Saving Energy, One Woman's Experience

Liza Mundy has an article in today's Wa Post magazine on her household and her attempts to save energy. She digs into some issues, points out some of the problems in cutting energy usage (i.e. her daughter and son have very different tolerances for low temperatures), and is amazed by how little it costs to do so much. (She's thinking as a professional woman freed from the tedium of washing, ironing, etc. etc.)

The household ends by adopting some conservation measures and resolving to spend on their biggest problem--they live in an old house in Arlington, VA, which wastes heat and cooling. That's pretty much the conclusion: focus your energies on the biggest consumers, usually heat/cooling.

One Newspaper, Separate Worlds

In today's Post, Kari Lyderson has a story from the AAAS meeting, leading off:

The pace of global warming is likely to be much faster than recent predictions, because industrial greenhouse gas emissions have increased more quickly than expected and higher temperatures are triggering self-reinforcing feedback mechanisms in global ecosystems, scientists said Saturday.

And George Will attacks Prof. Chu (Energy Secretary) and others who warn of global warming. (If I understand this post the scientists are saying the global sea ice in the Antarctic does not necessarily mean no global warming, it might be consistent with it.)

Owner's Footsteps Are the Best Manure

That's the saying (or something like it) I heard from my parents growing up. But if you've got a couple thousand acres it's pretty hard to walk all the land. But modern technology comes to the rescue, as described in this post from Extension on "site-specific farming" (i.e., using GIS and computers to keep track of the specific characteristics of your land).

Broadband for Farmers

One thing the 2007 Ag census did was identify farmers with broadband access. Tim Murphy at the DailyYonder has a map showing the rural counties by level of access here. From the article:

Over 2.2 million farms were included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Census, which is conducted every five years. In 2002, the Census found that half the farms in the country were connected to the Internet in some way (broadband or dial-up). By 2007, the percentage of farms with some kind of Internet connection inched up to 56.5%.

However, only 33% of farms in 2007 had broadband connections.

The map shows what seems to be a pattern of greater access west of a line running NNE SSW from Minnesota to the Texas Panhandle--not sure why that pattern. Kansas has good coverage. I know 15 years ago the state was big into GIS--whether there's a relationship between state government policies and access I don't know.

Only $50 Million for FSA

From Nextgov.com, on the final stimulus package:

But Congress cut some IT funding, including money to modernize the Farm Service Agency's computers to process payments to farmers. The final bill set aside $50 million for the effort, far less than the $245 million the House originally set.

Malamud for GPO Head

This is in connection with making Federal court records available online.

Unfortunately, Congress controls GPO, not the President, so Mr. Malamud can't be named GPO head by Obama, as he suggests in this NYTimes article. But otherwise he has a case:

Mr. Malamud said his years of activism had led him to set a long-shot goal: serving in the Obama administration, perhaps even as head of the Government Printing Office. The thought might seem far-fetched — Mr. Malamud is, by admission, more of an at-the-barricades guy than a behind-the-desk guy. But he noted that he published more pages online last year than the printing office did.

IMO, if data generated by the government is to become public, it ought to be free and easily searchable, as through Google. I strongly dislike operations like PACER, which charges a fee to access court records. (In their defense, it appears in 1988 they asked Congress for money to provide the records free, Congress said "no", get the money by user fees. But technological innovation has outstripped the courts ability to push IT solutions.

Crop Insurance Subsidies

I knew we subsidized crop insurance, but not this much:

USDA subsidies have been changed for some crop insurance policies which may cause you to adjust your decisions on coverage. William Edwards at Iowa State says whole farm and enterprise units used to have lower premiums than basic and optional units. For 2009 they will have the same dollar value subsidy, which will be 55% for basic units, 77% for enterprise units, and 80% for whole farm units when selecting 75% coverage.

The Worth of a Male

In farming, not much. Brownfield on dumping bull calves.

If Crunchies Join the Military

Maybe we do need a draft. I don't suppose there's any other way which would lead the greens and organic food people to join the military voluntarily. The greens do have kids, so they study and criticize the school lunch program. (See here for an Asian comparison.) But our men and women in uniform are left with the Iraq 20 and comfort food such as:

Barbecue ribs, fried chicken, rib-eye steak, lobster tails, crab legs, roast turkey, stir-fry, cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, egg rolls, breaded shrimp, buffalo wings, chili, crepes, pancakes, omelets, waffles, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, quiches, bacon, polish sausages, pulled pork, corned beef hash, milk shakes and smoothies — and that’s just for starters. (From Edge of the West post quoting a Chicago Tribune article, also going back to GI's in Britain in WWII.)

Makes me hungry just to read it. If it's okay for the military to eat comfort food in a war zone, is it okay for the lower class to eat comfort food in their daily life?

Anti-Locavore Pork

Interesting post on Ethicurean justifying the importing of Midwestern pork to west coast restaurants. Arguments:

• smaller carbon footprint (more efficient to ship pork than grain to feed pigs)
• more efficient use of by-products
• superior taste and texture
• more humane (Temple Grandin has worked on Iowa slaughterhouses)

Sort of boils down to the economists "comparative advantage"--CA does grass well, not grain.

(The commenters say: well, Californians shouldn't eat pork. Or they should accept the ununiform taste and texture of pigs fed a varied diet.)

IMHO, if you accept these arguments, you accept something like a global agricultural system, because similar arguments can apply to other foodstuffs.