George Zens's blog

Dear Reader,

Last month,the Wisconsin state legislature approved a bill that would allow the sale of raw (unpasteurized) milk until the end of next year under certain conditions. As this issue of the Sustainable Times goes to press, Governor Jim Doyle is expected to sign it into law.

I have long argued in favor of legalizing the sale of raw milk on health grounds and - more important - for reasons of freedom of choice.

Opponents of the sale of raw milk claim it to pose a public health risk.

Dear Reader,

Is it a fad or a serious trend? Frankly, I hope it's both.

What am I talking about? I am talking about the new fascination that increasing numbers of people have with eating only local products.

I hope the underlying principle, of buying locally first whenever possible, is a serious trend that is going to grow substantially over the next years.

But I also hope that some of the more radical approaches are just a fad.

Dear Reader,

The United Nations Climate Change summit in Copenhagen last December has demonstrated once again that we cannot rely on our political leaders to seriously address the environmental challenges the world is facing, let alone make any constructive contribution to help solve them.

This statement does not only apply to the American government, but to all of them.

Unfortunately, it has become painfully obvious that there is pathetically little difference between the Obama administration and the Bush administration as far as environmental policy is concerned.

Dear Reader,

It has been just over five years since I published the first issue of the Sustainable Times.

That first issue came out in October 2004; it had 16 pages and was mainly in black and white. Distribution was at the Dane County Farmers’ Market mostly and about 50 other locations. Half a dozen local businesses had ads in the paper that paid for the printing.

Since then the paper has grown to 32 full-color pages, distribution to 350 locations in five counties, and the number of advertisers to more than a hundred in any given issue.

Dear Reader,

Frankly, I don’t think we’ll be able to stop, let alone reverse, climate change, not even to the extent that it is provoked or accelerated by human activity.

I am not being defeatist, but I have come to this conclusion after what I think is a clear-eyed assessment of the political situation in the world today, including in this beautiful country.

Dear Reader,

American motorists burn 380 million gallons of gasoline in their cars every day. That is almost the total daily production of Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer in the world.

If we cut back on our driving by just 10 percent, we would not only save more than 325 million barrels of oil every year, but also over $35 billion a year, not to mention produce less air pollution, less greenhouse gases and less accidents.

Dear Reader,

Many people still have their brains firmly anchored in the past and believe that sustainability is a luxury that we can’t afford in times of economic hardship.

The thought that the present economic hardship might have been caused to a large extent by our unsustainable way of doing business doesn’t seem to occur to them.

Dear Reader,

I have come to the conclusion that we are the dumbest species on Earth. We are indeed apparently the only species that is incapable of feeding itself properly: Not even flatworms kill themselves by eating the wrong stuff - but we do. By the millions.

What’s more, that seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon. While our technical knowledge has increased over the past couple of centuries, our knowledge about food and health seems to have decreased.

Dear Reader,

As the May issue of the Sustainable Times goes to press, the city of Madison is considering a ban on throwing away clean plastic bags, like the ones you get in grocery stores.

According to an article in the Wisconsin State Journal, the main forces behind the proposal are alderwoman Judy Compton and mayor Dave Cieslewicz, with the presumed consent of the city’s recycling coordinator George Dreckman.

Dear Reader,

For years, state, county and local authorities have been talking about the construction of the North Mendota Parkway (sometimes also called North Beltline).