Categories
Sustainability

Stories About Forests

Part of the forestry preserve at Lake Macbride State Park.

I was taken aback by the administration’s decision to dismantle the U.S. Forest Service. Jim Pattiz outlined what happened in his substack post, “Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service.” What they are doing is bad. While the news broke suddenly, and agreements were signed quickly, the future of roughly 193 million acres of forests and grasslands not carved up with roads or clear cut logging has been up in the air for decades. With this administration, loggers and anti-government agents appear to be getting their way.

In 1970, Joan Didion opened her celebrated book The White Album by saying, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” The U.S. Forest Service action reminded me of this and the competing stories it represents.

One story, summarizing Scott Russell Sanders in A Conservationist Manifesto, goes like this. The national forest represent a wilderness with something to teach us. We are part of a living biome. We should protect these wild places as a habitat for wildlife, as a reservoir of natural processes, and as a refuge for the human spirit. The U.S. Forest Service adds a layer by being a research arm of the federal government.

Another story , according to Sanders, asserts that to “lock up” these acres from development would cost jobs, handicap economic growth, and “threaten the American way of life by denying us access to fuel and timber.” We Americans should be free to go into the warehouse that is nature and do whatever we want, regardless of consequences. It is squandering resources to not harvest timber from national forests and refrain from building roads there.

My story is we lie to ourselves by saying we can lawsuit our way out of this. Already, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club filed lawsuits challenging the USDA’s “interim final rule” that removed public comment and environmental review procedures for forest projects, arguing the fast-track rules violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. I wish them well. But shouldn’t we be able to agree that the 8.5% of land these acres represent should be set aside and preserved? It is very American to settle this in courts rather than in the hearts and minds of citizens.

In typical fashion for this administration, they are moving very quickly to dismantle the U.S. Forest Service. The headquarters will move from Washington, D.C. to Utah, and much of the research into how to prevent forest fires, and related issues will apparently end. Many employees will resign because they can’t support what the administration is doing or leave because moving to Utah is not a pleasant prospect. This is the change Republicans seek.

On my daily walks through the woods on a gravel trail, I consider the quiet and beauty of place. The sounds of bird life fill the air, and the air breathes fresh and clean, that is, unless a wind blows in from a concentrated animal feeding operation. We all need this type of solace from time to time.

We do what we can to survive in a Republic. Lawsuits are part of that as are competing stories about our experiences with the same things. I seek to be part of the biome and contribute to its well being: At the same time, I seek to understand all these stories and more, to contribute more than I take, while taking only what I need to survive and protect the commons for future inhabitants of Earth. That is a just path.

Categories
Sustainability Writing

A Madman Without a Strategy: Trump’s Latest Threats Are Unacceptable

For Immediate Release: April 7, 2026

(Washington, D.C.) — President Donald Trump’s April 7 threat that he might escalate U.S. attacks on Iran so that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” should profoundly alarm every U.S. and global citizen. 

Whether Trump is threatening a massive conventional bombing campaign or making a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to try to coerce Iran into submission, leaders of nuclear-armed states cannot, must not, threaten the end of “a whole civilization.” 

Such threats are unacceptable and following through would be a massive war crime and humanitarian disaster. In addition, an attack on Iran’s Busherer Nuclear Power Plant would risk a radiological disaster in the region.

The only type of weapons in the U.S. arsenal that could destroy “a whole civilization” in a day would be nuclear weapons. Any use by the United States of nuclear weapons against Iran would permanently damage the United States’ reputation, shred its alliances, and would constitute a war crime for which everyone in the chain of command could be prosecuted.

Even if Trump is not considering the use nuclear weapons, but “only” intends to launch a massive conventional bombing against civilian targets in Iran, the effect would be the opposite of Trump’s ostensible goal: preventing Iran’s leaders from acquiring nuclear weapons. 

Rather, it would reinforce the belief that the only way a nation can deter attack from an aggressive nuclear-armed state is to possess one’s own nuclear weapons. A further escalation of this war would thus provide further incentive for Iran – and possibly other states – to develop nuclear weapons.

During the course of the nuclear age, past U.S. presidents have issued veiled nuclear threats against smaller, less powerful but very determined nations only to learn that such threats do not lead them to capitulate. U.S. nuclear threats during the Korean War and later against China and the Soviet Union, as well as Nixon’s “madman” strategy, which involved a nuclear threat against North Vietnam and a massive strategic bombing campaign, failed to bend adversaries to U.S. goals.

We call on rational voices inside Trump’s circle of formal advisors, informal confidants, members of Congress from both parties, and global leaders to remind Mr. Trump that responsible leaders do not threaten to commit war crimes, that a further escalation of his illegal war would undermine U.S. and global security and risk the lives of innocent people in Iran and the Middle East, and that the responsible path forward and out of this war is to immediately end the hostilities.

Categories
Living in Society

Woven Shirts and Such

Sunrise on the state park trail on April 6, 2026.

This is a utility post designed to prime the writing pump for posts coming later this week. It is a bit quotidian, so forewarned.

I decided to get some button-down, woven shirts for my new job as a poll worker. I expect to be called for at least one early voting shift, and then to work the long one that is the primary election day. I haven’t bought a woven shirt in a very long time, maybe since I retired from the big job in 2009. My basic top is a t-shirt in spring and summer, with an added sweatshirt in fall and winter. It serves. I am getting the new shirts mail order, because I have no interest in going to a clothing store.

Monday I fueled the car for $3.529 per gallon. That is high, yet what is the comparison? In Mainz, Germany, where I lived for three years, today it is between $8.00 and $8.70 per gallon (Deutschmarks per liter converted to dollars per gallon). German travelers get a better bargain with the built-in high taxation rate of 55-65 percent. If you ever traveled on the German Autobahn, you know what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t mind paying this amount for gasoline if only it were accomplishing something better than making rich oil companies richer.

I burned the weeds on the plot where the cruciferous vegetables will go. Kale, cabbage and the like are furthest along in indoor planting trays and can tolerate some cold. They will be in the ground soon. The blaze was intense and quickly finished, in about 20 minutes. I worked hard to keep it from spreading too quickly to other plots. I was only partly successful and a couple garlic plants got wilted. It appears they will recover… we’ll see.

It looks to be a good week in the garden. Next up is the long mentioned onions and leeks. The goal is in the ground by Wednesday.

Plot for cruciferous vegetables.

Categories
Living in Society

A Week Without Fertilizer

Predawn light on the state park trail.

I had to take a step back from life and noticed it was 3 p.m., the traditional time of Jesus Christ’s death on Good Friday. As has often been the case, everything outdoors was quiet for a moment. Reading the administration’s orders to dismantle the U.S. Forest Service had taken me aback. Find information about it here.

The highlight of Friday was working on seedlings with the garage door open, my U.S. flag on display. From my workbench I could hear the sound of songbirds in the neighborhood. Using my Merlin Bird app I was able to identify seven species in close proximity: American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, House Finch, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Cardinal. The chickadee was browsing around where I planted flower seeds last week. This nesting period is a true harbinger of spring.

I had to get provisions for the weekend at the grocery store. Traffic along Highway 1 was heavy all the way into the county seat. It was well before the commuting time, so I guessed people were getting off work early for the long Easter weekend. I paid close attention to traffic even though there was a lot to think about.

Fertilizer was on my mind. Midwestern BioAg specializes in locally produced composted chicken manure among other products. While made locally, the disruption caused by the U.S.-Israel-Iran War, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, has farmers scrambling for alternatives to the types of fertilizer imported from the Middle East (containing urea, ammonia, sulfur, phosphates). Composted chicken manure already has broad application on farms, so it is a good operational fit for large-scale growers. Likewise, while the private equity acquisition of the company in 2020 may or may not be directly relevant, these firms change focus from small seasonal buyers like me to serving large customers. I had to figure out what I’m doing as an alternative since it is not available.

The hardware store sells “composted manure,” so I bought five bags. It was cheap, but after reading the label, it is only ten percent composted manure and the rest “composted natural forest products.” Its numbers are 0.05-0.05-0.05, so very little nitrogen. It is more soil conditioner than fertilizer, and what I need is more nitrogen, as does every farmer in Iowa. Probably the best solution is to travel to a couple of farm stores and see what they have left. Because conventional farmers are scrambling for fertilizer this year, whatever I find will be expensive.

The other alternative is to use the fertilizer left from last year–a five-gallon bucket–judiciously and let the rest go without. Because I have been gardening for decades here, there is likely some residual fertility left in the soil. Not a permanent fix, but it could get me through this growing season. I eventually found a 10-10-10 commercial fertilizer at a local hardware store. That will have to do this year.

Home-grown food will be important in our lives as the federal government cuts programs to the bone and puts people out of work. Eventually they will come after our Medicare and Social Security, so local food is doubly important, as is replacing my source for garden fertilizer.

Categories
Reviews

Book Review: Clearing the Air

Hannah Ritchie is the kind of data head I would like to be and her new book, Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers is part of the reason. In it, she explains many aspects of solving the climate crisis using data to back up her statements. This one is worth reading.

Because the book is written in ten topical parts–fossil fuels, renewable energy, electric cars, and such–it is easy to find whatever topic is relevant to a current discussion. Once a reader picks a topic, the uniform format–question, answer, charts, discussion, and what we need to do–the information is quickly accessible. It reads less like a narrative, and more like a scientific research tool, which I suppose is the point.

The section on nuclear power challenged my way of thinking about the power source. It opened the possibility that because of its long overall positive safety record, it could fill a need in a renewable energy powered electrical grid currently being addressed by fossil fuels. She points out the significant obstacles to nuclear power in the United States, and addresses paths to overcoming them. Every part and individual question and answer is like this.

Her five questions to separate fact from fiction are a simple, straight-forward way of evaluating anything read in the news media, in books, and on social media. That alone s worth the price of the book.

So many terms about climate change solutions get bandied about public discourse. Having a reliable way to access information about heat pumps, aviation fuel, electric cars and the like, helps avoid stress caused by trying to digest claims that may or may not be true.

My recommendation is get a copy from your public library and read it. You will likely be glad you did.

Categories
Living in Society

Beyond Joe Trippi’s Technology

Toolbox.
Toolbox.

Joe Trippi’s 2004 work to mine the internet and empower supporters of the Howard Dean campaign was revolutionary. As he described it, it was an “open-source revolution” that went beyond the dissemination of campaign messages. Using Meetup.com, blogs, and other media, he turned hundreds of thousands of volunteers into decentralized, self-organizing activists who powered fundraising and local organizing — like a “virtual mid-size city.” It was something to see in real time.

Since then, there have been two distinct iterations in the use of information technology in campaigns. The first was the Republican Party’s use of Cambridge Analytica to microtarget individual voters during the 2016 Trump campaign. While the success of this operation continues to be debated — and how it worked was not transparent — it was a compelling idea for moving beyond bulk messaging that delivers identical messages regardless of individual differences. What made it a game changer was that voter persuasion could be individualized at scale. On the darker side, Cambridge Analytica announced it was shutting down and filing for insolvency in May 2018. The closure was a direct result of intense media scrutiny, investigations, and the loss of clients following the March 2018 revelations that it misused data from up to 87 million Facebook users.

That progressives need to catch up with Republicans in the use of technology seems evident. This challenge is complicated by the advent of readily available, yet still unproven, artificial intelligence technologies like Claude, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini.

Today, it isn’t entirely clear how artificial intelligence will be used in campaigns. We do know a few things. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders recently sat for an interview with Anthropic’s Claude. (Click here for a clip from that conversation, which exposes some of the motivations for collecting data from internet users.) We also know we need to balance ethical safeguards on AI with innovation in tools that could benefit progressive causes. Finally, misinformation and AI-generated propaganda could undermine democratic processes. What do we do?

What we can’t do is stick our collective progressive heads in the sand. I can’t count how many people I’ve heard say something like, “AI uses too much energy, so I won’t use it.” Two things about this. First, privacy issues are more important than energy use. Second, energy use compared to what?

In her new book, Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers, author Hannah Ritchie writes, “Data centers currently use only a few percent of the world’s electricity. The big question, though, is whether this will explode with the rise of AI. Probably not.” She discusses a Pareto-style analysis that points to the true energy hogs. Not surprisingly, these are industry, buildings, electric vehicles, air conditioning, and heating, with data centers eighth on the list at around 1-3 percent of consumption. At a minimum, progressives need to stop hyping unknown energy scenarios and instead resolve issues around privacy (Senator Sanders has a bill) while pressuring Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic to meet their corporate climate goals.

Dealing in facts, not hyperbole, is always good advice.

AI is imperfect and no substitute for grassroots knowledge about campaigns and the real voters who will participate in elections. While the database of personal profiles AI draws upon is vast, the granular knowledge that a political activist in a specific race possesses is more relevant to an individual’s potential behavior than AI ever will be.

Like other technologies, AI is a tool that belongs in campaign toolboxes. It is an extension of what Joe Trippi did so long ago — and it is worth learning about instead of shunning.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Leeks and Onions

Brush fire.
Brush fire.

The next step in the garden is planting onions and leeks. It began Wednesday with burning brush on the plot where they are planned. The weather has been funky, with rain one day, cool ambient temperatures the next, and an 80+ degree day thrown in for good measure. I work in a t-shirt in 45 degree weather, but don’t stay at it for long.

If leeks grow successfully there will be a bumper crop. They are great for soup and freeze well if there are extra. I bought started plants this year, so there is a good chance for a harvest. Onions have been hit or miss for me, although any that grow will find a place in our meals.

Kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, and chard are getting big enough to go into the ground. The plot where they will be planted has desiccated fox tail which needs burning off. It was too windy for that on Wednesday, yet I cleared all the fencing and fabric so the burn would be clean when it happens.

Garlic is up and I crawled through the rows to make sure the sprouts that were not pushing through the mulch were exposed to sunlight. That was not a big job, yet important to having a full crop. Only one or two cloves did not sprout. Perhaps half a dozen had trouble pushing through the matted grass clippings.

Some volunteer garlic sprouted and I used it in making taco filling Tuesday night. There is another bunch and I’m waiting for the right dish to use it.

The two new apple trees are getting big enough I removed the caged and pruned them. It looks like there will be a decent crop on one, and it’s too early to tel on the other. The remaining three legacy trees are in their off-year in 2026. That’s okay because I put up plenty of apple products when fruit was in abundance last year. The pear tree will have blooms again this year. We mostly eat those fresh.

I was fussing around with the extra dirt around the potato tubs. I left it piled up to use in hilling the potatoes once they poke through the surface of the soil and grow a few inches.This year I am going strictly by the book in hope of bigger spuds.

A hill of ants appeared yesterday in the yard. One of them got inside last night, so the problem continues. If we kill them all, they eventually subside. We don’t like using poisons in the kitchen.

On April 1, it’s no joke there is a lot of garden work to do. I keep at it daily in hope of having a crop.

Categories
Living in Society

Meet and Greet

Jessica Andino, Jon Green, and Janet Godwin address Solon Area Democrats at a March 28, 2026, meet and greet at the Solon Public Library.

After talking with the three candidates for Johnson County Supervisor in District 2, I decided to support Jon Green in the June 2 Democratic primary. All three would make great supervisors, but Jon, the incumbent, is the person who worked to gain consensus among board members on building a new jail. That was difficult work, and I support his re-election so he can finish it.

It’s no more complicated than that.

The Republican in this race is Phil Hemingway. When I was covering Iowa City Community School District board meetings for the North Liberty Leader, I listened to him ask questions — often multiple ones at each board meeting. He was engaged and once won election to the school board.

I looked at historical voting numbers in the precincts that make up new District 2, and the votes are there to defeat Hemingway resoundingly in his sixth bid for supervisor — badly enough that he will never run for this office again. That would free him to return to automotive work until he retires.

I am working for Green to win the primary. If he doesn’t, whoever does will have my full support.

Categories
Living in Society

After A Storm

Moon setting after a thunderstorm.

Thunder and lightning woke me early Tuesday morning. We needed the rain and could use more. When I went for my daily walk a few hours later, the driveway was almost dry. The ground just soaked the water up, wanting more.

The next county over is experiencing drought conditions, noting one of the drier starts of a year. 51.8% of the state is experiencing moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions. I’m not a climatologist yet I would say this is the new normal.

Fields and pastures where I travel in Eastern Iowa show the strain of limited moisture. Some corn is planted and just emerging. Subsoil moisture, built during wetter seasons, can carry the plants only so far before they begin to show stress. What matters most in the growing cycle is not just whether it rains, but when. If heat and dry conditions settle in during July pollination, the crop has little margin for error. Today, we notice how quickly ponds and ditches recede after a decent rain. In many years, a single well-timed rain can bolster a crop. In others, storms miss us, and that absence becomes the story.

Lawns are beginning to green up after losing color over the winter. Garden soil remains pliable, yet hardens between rains and watering. We simply hope the next storm will stay longer than the last.

That I see such patterns, repeated over multiple seasons, is part of a broader conversation about climate change. While our current dry conditions can be attributed to natural variability, the increasing frequency of such conditions aligns with projections of more erratic precipitation and warmer temperatures. Drought cycles persist, making recovery more uncertain.

I remember the 2012 drought and how it negatively impacted corn yields. Luckily, soybeans had time to recover. In July, I attended a meeting with the governor and farm groups and came away with this conclusion:

Whether it was acknowledged or not, today’s meeting of farmers, citizens, elected officials, bureaucrats, media and advocates is what climate change looks like. Grown men and women who have invested a lifetime in doing what they think is right, facing the existential reality of a changing climate.

It is unclear whether an extended drought will take place this year. It depends upon soil moisture going in, weather timing, and heat. What I can say with some certainty is I’m glad it rained Tuesday morning and hope we have more. So much depends upon it.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Last of the Apples

Last six apples from 2025 season in the refrigerator.

Sunday I finished reading A Basket of Apples: Recipes and Paintings from a Country Orchard by Val Archer. I wrote a brief review: “The paintings are gorgeous. The recipes very British, heavy on dairy and animal flesh. If you cook like that, give it a go!”

Planting apple trees on our lot in 1996 was a defining moment in my life. I remember the family gathering at our house after my mother-in-law’s funeral, then leaving for Ames with my father-in-law while I stayed behind to plant the orchard before joining them. Over the years, some trees were lost to windstorms and a derecho, but three of the original six still produce. Today, the pantry is full of apple cider vinegar, dried apples, applesauce and apple butter… plus these six fresh apples.

At a political event on Saturday, a long-time friend arrived with a car emblazoned with promotions of veganism. It got me thinking about why I settled on being ovo-lacto vegetarian. Sunday night our household had a conversation about that and I reached some conclusions:

  • I won’t give up butter but can limit myself to one tablespoon per day, and some days have none.
  • There is no reason I can’t limit the amount of hard cheese I consume to one or two ounces per day, or seven ounces per week.
  • Cottage cheese is less offensive than hard cheese when it comes to encouraging LDL cholesterol production. I consume the regular product, so should limit myself to no more than one cup per day and try low-fat.
  • Fluid milk is basic in my diet, and I will measure how much I consume. Not sure of a limit, yet drinking 16 ounces per day seems like a start.
  • Peanuts and peanut butter are a daily menu item. Roasted, salted peanuts for snacks, and Jif-brand peanut butter for meals or evening dessert. Goal is quarter cup peanuts per day and no more than two tablespoons peanut butter in a day, leaning toward one. Natural peanut butter will be for some, but not all of my consumption.
  • Sodium intake is a constant overage in my diet. Need to continue to reduce how much I consume. That dang brain of mine rewards consumption of salt, so I need to be less “brainy” in that regard.
Promoting veganism.

Sadly this means I won’t be visiting Archer’s book for recipes. From time to time, though, I can remember her beautiful paintings.