Yeah that’s America. God’s glory. God Bless.

Time for something small. Because maybe Big isn’t the new Black. Maybe Big takes up too much damned space. What about what fits? How about enough?

They say gasoline in the United States is over 4 dollars per gallon. Good. I hope it goes to 6. Still a bargain for the energy equivalent of 500 hours of human work. Or when you consider that most of Europe already pays 8. The winds of climate change are tickling the chimes hanging from the awning of a house somewhere in the Missouri suburbs. And if the ringing has garnered the attention of the homeowner, is not because of Al Gore’s movie or Hollywood’s finest on parade. The catalyst for environmental change comes from economic self interest. Not “us” – me.

Americans have already spent half a trillion dollars on the Biggest boondoggle of a generation: the war in Iraq. Imagine for a moment, if you will, that kind of financial investment directed toward a well-researched energy policy. In my fantasy I envision my future hat, striking and stylish, providing both shade for my eyes and enough collected solar energy to propel my future middle-aged ass through the streets of Soho in the rain.

Time for something small. Time for something that fits. Because Big is clearly not sustainable when it is the thing everyone craves. And as I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that details how Hollywood has licensed the movie rights to board games, such as Monopoly, from toy-maker Hasbro for a new nauseating string of sequels and prequels, I am reminded that we have lost our grip on the one Big of any consequence or value: Big ideas.

Update: I noticed that WordPress listed a previous article of mine about a big fish under “similar posts”. I assure you that the irony is not lost on me.

via Environmental Graffiti

link

A related sign of the times comes from this newspaper editorial cartoon.

From the Economist:

While Kenya has a number of nature reserves, most of its wildlife lives on privately owned land, and killing or exporting such animals has been banned since 1977. Before that, landowners might have made money through ranching, hunting, tanning, taxidermy, curios and allowing animals on their land to be captured for sale or export. Mr Norton-Griffiths and Mohammed Said of the International Livestock Research Institute estimate that today the industry might be worth some $600m annually.

At present, however, landowners make around $5 per hectare per year from their wildlife—comparable to agricultural returns on only the driest, most marginal land. Where landowners rent an area for wildlife-viewing to a single tour company, they may average $10 per hectare. In the Mara area—which draws much of Kenya’s safari trade—rents can rise to $50 per hectare. However, in 95% of the land where wildlife is found, it nets landowners no money at all.

…despite millions spent to conserve Kenya’s wildlife, stock has declined by 70% since 1977. More than half of the most productive rangelands in Kenya, which used to hold most of the country’s wildlife, have been converted to agricultural production.

The best way of conserving wildlife is to make it worth landlords’ while. Tourism can help up to a point. But most tourists will not travel more than a few hours from their hotel to see animals. Real wildlife tends to flourish far from people, hotels, roads and swimming pools: large-scale tourism and real wildlife are not compatible. New thinking about how to support wildlife conservation is needed in Kenya.

Rich-country conservationists need to be less squeamish about killing animals. They ought to support developing countries’ efforts to create incentives for their landowners to protect wildlife—even if it means sometimes shedding animals’ blood.

Green.view | Point and shoot | Economist.com

Greenpeace conservation activists say they have disrupted the Japanese whale hunt near Antarctica’s coast by chasing a factory ship out of the whaling zone.

Japan’s whaling fleet plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April.

The hunt is part of what it calls a scientific research programme, permitted under a clause in International Whaling Commission rules.

BBC News link

Al Jazeera:

Greenpeace planned only to disrupt whaling by placing inflatable boats between harpoon boats and the whales

Al Jazeera link

Chicago is set to impose a 5-cent tax on bottled water on Jan. 1, becoming the first major U.S. city to demand such a surcharge. The move — which officials predict will secure an extra $10.5 million annually — will help the city plug a budget hole by building on the growing disdain for environmentally suspect bottles.

While the problem with bottled water waste in the United States is bad, I
have found that it is much worse here in the Czech Republic. Households generally
depend on 1.5 litre bottles of water as their primary drinking source (or possible secondary source if you include pilsner beer) which
can be bought for the equivalent of fifty US cents in any store. Add that to the much lower recycling rates in the Czech Republic and that equates to a mounting environmental toll.

Link: BBC NEWS

The Chinese government says it is banning shops from handing out free plastic bags from June this year, in a bid to curb pollution.

Production of ultra-thin plastic bags will also be banned, the State Council said in a statement.

Instead, people will be encouraged to use baskets or reusable cloth bags for their shopping, the council said.