AlternativesMagazine

 After all the FB, twitter posts, opinions, photo's, jokes, marches, protests, yelling, screaming, fist pumping and bashing one another. After all this dies down, then what? Do we go back go to whatever we were doing before the chaos, saying, "oh well, it's somebody else's problem now?" The political forces are counting on that. All bark -- no bite. Pots and Pans Revolution Or do we do what they did in Iceland? They took to the streets, forced their entire government to resign after a banking fraud scandal, overthrowing the ruling party and creating a citizen’s group tasked with writing a new constitution that offered a solution to prevent corporate greed from destroying the country. Here's the link, check it out. http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/icelanders-overthrow-government-and-rewrite-constitution-after-banking-fraud-no-word-from-us-media/ These events have been going on since 2008, yet there’s been no word from the U.S. mainstream media about any o

The Navajo Generating Station is the seventh largest source of climate pollution in the country. When it closes in 2019, it will be because of economics—not regulation. Despite Trump's promises to "bring back coal," it's unlikely that policy can make much of a difference. The market forces working against coal are huge primariy becasue of  the development of renewables. Wind and solar power are also so cheap now that it makes economic sense to continue to build new renewable power. The Navajo Generating Station, 12 miles from the Grand Canyon near Page, Arizona, is the seventh largest individual source of climate pollution in the country, pumping out more than 14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. It's also a major source of air pollution for people living nearby; by some estimates, shutting it down will also save more than $127 million a year in health costs. Coal also mines use a significant amount of clean water that would otherwise

This is not good for sportsman, fisherman, hunters and all other life forms Blowing off a mountain top to extract coal is a common practice in the Eastern states coal mining areas Outdoor recreational sports is huge part o f our economy and plays a big part in our mental and physical well being. They allow us to take roads less traveled and explore backcountry trails and waterways to places we've never heard of. They help us unwind, reconnect, refocus mentally and physically. Most people agree that our health is the most important thing we have, and without a healthy, clean environment there's no point worrying about whatever's next.   However, our new administration doesn't think so. They feel the environment is overrated and not as important as profits. Poisoned stream near coal mine in West Virginia. Dead Coal is the dirtiest, most toxic form of energy. Even a coal industry spokesman has come out and said, "coal is dead" and will not be co

I strongly believe that the majority of the human race would choose clean drinking water, natural farming practices, ethical treatment of animals, fair wages and labor practices, and green and sustainable products — any option which harms neither the planet nor the beings dwelling upon it — if they felt they had a choice in the matter. The good news? You do have a choice. You have the ability to support and promote the type of world you want to live in, right now, at this moment. Every single time you spend money you are casting a vote for the type of world you want to live in. A few weeks ago, Woody Harrelson released a video explaining just why we should support the products and companies which resonate with our values and the planet, using his significant celebrity to share this message with the general public — a message which many people might not have heard otherwise. Here’s what Woody had to say… A Message From Woody Harrelson As he says in the video, there really is no goo

Chromium-6 Was Just Found in 75% of Drinking Water... The Mass Chemical Suicide of America is Under Way A review of government water analysis by an Environmental Working Group study reveals that 75% of drinking water in America is contaminated with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium - also known as chromium-6) .   In a report that has been widely publicized , EWG warns that 200 million Americans are currently being exposed to this toxic chemical in their water.  What is Chromium-6? Chromium-6 or hexavalent chromium, is used in industrial operations such as chrome plating and the manufacturing of plastics and dyes. It has been linked to liver and kidney damage in animals as well as to leukemia, stomach cancer, and other cancers. Hexavalent Chromium has been found in the tap water of thirty-one out of thirty-five cities sampled. Of these cities, twenty-five had levels that exceeded safety standards. Sadly, even if your water is not contaminated with any of these substances, it may st

You can add another to the list of countries refusing to accept genetically-modified crops: Brazil.   In a recent move, Brazil has announced that it will no longer accept any American-grown GM crops. As more nations impose trade regulations on genetically modified foods, Monsanto and others will eventually have to feel the pain we as consumers feel at not being able to readily avoid GMOs. As Bloomberg notes, “In recent years, some of the largest commodity trading companies have refused to take certain GMO crops from farmers because the seeds used hadn’t received a full array of global approvals, something that can lead to holdups at ports or even the rejection of entire cargoes.”  In this instance, it is Brazil’s chicken farmers who won’t feed their birds American GM corn. Ironically enough, Brazil is the second-largest producer of GM crops in the world (following the United States), and, as a result, this is likely a matter of pulling rank, but that doesn't mean resistance to G

According to a new report from Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and the Carbon Tracker Initiative, cheaper solar and electric vehicles could make fossil fuel obsolete faster than we think. The authors make the case that most projections suffer from “straight-line syndrome” where fossil fuel demand grows continuously — but that doesn’t account for the non-straight-line exponential growth of low-carbon technology. In one scenario, new inventions could lead to electric cars so cheap that the world reaches peak internal-combustion engine by 2020: Combine that projection with falling solar costs and international commitments to address climate change, and you inevitably get less and less demand for oil and coal. If inventors are able to keep coming up with good ideas, gas-powered cars may look as quaint as horse-drawn buggies by 2050. Reprinted with permission from grist

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as the next secretary of state.   Tillerson needed a simple majority — 51 senators — for confirmation. The final vote was 56 in favor, 43 against. Three Democrats voted in favor of Tillerson, including Senators Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, and Mark Warner. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted in for Tillerson. It was Tillerson's contacts with Russia and strongman Vladimir Putin that raised alarms among some Republicans. Among other things, Tillerson was given the Order of Friendship award by Putin. This is a real setback for the clean-energy movement and a boon for the fossil fuel and dirty energy industry. It sends a real wake-up call to the people who really matter. So wake up!! Alberta's Tar Sands Revisited Most people have heard about the Keystone XL pipeline and the millions of jobs it will create and the many other benefits it will provide humanity. However, most peo

 Cruiser bike rides are becoming part of the fabric of many communities. Weekly or monthly, in good weather and sometimes bad, these rides are all about going slow, being social and enjoying the company. There's no speed requirement, no hill repeats and no fear of being dropped.  They are promoted simply to have fun and help bring awareness to the health, environmental and social benefits of cycling. They also serve as a platform to bring attention to the need for serious bicycling infrastructure for safety and bike commuting. Join Alternatives Magazine and Bike and Paddle Magazine this winter in Lake Havasu, AZ find out what it's all about. https://www.meetup.com/bikeandpaddle-com/

Drones are taking on deforestation and planting trees more efficiently than ever before. Currently, more than 6.5 billion trees are lost each year because of human activities--burning land to make way for livestock, harvesting wood, etc.--and natural disasters. Replanting efforts have accelerated in recent years and deforestation has slowed, but there's still a major gap between trees destroyed and trees planted. Throughout history, humanity has created a major tree deficit that will be hard to close.  In all, it's estimated that the global tree population has dropped 46% since the dawn of human civilization .  Typically, replanting is done by hand because trees require careful preparation to grow properly.  Human labor, of course, has limits and so replanting efforts tend to be modest.  A former NASA scientist realized that the current model would never close the deforestation deficit, so he devised a strategy to accelerate the process, and it depends on

We are constantly being told by companies such as Monsanto, that the pesticides used in more conventional farming are harmless, but this farmer disagrees. Farmer Jim Cochran decide to stop using pesticides and go 100% natural after he found he was being poisoned by the chemicals he was using on his crops.  Jim Cochran now runs the first large-scale organic strawberry farm, after quitting using pesticides 35 years ago. In 1981 Jim noticed a change when he started growing conventional strawberries, and using pesticides like everyone else did. He said  “My eyes started to water, and I started to get all jittery,” he went on. “I said ‘Oh boy, this is not good stuff…We have to get away from this stuff.” Jim now owns Swanton Berry Farm, that attracts many visitors due to it's organic status. Organic strawberry farms are extremely rare in the US. He now uses beneficial bugs, single row planting, crop rotations, and other classic techniques to help grow his strawberries, all methods whi

by PAUL FASSA   Allowing and encouraging domestic hemp cultivation would be a boon for small farmers, especially organic farmers. I’m talking only about industrial hemp, not medical cannabis/marijuana, which continues to prove its merits and gain acceptance. Industrial hemp’s use should be a no-brainer. But it’s a complex boondoggle of legal and bureaucratic nonsense even without THC, the molecule that leads to “Reefer Madness”. Industrial hemp commercial cultivation is legal in Canada. But the USA hemp industry was pushed to the side by government connected industry insiders whose monopolies were threatened when it appeared hemp may boom and compete for the very products of their monopolist concerns. Circa 1937, the hemp industry had been given a mechanical invention gift known as the decoricator machine was invented. It was a machine that was to hemp what the 19th Century cotton gin was. It replaced hand shredding of hemp to glean its fibers, fibers that could be used for textiles

Thermogram testing is a much safer way to early detect breast cancer than the more commonly used mammogram. The mammogram is widely regarded as the standard way to detect breast cancer but studies show it isn't all that safe, or even accurate. As women get older they are encouraged to get a mammogram test every one or two years in order to detect abnormal cancer cells, but many women don't know about a different method of testing, thermogram testing. Mammograms are considered very dangerous by some of the medical community, so dangerous in fact that they are said to promote the growth of cancer cells due to the large amount of radiation involved. A single mammogram can expose you to the same amount of radiation as 1,000 chest X-rays, put into some perspective that is equal to about 3 chest X-rays per day for a year. Cancer expert Dr. Samuel Epstein has said  “The premenopausal breast is highly sensitive to radiation, each 1 rad exposure increasing breast cancer risk by about