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globalbriefs


Bad Air Smog Pollution Threatens National Parks


The nonprofit Sierra Club is waging a fun- draising campaign to protect U.S. national parks from the effects of power plants burn- ing dirty coal. Executive Director Michael Brune reports, “Nearly one-third of all na- tional parks exceed pollution safety levels.” To date, the club has been successful in stop- ping construction of 160 coal-fired plants. Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org) analyses show that not only cities, but seaside suburbs and rural areas as well, are reporting health-threatening “bad air days” during the summer due to smog pollution. Some 250 communities and parks in nearly 40 states, led by California, rou- tinely experience one or more “code orange” dangerous air days, deemed unsafe for children, older adults and those with breathing problems to be outside. More than 2,000 air quality alerts occurred nationwide in the first seven months of 2011, with many areas having long periods of days marred by elevated smog levels. The push for cleaner air comes amid ongoing Environmental Protection Agency de-


lays in approving updated air pollution standards, which the council notes could annu- ally save thousands of American lives and eliminate tens of thousands of asthma attacks.


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Food Fight in Minnesota O


Sky Scrapers ‘Living’ Buildings Might Inhale Urban Carbon Emissions


Dr. Rachel Armstrong, a senior TED fellow and co-director of Avatar, a research group exploring advanced technologies in architecture, is promoting the de- velopment of buildings with “lungs” that could absorb carbon emissions and convert them into something useful and “skin” that could control interior tem- peratures without radiators or air-conditioning. She projects that, “Over the next 40 years, these ‘living’ buildings, biologically programmed to extract carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, could fill our cities.” It’s an application of synthetic biology, a new science devoted to the manu- facture of lifelike matter from synthesized chemicals that engineers create to behave like organic microorganisms, with the added benefit that they can be manipulated to do things nature can’t. Armstrong calls them protocells. She explains, “A protocell could be mixed with wall paint and programmed to pro- duce limestone when exposed to carbon [emissions] on the surface of a building. Then you’ve got a paint that can actually eat carbon and change it into a shell-like substance.” As an added feature, protocells could


naturally heal micro-fractures in walls, channeling through tiny breaks and help- ing to extend the life of the structure. Plus, says Armstrong, “The thickness of the limestone will grow over time, creating insulation and al- lowing the building to retain more heat or [else] sheltering it from heat- ing up underneath the sun.”


Source: Tinyurl.com/7bcqa8x 12 NA Twin Cities Edition natwincities.com


n May 14, a Food Freedom Rally and signing of a Food Declaration of Independence took place in Minneapolis to protest the criminal trial of Alvin Schlangen, a farmer and food buying club man- ager. Nearly 200 parents, children and Amish farmers came out to support Schlangen, who is facing a courtroom jury trial in Hennepin County on four criminal misdemeanor charges related to food handling and distribution of raw milk without a license. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture also threatened moms who voluntarily serve as drop hosts with criminal penalties. Natasha Simeone, one of the club members, expressed the sentiment of many in the crowd when she said, “We are not going to allow persecution of our farmers and ourselves. We will stand for our right to private contracts.” As an egg farmer, Schlangen sells


eggs and delivers fresh milk as a free service to his members, and assists an Amish dairyman that does not drive. He also saves these mothers a four-hour round-trip drive to get their milk. “It is my calling to connect people with healthy food sources,” he explains. Liz Reitzig, of the Farm Food


Freedom Coalition, spoke about the is- sue at a recent Food Rights workshop. “This is not about food safety,” she advised. “Raw milk is legal to produce and consume in Minnesota. The state is criminalizing distribution by going after farmers and mothers who im- prove access to a legal food source.”


For more information, visit FarmToConsumer.org/food-freedom-trial.


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