June/July
The
Disinformation Society
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Talk
RV: No Evidence Required
Robert Jensen
Muting
the Conversation of Democracy
Bill Moyers
The
Path of Self-Limitation, Cooperation, and Sharing
Richard Heinberg
Biodiesel:
Growing a New Energy Economy
Greg Pahl
The
Parallel Revolution in Venezuela
America Vera-Zavala
Grassroots
Effort Creates Citizens Dialogue
Robyn Leor
The
Myth and Necessity of Genetically Modified Free Zones
Jeffrey M. Smith
From
Hurt to Heart
Eryn Kalish
Mudra
as Meditation
Andrea Luchese, M.A.
The
Klamath-Siskiyou Region: A Living Laboratory
Sue Parrish
How
You Can Help Protect Endangered Herbs
Laurel Vukovic
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
Deborah
Mokma, Editor
“A
small body of determined spirits, fired by an unquenchable faith in their
mission, can alter the course of history.
-Mohandas Gandhi
Those of us who regularly seek out alternative news sources have long understood that there is much to be desired with the quality of news coverage in the US mainstream media. Tom Fenton, recently retired London-based correspondent for CBS News and author of Bad News, says that when he returns to the United States he feels as if he is entering a news vacuum. Unfortunately, receiving in depth news and analysis in the US may become even more difficult in the future as both the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) are facing new challenges from the current administration’s appointees to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting who are attempting to control the content of public programming.
Bill Moyers, in an eloquent speech last May at the National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis, talked at length about democracy’s need for unbiased news coverage. He said “An unconscious people, an indoctrinated people, a people fed only on partisan information and opinion that confirm their own bias, a people made morbidly obese in mind and spirit by the junk food of propaganda, is less inclined to put up a fight, to ask questions and be skeptical. That kind of orthodoxy can kill a democracy—or worse.” This is why the extremist politicians who are attempting to control so much of our government today do not want an informed public, they know it would mean their downfall. You can read the entire text of Bill Moyers’ speech beginning on page 8.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in the new epilogue to his book Crimes Against Nature, explains that the Democrats lost the presidential election in 2004 “not because of a philosophical chasm between red and blue states but due to an information deficit caused by a breakdown in our national media.” See page 5 for this piece.
Much of the news not deemed worthy enough for American con-sumption can be found in other countries, like the recent report from the Independent in the UK about European Union scientists who reviewed internal Monsanto Corporation documents and announced that Monsanto’s own research found evidence of serious hazards in their genetically engineered corn. This research showed serious health damage to laboratory animals fed Monsanto’s new “rootworm-resistant” corn. Although the EU will now likely ban Monsanto’s new GMO corn, this same rootworm-resistant corn is already being grown and consumed on a major scale in the United States. It is doubtful that this important news will be covered in depth (if at all) in the US media, in the country where citizens are actually eating this potentially dangerous food. For more on GMO crops please see page 18, where you can also read about new legislation being lobbied for by the biotech industry in response to the growing number of localities whose citizens are voting to regulate or even ban genetically engineered crops.
But there is good news as well. In Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire recently signed the most progressive renewable energy legislation ever passed in the US, with two new laws which will promote renewable energy at the state level. SB 5101 and SB 5111 passed through the state’s legislature earlier this spring with overwhelming bipartisan support from lawmakers interested in creating a market for renewable energy that would foster new high-tech manufacturing. SB 5101 establishes a renewable energy “feed-in” production incentive, the first such application of this approach in the US. Homes and businesses with solar photovoltaic and wind power systems can earn a credit of 15 cents per kWh of electricity generated by their renewable energy systems up to $2000 annually. This bill will potentially create strong market demand for small renewable energy projects, especially solar energy. SB 5111 will provide tax breaks for renewable energy businesses that currently reside in the state or choose to relocate there while offering higher tax breaks to companies that locate themselves in economically depressed areas, taking care of the supply side by nurturing new, high-tech manufacturing of renewable energy components.
For a look at another alternative energy source with proven application read our excerpt from Greg Pahl’s new book, Biodiesel: Growing A New Energy Economy, on page 14. Biodiesel is a fuel which can be produced from many sources, including vegetable oil, recycled cooking oil or animal fats. Recent research has shown that even algae has the potential to be used as a biodiesel feedstock. Because biodiesel feedstock sources are renewable and can be produced locally, and biodiesel is far less polluting than petroleum-based fuel with lower quantities of cancer-causing particulate emissions, it will be a very good alternative fuel source as petroleum becomes more expensive and difficult to come by.
And for a discussion of the consequences of oil and natural gas depletion and their likely impacts, see the article by Richard Heinberg on page 12. Heinberg discusses the need to “powerdown” in the “post-carbon” world that he sees quickly approaching. While establishing alternative energy sources is crucial for our future energy needs, he explains that society will also need to embrace a new approach to existence—one of self-limitation, cooperation, and sharing.
There are things all of us can do right now to help ensure a better future for ourselves and the planet. It’s up to each of us to question the politicians and the policies which affect us all, to be skeptical, and to participate wherever we can.
Together, we can make a better tomorrow.
