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Monsanto Just Made a Massive Mistake

by LeanneMeehan Posted on August 17, 2016

Mother Jones

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A couple of weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it had gotten an “unusually high number of reports of crop damage that appear related to misuse of herbicides containing the active ingredient dicamba.” Complaints of drooping and often dead crops appeared in no fewer than 10 states, the EPA reports. In Missouri alone, the agency says it has gotten 117 complaints “alleging misuse of pesticide products containing dicamba,” affecting more than 42,000 acres of crops, including peaches, tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons, rice, peas, peanuts, alfalfa, cotton, and soybeans.

The state’s largest peach farm, which lies near soybean-and-cotton country, has suffered massive and potentially permanent damage this year—and suspects dicamba drift as the culprit, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

What gives?

The trouble appears to stem from decisions made by the Missouri-based seed and pesticide giant Monsanto. Back in April, the company bet big on dicamba, announcing a $975 million expansion of its production facility in Luling, Louisiana. The chemical is the reason the company launched its new Roundup Ready Xtend soybean and cotton seeds, genetically engineered to withstand both dicamba and Monsanto’s old flagship herbicide, glyphosate (brand name: Roundup). Within a decade, the company wrote, the new GM crops will proliferate from the US Midwest all the way to Brazil and points south, covering as much as 250 million acres of farmland (a combined land mass equal to about two and a half times the acreage of California)—and moving lots of dicamba.

The plan is off to a rough start—which brings us back to those drooping crops in soybean and cotton country. The company elected to release Roundup Ready Xtend soybean and cotton seeds this spring, even though the EPA has not yet signed off on a new herbicide product that combines glyphosate and a new dicamba formulation. That was a momentous decision, because the dicamba products currently on the market are highly volatile—that is, they have a well-documented tendency to vaporize in the air and drift far away from the land they’re applied on, killing other crops. Monsanto’s new dicamba, tweaked with what the company calls “VaporGrip” technology, is supposedly much less volatile.

The trouble is that farmers have been planting glyphosate-tolerant cotton and soybeans for years, and as a result, are dealing with a mounting tide of weeds that have evolved to resist that ubiquitous weed killer. So they jumped at the new seeds, and evidently began dousing crops with old dicamba formulations as a way to knock out those glyphosate-tolerant weeds. Oops.

For its part, Monsanto says it expects the EPA to approve the new, improved dicamba formulation in time for the 2017 growing season, and that it never expected farmers to use old dicamba formulations on the dicamba-tolerant crops it released this year. If the VaporGrip formulation does indeed control volatization as promised, the drift incidents of 2016 will likely soon just be a painful memory for affected farmers. If not, they portend yet more trouble ahead for the PR-challenged ag giant.

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Monsanto Just Made a Massive Mistake

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Monsanto’s new GMO soybeans are making a hot mess for farmers

by DarrylWindham92 Posted on August 15, 2016

OMG

Monsanto’s new GMO soybeans are making a hot mess for farmers

By on Aug 15, 2016Share

You can see signs of Monsanto’s latest belly flop in stricken farms: The leaves are gone from the acres of peach trees on Bill Bader’s orchard in southern Missouri, and soy fields in eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee are curling up and dying.

A lot of the blame falls on Monsanto’s new genetically engineered soybean, Xtend, which is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad roll out this year.

To explain what’s happening we have to back up. Farmers have been using crops that tolerate the herbicide glyphosate (often sold under the brand name Roundup), and for years it worked amazingly well: Farmers sprayed glyphosate and the weeds died, while the crops thrived. But then some weeds stopped dying, because nature had caught up; the weeds evolved to tolerate glyphosate.

Seed companies have now released crops that can tolerate additional weed killers, like dicamba. U.S. Monsanto’s new soybean resists both dicamba and glyphosate, which works fine for farmers with the new soybean — not so much for anyone else.

Dicamba easily turns into vapor, so it can blow onto neighbors’ crops, which is exactly what happened to Bill Bader’s peach trees.

The EPA anticipated that this would happen, so it told farmers they had to use a new mixture of dicamba on Xtend — one that wouldn’t blow on the wind. But the EPA hasn’t yet approved that safer dicamba. So when unethical farmers started seeing weeds on their Xtend fields they decided to illicitly spray the conventional dicamba and cross their fingers.

If everyone followed the rules, the new GMOs wouldn’t have caused any problems. But there have always been unethical and careless people and dicamba has been around for decades, so there is something else going on.

The new element here is Monsanto’s Xtend. If the company — or the government — had delayed the rollout until its new herbicide was ready, it would have prevented a lot of heartache.

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Monsanto’s new GMO soybeans are making a hot mess for farmers

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Yes, Economic Anxiety Really Does Explain Some of Donald Trump’s Appeal

by rogalski_adam@o2.pl Posted on August 15, 2016

Mother Jones

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Matt Yglesias says it’s ridiculous to attribute Donald Trump’s support to economic anxiety:

While plenty of people, including plenty of Trump fans, certainly have concerns about the economy, it’s racial resentment that drives who does and doesn’t support Trump….Adding an economic anxiety factor to your account doesn’t actually help to explain anything. Trump’s supporters, for example, are considerably whiter and considerably older than the American population at large. If the economic problems of the past decade had been unusually hard on the white and the old, then an economics-focused explanation could be valuable. In reality, things have been rougher on nonwhites and rougher on younger cohorts.

Generally speaking, I agree. There’s been an endless amount of research, including endless splicing and dicing of poll internals, that tries to explain what’s different about Trump supporters. And every time, the answer is pretty clear: racial resentment. This is so clear that it’s become a joke on Twitter. Every time a Trump supporter (or Trump himself) does or says something racist, it will get linked with a snarky comment about the latest bit of “economic anxiety.”

And yet, I do think that genuine economic anxiety has something to do with Trump’s popularity. The chart on the right, which I posted a couple of weeks ago, tells the basic story. Over the past few decades, women’s incomes have made great strides. Blacks have improved their economic position a bit. Hispanics too. The only group that’s failed to make any progress at all is white men. Maybe it’s not right to call this “anxiety,” but it’s certainly something that helps explain why white men are angrier than most people about their economic position.

Nor do I really buy this:

By contrast, the idea that Donald Trump is going to usher in a new era of broadly shared prosperity based on a revival of coal mining and labor-intensive methods of steel production is patently ridiculous. Under guise of being respectful of Trump voters’ concerns, pundits attributing his appeal to his economic “policies” are in effect attributing a remarkable degree of foolishness to his supporters. The more parsimonious and simple explanation is that there is a basic divide over values and cultural identity.

One of the remarkable things about presidential elections is the extent to which voters simply believe whatever candidates tell them. It doesn’t matter if it’s impossible. It doesn’t matter if the candidate changed his mind about this the day before yesterday. It doesn’t matter if there’s no plausible policy behind the claim. If Trump says he’s going to build a wall, then he’s going to build a wall. If he says he’s going to renegotiate all our trade treaties, then that’s what he’s going to do. This is not something specific to Trump fans. It’s true of all voters.

Personally, I find it sort of remarkable. But then, I’m basically half-Vulcan. Most people aren’t.

Presidential campaigns are mostly just an exercise in finding someone whose heart is in the right place. The fancy term is “mood affiliation.” Most voters don’t really care if either Trump or Hillary Clinton can do what they say. They just want to know what they consider important. Trump has very loudly signaled that he considers the plight of blue-collar workers important, both economically and culturally—and that’s really all that matters.

Now, there’s a metric buttload of racial and sexist angst wrapped up in that word “culturally.” Yglesias is right about that. But there really is an economic component too.

POSTSCRIPT: Of course, this whole argument might be moot. There’s considerable evidence that blue-collar whites don’t actually support Trump any more strongly than they’ve supported any other Republican candidate for president. Some of them may be louder than usual this year, but Trump doesn’t actually seem to have moved the needle much in terms of raw numbers.

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Yes, Economic Anxiety Really Does Explain Some of Donald Trump’s Appeal

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The Nation’s Scientists Have Some Questions for Donald Trump

by LillianCoppin Posted on August 13, 2016

Mother Jones

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This story was originally published by Slate and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Every election cycle, science gets the short end of the stick. So a collective of scientists—56 scientific organizations representing 10 million scientists and engineers and spearheaded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science—tries to engage them in a debate by compiling a list of science-based questions, soliciting answers, and publishing them. (Disclosure: The author, Matt Miller, is currently completing an AAAS-sponsored fellowship at Slate.)

This year should be particularly interesting. As has been pointed out before, the two major presidential candidates this year hold vastly different views on science-related issues. Hillary Clinton actually read the line “I believe in science” as she accepted the Democratic nomination because apparently it’s come to that. Donald Trump seems to be the result of years of science denialism, as Phil Plait has argued in Slate. As Slate‘s Jordan Weissmann deftly points out, the Green Party’s Jill Stein, who’s polling way behind, isn’t so great on science-based evidence, either, despite being a medical doctor.

The list of questions has been offered up to Clinton, Trump, Stein, and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. They have until September 6 to send in their answers.

Most of the questions are entirely unsurprising (and sadly still controversial): AAAS asks how candidates plan to address climate change and growing global energy needs. But a few of the questions are new this year. For one thing, below a large picture of Prince, the group writes, “There is a growing opioid problem in the United States, with tragic costs to lives, families and society. How would your administration enlist researchers, medical doctors and pharmaceutical companies in addressing this issue?” Other new issues included immigration (presumably in response to Trump’s repeated anti-immigration remarks, though AAAS makes it relevant to scientists who studied here but live abroad), mental health, and biodiversity.

After failing to appear in the 2012 list of questions, scientific integrity was one issue that reappeared on this year’s list, following a high-profile case of fabricated data and more widespread concern over the state of the scientific community’s ability to properly conduct research.

It’s also important to note what’s not on the list. From the now-antiquated issue of stem cell research on 2008’s list to a complete lack of questions regarding potential dangers of artificial intelligence or emerging gene-editing techniques, the omissions indicate progress on various fronts. It is, after all, written by scientific luminaries who might take significantly less stock in fears over “mad scientism” than the general public.

Of course, many of the questions are framed ambitiously. “What efforts would your administration make to improve the health of our ocean and coastlines and increase the long-term sustainability of ocean fisheries?” posits one. “How will your administration support vaccine science?” asks another. The president obviously lacks the power to unilaterally pass laws that regulate emissions or mandate universal vaccinations for children. Sure, there is the power of executive action, which is often used to dial up or down on the extent to which the executive branch enforces a law or to mandate what federal employees do, but that’s pretty limited. This presidential power would probably have the largest effect on issues such as cybersecurity and biosecurity, which depend on efforts out of the Pentagon and the Defense Department, which the president has more control over.

Of course, the much more important result of this is understanding how our presidential hopefuls think about science. The president’s rhetoric allows him or her to set the tone of an administration and a country. If for no other reason, these questions are important because they will elicit an in-depth look into how each candidate views science, both generally and on an issue-by-issue basis. The responses will show us how the president thinks about data and research, questions that won’t come up in other places in all likelihood. A president appoints people—judges, Cabinet members, etc.—with similar attitudes and occasionally helps them get elected, both directly and indirectly.

The point being: When all levels of government see science as a benevolent force rather than an elite conspiracy, the result is sound, evidence-based policy. Let’s see how they do.

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The Nation’s Scientists Have Some Questions for Donald Trump

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6 ways the Rio Olympics are failing on sustainability

by AlineBardin Posted on August 5, 2016

Game of groans

6 ways the Rio Olympics are failing on sustainability

By on Aug 5, 2016Share

Brazil wooed the International Olympic Committee with promises of sustainability when it made its bid in 2009 for Rio to host the games, but it hasn’t followed through on those pledges. From waters teeming with pathogens to transportation troubles, the Rio Olympics are looking like a hot mess. Of course, lots of past Olympics looked disastrous just before they kicked off too.

1. There’s something in the water

Athletes have been advised to keep their mouths closed when swimming or sailing, as Olympic waters have been found to have virus levels 1.7 million times higher that what would be considered worrisome in the U.S. Rio constructed barriers to keep trash out of the main areas where events are being held, but that won’t stop the sewage and pathogens from floating in (though they might stop body parts from washing ashore).

2. A transportation nightmare

Rio’s traffic is so bad (it’s the fourth most congested city in the world) that members of the International Olympic Committee are already regretting the decision to hold the games there. A $3 billion subway extension was massively delayed and has just barely opened. And earlier this year, a new bike path constructed for the games collapsed, raising safety concerns.

3. Scary diseases

Even though Zika infection rates are slowing down because it’s winter in Brazil, there are plenty of diseases and illnesses to worry about, including dengue fever, rotavirus, norovirus, and hepatitis A. Oh, and as if that’s not already enough, drug-resistant superbacteria.

4. Injustice to residents

An estimated 77,000 people have been evicted from their homes to make way for infrastructure for the games, and entire neighborhoods have been bulldozed.

5. Clashes with critters

The controversial Olympics golf course was built in a sensitive coastal area, and environmentalists say it destroyed habitat and harmed native plants and animals, including endangered species. But it didn’t drive all the animals away: The golf course is still teeming with wildlife like capybaras, sloths, boa constrictors, and miniature crocodiles, so organizers have hired five handlers to keep potentially dangerous critters away from players during game time.

6. Shoddy construction

The Olympics require a vast amount of construction in a short amount of time, and that’s led to buildings that aren’t up to code. Haphazard construction has already caused gas leaks, a small fire, and plumbing mishaps in the Olympic Village. Conditions have prompted some athletes to stay in hotels or luxury cruise ships instead.

Most Brazilians think the 2016 Olympics will do more harm than good. Judging by what we’ve seen so far, the average Brazilian citizen just might be smarter than the Olympic organizers.

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6 ways the Rio Olympics are failing on sustainability

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Solar tower generates electricity from molten salt, even when it’s dark

by VancePatino1 Posted on July 15, 2016

friday night lights

Solar tower generates electricity from molten salt, even when it’s dark

By on Jul 15, 2016Share

It’s a bird (igniting in mid-air), it’s a (solar-powered) plane, it’s a new innovation in the world’s solar power repertoire: The Crescent Dunes solar energy plant, the world’s first utility-scale facility that stores solar power in molten salt, can supply electricity even when the sun don’t shine. This super-plant can even supply 10 hours of it, enough to power 75,000 homes.

Located deep in the Nevada desert, a 600-foot tower shimmers in the intense rays of sunlight reflected off more than 10,000 giant mirrors. The mirrors concentrate heat on the giant load of sodium and potassium nitrates that are sent to the top of the tower. These salts have extremely high melting points, and can reach temperatures of more than 500 degrees Celsius. Their heat is channeled towards boiling water to produce steam, which spins turbines and generates electricity when needed. When not needed, the salt is stored in insulated tanks on the ground.

Other companies have also harnessed the hidden power of hot salt. But their method heats the salt indirectly, by first heating other fluids such as thermal oil. The 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes plant manages to do it more efficiently by heating its salts directly. Scientific American elaborates:

The benefit of using molten salt as both the energy collector that creates steam and the energy storage mechanism, however, is that it eliminates the need for expensive heat exchangers to go between different fluids… Plus, the molten salt medium is cheaper, more environment-friendly, nontoxic and nonflammable compared with oil.

Developed by SolarReserve, a California-based renewable energy firm, the zero-emissions Crescent Dunes hooked up with the electrical grid in late 2015, and has ramped up its commercial operations ever since.

Molten salt technology is not new, but it does look promising. There are plans for a second plant in South Africa later this year. Here’s hoping this Superman of our times doesn’t run into too much of its special kind of Kryptonite — tortoises.

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Australia’s mangrove die-off was the worst one ever

by RayfordHaydon Posted on July 11, 2016

down underwater

Australia’s mangrove die-off was the worst one ever

By on Jul 11, 2016Share

“G’day, mate!” is not something you want to say to Australia’s mangroves right now. And that’s not just because trees can’t speak to humans. It’s because they recently experienced their worst devastation in recorded history.

Aerial surveys reveal that the mangrove die-off spans more than 400 miles in the Gulf of Carpentaria along Australia’s northern coast, ABC reports. Mangroves — trees and shrubs that grow along the coast where the tide comes in — were already stressed out thanks to erratic rainfall and warming temperatures caused by climate change, and El Niño was the final straw.

It’s just one more way things are not looking bright Down Under. This year, massive coral bleaching killed off nearly a quarter of the Great Barrier Reef’s corals, and last week, we found 90 percent of kelp forests had been wiped out on Australia’s western coast.

Mangroves play a vital role in coastal ecosystems. They protect shorelines from erosion, shelter coral reefs, filter water that runs into the ocean, and are home to many fish species. Some affected mangroves areas may transition to salt pans — the ocean equivalent of a desert.

Mangroves, we’re going to miss you and your groovy intertidal moves.

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The Gap Between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Is Steadily Growing

by Jenna7462kwcfl Posted on July 8, 2016

Mother Jones

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For what it’s worth, here’s how Pollster’s head-to-head matchups between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have evolved since the beginning of the year. Hillary’s support has been pretty stable, while Trump’s has declined steadily. He doesn’t have much time left to turn that trend around.

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The Gap Between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Is Steadily Growing

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Celebrate America by avoiding our national embarrassment: Hot dogs

by FreyaWop772 Posted on July 3, 2016

Don’t be a wiener

Celebrate America by avoiding our national embarrassment: Hot dogs

By on Jul 3, 2016Share

Independence Day has historically been a time to remember our forbears, to consider the spectacular achievements this country has made, and to shove approximately 155 million hot dogs down our collective throats. But, this year, I’m begging you: Say no to the weenie, the worst meat of them all.

To be clear, we’re talking about the intestine-colored, colon-shaped sticks of blended gristle that shine in the sun and slide out of the package like a wet worm, not the visually appealing pet of the same name. This is a perfect day to remember that mass-produced processed meats — besides being grotesque amalgams of unwanted animal chunks — are products of an unsustainable and harmful industry.

First things first: What’s in a hot dog? The backyard BBQ staple can contain pretty much any type of meat, but are mainly comprised of pork, chicken, and beef. Specifically, they’re made up of “trimmings”, a word vaguely defined by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to encompass “lower-grade muscle trimmings, fatty tissues, head meat, animal feet, animal skin, blood, liver, and other edible slaughter by-products.”

But meat is only the half of what’s in a hot dog. Here’s what the ingredient list for Oscar Meyer’s “Classic Weiner” looks like:

INGREDIENTS: MECHANICALLY SEPARATED CHICKEN, MECHANICALLY SEPARATED TURKEY, WATER, PORK, CORN SYRUP, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, SALT, SODIUM PHOSPHATES, SODIUM DIACETATE, SODIUM BENZOATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, FLAVOR, SODIUM NITRITE.

Some of other ingredients frequently added to hot dogs include: meat “extenders”, or non-meat substances containing protein, phosphates, bread crumbs, rusk, and boiled rice.

After the bits of meat cast-offs are ground into a flesh-colored paste, these additives are blended in and the mixture is piped into grillable portions. And voila! What was once a humble salad of pig head and cow foot is now an inscrutable, tubular frankenstein.

Looks aside, hot dogs simply aren’t that good for you. According to the American Cancer Society, “high consumption of processed meats like hot dogs [is] associated with increased risk of colon cancer.” One 2013 study found that participants who ate more than 20 grams of processed meats a day (about half a hot dog), were more likely to die of heart attack or stroke. And earlier this year, the World Health Organization announced that eating processed meats is directly linked with cancer, with a similar risk to cigarettes and asbestos.

Most of the 9 billion hot dogs Americans purchase each year are produced in massive factory farms. In the U.S., about 97 percent of pork — some 65 million pigs — are reared and slaughtered in factory farms. While strides have been made to improve sanitation and animal welfare at these farms in recent years, the industry is known for cramped conditions, overuse of antibiotics, and inhumane conditions. Not to mention factory farming’s contribution to climate change: According to the FAO, animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions — more than all the emissions from transportation.

So this Fourth of July, take a moment to consider the hot dog — that coral-colored pipette of entrails — and maybe think twice. And if none of this convinces you, well, I leave you with this gif of hot dogs being made:

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9 Easy Garden Plants for Hardworking People

by RemonaNecaise Posted on June 30, 2016

It’s a common dilemma you love the looks of a flourishing garden, but don’t have a lot of time or energy to put into keeping it up. You’re too busy with the demands of job, caretaking, and just plain living. The good news is that gardening can be a lot simpler than you think. It’s mainly a question of choosing the right type of plants. Here are 9 shrubs, flowers, and vegetables that will require minimal care.

Green Plants

Image credit: katerha via Flickr

Shrubs

Busy peopletend to be impatient people, so you may wonder why we mention shrubs. Truth be told, you can find some very fast-growing varieties. Buy small potted shrubs from your local nursery or online to transplant at home. Then the bulk of your work is already done. These plants need little watering once they’re established in their new location, and they deliver so much! In addition to good looks, they double as a green privacy fence. A hedge will also shelter your house from the elements, reducing your need for heating and cooling.

Vines

Vines are another choice which will provide you with both privacyandbeauty. Species such as ivy or clematis grow rapidly and need very little upkeep. They do need something to climb on, but that can actually be one of their virtues, especially if you’re looking to disguise an unattractive chain link fence or brick wall.

Succulents

Succulents are beloved of busy indoor gardeners, due to their appealing appearance, low maintenance, and limited need for water. Now try them outside as well. If you live inHardiness Zone8 or warmer, you can overwinter succulents in your garden. Otherwise, plant them in containers which you can easily bring into the house before the first frost comes along.

Flowers

Image credit: botheredbybees via Flickr

Bulbs

Plant bulbs in the fall and fugeddabout ‘em. Then get ready to enjoy the sweet surprise of blooms early next spring. Daffodils, tulips, iris, or my personal fave, delightfully scented hyacinth (pictured above), are generous plants which take very little care, yet put on a great colorful show. One note: Bulbs used to be replantable but newer varieties should be treated as annuals. Even if they do sprout for another year, they are likely to produce frail and scraggly results.

Perennials(Day Lilies)

If you’re looking for a hardy perennial, the day lily is for you. Unlike true lilies, day lilies grow from roots rather than bulbs. Available in a wide range of charming colors as well as the traditional orange — they thrive almost anywhere in the US (Zones 3-11). Wet soil, dry soil, even the salty soil in your beach house garden not much fazes the vibrant day lily. Another plus: Many varieties are a favorite perch forhummingbirdsand butterflies.

Annuals (Marigolds)

Growing marigolds is child’s play literally. These bright and cheerful quick-growing annuals are a perfect choice for your kids’ early experiments in gardening. Marigolds offer bright yellow, copper, and russet blossoms, and can reach a height of anywhere from 6 inches to an impressive 5 feet tall in a single season.

Edibles

Image credit: blurdom via Flickr

Herbs

Whether you have substantial yard space or 2 or 3 little pots perched on your balcony rail, herbs are simple to grow, yet very rewarding. Snip a few leaves to add zest to that super speedy 15-minute dinner recipe. You’ll save time (and money) on shopping for seasonings, and your homegrown herbs are guaranteedorganic.

Garlic

Garlic is a snap to grow. You don’t even need to shop for seeds. Just break off a few healthy, good-sized cloves and pop them in the ground. Cut the scapes (garlic shoots) in the spring to steam as a delicately flavored vegetable, and leave the garlic bulbs to pick in July and August.

Related: How to Grow and Harvest Garlic

Zucchini

Zucchini has a well-deserved rep as the easiest vegetable ever. In fact, your main problem will be figuring out what to do with your bumper harvest. Maybe send out invites for a zucchini-picking block party?

By Laura Firszt,Networx.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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9 Easy Garden Plants for Hardworking People

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