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October 09, 2005
The natural gas problem
Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the US, the general media has been making a major issue about the effect on natural gas prices and what that means for heating homes this winter. All of this is true except for the fact that they are probably guessing about the cost. I have heard estimates of 30 to 70% increases. I will tell you that in California, Pacific Gas & Electric raised natural gas rates this month from 0.99 per therm to 1.68. That is the 70% increase they were talking about.
What they are not talking about is the fact that a significant amount of the nitrogen fertilizer used in North America is sourced from natural gas.
Prowling around the internet today, I found this statement in testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
My purpose today is to discuss the devastating impact that the sharp rise in natural gas prices is having on both the fertilizer industry and on the American farmer. -- Mr. Glen Buckley Chief Economist, CF Industries.
The problem with Mr. Buckley's testimony is the fact that this was in 2001. However, he was right. In the production of Ammonia fertilizers, natural gas is 75 to 90% of the total cost of production. The cost to farm is going up again, as is the cost of everything we buy at the supermarket.
The news is not telling us that. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is not even looking at it. All that the House is doing is fighting over who gets a new refinery. Anyone want to bet on Texas? The Committee Chair is Joe Barton.
This is another case where politicsians and the media just don't believe that rural people vote, or that they know which way they will vote (red state?). So, they figure that they can ignore it, which they will, until the prices of corn, wheat, cotton and everything we eat go up next year or more family farms are lost. Then they will wonder how it happened when they were not looking.
Posted by Wes at 06:36 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 07, 2005
Sod busters
I have been reading the High Country News, a "nonprofit media organization whose mission is to inform and inspire people to act on behalf of the West's land, air, water and inhabitants." The August 02, 2004 edition has a thought provoking feature article in entitled "The Greening of the Praire." Based on the story of Harold Miller and his wife, dry land farming on the edge of the praries near Harlem, MT the article raises some fundamental questions about what is Green.
The Millers began their farm as newlyweds, in 1998, with the help of a low-interest, beginning-farmer loan, and they’ve kept it going with relatively modest federal subsidies totaling about $48,000 in the first five years. They hope to give the farm to their daughters when they retire, or perhaps sell it to another young farm family. They would like to help stanch the flow of young people away from this remote region.During the last few droughty years, Harold Miller recalls looking south toward the Bear Paw Mountains and seeing clouds of soil fly from conventional farms. "It reminded me of the Dust Bowl," he says. "But my land wouldn’t blow. That’s one of my biggest goals, to keep the soil there."
Yet, despite their good stewardship, the Millers’ farm comes with an ecological cost. To plant their organic crops, they could have converted conventional farmland, but that would have been expensive and time-consuming, requiring at least three years for farm-chemical residues to subside and for the soil’s fertility to recover. So instead, the Millers plowed up native prairie.
While the Miller's results might be considered "Green" their methods, plowing under more native prarie, drew strong criticism from environmental organizations.
For me, the main point was that there is a stong need for local action, cooperation rather than confrontation. The full text is available here without a login (though they ask you to register.)
How should a rural green approach this? Click the comments box below and tell us.
Posted by Wes at 05:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 04, 2005
Registration
I have added a registration function to the BLOG. By registering in the Rural Green Caucus, you add to the volume of our voice in the Green Party.
Some have previously submitted your names and other information to Linda Cree or Aimee Dunn. If this includes you, you don't have to register here, unless you want to make it easy to keep our records up to date.
You can access the registration page by clicking "registration" on the bottom of the page. Once you have registered, keeping it up to date is your responsibility. I have provided an update function that you can use from the right side task list.
Posted by Wes at 07:43 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack