Aaron Cohen

Omnivore's Dilemma

Sunday Dec 31, 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

One of my holiday gifts is a book I received from my brother-in-law, Ominivore's Dilemma.

Already on page 200, it is proving to be an eye-opening, if not somewhat disturbing, account of food. What I didn't know is that it also has a great deal to do with being eco-conscious when we choose what foods to buy at the grocery store.

Here is an interesting Did You Know that is relevant to this eco blog.

"...if the sixteen million acres now being used to grow corn to feed cows in the United States became well-managed pasture, that would remove fourteen billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year, the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road. We seldom focus on farming's role in global warming, but as much as a third of all the greenhouse gases that human activity has added to the atmosphere can be attributed to the saw and the plow."

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Posted at 09:35PM Dec 31, 2006 by cohen in Green Lifestyle
Tags: book did farming food fossil fuels global green know reading recommended sustainability warming you

Did You Know...

Monday Nov 27, 2006

Energy facts, as reported by TechNet at the summit:

The U.S. is the world's largest consumer of oil. It accounts for 25 percent of global daily consumption, but holds less than percent of world's proven oil reserves. The Middle East by contrast holds more than 61 percent of the world's oil reserves (U.S. Department of Energy).

The power of the sun: All the energy stored in the earth's reserves of coal, oil and natural gas is equal to the energy from only 20 days of sunshine (Energy Information Administration).

Clean, renewable energy like solar and wind power currently produces roughly 2 percent of U.S. electricity. In contrast, nearly 90 percent of our electricity still comes from traditional sources such as coal and nuclear power (U.S. Department of Energy).

(source)

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