Don't worry about these... worry about this!

This article is a gem so I thought I'd share:

10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List

My favorites from the list (italics), and let me apologize now for how I am about to pontificate:

3. Forbidden fruits from afar. Do you dare to eat a kiwi? Sure, because more “food miles” do not equal more greenhouse emissions. Food from other countries is often produced and shipped much more efficiently than domestic food, particularly if the local producers are hauling their wares around in small trucks. One study showed that apples shipped from New Zealand to Britain had a smaller carbon footprint than apples grown and sold in Britain.

I've made this argument myself before. The whole "Buy local and be green" is the most ludicrous idea I've ever heard of. While I've admittedly never gone looking for it in print (and beyond this, I bet you there is more supporting data If I were to go searching). If you want to buy local and support local people that is a noble cause, but don't come to me claiming a moral superiority because you shop at a farmer's market. Do it because you think it tastes better, do it because you like the markets, please just don't do it for a talking point. First many farmers markets (especially urban ones) get their produce from the same place that the grocery stores do. Second, even locally grown produce (which is only available for a couple of months a year up here in the land of 4 seasons) requires fertilizer & supplies which are shipped from abroad, have an excellent chance of being picked by migrant workers (I can vouch for this, I know for a fact that neighboring small farms where I grew up used this practice... so much for supporting local jobs) and does not... as stated above utilize bulk transportation and large efficient farm equipment that effectively reduces green house gas.

Big business is NOT the always the bad guy they are painted to be. They make our lives better in countless ways. Corporate America represents one of the highest taxed corporate sectors of any nation in the industrialized world (making our taxes lower), they provide us with breaks on the cost of health care, which mom & pop can not, they also provide us with a product or service which usually has certain benefits over the alternative (year round fresh produce so we don't have to become Vikings, or get scurvy). The radical left wing ideal that we can become self sustaining "green" communities by making it difficult for big business is nothing more than an attack on capitalism in hopes of bolstering a call for Nationalism. It bugs them that individuals and private enterprise are calling the shots and competing instead of the government controlling everything. They know that as long as a "Walmart" is out there offering affordable foods and the potential for health care, the need for us to hand over our liberties to them so they can provide for us is not quite there. Despite this I fear they are in a better position than they ever have been to realize these dreams, and too many people have been drinking their tainted water. America will have to learn the hard way. But I've gone off on a tangential rant and excuse me for losing my head....

When there are hydroponics-geared self sustainable mega-green houses scattered all over the country, only then can the "buy local and be green" truthfully be realized by some margin. The irony is you know how that will happen? Start ups, who will be sponsored by none other than venture capitalists... in other words "big business". Of course if we have a Marxist revolution perhaps we can just take the kids that fail their 4th grade assessment tests and make them go pick our fruit for free lentil soup. Best use of their skills right? Utilitarianism? Better for everyone?

Yes yes... I know I have a difficult to follow and outlandish train of thought.

Next....

8. The Arctic’s missing ice. The meltdown in the Arctic last summer was bad enough, but this spring there was worse news. A majority of experts expected even more melting this year, and some scientists created a media sensation by predicting that even the North Pole would be ice-free by the end of summer.
So far, though, there’s more ice than at this time last summer, and most experts are no longer expecting a new record. You can still fret about long-term trends in the Arctic, but you can set aside one worry: This summer it looks as if Santa can still have his drinks on the rocks.

Yep... much ado about nothing. It was an interesting story, although I guess even under water volcanoes and global warming together in concert couldn't melt the ice..... this year.