Michael Pollan Discusses Food Inc. 2 with Robert Reich

Summer 2023 - Climate Change Status with Michael Mann

ChatbotGPT

I asked the Open AI chatbotGPT how to make the best compost. Here is what it told me. 

 "To make the best compost, you will need to follow these steps: 

•  Start with a balanced mix of carbon-rich materials, such as dry leaves and twigs, and nitrogen-rich materials, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps. 
• A good rule of thumb is to aim for a mix that is about two-thirds carbon-rich materials and one-third nitrogen-rich materials. Moisten the materials with water until they are damp but not soggy. 
•  Mix the materials together thoroughly to ensure that they are well-combined and that the moisture is evenly distributed. 
• Place the compost in a bin or pile, and cover it with a layer of soil or compost to help retain moisture and heat. 
• Turn the compost regularly, at least once a week, to aerate it and help speed up the decomposition process. 
•  Monitor the compost for temperature and moisture, and add more water or carbon-rich materials as needed to maintain the optimal conditions for decomposition. 

 When the compost is ready, it should be dark, crumbly, and free of any recognizable pieces of the original materials. By following these steps and being patient, you can create high-quality compost that will provide valuable nutrients for your garden and plants."

  Chatbot GPT stands for - Generative Pretrained Transformer

Here is the link to the chatbotGPT. In many ways, it feels more engaging than Google and Wikipedia combined, so far. It has limitations. I tried to ask it for some technical details about certain physical properties (like the extinction coefficient) of certain chemicals I work with and it basically said it is not allowed to access the internet directly to look up specific technical details, but when I asked it if there were dietary changes I could make to improve my creativity it suggested eating foods good for overall brain health and gave examples like fish and nuts and other foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Update: I asked ChatbotGPT - "Is OPenAI a private corporation?"

Here was the response:

"Yes, OpenAI is a private corporation. It is a for-profit organization that conducts research and development in the field of artificial intelligence. OpenAI was founded in 2015 by a group of high-profile entrepreneurs and researchers, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman, with the goal of advancing the field of AI and making it more widely accessible. OpenAI is funded by a combination of private investment and grants from organizations such as the Open Philanthropy Project." 

FYI

Cheers,

Kristopher Hite

Planet of the Humans

Planet of the Humans 

My brother told me about this documentary "Planet of the Humans" about a month ago. I hate-watched it for about 30 minutes before trying to fall asleep then came back to finish it the next day. After having time to reflect on it and think more deeply about the points the filmmaker, Jeff Gibbs, brings up I think it is a good thing this is out there. My fear is that it will be used by fossil fuel apologists to rationalize a same-old-same-old approach to everyday life. I think the subtleties of the "deep ecologist" may be lost in an "I told you so" frenzy.

Watching this brings me back several years to my friend Nancy's house in Fort Collins, CO when I sat with her and other Green Party members to discuss the 2008 election. It was warm cozy and very grassroots. We discussed local ecological issues and bonded over shared concerns for the environment and the rising carbon dioxide levels on planet earth. In that living room, there were many similar perspectives to the activists presented in Planet of the Humans. People concerned with a gimickification of environmental causes to make a buck, aka green-washing. Some had made names for themselves calling out the hypocrisy of local "Green" businesses (like "Wind-Powered and Employee-Owned" New Belgium Brewing) for espousing one set of beliefs and only sticking to them enough to maintain a verdant veneer while engaging in mostly fossil fuel-driven business.

Through all of this, I think coming back to the first and hardest "R" of the three R's. REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE. The thing to keep in mind is that billions of dollars flow into attempting to steer the narrative around these issues. NPR recently pointed out that the plastics industry essentially lied to the public for years singing praises to "Recycling" only to improve their bottom line. Doing the "right" thing when it comes to climate action will continue to be a difficult thing. I argue and have argued that those individual actions are vanishingly significant without state-sponsored incentives that make them more widespread. Just look at what recycling is in the USA. We pour huge amounts of fossil fuel energy into melting down and reforming new products from old rather than just reusing them as is. When I traveled to Germany in fall 2011 I was so impressed that the local breweries actually reused their emptied bottles rather than manufacturing new bottles each time. Yes, we do sometimes use growlers here in the US but single-use bottles and cans rule supreme.

Like many things, I think it will take a generational turn-over to change things in a substantial way. But if we all just start doing things the way the previous generation did things then we are missing an opportunity to flip the script.

 

Humanity's Sweet Spot - Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth

Australia's Mega-Battery Win (Financial Times)

Food Cam!

This series called "Climate Lab" is like an updated version of the Story of Stuff.

The United States - #1 TRASH Producer in the World!

Lauren Singer's Website is called "Trash is for Tossers" - Love that name!

From NBC's Left Field - The Wild Route

Stewart Brand on De-Extinction for the Woolly Mammoth

Sustainability, Hurricane Irma, Race, and Book Club

Ah Tom Paine's Ghost, I've been neglecting you to broadcast my thoughts more directly through Facebook and twitter. At least I syndicate the later here on the sidebar.
As we are now in the late third trimester of the Trump administration I want to get back to my roots on the web, reconnect with my blogging, and re-enter with some broader dialogues on Climate-Change and how the manifestations like Hurricane Irma bring the land ethic preached by Wendell Berry, Edward Abbey, and Aldo Leopold smashing (both metaphorically and physically) into the people-centered ethic preached by Dr. Martin Luther King and the long list of philosophers who hold human rights, and social justice at the top of the reformers to-do list. This ethical crossroads is grossly apparent when regions of the United States affected most dramatically by ensuring climate chaos are those regions who simultaneously experience the legacy of racial injustice.

So why talk about sustainability in a moment of immediacy, a moment when thumbing your nose at bottled water seems blithely out of touch with the immediate needs of flood victims?  Well, a deep ecological consciousness-raising followed by a massive political movement is the only way I can see to grab hold of the wheel and turn this ship around.  So where to start? If you like podcasts I have a recommendation - Think Sustainability -  this Austrailian podcast is a non-pretentious incredibly entertaining show with very doable advice. Last year while on a cross-country road-trip my wife and I listened to a bunch of episodes. One of our favorites was this one guiding listeners on home-compost best practices.

Remembering how impactful listening to this podcast was on me is inspiring and makes want to kick off my own podcast.   For the last year, I have been organizing a Men's Book Club.  I am considering spinning off some of our conversations into a monthly podcast.  Stay tuned for the premiere of "Chlorathropolis" podcast!

Comment here in if you'd like to be a guest and get on our first-year schedule.

Fighting the Good Fight

I recall my father undergoing a major change in attitude about climate change 10 years ago after he attended a screening of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth at the Chautauqua Institution. The data combined with Al Gore's persuasive argument led my Dad to give up his vision of signing natural gas leases on his 114-acre plot in Cattaraugus County and instead sign a lease with a wind-turbine development company. 4 years after my dad has passed and our family is sill benefiting from this legacy. And now, Al Gore has an update for us.

Tesla taking orders for solar shingles April 2017

Since the moment Elon Musk announced TESLA would be offering solar-power generating roof shingles for houses last fall I have had a "solar shingles" Google-alert set up to notify me when news about this comes online. This morning I got an e-mail with a link to a Tech Times story claiming Elon Musk had announced on Twitter that TESLA would be taking solar roofing orders next month (April 2017). I have not been able to find these tweets.  If you have any information on this alleged announcement please let me know in the comments. Also, what are the implications of getting on the waiting list?  If the current administration is successful in gutting subsidies for home energy upgrades (including solar panel installation) will it be beneficial to get on the waiting list while Obama era subsidies are still in effect?

I spoke with a Solar City representative at Home Depot a few weeks ago and she was pretty dismissive of the solar shingle roll-out, telling me that they will only be available initially in some test markets in regions (Hawaii and southern California) with no annual snowfall because the current version of solar shingles are not designed to handle snow.  If this is the case I would rather sign up for traditional solar panels. I also thought the new TESLA plant in Buffalo, New York would be focussed on these solar shingles, but according to the Solar City rep, the main production at the Buffalo plant will actually be traditional solar panels made in collaboration between Panasonic and TESLA.

Any clarifying information would be helpful.  Please comment below.

Unist'ot'en People Stand Strong and Defend their Territory

Fed Chair Janet Yellen Announces Rate Hike

Bernie Sanders Explains How Terrorism is Fueled by Climate Change

Tim DeChristopher on the Late Show with David Letterman

I woke up this morning to read an epic Facebook Note by Arnold Schwarzenegger! This sent me careening around the internet looking up the recent history of climate change activism until I rediscovered Tim DeChristopher. Of course this is a little old but I thought I would share it for the first time on Tom Paine's Ghost today in the wake of the Paris Climate Change summit. I feel obligated to new TPG readers to catch you up on the story of Tim DeChristopher who in a very real way helped save a precious resource in the United States from environmental destruction. For anyone who has ever traveled to Moab, UT and seen the otherworldly beauty that abounds there, you may want to know this story...

Thinking of installing a Rooftop Solar Array. Why can't I make more electricity than I use?

Terrorism Fueled by Climate Change? Bill Nye Weighs In

Though I think Nye is on to something here I criticize his assertion the attackers in Paris were Syrian.  Though it looks like some of the attackers spent time in Syria, the alleged masterminds behind the attack were born in Brussels, Belgium. The New York Times has an informative page explaining the known web of terrorists who carried out the Paris attacks.  I've only started to research their origins but it looks like most were radicalized in Belgium.  Anyone have any more info on the connection between Syria and the Paris attacks?

Kayaks block Shell Oil Rig in Seattle!