800 Scientists Demand Global GMO “Experiment” End

Did you hear about the 800 esteemed scientists who came together and demanded the production of genetically modified crops and products be stopped? Scientists who called on world powers to re-evaluate the future of agriculture and seek sustainability rather than corporate profits? Don’t be surprised if you haven’t, as the mainstream media won’t touch this one.

Eight-hundred scientists did make such a demand. They made it first over a decade ago and they have updated it over the years, adding signatures and release dates. Still global powers have all but ignored their calls.

The Institute of Science in Society is a non-profit group of scientists from around the world, dedicated to bringing an end to what they refer to as the “dangerous GMO “experiment. In their open letter to the world, they have highlighted why governments need to stop genetically modified crops now – before there are irreversible effects on the health of the people and the health of the earth at large.

The Open Letter from World Scientists to All Governments calls for “the immediate suspension of all environmental releases of GM crops and products, both commercially and in open field trials, for at least 5 years.”

They also want patents on organisms, cell lines, and living things revoked and banned. Such patents (a sort of corporate version of “playing God,”) “threaten food security, sanction biopiracy of indigenous knowledge and genetic resources, violate basic human rights and dignity, compromise healthcare, impede medical and scientific research and are against the welfare of animals.”

This would be bad news for Monsanto following the recent Supreme Court decision that they have the ‘right’ to patent life.

Scientists Speaking Out

In the beginning, after its first draft in 1999, the letter had just over 300 signatures. Since then, it’s grown significantly. At the writing of this article, the document has 828 signatures representing 84 different countries.

While we are told by Monsanto and the FDA that GMOs are nothing to worry about and instead safe tools for the future of agriculture, a growing number of esteemed scientists seem to disagree. So, who’s listening?

The letter has been presented to numerous governments and organizations, including the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Trade Organization, and yes, even the U.S. Congress. The letter has been shared at these venues, but it doesn’t seem like anyone was listening.

The populous has to dig for information like this. We have to seek out the news sources willing to cover it, because we won’t hear about this letter on the nightly news or through a governmental agency. No, the U.S. government wants you to fear what they want you to fear (“terror” and crime, for instance), but they certainly don’t want you to fear the information and the food they are putting on your table. Or the GMOs they are funding with your taxpayer dime.

If you want to learn more about this letter here's the link: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/list.php

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Let's put solar panels on every home

David Crane and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an excellent op-ed in the New York Times calling for Solar Panels for Every Home, the price of which has dropped by 80% in the last five years.

Crane and Kennedy start by noting that utilities are urgently rebuilding the exact same antiquated electric power grid build of vulnerable copper wire and wooden poles that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, instead of superior 21st century options that should include solar panels on every home and building.

And, while many are investing in dirty, noisy, and expensive portable gas-powered generators to gain some degree of "grid independence," Kennedy and Crane suggest that placing solar panels on every home and building would be a far more cost-effective way of improving our energy security, reducing our energy costs, and reducing fossil fuel emissions.

Solar photovoltaic technology can significantly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and our dependence on the grid. Electricity-producing photovoltaic panels installed on houses, on the roofs of warehouses and big box stores and over parking lots can be wired so that they deliver power when the grid fails.

Solar panels have dropped in price by 80 percent in the past five years and can provide electricity at a cost that is at or below the current retail cost of grid power in 20 states, including many of the Northeast states. So why isn’t there more of a push for this clean, affordable, safe and inexhaustible source of electricity? ...Today, navigating the regulatory red tape constitutes 25 percent to 30 percent of the total cost of solar installation in the United States, according to data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and, as such, represents a higher percentage of the overall cost than the solar equipment itself.

By comparison, the federal government of Germany streamlined and standardized permitting which can now be done in as little as 8 days, instead of the 120 to 180 days it can take in the U.S.

More than one million Germans have installed solar panels on their roofs. Australia also has a streamlined permitting process and has solar panels on 10 percent of its homes. Solar photovoltaic power would give America the potential to challenge the utility monopolies, democratize energy generation and transform millions of homes and small businesses into energy generators. Rational, market-based rules could turn every American into an energy entrepreneur. That transition to renewable power could create millions of domestic jobs and power in this country with American resourcefulness, initiative and entrepreneurial energy while taking a substantial bite out of the nation’s emissions of greenhouse gases and other dangerous pollutants.

I agree with Crane and Kennedy that we need to eliminate complex and fragmented web of "regulatory hurdles impeding solar generation" and also and renew the "renewable energy tax credit — which Congress seems poised to eliminate — to balance the subsidies enjoyed by fossil fuel producers."

What a tremendous opportunity for a jobs stimulus plan. As Kennedy and Crane conclude, "the technology is here, we just need the political will" to do it."

Please let your representatives know you care and support national streamlined regulation, (which I believe is sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders,)  and an extension of the renewable energy tax credit so we can build a better future.

Using the Tesla Effect, Electric Buses Charge as They Go

Utah State University presented a first-of-its-kind electric bus that is charged through wireless charging technology.

The Aggie Bus rolled onto the streets carrying passengers ; just 16 months after USU demonstrated the first high-power, high-efficiency wireless power transfer system capable of transferring enough energy to quickly charge an electric vehicle. In July 2011, the USU Research Foundation demonstrated 90 percent electrical transfer efficiency of five kilowatts over an air gap of 10 inches. The demonstration validated that electric vehicles can efficiently be charged with wireless technology.

USU’s Wireless Power Transfer team, in cooperation with the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative’s Advanced Transportation Institute at USU, has designed a more efficient way to meet the nation’s transportation needs. By carefully applying a mix of modern advances in engineering and Nikola Tesla’s principles of induction, USU engineer Hunter Wu and his team have solved one of today’s vexing problems in WPT.
Their research has led to the development of a robust prototype, which has been fitted to the Aggie Bus. The prototype transfers power over an air gap where no physical contact is required. Wireless power transfer technology delivers a multitude of benefits to consumers that include greater reliability due to no moving parts or cords, added convenience through the elimination of plug-in charging, the assurance of safety by removing the risk of electrocution and aesthetically pleasing devices as a result of no visible wiring.

USU’s Aggie Bus has achieved several significant milestones. It is the first bus developed and designed by a North American organization that is charged with wireless power transfer technology and is the world’s first electric bus with WPT technology combining the three following performance metrics: A power level up to 25 kilowatts, greater than 90 percent efficiency from the power grid to the battery and a maximum misalignment of up to six inches.

“The unveiling of the Aggie Bus today is a historic achievement and a great leap forward in the science and engineering related to electric vehicles,” said Robert T. Behunin, Ph.D., USU vice president of commercialization and regional development. “As a result of the work done by Utah State engineers, scientists and partners, EV owners and operators will now be able to simply drive over a pad in the ground to recharge their batteries, the benefits of which reach far beyond convenience.”

WAVE Inc., a Utah State University spin-out company, worked in cooperation with the USTAR Advanced Transportation Institute to develop the Aggie Bus. WAVE tackles the problem of heavy and expensive electric vehicle batteries through wireless power that transfers electricity between vehicles and the roadway. The Aggie Bus represents a market-ready product that will be used to retire significant technical risk as WAVE moves onto full-scale projects next year.

WAVE, in partnership with the Utah Transit Authority, will launch its first commercial demonstration in mid-2013 on the University of Utah’s campus. It will feature a 40-foot transit bus on a public transit route and an increase in wireless power transfer charging from 25 kilowatts to 50 kilowatts. The project has been funded by a $2.7 million TIGGER grant from the Federal Transit Administration and the University of Utah which purchased the bus. WAVE intends to deliver a commercially ready product that operates with the same reliability as current public transit bus options, including diesel and compressed natural gas buses.

“Current battery limitations prevent an all-electric transit bus from operating all day from an overnight charge. WAVE solves that problem by charging the bus wirelessly during its daily operations when the bus stops to load and off-load passengers,” said Wesley Smith, CEO of WAVE. “This technology makes electric buses competitive with their diesel hybrid and CNG counterparts.”

Utah State University has refashioned the way in which it conducts its technology transfer operation. The office of Commercial Enterprises, a division of Commercialization and Regional Development, provides a one-stop-shop for industry partnership and intellectual property development. The Utah Science Technology and Research initiative is an innovative and far-reaching initiative of the Utah legislature to bolster Utah’s high-tech economy by investing in university research programs and recruiting new, high caliber faculty. Utah State’s wireless power transfer team is a significant part of USU’s USTAR portfolio.

SOURCE: Utah State University and WAVE Inc

CNN Covers March Against Monsanto Coverage, May 28, 2013 Full Segment

Social Media Activists Pressure CNN To Stop Ignoring Global March Against Monsanto

The power of alternative media and activists continues to influence the national debate, forcing propaganda news outlets to cover more real issues. The March Against Monsanto had activity in 400+ cities and saw millions of people turn out to voice their opposition to GMO food.
The mainstream media had done all it could to ignore it, but after the huge turnout, and the RT.com articlel, more news outlets started to pick it up. CNN ignored the march for as long as possible, but between requests on Twitter and Facebook, the network decided to address it.