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First a little update on the issue I brought up before leaving on vacation, and that is seemingly perverse economic incentives in the U.S. Many policies used to stimulate the economy are often not good for the environment. The issue is about housing and how housing prices have shot up a bit and new building is up as well in markets like Phoenix, Las Vegas, South Florida, and Southern California. Now the New York Times is also exploring the recent housing recovery, highlighting the fact that investors are buying up property and driving up prices, while regular folks are getting priced out (in some spots). Environmentally speaking, with over 12 million vacant housing units in the country (which is considered a very low estimate by some analysts), there should be plenty of housing for everyone that needs it, thus making it unnecessary to pave over more land for more sprawl. What does everyone else think about the national policy of incentivizing more house-building, even though there is a huge glut of empty houses on the market? Good? Bad? Not sure?
As an aside, another negative side effect of increasing sprawl is the increased chance of intense flooding in urban areas. A lesson learned in Europe recently, is that if you take away much of the natural landscape (like swamps and marshland), then most of the rain water will just run off and create flooding.
Another incentivized activity in the U.S. (and many places around the world) is the production of biofuel. In the U.S. this is mostly corn or grain ethanol. I have written many times in the past about how this does not seem to be a worthwhile national pursuit and something I witnessed recently really cemented that feeling. It was slashing and burning of forests, here in Wisconsin. It is something that is always talked about in “other countries” and it is often regarded as a bad practice for the environment. I saw the large forest being slashed and burned along highway 29 the last time I travelled to western Wisconsin. I am amazed at how much land is being cleared in the last couple of years to make way for corn fields. Once again, I have to mention that I don’t hold farmers responsible. They are just trying to earn a living. They own the land. They can decide how to use it. I do have to question the wisdom of national policy-makers.
Slashing and burning on a small scale will not be too disruptive in Wisconsin, but all of the former grassland and forestland that is being converted to grain production is bound to have an effect over time. One thing that is being affected is bee-keeping. Bee Colony Collapse Disorder is still somewhat of a mystery, but chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) and destruction of habitat (due to urban sprawl and the ethanol mandate) are leading candidates for the recent surge in bee population declines. Yet another reason to perhaps move away from ethanol (gas) burning engines in cars (and toward electric vehicles), is that higher levels of metals (from exhaust) can interfere with bee metabolism and reproduction.
Have a nice Friday! Meteorologist Justin Loew
