Plan B? What Happened to Plan A?
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Why we shouldn’t fund geoengineering experimentation, and what we still need to learn about the climate
by Pat Mooney
Articles
2014 The Year that Was
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
The Green, Sharing, Making Economy
In 2014, the Green Economy -- dominating the media enviro beat and UN negotiations since well before the 2012 Rio Earth Summit – merged and morphed into the Sharing Economy and the Maker Economy to offer us a vision of Transformative Transnationalism. But, is this really a new Triple Bottom-line or just the same old Triple-Bottom Feeders? ETC Group takes an irreverent look at what was new in 2014 – and what only claimed to be.
The Green Economy:
Uncivil Debate
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Responding to Andy Parker of IASS-Potsdam
On Nov.10th 2014 Jim Thomas was quoted in a New York Times article about geoengineering arguing against field experiments.
Video: What is Synthetic Biology?
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Engineering Life and Livelihoods
To see this video in french, spanish, portuguese, german or haitian creole, please click here.
Delta & Pine Land brochure about Terminator technology
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Case Study: Patchouli and Synthetic Biology
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
The unique scent of the patchouli plant is used in many fragrances and scented products. It is mostly grown in Malaysia, China, India and Singapore. One synthetic biology company is aiming to use synthetically modified microbes to produce a patchouli oil substitute, which could have negative effects on farmers.
Case Study: Cocoa Butter and Synthetic Biology
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Cocoa butter, the main ingredient in chocolate, is produced by 30 tropical countries, and is sold for an estimated $6 billion annually. One synthetic biology company has engineered synthetically modified microbes to produce a cocoa butter substitute, which could threaten the livelihoods of millions of farmers.
Open Letter to Ecover / Method
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
re: decision to use ingredients derived from Synthetically Modified Organisms
02 June 2014
Philip Malmberg, CEO
Ecover
Industrieweg 3
Malle, 2390 Belgium
Adam Lowry, Co-Founder
Method Home
637 Commercial Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 9411
USA
Dear Philip Malmberg and Adam Lowry,
RE: Ecover and Method’s decision to use ingredients derived from Synthetically Modified Organisms (SMOs) in its products
Case Studies in the Impact of Synthetic Biology: Coconut oil, palm kernel oil and babassu
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Click on the links below to download the case studies.
“Synthetic biologists” apply computer-aided design and engineering to living organisms. The aim is to redesign existing biological organisms and even to create entirely new ones. Synthetic biology is “extreme genetic engineering” and its goal is to derive commercially-valuable compounds from novel living organisms rather than from conventional sources (e.g., crops, petroleum).
That Was The Year – Unlucky 13
Submitted by Joëlle Deschambault on
Rio+20’s Year of Postpartum Digressions
Unlucky 13: Our 2012 year-end review, “193 Shades of Gray,” stumbled into the surreal, post-Rio+20 “Hunger Games” as FAO admitted that it has been underestimating the number of hungry people and overestimating future food requirements and, in a cowardly act of conspicuous consumption, the UN Committee on World Food Security failed to condemn biofuels; Warsaw withered the way of every climate conference since Kyoto; the USA, UK, China and Russia significantly underestimated GHG emissions while the UK, Japan, New Zealand and Australia concluded that they just don’t give a dam
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