Environment Memo

Lomborg, The Skeptical Economist, Sees the Light

Barnes Bierck — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:55:03 +0000

Bjorn Lomborg has apparently defected, calling global climate change

“undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today” and calls for the world’s governments to invest tens of billions of dollars annually to fight climate change.

Maybe he is a self-promoter, inasmuch as he has apparently made his turnabout in a new book, but he is somewhat influential among economics circles.

Economics is not a hard science, mind you, but it’s always nice when people who know something about where to spend money advocate sensible approaches to solving problems of climate change.

Maybe the Cheerleaders Know

Barnes Bierck — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:08:38 +0000

Some 19 high school football players on a team in Oregon have come down with a mysterious illness. There appears to be no evidence of steroids or other drug use that could have caused a tissue condition that has required surgery for some, and intravenous fluids for others.

Maybe they worked out in too much heat, or drank too many of the wrong supplements. But none of the reports I’ve seen include interviews with the cheerleaders. Maybe they know.

Seeds of Revolution in China?

Barnes Bierck — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:42:09 +0000

Wow, there’s a 9-day, 62 mile long traffic jam near Beijing, China.

Can they really think that more automobiles and roads are a good path to the future? Haven’t we already proved in the US that such growth is NOT progress?

To make matters worse, one stranded driver said

Instant noodles are sold at four times the original price while I wait in the congestion

Salmonella: It’s Everywhere, So Why All the Fuss?

Barnes Bierck — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:38:58 +0000

I’ve been off on a vacation, but have heard snatches about the salmonella fuss here and there.

But I don’t understand the problem, because, as I learned while studying public health, one has to flat out assume that salmonella is in and on raw eggs, as well as in and on raw chicken, and act accordingly. (As I recall, about 25% or more of raw chicken has always had some level of salmonella, for example).

The problem may actually be one of education, but it’s really pretty simple: always assume that raw eggs or raw chicken has salmonella, as will everything they touch. Cook the eggs and chicken to a good, high temperature, enough to kill the salmonella, and don’t put the food you intend to eat onto plates that held uncooked chicken and eggs. Oh, and wash your hands with soap and water after handling raw eggs and chicken.

That said, perhaps the problem is one of far too much fecal material getting into the eggs that are being recalled. Still, that’s no reason for anyone to assume that the recall will ever remove salmonella from raw eggs and chicken.

New York On the Way to a Marcellus Drilling Moratorium

Barnes Bierck — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:53:07 +0000

New York’s senate passed a 9 month moratorium on drilling in the Marcellus shale, and the house is not far behind.

The gas industry is hoisted on its own petard, because removal of federal controls has made it such that individual states are more likely to act on their own. I’d sure like to see New York require addition of tracers to all the fracking fluid. Again, if the process is safe, then the industry should be all for it.