Forget Golf Courses: Subdivisions Draw Residents With Farms→

Luke Runyon, reporting for NPR:

“Farms — complete with livestock, vegetables and fruit trees — are serving as the latest suburban amenity.

It’s called development-supported agriculture, a more intimate version of community-supported agriculture — a farm-share program commonly known as CSA. In planning a new neighborhood, a developer includes some form of food production — a farm, community garden, orchard, livestock operation, edible park — that is meant to draw in new buyers, increase values and stitch neighbors together.

”These projects are becoming more and more mainstream,” says Ed McMahon, a fellow with the Urban Land Institute. He estimates that more than 200 developments with an agricultural twist already exist nationwide.”

This appears to be an interesting trend. Will existing subdivisions be redeveloped with the inclusion of small farms? Given their density, subdivisions are still dependent on cheap energy for transportation -- a clear Achilles' heel.

Cows might fly→

Veronique Greenwood, reporting for Aeon:

“The Swiss government did not want to expose their farmers to the open market, to put them in direct competition, in the case of cow farmers, with ranchers around the world with far more land and the ability to grow animals cheaply. A workaround was devised.

The market supports to local agriculture would end, yes. But the farmers would be paid directly by the government for something else. They would be paid for, among other things, keeping the mountain pastures clear of trees, keeping the forests clear of the cows, and keeping the water clean. They would be paid for keeping land in agriculture, for treating their animals well, and for maintaining the social structure in rural areas. It is a way of thinking about the use of the land that environmental scholars and policymakers call ‘payments for ecosystem services’. In essence, the Swiss government rewards farmers for the maintenance of the landscape — both environmental and cultural.”

Interesting article on the importance of a government system to continue farming in Switzerland and the comparison with North America. Scale matters.

Madison's lakes are 'impaired' by runoff-driven weeds and algae, state says→

Steven Verburg, reporting for the Wisconsin State Journal:

“The state will add Dane County’s chain of lakes to its list of “impaired waters” because of heavy nutrient pollution from surrounding farmland that causes unnatural weed growth and nasty-smelling algae blooms, state officials said Friday.

Dane County officials expressed concern that the listing of the four Yahara lakes — Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa — might upset or undermine extensive cleanup efforts already underway in cooperation with local farmers. It would be the first time the lakes landed on the state list because of nutrient pollution.”

Don't you have to call a spade a spade?

Supreme Court to tackle cross-state pollution→

Mark Sherman, reporting for The Associated Press:

“The Supreme Court indicated Tuesday it could breathe new life into a federal rule requiring states to reduce power plant pollution from the South and Midwest that fouls the air in the Eastern U.S.

Several justices suggested during a 90-minute argument that they believe the Environmental Protection Agency did not exceed its authority when it issued its cross-state air pollution rule in 2011. A divided federal appeals-court panel invalidated the rule last year.”

Shouldn't the Executive Branch be allowed to govern without excessive litigation? 

State Draft Plan Addresses Phosphorus Pollution in Lake Champlain→

John Herrik, reporting for VTDIGGER.ORG:

“The state is undertaking a complex Lake Champlain cleanup that will likely alter the state’s farmland, forests and streams over the next decade.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets released a draft plan for restoring the Lake Champlain Basin this month. The consortium must comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s request to clean up the lake or face funding holds and strict regulations, according to David Mears, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation....
The plan, which will be vetted during several public meetings this winter, includes tightening the state’s agriculture programs, storm water management practices, ensuring river channel stability, updating forest management practices and watershed protection plans. These are considered “nonpoint sources,” unlike the closely regulated facility discharges around the lake, that dump phosphorous [sic] into the lake.”

Start with a good plan, and find effective levers to change the numerous systems that have been allowed pollution to flow into the lake for so long.

Humans are becoming more carnivorous→

Hannah Hoag, reporting for Nature,

“Globally, the human trophic level increased by 3% from 1961 to 2009, driven largely by more meat consumption in India and China.”

Perhaps the most important statistic estimated for 2013.

What Do We Mean By “Clean?”→

Emily Hilts, writing at 'The Life Aquatic' blog:

“Let’s say we could clean Mendota in an instant. What would it look like? Far clearer water, healthy stands of plants, no floating garbage… we can all agree on this vision, right? But what if we drift closer to shore – what does it look like then? Not everyone has the same idea of what a “clean” shoreline looks like.”

Nice story weaving recent lake science and what make place. 

Are We Thinking About Invasives All Wrong?→

Center for Limnology article:

““Invasive species are often thought of as species that take over wherever they get in,” says Jake Vander Zanden, a UW limnology professor who directed the research. “But, in our experience studying lakes and rivers, in most places they weren’t all that abundant. It was only in a few places where they got out of hand.” If that pattern held true, the researchers realized, then invasives were acting a lot like their native counterparts.”

A species place of origin does not determine whether if it is inherently nefarious in a new area.

Waters of Wisconsin–and Beyond [pdf]→

Robert G. Lange, reporting for Wisconsin People & Ideas:

“Limnology, the study of inland waters, is an academic discipline of great interest to the citizens of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin–Madison limnologists have been studying the waters of Wisconsin since 1895 with the goal of finding solutions to the vexing and myriad challenges our waters continually face. Examining the causal relationships involved in nutrient pollution and lake food webs, studying the impact of dams (and their removal) on rivers, monitoring the health of the Great Lakes, and evaluating the impact of climate change on our waters are all in a day’s work for the scientists at the university’s Center for Limnology.”

Great story on the history of the Center for Limnology and the outstanding scientists that have contributed so much to the understanding of lake ecosystems.

Rescue of Isle Royale wolves still under discussion, but with lessened urgency→

Ron Meador, reporting for MinnPost:

“About 20 people interested in the fate of Isle Royale’s wolves gathered for an informational update from the National Park Service in St. Paul on Tuesday, and heard that the program consists, for now, of more talking and thinking about the right thing to do — if it becomes necessary to do anything at all.”

The mental model of 'the balance of nature' is insufficient. Nature does not care if there are wolfs on Isle Royale. Second, humans are always tinkering with the rest of nature, as it is in our nature. The questions are: do humans prefer wolves on the island and should we add species that were extirpated due to our actions?

The Case Against Cars in 1 Utterly Entrancing GIF→

Derek Thompson, reporting for The Atlantic:

“We continue to lead advanced economies in per-capita carbon emissions, 28 percent of which come from transportation. But even if the crunchy granola argument isn’t good enough to make you see the benefits of public transit, consider that trains, trams, buses, and the like reduces traffic congestion, which is good for the life satisfaction of everybody behind the wheel, since science shows long commutes make us unhappy.”

What is the Single Greatest Virtue of Our Species?→

Brian Doyle, essay on 'What does the Earth Ask of Us?' for the Center for Humans & Nature:

“We thought it was a vast farm, from which we could draw fish and deer and corn and petroleum and silver and coal, and the farm had no end, we invented a god to give it to us as a garden of endless delights, but it does have an end, it is not infinite, the soil will disappear in sixty years and the fresh water go foul, cities will drown and toddlers die by the millions from diseases that have been waiting ravenously to return and scythe us down like we sliced down the vast seething lungs of the forests....

Do other species have standing in the courts of the human beings? Can osprey testify about their near-death experience, when they were poisoned en masse, and parents were forced to watch as their babies hatched too soon, inside their translucent useless eggshells, and died sobbing for breath, their bones unknit, unable even to mew, unable to see even a shard of the light hatched in the furnaces of the stars? What about trees? ”

Powerful and thoughtful prose.

Leading Canadian ecologist calls on scientists to recover policy influence→

Ron Meador, reporting for MinnPost: 

“David Schindler made plain in a talk Tuesday evening entitled “Letting the Light In: Providing Environmental Science to Direct Public Policy,” on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus.

Schindler is a Minnesota-born engineer turned freshwater ecologist, a longtime leader in Canada’s environmental academy in part because his résumé includes deep involvement as a scientist in the battles over acid rain, eutrophication, dioxins and, more recently, the impacts of oil production from the Alberta tar sands.”

Canada’s lost generation of scientists→

Jessa Gamble, reporting for The Last Word on Nothing:

“The first major warning sign came in 2006, shortly after Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper first ascended to power. The office of the National Science Advisor was to be phased out. It was a blunt and open declaration of what would come to be called, in environmental writer Chris Turner’s new book, Canada’s War on Science. No thanks, science, we don’t need your advice. We already know everything.”

Why is it that when societal troubles are large, the small-minded gain power and exploit common fears to push down scientific thought, often in the name of smaller government?

“Opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists”

— Bertrand Russell

“What every man who loves his country hopes for in his inmost heart: the suppression of half his compatriots.”

— Emil Cioran

Landscaping Sustainability→

Margaret Buranen, reporting for Ensia:

“Landscaping can do more than increase property values. It can reduce energy use and clean air and water while providing wildlife habitat and connecting people to nature.

Such benefits are now measurable — thanks to guidelines and a rating system developed by the Sustainable SITES Initiative™, a program of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Designers or site owners can submit any type of landscaping project for SITES certification. To earn SITES credits they provide documentation of sustainable strategies used. SITES certification, like LEED ratings, can be a marketing advantage. It also makes the public aware of both the firm’s and the client’s commitment to sustainability.”

Check out the Sustainable Site Initiative for the rating system and recommendations: 

Rating System

Human population density drives extinctions→

Tim De Chant, reporting for Per Square Mile: 

“Sometimes there are scientific studies that seem to confirm the obvious. To wit: The more people that live in an area, the more species that go extinct.

No matter how superfluous it seems, it’s good that scientists undertake these studies, if only to confirm our suspicions, rule out potential confounding variables, or simply make the phenomenon feel more real. All three are the case with the recent paper on population density and animal extinctions. Jeffrey McKee, an anthropologist at the Ohio State University, first published on the relationship back in the early 2000s, and his latest confirms some of his earlier results and predictions.”

To have a meaningful discussion about improving our quality of living we must first talk about stabilizing our population.  Action may follow.

Beat the Microbead→

From the International Campaign Against Microbeads in Cosmetics: 

“A quick phase out of microbeads is crucial. Tiny particles of plastic have been added to possibly thousands of personal care products sold around the world. These microbeads, hardly visible to the naked eye, flow straight from the bathroom drain into the sewer system. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to filter out microbeads and that is the main reason why, ultimately, they contribute to the Plastic Soup swirling around the world’s oceans. Sea creatures absorb or eat microbeads. These microbeads are passed along the marine food chain. Since humans are ultimately at the top of this food chain, it is likely that we are also absorbing microbeads from the food we eat. Microbeads are not biodegradable and once they enter the marine environment, they are impossible to remove.

Positive action on behalf of manufacturers has meant that more and more of these microbeads are being removed from personal care products and replaced by naturally biodegradable alternatives. It is still a far cry to say that all personal care products are free from plastic microbeads though.”

Get the smartphone app! 

How Desperation, Ipads, and Real-time Data Revived a Fishery→

Megan Molteni, reporting for Conservation Magazine:

“When The Nature Conservancy, the nation’s largest environmental group, came into Morro Bay, California, in 2006 and bought out all the fishing rights—effectively closing millions of acres of marine habitat to fishing almost overnight—it was every fisherman’s worst nightmare. But then something interesting happened. TNC began leasing fishing rights back to fishermen, provided they followed more sustainable practices. Then iPads were doled out, and boats began sharing information with the environmental group and each other. Fishermen started thinking beyond pounds landed. And, realizing there were customers willing to pay more for a more environmentally sound product, they discovered an economic incentive for the changes. They started thinking less like takers and more like stewards.”

This paradigm change may work elsewhere, and I advocated such an approach some time ago. 

Commercial Overfishing and Property Rights

Lake Erie algae a threat to Ohio drinking water→

AP reporting: 

“TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Toxins from blobs of algae on western Lake Erie are infiltrating water treatment plants along the shoreline, forcing cities to spend a lot more money to make sure their drinking water is safe.

It got so bad last month that one township told its 2,000 residents not to drink or use the water coming from their taps.

The cost of testing and treating the water is adding up quickly — the city of Toledo will spend an extra $1 million this year to combat the toxins while a neighboring county is considering a fee increase next year to cover the added expenses.”

Polluters need not worry; they have a free ride. We continue to allow private gain at public cost. When will governments create rules for markets for clean water?

Algae fixes may trigger more lake pollution→

Elizabeth Dunbar, reporting for Minnesota Public Radio: 

“Phosphorus, a nutrient that is washed into Minnesota’s lakes with leaves and lawn fertilizer, can cause algae blooms and poor water quality. But efforts to reduce it in lakes can have an unintended consequence.

According to a new University of Minnesota study published online Thursday in the journal Science, reducing phosphorus can also result in less of the microbial processes that eliminate another unwanted nutrient: nitrogen.

As a result, nitrogen can accumulate in large lakes and lead to nitrogen pollution downstream, the study says.”