Popcorn Update

Instructables has a cool article on how to make your own microwave popcorn that is diacetyl free. All you need is a paper bag, some popcorn kernels and a little butter, enjoy!

Loser Of The Week - John Edwards

Another talking head that talks the talk, but don't walk the walk. He had the audacity to take an SUV to a press conference where he told us, the little people, to get rid of our SUV's. He promises to be a leader in the battle against global warming, however, he lives like he's on the 'global warming is a scam' side. In addition to getting busted for not only having one, but three gas guzzlers, he also has a 28,200 sq. foot home. He also apparently lied about having a hybid SUV, like that makes it any better.

Snagged! In a recent speech, John Edwards told Americans to sacrifice their inefficient cars, and specifically, to give up their SUVs. But the presidential hopeful is driven around in a Cadillac SRX Crossover, which guzzles gas at 15 miles per gallon. His spokesman says that he drives a hybrid SUV in North Carolina, but reports say the Edwards family has a regular SUV and a small truck as wel

This guy could care less about the environment or you, dear voter. Ann Coulter was wrong, he is a loser.

Butter Flavored Death

Microwave popcorn has always been a sort of 'miracle product' to me. Who doesn't love that in 2 minutes you go from a flat bag to piping hot 'movie theater' flavored goodness. The latest findings from the EPA suggest that the 'movie theater' flavor is a killer. The buttery flavor is due to the addition of a chemical called diacetyl and it appears to be responsible for some serious health problems in the workers who manufacture one of America's favorite treats. This has led to speculation that the consumer may be exposed to some environmenal hazards when the diacetyl heats up and fills the home with that delicious smell. Pop Weaver, a producer of such treats, has removed the chemical from their products altogether as a result of the EPA's findings. The sad news is most other brands still contain it.

Pop Weaver, one of the largest producers of microwave popcorn, is removing a controversial chemical flavoring agent from its products.

The chemical -- diacetyl -- adds buttery taste. Government worker safety investigators have linked exposure to the synthetic butter to the sometimes fatal destruction of the lungs of hundreds of workers in food production and flavoring factories.

And while Pop Weaver has dropped diacetyl from its product, it remains in widespread use in thousands of other consumer products, including the microwave popcorn brands Orville Redenbacher and Act II.

Choose wisely dear friends.
Read all about it at Seattlepi.com

High Flying Alternative Energy

Dutch astronaut Dr Wubbo Ockels has successfully demonstrated his new energy concept in a field near the university city of Groningen today. He has flown a high-flying energy kite, creating kinetic energy from huge radio-controlled highflying kites. He has designed 'ladder-mills' to store the kinetic energy and convert it into electricity.

Three such ladder-mills provide enough electricity to power the entire city of Groningen. The experiment was carried out along the northern coastline of The Netherlands where there's usually more than enough wind to raise the gigantic kites into.The radio- controlled, high-flying kites can create some 10,5kw electricity each, Dr Ockels told a local radio station.

Read all about it at Rense.com

Our Green Military

Earth2tech has an article on how the military is using green tech these days. While that is nice and all, I would think that if the governments of the world were serious about the environmental crisis, the first thing they'd stop is war. From depleted uranium to landmines being found by kids some 60 odd years after a war, war is pretty tough on the land. On top of that clean technologies would be affordable if we weren't always in an arm's race. Can't we just play chess or have our leaders fight it out in the steel cage or something?

Well that's not going to happen, but you can read about the positive steps our military is taking over at earth2tech.

Former Greempeace Leader Downs 11th Hour

Dr. Patrick Moore, a Greenpeace co-founder, is crying out about the alarmist scare tactics used in Leonardo's high profile environmental film the 11th hour. When it comes to our forests acting as a buffer against global warming, he believes we should use more wood and plant more trees rather than leaving the forests on their own.

There is a misconception that cutting down an old tree will result in a net release of carbon. Yet wooden furniture made in the Elizabethan era still holds the carbon fixed hundreds of years ago.
Berman, a veteran of the forestry protest movement, should by now have learned that young forests outperform old growth in carbon sequestration.
Although old trees contain huge amounts of carbon, their rate of sequestration has slowed to a near halt. A young tree, although it contains little fixed carbon, pulls CO2 from the atmosphere at a much faster rate.

My uncle used to say similiar things to me about the Adirondacks. He noticed that logging responsibly actually helped the forest to renew itself, by allowing new trees to get light and grow, as opposed to the older and mostly dead trees blocking much of the light from reaching the ground. Maybe there's something to all this?
Read all about it

In Your Neighborhood

I came across this house while out on a walk the other day. It is cool to see solar power becoming a viable option where I live. I think I will give these guys a call and find out a bit more about the costs involved and the amount of electricity produced.