with $1,000,000 minimum liability! This becomes pricey. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get around this? Perhaps an AG license, since they are allowed to carry 100 gallons of diesel on the back of their trucks. It seems a bit ridiculous to me. Thanks We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49980/*http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49980/*http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] GREEN WALMART: AN OXYMORON?
Yes well... Environmental Defense: http://www.nonprofitwatch.org/edf/ Crony Environmentalism: Do conflicts of interest taint EDF's Advocacy on climate change? http://www.gregpalast.com/fill-your-lungs-its-only-borrowed-grime/ Fill your lungs it's only borrowed grime January 23, 1999 LONDON OBSERVER Gregory Palast Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nonprofitwatch.org/nrdc/ Environmentalism on the Take: Integrity of Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Challenged on Development of the Ballona Wetlands of Los Angeles --NRDC Trustees and Funders Linked to Wetland Developers And so on: Stauber: ... Big environmental organizations, socially responsible investment funds, and other groups perpetuate the myth that if we just write checks to them, they'll heal the environment, reform the corrupt campaign-finance system, protect our freedom of speech, and reign in corporate power. This is a dangerous falsehood, because it implies that we don't have to sweat and struggle to make democracy work. It's so much easier to write a check for twenty-five or fifty dollars than it is to integrate our concerns about critical issues into our daily lives and organize with our neighbors for democracy. Many so-called public-interest organizations have become big businesses, multinational nonprofit corporations. The PR industry knows this and exploits it well with the type of co-optation strategies that Duchin recommends. Jensen: This seems especially true of big environmental groups. Stauber: E. Bruce Harrison, one of the most effective public-relations practitioners in the business, knows that all too well. He's made a lucrative career out of helping polluting companies defeat environmental regulations while simultaneously giving the companies a green public image. In the industry, they call him the Dean of Green. As a longtime opponent of the environmental movement, Harrison has developed some interesting insights into its failures. He says, The environmental movement is dead. It really died in the last fifteen years, from success. I think he's correct. What he means is that, in the eighties and nineties, environmentalism became a big business, and organizations like the Audubon Society, the Wilderness Society, the National Wildlife Federation, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council became competing multi-million-dollar bureaucracies. These organizations, Harrison says, seem much more interested in the business of greening than in fighting for fundamental social change. He points out, for instance, that the Environmental Defense Fund (whose executive director makes a quarter of a million dollars a year) sat down and cut a deal with McDonald's that was probably worth hundreds of millions of dollars in publicity to the fast-food giant, because it helped to greenwash its public image. Jensen: How so? Stauber: After years of being hammered by grass-roots environmentalists for everything from deforestation to inhumane farming practices to contributing to a throwaway culture, McDonald's finally relented on something: it did away with its styrofoam clamshell hamburger containers. But before the company did this, it entered into a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund and gave that group credit for the change. Both sides won in the ensuing PR lovefest. McDonald's took one little step in response to grass-roots activists, and the Environmental Defense Fund claimed a major victory. Another problem is that big green groups have virtually no accountability to the many thousands of individuals who provide them with money. Meanwhile, the grass-roots environmental groups are starved of the hundreds of millions of dollars that are raised every year by these massive bureaucracies. Over the past two decades, they've turned the environmental movement's grass-roots base of support into little more than a list of donors they hustle for money via direct-mail appeals and telemarketing. It's getting even worse, because now corporations are directly funding groups like the Audubon Society, the Wilderness Society, and the National Wildlife Federation. Corporate executives now sit on the boards of some of these groups. PR executive Leslie Dach, for instance, of the rabidly anti-environmental Edelman PR firm, is on the Audubon Society's board of directors. Meanwhile, his PR firm has helped lead the wise use assault on environmental regulation. -- War On Truth -- The Secret Battle for the American Mind, An Interview with John Stauber, published in The Sun, March 1999. http://www.whale.to/m/stauber.html The greening of the environmental movement 1999 figures, in millions of dollars, for 20 environmental groups with largest contributions http://dwb.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/environment/graphics/greening.pdf Environment, Inc. The Sacramento Bee's Expose: Environmental Organizations Are Now Big-Business
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
Hello Daymi, welcome Hello! I am from California. Have been making biodiesel for several months, and loving it. Only problem is that in order to obtain a license to carry used veggie oil (any amount), from restaurants, you have to spend $175 for the actual license (not bad); but in order to get the license you must show proof of insurance on a commercial vehicle with $1,000,000 minimum liability! This becomes pricey. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get around this? Perhaps an AG license, since they are allowed to carry 100 gallons of diesel on the back of their trucks. It seems a bit ridiculous to me. Thanks Third such tale I've heard in a week. Here's another one, also from California (name omitted): Hi Keith, ... I had a home visit from Food and Ag on 5/30/07. Was told to stop hauling oil from restaurants until I get a license $175. and $1,000,000. liability insurance. Needless to say, the cost of making BD just went sky high out of control. Being a one man operation, collecting about 50 gallons a month, the cost per gallon just went up past any pump price. The reason I am writing is to offer my name, and any help that may be needed by ANY political action group to work on getting the laws changed. I have time and energy to offer any political action group. If you or someone in your group knows of any groups who are active, I would like to make contact. Also do you know of any groups who have an oil collection hauling license and the insurance needed. There must be some way to beat this lopsided special interest law. Actually, I have some ideas on a state wide collection recycle system like aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Maybe this would appeal to the law makers. 8-) who knows,,, Anyway, I'm very willing to get involved with others to see if we can make some changes. Then there's this earlier message from Mike Weaver on 9 June: http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg70172.html [Biofuel] Meanwhile, back in the US of A: A price to pay for alternative fuels Fines for non-payment of road taxes. Nothing new about the taxes issue, it first happened in the US in 2002, to Tom Leue of Yellow Biodiesel, and nothing or just about nothing since, AFAIK, until this. Is the California $175 licence a new ruling? I think we've heard of it before, but I don't think there've been many if any enforcements up to now. So who's suddenly stirring it up? I said here a couple of years back that homebrew/backyard/local/DIY whatever biodiesel - ie Appropriate Technology biodiesel - was already suitably out of control and it was too late to stop it. Nobody knew just who or how many people were making their own biodiesel nor how much fuel they were making, it all went under the radar. But even then it was easy to calculate that it was millions of gallons a year at least, just in the US, and millions of dollars lost to the likes of ExxonMobil in petrodiesel sales and to government in taxes. The movement had been growing steadily for five or six years, worldwide, but in the last couple of years it's spread like a weed, the growth rate must have been very steep. So maybe it's not going under the radar anymore. Big Soy (the NBB) doesn't like homebrewers either, for reasons they finally had to admit (here) were nonsense, but that didn't change their attitude much. And unprecedented billions in investment are pouring into renewable energy right now, but on the biodiesel front all these out-of-control hairy backyarders make the place look untidy. If this is the start of the general crackdown by the Big Guys that list members have been suffering periodic bouts of angst over for years, that would be vindication for the list members who said keep your head down, keep it clandestine, what people don't know won't hurt them. Anyway, it's not an issue Journey to Forever can take on, it's a US issue, but we're not US, we're global, and we're in Japan, so I can't help the person who wrote to me. But the list can take it on, if it wants to. Or US list members can get something together offlist if they like. I'll point the man who emailed me to this thread in the list archives. If anyone wants to get in touch with him email me offlist and I'll forward your message. Best Keith Addison Journey to Forever KYOTO Pref., Japan http://journeytoforever.org/ Biofuel list owner ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
Hello James The state and FedGov.Inc are making incredible sums due the current price of petrol via taxes. I'm not surprised that indirect fees and fines are now being imposed on the everyday biodiesel, SVO and WVO crowd. I'm sure more draconian measures are in the works. FedGov.Inc never saw a tax it did not like. How dare everyday citizens take the bull by the horns and declare their energy independence!! More bad news. I met a gent at the Clean Air Expo in Phx a few weeks ago. He was driving a Carl's Jr. WVO Cummings diesel. There were two other smaller franchises in his association that were planning to turn their WVO into biodiesel for sale at their gas station / restaurants locations in CA and AZ. My suggestion is to get contracts for your WVO supplies now. The days of free WVO are coming to an end. We've been hearing that for seven years now or more. On the other hand, it still seems that nobody, feds or whatever, even knows how much of the stuff there is yet - is it estimated at 3 billion gallons a year these days or 4 billion? And is maybe 10% still being collected or has it gone rocketing up to 11% yet? Anyway, waste collection and recycling turns out to be a local niche affair if you're going to push it up much higher than 10% - you have to go to the source, which in this case includes many small local outlets and just about everybody's home. Not something that Big Central excels at. Biodiesel, SVO and WVO aren't even really regarded as an energy issue in the US yet, still an agricultural issue (handouts for Big Soy). That's the main reason I am doing Jatropha cultivation experiments. LOL! Sorry, I don't think the best crop approach will help a lot, especially not when it turns out to be jatropha. Jatropha Yields claimed: 1590-2,350 kg oil/ha, 202-298 US gal/acre Yields achieved (India): 300-400 kg oil/ha, 38-51 US gal/acre Nobody in India has ever obtained more than 300 to 400 kg of oil per ha from Jatropha. - Dr. A.D. Karve, president of the Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) in Maharashtra, India. About the same as soy. If you can get the seed out of the fruit, and the oil out of the seed, that is, and find something useful to do with the toxic seedcake other than the excellent organic fertiliser bit. Best Keith Best of Luck, JQ Daymi Henegar wrote: Hello! I am from California. Have been making biodiesel for several months, and loving it. Only problem is that in order to obtain a license to carry used veggie oil (any amount), from restaurants, you have to spend $175 for the actual license (not bad); but in order to get the license you must show proof of insurance on a commercial vehicle with $1,000,000 minimum liability! This becomes pricey. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get around this? Perhaps an AG license, since they are allowed to carry 100 gallons of diesel on the back of their trucks. It seems a bit ridiculous to me. Thanks ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
Simple. Don't carry waste oil. Collect and transport used vegetable oil. Agree to buy it for a minimal cost, and have the paperwork to prove it. It is then a second hand used 'product' and not waste. Joe Daymi Henegar wrote: Hello! I am from California. Have been making biodiesel for several months, and loving it. Only problem is that in order to obtain a license to carry used veggie oil (any amount), from restaurants, you have to spend $175 for the actual license (not bad); but in order to get the license you must show proof of insurance on a commercial vehicle with $1,000,000 minimum liability! This becomes pricey. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get around this? Perhaps an AG license, since they are allowed to carry 100 gallons of diesel on the back of their trucks. It seems a bit ridiculous to me. Thanks We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49980/*http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49980/*http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Crosspost: ¡GREEN¢ WALMART: AN OXYMORON?
Indeed, someone explained to me years ago that one of Home Depot's business strategies is to go into an urban area and open up several stores at strategic locations and then leverage their massive buying power and financial reserves to undercut the market. They only have to do this for a while until they destroy the local small businesses which works because they offer so much and they keep prices low and then when the competition is gone they close up several of the locations forcing people to drive further. On the other hand I wonder where the tradeoff point really is when you consider the fuel you burn driving around to several mom and pop outfits in a day to get all the stuff you could get in one stop at the super store. I haven't done the homework on this obviously but it is food for thought. Don't get me wrong, I am still in favour of local small business but the issue is definitely not clear cut and dried. Joe Dawie Coetzee posted: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/message/10300 NEAL PEIRCE COLUMN For Release Sunday, June 24, 2007 © 2007 Washington Post Writers Group ‘GREEN’ WALMART: AN OXYMORON? By Neal Peirce WalMart has been harvesting kudos for its dramatic “green” promises. Even Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council have gone on record praising the massive retailer’s intentions to reduce electricity usage in its stores 20 percent by 2013 and to double the fuel economy of its trucks by 2015. But author-activist Stacy Mitchell has tossed a firecracker into the WalMart-environmentalist lovefest. In a Grist magazine article and subsequent interview, she acknowledges that WalMart’s commitments are no mere “greenwashing” -- that they will in fact save substantial electricity, oil and carbon impact. But the green moves miss the mega-point, insists Mitchell, author of the recent book “Big-Box Swindle.” WalMart along with such chains as Target and Home Depot divert customers from close-in neighborhood or town shopping to the outer fringes of metro areas. In fact the big retail boxes have displaced tens of thousands of neighborhood and downtown businesses and focused the necessities of life into huge stores that draw car-borne shoppers from large areas. Longer and longer drives are necessary to buy milk or bread, pick up a container of paint or a lawnmower part. snip ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] EU stands up to US pressure - unfazed by genetically modified 'Herculex'
EU stands up to US pressure - unfazed by genetically modified 'Herculex' Brussels, June 25 2007 - EU member states today stood up to intense pressure from the US and refused to allow a new strain of genetically modified maize to be imported into the EU. The move has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth Europe. [1] European Commission documents show US pressure to ignore risk assessment concerns and push GMOs - including this GM Maize 'Herculex' of biotech company Pioneer - onto the European market [2] [3]. Helen Holder Friends of the Earth Europe GM Campaign Coordinator said: Member states have already won the right to uphold high standards on food safety and the environment at the WTO. The US had tried to use trade laws to force GMOs into the European market. But this is a clear signal that Member States have put safety and the environment before US trade interests and that the concerns of EU citizens can prevail over formidable lobbying from biotech companies. Friends of the Earth Europe and other NGOs have raised a number of concerns on this GM maize: * The risk assessment was incomplete and failed to act on key evidence which raised the possibility that this GM maize could pose risks for human and animal health [4] * The reliability of EFSA opinions on other related GM maize has been undermined by studies of independent scientists detecting toxicological effects in the same products. [5] * Herculex Maize has been at the centre of a number of contamination scandals including the contamination of US animal feed imported into Ireland. [6] The sudden and rapid move to try and authorize Herculex maize suggests that the European Commission is more concerned with 'neutralizing' a potential legal problem of illegalGM contamination rather than dealing with contamination by unauthorized GMOs. Helen Holder added, These contamination cases indicate more than ever before just how important it is to show zero tolerance to countries that have lax measures on contamination and to ensure the right to GMO free food and farming in the EU is upheld. There is a critical need for strict laws on growing GM crops and clear rules on who is liable for the costs of GM contamination. There is still widespread public concern over the loophole in EU legislation that allows for consumers to remain unaware that they are eating meat and dairy products from animals fed with GMOs like Herculex maize. Earlier this year one million Europeans called for labelling of foods from GMO-fed animals. [1] The vote resulted in a Non Qualified Majority, insufficient votes to reach a decision. The company's authorisation request will now be sent an upcoming EU Council meeting where Ministers will vote on Herculex. [2] Herculex Rootworm (RW) 59122 maize has been genetically modified to produce Bt toxins (Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1) in order to be resistant to the Western corn rootworm insect pest. [3] Minutes of a meeting between the EU and the US were obtained by Friends of the Earth Europe under a Freedom of Information request: http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2007/May30_HH_EU_US_docs.htm [4] The studies by Pioneer/Dow submitted to the EU show important differences between animals fed with GM maize and those fed with conventional maize, including liver weights in females in a 42 day poultry study, and blood parameters following a 90 day rat feeding trial. Effects in the 90 day feeding trial were noticed after a very short time, indicating potential for toxicity in the longer term. [5] The EFSA has in the past issued positive opinions on MON863 and NK603 maize, leading to final authorization by the European Commission of these products. But the reliability of these EFSA opinions has been undermined by recent studies by independent scientists showing toxicological effects in both MON863 and NK60. [6] Announced by Greenpeace and GM-free Ireland. See GM-free Ireland press release http://www.gmfreeireland.org/pakrac/index.php ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
Joe Street wrote: Simple. Don't carry waste oil. Collect and transport used vegetable oil. Agree to buy it for a minimal cost, and have the paperwork to prove it. It is then a second hand used 'product' and not waste. Joe This is the approach I'm attempting. In fact, I'm not trying to transport anything, any more than I would be bringing home retail peanut oil from a big box store. Trying to get the local renderer to sell me filtered oil, get a receipt, and file that receipt to the state w/a check for road use taxes. keep all the records. be very very difficult to prove any malfeasance. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
face it boys, BIG OIL IS behind all of this. same thing happens with micro-breweries when they start to cut into the bottom line. "we CANNOT afford for someone to save thousands from our BILLIONS". screw 'em, take all you want, don't declare it to anybody. put it in canola oil containers, tell them you have an eating disorder/ addiction to 'freedom fries'. From:Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED]Reply-To:biofuel@sustainablelists.orgTo:biofuel@sustainablelists.orgSubject:Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oilDate:Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:47:29 +0900Hello James The state and FedGov.Inc are making incredible sums due the current price of petrol via taxes.I'm not surprised that indirect fees and fines are now being imposed on the everyday biodiesel, SVO and WVO crowd.I'm sure more draconian measures are in the works. FedGov.Inc never saw a tax it did not like.How dare everyday citizens take the bull by the horns and declare their energy independence!! More bad news. I met a gent atthe "Clean Air Expo" in Phx a few weeks ago.He was driving a Carl's Jr. WVO Cummings diesel.There were two other smaller franchises in hisassociation that were planning to turn their WVO into biodiesel for sale at their gas station / restaurants locations in CA and AZ. My suggestion is to get contracts for your WVO supplies now.The days of free WVO are coming to an end.We've been hearing that for seven years now or more. On the otherhand, it still seems that nobody, feds or whatever, even knows howmuch of the stuff there is yet - is it estimated at 3 billion gallonsa year these days or 4 billion? And is maybe 10% still beingcollected or has it gone rocketing up to 11% yet?Anyway, waste collection and recycling turns out to be a local nicheaffair if you're going to push it up much higher than 10% - you haveto go to the source, which in this case includes many small localoutlets and just about everybody's home. Not something that BigCentral excels at.Biodiesel, SVO and WVO aren't even really regarded as an energy issuein the US yet, still an agricultural issue (handouts for Big Soy). That's the main reason I am doing Jatropha cultivation experiments.LOL!Sorry, I don't think the "best crop" approach will help a lot,especially not when it turns out to be jatropha.JatrophaYields claimed: 1590-2,350 kg oil/ha, 202-298 US gal/acreYields achieved (India): 300-400 kg oil/ha, 38-51 US gal/acre"Nobody in India has ever obtained more than 300 to 400 kg of oil perha from Jatropha." - Dr. A.D. Karve, president of the AppropriateRural Technology Institute (ARTI) in Maharashtra, India.About the same as soy. If you can get the seed out of the fruit, andthe oil out of the seed, that is, and find something useful to dowith the toxic seedcake other than the "excellent organic fertiliser"bit.BestKeith Best of Luck, JQ Daymi Henegar wrote: Hello! I am from California.Have been making biodiesel for several months, and loving it.Only problem is that in order to obtain a license to carry used veggie oil (any amount), from restaurants, you have to spend $175 for the actual license (not bad); but in order to get the license you must show proof of insurance on a commercial vehicle with $1,000,000 minimum liability!This becomes pricey.Does anyone have any ideas of how to get around this?Perhaps an AG license, since they are allowed to carry 100 gallons of diesel on the back of their trucks.It seems a bit ridiculous to me.Thanks___Biofuel mailing listBiofuel@sustainablelists.orghttp://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.orgBiofuel at Journey to Forever:http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.htmlSearch the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages):http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Pollinator Protection Act of 2007 Introduced into the Senate
This bill provides significant funding for research that will improve the security of crop pollination and support strong populations of honey bees and native bees. Hm, really. Prof. Joe Cummins says: I have been concerned that the authorities are ignoring or even suppressing information on the effect of pesticides on the honey bee immune system... I have been impressed by the apparent unwillingness of regulators to consider the kinds of interaction mentioned above and the granting agencies seem unwilling to support such important research. Wonder why that might be. LOL! If you have a look at these: http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg69552.html [Biofuel] bee followup (No organic bee losses) Michael Bush's Bees Web site: http://bushfarms.com/bees.htm BeeSource: http://www.beesource.com/pov/lusby/index.htm ... it seems that CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) is yet another self-inflicted ailment of industrialised agriculture - the bees themselves are industrialised, like Tyson's chickens, pumped up to an unnaturally large size, chemicalised, over-stressed, no hope of being healthy. Similarly the crops that aren't being pollinated are industrialised monocrops, same scene. Well, frankly, so what? Chuck another law at it, what's it matter. If it doesn't work they could always try growing food instead of all this toxic crap. The cracks in the concrete are sure spreading fast these days. Seems to be heading for a severe bout of agricultural system collapse disorder. None too soon, IMHO. Best Keith --- For immediate Release Date: June 26, 2007 Contact: Scott Hoffman Black, Executive Director Xerces Society: 503-449-3792 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED][EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional information contact: Natalie Ravitz (Boxer) 202-224-8120 Kyle Downey (Thune) 202-228-5939 Kendra Barkoff (Casey) 202-228-6367 Pollinator Protection Act of 2007 Introduced into the Senate Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) along with eight other co-sponsors introduced the Pollinator Research Act of 2007 into the Senate today. This bill provides significant funding for research that will improve the security of crop pollination and support strong populations of honey bees and native bees. The recent widespread loss of honey bee colonies from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has received a lot of media coverage. At this time the cause of CCD remains a mystery. It may be one or more factors, such as parasitic mites, disease, pesticides or diet. The European honey bee is - and will continue to be - the most important single crop pollinator in the United States. However, with the decline in the number of managed honey bee colonies from diseases, parasitic mites, and Africanized bees - as well as from Colony Collapse Disorder - it is important to increase the use of native bees in our agricultural system as well. Research into Colony Collapse Disorder, as well as the biology of crop-pollinating native bees is vital to this effort. The Pollinator Protection Act is a modified version of Congressman Hastings' Pollinator Protection Act (H.R. 1709), which addresses Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This bill not only addresses Colony Collapse Disorder in honey bees, but also the decline of native pollinators in North America. This bill will enhance funding for research on the parasites, pathogens, toxins, and other environmental factors that affect honey bees and native bees. It supports research into the biology of native bees and their role in crop pollination, diversifying the pollinators upon which agriculture relies. This bill can help to improve crop security and the sustainability of agriculture, by helping farmers in the United States diversity their pollinator portfolio said Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. The Pollinator Protection Act of 2007 will provide the financial support needed to strengthen the honey bee industry and the role of native bees in crop pollination. The Pollinator Protection Act provides for: $25.25 million to the Agriculture Research Service over five years for research, personnel, and facility improvements regarding honey bee and native bee biology, causes/solutions for CCD, and bee toxicology, pathology, and physiology. $50 million to the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service over five years to fund research grants to investigate honey bee and native bee biology, immunology, ecology, genomics, bioinformatics, parasites, pathogens, sublethal effects of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, native bee crop pollination and habitat conservation, and effects of genetically modified crops. $11.25 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service over five years to conduct a nationwide honey bee pest and pathogen surveillance program. Annual reporting to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
I think the key here is to call it food. Same goes for storing it on your property. I have said it here before, as far as I know there is no problem with stockpiling food anywhere. Likewise the glycerine is not waste but rather co-product, for soapmaking or compost. Speaking of which I saw a compost pile just recently that was about 2m high and maybe 3m in diameter which was smoking hot and all it was made from was shredded bark mixed with about 2000 litres of unsplit glycerin cocktail. So it's true eh? Size DOES matter! ;^ Joe Fred Oliff wrote: face it boys, BIG OIL IS behind all of this. same thing happens with micro-breweries when they start to cut into the bottom line. we CANNOT afford for someone to save thousands from our BILLIONS. screw 'em, take all you want, don't declare it to anybody. put it in canola oil containers, tell them you have an eating disorder/ addiction to 'freedom fries'. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] license to carry used veg oil
I think the key here is to call it food. Same goes for storing it on your property. I have said it here before, as far as I know there is no problem with stockpiling food anywhere. Likewise the glycerine is not waste but rather co-product, for soapmaking or compost. Speaking of which I saw a compost pile just recently that was about 2m high and maybe 3m in diameter which was smoking hot and all it was made from was shredded bark mixed with about 2000 litres of unsplit glycerin cocktail. So it's true eh? Size DOES matter! :-) On the other hand, I sometimes make about 1 cub ft of compost in a small box and it hits 65 deg C (149F). That's an interesting mix though. Shredded bark doesn't usually contain a lot of N, mostly C. The FFA contains quite a lot of N though, enough it seems, though I wouldn't have thought soap was the best form for it, but size does help in such cases. I wonder how long it will take to finish, needs a few turns maybe. It might not help a lot calling WVO something different, officials usually insist on their own definitions. If they really want to crack down on homebrewers, evading one law still leaves them plenty of others to choose from (especially with food). They'll always find a way of making life difficult if they want to. Best Keith ;^ Joe Fred Oliff wrote: face it boys, BIG OIL IS behind all of this. same thing happens with micro-breweries when they start to cut into the bottom line. we CANNOT afford for someone to save thousands from our BILLIONS. screw 'em, take all you want, don't declare it to anybody. put it in canola oil containers, tell them you have an eating disorder/ addiction to 'freedom fries'. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Fwd: Mike Adams - American auto companies have announced a new hybrid vehicle!
Don't miss it: American auto companies have announced a new hybrid vehicle! Click here to read the full commentary on this cartoon. You can also vote on this cartoon or post your comments. - Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Crosspost: ¡GREEN¢ WALMART: AN O XYMORON?
Of course the ideal is to be able to get to all those mom and pop outfits by foot, which just happens to describe the conditions most conducive to the economic viability of mom and pop outfits. -D - Original Message From: Joe Street [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Tuesday, 26 June, 2007 5:52:00 PM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Crosspost: ¡GREEN¢ WALMART: AN OXYMORON? Indeed, someone explained to me years ago that one of Home Depot's business strategies is to go into an urban area and open up several stores at strategic locations and then leverage their massive buying power and financial reserves to undercut the market. They only have to do this for a while until they destroy the local small businesses which works because they offer so much and they keep prices low and then when the competition is gone they close up several of the locations forcing people to drive further. On the other hand I wonder where the tradeoff point really is when you consider the fuel you burn driving around to several mom and pop outfits in a day to get all the stuff you could get in one stop at the super store. I haven't done the homework on this obviously but it is food for thought. Don't get me wrong, I am still in favour of local small business but the issue is definitely not clear cut and dried. Joe Dawie Coetzee posted: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/message/10300 NEAL PEIRCE COLUMN For Release Sunday, June 24, 2007 © 2007 Washington Post Writers Group ‘GREEN’ WALMART: AN OXYMORON? By Neal Peirce WalMart has been harvesting kudos for its dramatic “green” promises. Even ... snip ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ ___ Yahoo! Mail is the world's favourite email. Don't settle for less, sign up for your free account today http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/mail/winter07.html ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
