Offsets and FSA?

I've been assuming NRCS would be the lead agency within USDA if and when the Waxman-Markey bill passes with USDA involvement in handling carbon offsets within agriculture. But this article indicates it might be FSA (of course, I'm surprised when any mainstream media person knows the difference between the two agencies so this is meaningless). But just to stir the pot:

"The deal also could appease Farm Belt lawmakers by giving the U.S. Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency greater involvement in oversight of the market for "offsets," credits for projects that cut greenhouse gases. Many of the projects would likely come from the agriculture sector, such as planting trees that absorb carbon dioxide.

Will Social Conservatives Boycott Google?

See this post on Google Operating System for a reason they might.

SAIC, FSA, and GIS But No NRCS?

This post has SAIC describing the great work they'll do on GIS for FSA. All good. But whatever happened to the idea of a service center GIS, supporting NRCS and RD as well as FSA? It seems the Bush administration let it fade away.

French Education

When I say our government is weak, this is the model I'm comparing it against, everyone in the country taking the same test at the same time.

While I had this in draft, I noticed this Kevin Drum relay of two comments on the content of a French exam, on philosophy. He wisely cautions against assuming the superiority of the system, but it impresses in some ways.

Carbon Offsets

Vilsack's testimony before House Ag is here:

"The systems we establish will need to recognize the scale of the changes needed, the capabilities of farmers and land owners involved, and the infrastructure that will be required to deliver information, manage data and resources, and maintain records and registries. In addition to bringing offsets to scale, we must also ensure that the offsets markets have high standards of environmental integrity to ensure that offsets result in real and measurable greenhouse gas reductions while bolstering efforts to conserve soil, water, and fish and wildlife resources."

The NYTimes has a post describing the concerns and back and forth between ag and EPA. One proposal, not something NRCS would like:

"Kenneth Richards, an associate professor at Indiana University, said the current bill needs language ensuring that the same project can be verified by three separate investigators. That concept, which made it into a climate bill considered briefly in the Senate last year, would cut down on inaccuracy and fraudulence surrounding measurements of carbon, he said."

I'm skeptical, but maybe there is a compromise possible, at least for policing it: Record the offsets on a GIS layer and make it publically available. Farmers get the offset payments but have to give up the secrecy now applied to their acreage uses. Because, as Professor Richards observes, NRCS isn't (at least wasn't) comfortable being a regulatory agency (witness sod/swampbuster), give FSA a role. (Cynics among you knew that was where I was headed.)

Dairy Problems, Even in UK

The plight of US dairy farmers has received attention. Here's a post from Britain about similar problems there. (They have co-ops too.)

Obama, the Fly, and Ford

By now everyone has heard Obama killed a fly during a TV interview. This post is typical, even citing PETA's reservations. But there's something I haven't seen commented on, something which reminded me of Jerry Ford.

The story goes that shortly after moving into the White House his dog did his business in the Oval Office. A Navy steward moved to clean it up, and Ford told him: "No, no man should have to clean up after another man's dog." I like that, I like it very much.

So what did Obama do: after a bit of repartee with the camera crew and staff, the last bit they showed on Lehrer last night was the President using a tissue to pick up the dead fly to dispose of it. Not quite on the same level as Ford's action, but IMHO it showed the same instinct of taking responsibility for one's personal actions. Of course, that didn't make Ford a great President, but it sure made the commentary at his funeral. (Google: Jerry Ford cleaning up after dog).

Policy on Iran

I don't usually comment on foreign policy but some have criticized Obama for keeping hands off Iran--not declaring a favorite. I understand, but I also remember in Venezuela, relatively early in the Bush administration, it looked for a few days as if Chavez would be ousted. The Bush people applauded the apparent result, and Chavez has never forgotten it. Sometimes it's right to push for change, sometimes not, and you never know for sure which is which.

The Poor and Food

An item in the Post this morning and the sight of a sale on canned tomatoes reminds me of a fact, or a series of facts, interlinked. Stereotypically the grocery stores in poorer urban neighborhoods are small and pricey. The urban poor typically do not have cars, being more reliant on public transport. (Even in Reston I often see people walking from the local Safeway to the once-subsidized housing complex carrying a couple bags of groceries.) The poor live from month to month. All of which makes it difficult to take advantage of sales at stores, to invest money in food which you may eat in 6 months, rather than 6 hours.

My wife and I will stock up on canned tomatoes on our weekly shopping trip, and thereby save about 40 percent on the cost. It's easy because we have the money, we have the car (I normally walk except for the weekly trip), and the store is handy. It's taking advantage of an opportunity (which we can do on other staples), not a determined effort to limit food expenditures to a budget figure, but it does mean our food costs are lower than for a poorer couple in different circumstances.

Inquiring Gardeners Want to Know: Mulch or Weed?

The White House garden got a splash of publicity yesterday, as the kids from the school harvested and ate a lot of stuff. It's a good time to deplete the lettuce; it's likely to bolt when hot weather hits. And the peas should be about at the peak. The cucumbers must be just starting to bear. We have problems with them--hope Michelle doesn't.

But in all the publicity and the photos I haven't seen the answer to one big question: are the gardeners using mulch to keep down the weeds, or are they just hand weeding? Mulch would be the preferred organic solution, but getting down on hands and knees and weeding works too.