“Environmentalists have embarked on a secular crusade,” reads the headline for Katherine Kersten’s column in the StarTribune yesterday. The conservative columnist argues that Christians should beware of turning environmentalism into a “secular religion” and quotes a Prof. Robert H. Nelson, who criticizes the “environmental gospel” as “Calvinism minus God.” She goes on to say that this “gospel” appeals to people who are “turning away from traditional religion”: Read the rest of this entry »

Over the weekend I saw some old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.

One was a friend from my freshman year of college, when I attended the University of Chicago (I subsequently transferred to the University of Minnesota). He was in town for a job interview and earlier had located me via the Internet and this blog. We hadn’t talked in more than 20 years! My family and I went up to St. Paul and met with him on Saturday. It was wonderful to catch up and find that we had more in common than ever, including marriage and children within the last five years. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve discussed research on biofuels in earlier posts, including one from last summer. Now Prof. David Tilman at the University of Minnesota and others have published another study that demonsrates the advantages of prairie grass over corn as a crop for producing ethanol. Here are some quotes from a December 7 StarTribune story, “Grass beats corn in ethanol study“: Read the rest of this entry »

I recently read “Imagine There’s No Oil: Scenes from a Liberal Apocalypse,” an article by Bryant Urstadt in the August 2006 issue of Harper’s Magazine (not available online). I take the Peak Oil movement seriously, though I’m less alarmed about the future than its proponents are - perhaps as a result of my own denial. I recommend the article.

The article gave me pause about living in a cold-weather region. How will homes and workplaces be heated in a post-fossil fuel environment? Will we adapt and muddle through, or will there be an early catastrophic failure in the fuel supply? It would be best to think through the possibilites.

I’m pretty sure I’ve correctly identified that plant with yellow flowers that I described in my previous entry. It’s most likely birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). Here are three shots I took on Saturday, July 8, here in Northfield, Minnesota:

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve had a busy week here in midsummer. We enjoyed a long Fourth of July weekend at the family cabin in northwestern Wisconsin, where the weather was much warmer than on our last visit in June. This time we could finally enjoy the beach.  Read the rest of this entry »

Summer continues to offer up its bounty, and now it provides wild black raspberries. My wife discovered a few patches of these black and purple gems near our house here in southern Minnesota. Two evenings ago we took our daughter along and did some picking. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve heard a lot about environmental problems in China, but U.S. News & World Report has published an encouraging article on China’s efforts to develop renewable energy. This enormous and fast-growing country appears to be mandating renewable energy in a much more aggressive way than we are. Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday, May 5, I attended part of of the St. Olaf College Annual Science Symposium. The symposium topic this year was “The Science of Sustainability.” I heard a lecture given by Dr. Stephen Polasky of the University of Minnesota: “Desperately Seeking Alternatives: Where Will Sustainable Energy Come From?”

Read the rest of this entry »

On February 3 I interviewed Bruce Anderson, Executive Director of RENew Northfield in the group’s office in downtown Northfield, Minnesota. Anderson described RENew Northfield’s ambitious plans to make its hometown self-sufficient in energy. Before the interview began, I learned that the capital letters in the group’s name grew out of an acronym for Renewable Energy for a New Northfield. Read the rest of this entry »