EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What tax or other government incentives are there out there for buying green—for individuals as well as businesses?                             — Sarah Rafferty, New York, NY

There has never been a better time than now to tap into a laundry list of tax rebates and other financial incentives designed to encourage individuals and businesses to go the greener mile. At the federal level in the U.S., individuals can reap the rewards of no less than eight different financial incentives ranging from tax credits and home loans for replacing windows and installing insulation around the house to tax rebates for purchasing a hybrid car or hooking up a solar hot water heater.

Besides these federal incentives, nearly every U.S. state has additional state or local incentives available. Many require utilities to rebate consumers who save electricity. Some utilities even offer “net metering,” whereby consumers who generate some of their power through rooftop solar panels or other technologies can sell electricity back to the utility, thus reducing or zeroing out their electric bill—even earning money.

Many financial incentives are in place for businesses, as well. At the federal level, examples include an energy-efficient commercial buildings tax deduction, a business energy reduction tax credit, an energy-efficient appliance tax credit for manufacturers, and a new energy-efficient tax credit for green-savvy builders.

At the state level, many are eager to attract renewable energy companies to their region, and offer tax breaks to get them there. Washington State, for example, charges no sales tax on renewable energy equipment produced or sold there. And some forward-thinking cities are beginning to offer “density bonuses” and green building incentives to developers and builders to encourage sustainable land use.

The best place to look for what’s available is to steer your web browser to the free online Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. DSIRE is a federally funded project of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, whose membership includes state and local government agencies, national laboratories, renewable energy companies and advocacy groups.

In Canada, the Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural Resources Canada offers a slate of federal grants and incentives under its ecoENERGY Retrofit program to homeowners, businesses, large industries and public institutions to help them invest in energy- and pollution-saving upgrades. The agency also administers the High Efficiency Home Heating System Cost Relief program, which will contribute up to $300 to homeowners who upgrade their old oil or gas furnace or boiler to a new high-efficiency model. And low-income households might qualify for additional federal financial assistance for energy retrofits. Another Canadian program, the Vehicle Efficiency Incentive (VEI) rewards those who buy fuel-efficient cars or trucks with rebates of up to $2,000 each. Beyond these federal programs, selected provincial and municipal entities across Canada also offer incentives to those looking to save energy and the environment.

CONTACTS: Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), www.dsireusa.org; Natural Resources Canada ecoEnergy Retrofit Program, www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/incentives.cfm.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I read that hybrid cars are actually less green-friendly than even Hummers, because they have two motors and very environmentally damaging batteries. Is this true?

– Renee Sweany, Indianapolis, IN

The claim you read about was from “Dust to Dust: The Energy Cost of New Vehicles from Concept to Disposal,” a controversial study by researcher Art Spinella of Oregon-based CNW Marketing. It ranks more than 300 vehicles for their energy use over their entire lifecycles—from raw materials extraction and manufacturing, to driving and burning fuel, to the recycling and disposal of parts. What surprised even Spinella was how the Toyota Prius, the world’s most successful gasoline-electric hybrid car, stacked up against General Motors’ behemoth Hummer, the modern poster child for unsustainable transportation.

“The Hummer over the lifetime of the vehicle ends up being less of a drain of energy on society in general than does the Prius,” wrote Spinella in his report. A key-determining factor was the hybrid battery’s use of nickel extracted from a Sudbury, Ontario mine that has emitted so much sulfur dioxide that acid rain has turned a once healthy nearby forest into a bleak landscape. That mine, however, which supplies nickel for many industrial purposes and not just hybrid batteries, has cut pollution 90 percent since the 1970s.

Another common criticism of hybrids is that their batteries will be a pollution threat once they land in the junkyard. But hybrid advocates insist that the nickel-metal hydride batteries found in the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and other hybrids contain far fewer pollutants than the lead-acid varieties used in traditional cars. And initial worries that hybrid batteries would need replacement every few years have not borne out; Toyota says the batteries should go for 150,000 miles, which they predict to be the car’s life expectancy.

Spinella pegs the life of the typical Prius bought new today at only 100,000 miles, and contrasts that against a predicted 300,000 for Hummers—meaning that, though Hummers burn more gas and emit more pollutants, they will last much longer. Additionally, Spinella factors in the added production costs of including two separate engines in the Prius—one that runs on gas and the other on electricity.

Most environmentalists challenge Spinella’s conclusions. Jim Kliesch, research analyst with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), which publishes a yearly rating of the “Greenest and Meanest” cars, says the CNW study contradicts many other studies, including those conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Carnegie Mellon, Argonne National Labs, the Union of Concerned Scientists and others that place the green-friendliness of the Prius and other hybrids head and shoulders above many other vehicles and certainly the Hummer.

Spinella is “way off the mark,” says Kliesch, and scolds CNW for not having “Dust to Dust” peer-reviewed for accuracy. “If you do some back-of-the-envelope calculations on their claims,” he says, “you’ll find that it takes about $286,500 in energy to produce and assemble a Prius, [which is] absurd.”

Toyota itself also disputes CNW’s findings. In a short rebuttal published in the Washington Post, Toyota vice-president Irv Miller said that the increased energy requirement to build a hybrid with two engines under the hood “is overwhelmingly made up for in the driving stage.”

CONTACTS: “Dust to Dust,” cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/; ACEEE, www.aceee.org.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 7 (AScribe Newswire) — While 10 years of bathing North Carolina pine tree stands with extra carbon dioxide did allow the trees to grow more tissue, only those pines receiving the most water and nutrients were able to store significant amounts of carbon that could offset the effects of global warming, scientists told a national meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA).

These results from the decade-long Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) experiment in a Duke University forest suggest that proposals to bank extra CO2 from human activities in such trees may depend on the vagaries of the weather and large scale forest fertilization efforts, said Ram Oren, the FACE project director.

“If water availability decreases to plants at the same time that carbon dioxide increases, then we might not have a net gain in carbon sequestration,” said Oren, a professor of ecology at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.

“In order to actually have an effect on the atmospheric concentration of CO2, the results suggest a future need to fertilize vast areas,” Oren added. “And the impact on water quality of fertilizing large areas will be intolerable to society. Water is already a scarce resource. ”

In a presentation delivered on Tuesday, Aug. 7 by Heather McCarthy, Oren’s former graduate student, eight scientists working at the FACE site reported on the daily administrations of 1 1/2 times today’s CO2 levels and how it has changed carbon accumulations in plants growing there.

The Department of Energy-funded FACE site consists of four forest plots receiving extra CO2 from computer-controlled valves mounted on rings of towers, and four other matched plots receiving no extra gas.

Trees in the loblolly pine-dominated forest plots that were treated produced about 20 percent more biomass on average, the researchers found. But since the amounts of available water and nitrogen nutrients varied substantially from plot to plot, using averages could be misleading.

“In some areas, the growth is maybe 5 or 10 percent more, and in other areas it’s 40 percent more,” Oren said. “So in sites that are poor in nutrients and water we see very little response. In sites that are rich in both we see a large response.”

The researchers found that extra carbon dioxide had no effect on what foresters call “self thinning” — the tendency of less-successful trees to die off as the most successful grow bigger.

“We didn’t find that elevated CO2 caused any deviation from this standard relationship,” said McCarthy, now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine.

Also unchanged by the CO2 enrichment were the proportions of carbon atoms that found their way to various components of plant systems — wood, leaves, roots and underlying soil. Only a few of those components will store carbon over time, noted Oren and McCarthy.

“Carbon that’s in foliage is going to last a lot shorter time than carbon in the wood, because leaves quickly decay,” McCarthy said. “So elevated CO2 could significantly increase the production of foliage but this would lead to only a very small increase in ecosystem carbon storage.”

Other FACE researchers contributing to the ESA report were Kurt Johnsen of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, Adrien Finzi of Boston University, Seth Pritchard of the University of Charleston, Robert Jackson and Charles Cook of Duke and Kathleen Treseder of the University of California, Irvine.

http://www.ascribe.org

EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Aside from the obvious benefits to mankind of reducing poverty, how would promoting more economic equality around the world benefit the environment?

                                                                                                            –Steele Shapiro, Seattle, WA

Research has shown that in countries with a wide disparity between rich and poor, environmental protection tends to be a lower priority. The inverse is also true: Countries with greater economic equality assign higher priority to safeguarding their environment.

The main determining factor seems to be that lower income people tend to vote against spending tax dollars on what are deemed costly or discretionary environmental projects. In countries with less disparity between rich and poor, such as throughout Scandinavia, environmental protection is assigned a higher priority and governments have enacted more stringent regulations and policies accordingly.

University of Rochester researchers Laura Marsiliani and Thomas Renstrom reviewed hundreds of academic studies of linkages between economic equality and environmental protection and found plenty of evidence to suggest that “poorer individuals tend to prefer less stringent environmental policy.” Previous research also supports their hypothesis that greater income inequality causes lower environmental taxes, regulation and spending around the world.

On a related front, a team of McGill University researchers uncovered a connection between growing economic inequality and an increase in the number of plant and animal species threatened with extinction. Dr. Greg Mikkelson of McGill’s School of Environment led the study, which looked at income inequality and biodiversity loss on two different scales: among 45 countries worldwide; and among 45 U.S. states. The researchers found that the same general trend is evident in both cases: Societies with more unequal distribution of income experience greater losses of biodiversity.

While there is often a trade-off between economic growth and environmental quality, says Mikkelson, his study suggests that there is also synergy between removing or reducing poverty and greater conservation of biological diversity. If the U.S. were to achieve levels of income parity comparable, say, to Sweden, some 44 percent fewer plant and animal species in the U.S. would be in danger of extinction. “Our study,” adds Mikkelson, “suggests that if we can learn to share economic resources more fairly with fellow members of our own species, it may help us to share ecological resources more fairly with other species.”

One group working to help the environment by bridging the economic equality gap is the Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management (PREM) program at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Holland’s Vrije Universiteit. Formulated by Dr. Pieter van Beukering and Kim van der Leeuw, the program has lined up researchers in 16 developing nations to develop case studies showing how sustainability-oriented natural resource management can lead to economic development for poorer people. The researchers hope that their work in the field will help show policymakers the way toward enlightened regulatory practices that encourage both economic equality and environmental protection.

CONTACTS: “Inequality, Environmental Protection and Growth,” Laura Marsiliani and Thomas Renstrom, http://ideas.repec.org/p/roc/wallis/wp35.html; “More Inequality Means Less Biodiversity,” McGill Reporter, www.mcgill.ca/reporter/39/17/inequality/; PREM Program, www.prem-online.org.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: How do I find a Styrofoam recycler in my area? My company receives huge sheets of the stuff on a regular basis and it just gets thrown straight into the trash. What can a business do to get this stuff recycled economically and efficiently?                                   – S.R.M., Mesa, AZ

Known within the packaging industry as expanded polystyrene (EPS) and usually bearing the “#6” recycling symbol, Styrofoam (which is actually the trademark name for Dow Chemical’s product) has long been an environmental bugaboo, as it is contains chemicals known to cause central nervous system damage and other health problems for workers regularly exposed to it. And since it is difficult and expensive to recycle, EPS tends to clog landfills already teeming with toxic garbage.

But EPS has proven to be one of the lightest and least costly forms of packaging material, so the industry has worked hard to make recycling it more cost-effective and convenient. More than 80 packaging manufacturers, polystyrene suppliers and equipment makers joined together in 1991 to form the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers (AFPR). The Maryland-based industry association works to facilitate recycling between EPS manufacturers and the companies that buy from them. It currently boasts of overseeing the recycling of 10-12 percent of the post-consumer EPS packaging produced every year.

Member companies, which provide drop-off services at their facilities, reprocess up to 60 percent of the EPS foam collected and incorporate it directly into new packaging. Some of the material is reformulated and used in a wide variety of durable plastic products. Currently, more than 110 plant locations serve as collection centers which together receive upwards of 50 million pounds of post-consumer EPS packaging each year. AFPR provides a comprehensive list of EPS drop-off locations from coast-to-coast on its website. While companies sending the EPS in for recycling must bear the shipping or drop-off costs, they may save money over paying for disposal fees at the landfill.

One caveat: AFPR does not get involved in the recycling of the foam “peanuts” so often used as packaging filler. Most “pack-and-ship” shops (like UPS stores) will accept used but otherwise clean foam peanuts to reuse in their own shipments. Otherwise, the Plastic Loose Fill Council, another trade group, runs a free web-based database where users can find a local drop-off center by simply punching in their zip code.

Also, food service managers should bear in mind that recycling of soiled food-grade EPS is more difficult and expensive due to issues of bacterial contamination. Most EPS packaging recycling centers will not accept such tainted foam. Many food service companies have followed the lead of McDonald’s and phased-out their use of EPS containers for disposable dishware and to-go orders.

Companies that don’t find it convenient to recycle or otherwise dispose of large amounts of EPS (food-grade or otherwise) might want to consider purchasing one or more StyroMelt machines from UK-based Purex. The technology uses a thermal compaction process to reduce the volume of EPS by up to 95 percent. The resulting solid EPS “briquettes” are dense enough to make for good recycling fodder, and also take up much less room than the foam they started out as if they end up in the landfill.

CONTACTS: Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, www.epspackaging.org; Plastic Loose Fill Council, www.loosefillpackaging.com; Purex Styromelt, www.styromelt.com.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Artificial turf has been popular on sports fields for decades for a variety of reasons, but is it also a good environmentally friendly option for residential lawns?

                                                                                     – Sharon Chinchilla, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The use of artificial turf for residential lawns is a growing trend across America, notably in regions where water supplies have a tough time keeping up with demand. Advocates of artificial turf point out, for example, that a whopping 56,000 gallons of water are applied each year to the average residential lawn.

Statistics also show that the mowing, watering and fertilizing of natural grass contribute as much as two percent to U.S. overall fossil fuel consumption. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, lawn care activities also account for about 10 percent of hazardous air pollution coast-to-coast. And studies on Long Island in New York State have shown that up to 60 percent of the synthetic nitrogen applied to lawns there ends up contaminating local ground water supplies.

But given the choice between real or artificial turf, most environmental advocates still prefer real grass. Besides helping to create the oxygen we breathe through photosynthesis, plants (including grass) are an integral part of any living ecosystem. They filter water and sunlight down into the soil where worms, insects and moisture work in concert to hold the soil firm. And they prevent flooding while providing habitat and nourishment for birds, bees and other wildlife.

In contrast, synthetic turf is made out of petroleum-derived plastic. In cases where fake turf is installed improperly, chemicals from the plastic can seep into the ground below and potentially contaminate groundwater. Some formulations of synthetic turf require infill such as silicon sand or granulated rubber, either of which may contain potentially toxic heavy metals that can leach into the water table below. The granules have also been known to produce a distinctly unpleasant odor at times. And consumers trying to reduce their carbon footprints should keep in mind that manufacturing and shipping artificial turf, like any synthetic product, generates large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

Nonetheless, because of concerns about water usage, some municipalities are trying to encourage homeowners to switch to synthetic turf. Back in 2002 city managers in drought-ridden Las Vegas began offering homeowners rebates of $1 per square foot to replace their thirsty natural grass lawns with synthetic turf. And in July 2007 board members of southern California’s Metropolitan Water District, which serves 18 million people across six counties, initiated a similar program to try to make a dent in outdoor water use in the region, 50 to 70 percent of which is devoted to the watering of residential lawns.

Of course, installing artificial turf isn’t the only way to minimize the environmental impact of one’s yard. Converting grass lawns over to less resource intensive landscaping—known as “xeriscaping”—is also catching on. Drought-tolerant native shrubs, plants and ornamental grasses don’t require large amounts of water, fertilizer or pesticides to survive. Many groundcover plants naturally hold back weeds and contribute to the health of the soil. Even rock gardens are attractive and essentially maintenance-free. Given all the natural alternatives, homeowners need not convert their back yards over to fake turf.

CONTACTS: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s BeWaterWise, www.bewaterwise.com.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

EARTH TALK

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I am considering buying Honda’s natural gas Civic. What exactly comes out of a natural gas vehicle’s tailpipe, and how harmful to the environment is natural gas extraction and refinement?  Which is greener, a hybrid or natural gas car?     – Alex Neal, San Diego CA

Honda’s natural gas Civic GX, which debuted in 2006 in California but is now becoming available in other parts of the country, just may be the cleanest mainstream car on the road. At least the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) thinks so. The nonprofit group publishes an annual Green Book listing the greenest (and meanest) cars of the year, and put the Civic GX at the top of its 2007 environmentally friendly car list, edging out Toyota’s hybrid Prius.

Although neither car is a slouch when it comes to fuel economy and reduced emissions, the natural gas-fueled Civic scored slightly better than the Prius on both counts in ACEEE’s battery of tests. It also scored better in terms of the pollution generated in the manufacturing processes.

Natural gas is the cleanest burning of all fossil fuels. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the burning of natural gas emits 117,000 pounds per billion (ppb) BTUs of carbon dioxide as compared to gasoline’s 164,000. Its 92 ppb of nitrogen oxide emissions are considerably lower than gasoline’s 448, and its mere one ppb of sulfur dioxide emissions is dwarfed by gasoline’s 1,122. Natural gas also emits just seven ppb of particulates compared to 84 for gasoline, and it emits no mercury whatsoever against the trace amounts emitted by gasoline-burning engines. Natural gas combustion does generate slightly more carbon monoxide than gasoline, at 40 ppb versus 33, but the difference is negligible.

The big trade-off for Civic GX owners is the car’s limited 220-mile range between fuelings. The gasoline-powered Civic can go 350 miles on a tank; the Prius, even with just an 11-gallon tank, can go considerably further operating at as much as 55 miles per gallon in highway driving. While a few dozen natural gas refueling stations have popped up around the U.S., they are few and far between. For those who need to make longer trips but still value a greener ride, a hybrid may be the best bet, as it will produce only marginally worse emissions while taking advantage of the ubiquity of gas stations out on the road.

Those who already use natural gas for home heating can pay $5,000 for a car fueling system installed in their garage or driveway. While that cost may seem high, owners can save about $1 per gallon over gasoline and can also get a federal $1,000 tax rebate. (Also, like the Prius, the purchase of the Civic GX itself qualifies for a federal tax break of $2,000 as well as up to another $2,000 in state and local incentives where applicable.) Some Honda dealers lease home systems for between $34 and $79 monthly. Honda pegs the fuel cost at 3.75 cents/mile, compared to 8.8 cents/mile for the gasoline-powered Civic.

Regarding the extraction and distribution of natural gas, the fuel is often sourced along with or near oil reserves, and involves similarly invasive drilling methods. Accidents do happen from time to time and, though natural gas does not spill like oil and cause ground and sea-level ecosystem disturbances, it rises into the atmosphere where it contributes directly to global warming.

CONTACTS: Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, www.dsireusa.org; ACEEE’s Green Book, www.greenercars.com; Honda Civic GX, http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-gx.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

Did you watch it?

Well, I did. I can’t say I was overly impressed with either the candidates or the questions.

There were a few questions on health care, Iraq, ect that were good but why not get to the point. How about asking questions about our civil liberties?

Would you wire tap, would you spy on American’s, would you make the right decisions even if you were threatened of being labeled un-American?

CNN decided to show us questions from a crazy guy who loves guns. They decided to ask the dems if they would work for minimum wage, ha right. Didn’t they all say they would? CNN must have had thousands of questions to sort through. I think they could have done a bit better.

The fact is they are all politicians and unfortunately because of how our system is set up it takes a lot of money to run an effective campaign and these guys will never show their true colors when talking to us.

I’m interested how others feel about this debate and the candidates. Feel free to comment if you like.

Each year during Grammy week MusiCares puts on a “person of the year” tribute dinner and silent auction to honor a musician who has not only made a significant contribution to the world of music but also has taken significant humanitarian and philanthropic efforts.On February 6, 2006 James Taylor was honored as the MusiCares 2006 Person of the year and this incredible night of music is on DVD. Through the evening fourteen wonderful musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, Sting, Carole King, the Dixie Chicks and others, perform on James’s tunes with James’s amazing band.

The Music

The music is great, the artists superb, the sound and picture quality is perfection, and by purchasing this DVD you are helping MusiCares provide a critical safety net to music people in times of crisis.

James Taylor made all of the music on this DVD famous. Some of the music you will see and hear songs like “Shower the People” performed by the Dixie Chicks, “Rainy Day Man” performed by Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen does his own extremely powerful version of “Millworker”, “Country Road” performed by Keith Urban, and Mr. Taylor himself performs a few tunes as well including “How Sweet It Is”, and “Fire and Rain”. James Taylor and the Environment

Neil Portnow, President of the MusiCares Foundation and The Recording Academy said, “MusiCares and The Recording Academy take great pride in honoring James Taylor as a musician and humanitarian who has made groundbreaking contributions to our culture and to the world at large. James exemplifies a unique creative spirit and his dedication to a range of philanthropic causes serves as an example and an inspiration to our entire music community.”

James has been a powerful voice many for many critical social causes including protecting the environment via the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he is an active board member; supporting funding and research for children’s health-related issues, such as juvenile diabetes; campaigning for funding for various arts initiatives; and calling attention to the needs of those less fortunate. He is truly worthy of being the 2006 “person of the year”.

Interview with a Northern CA marijuana grower

GreenMoon interview conducted on 1/21/01

I just dug this one out of the vaults. Thought you all might enjoy reading it.

On January 21 2001 GreenMoon traveled to Northern CA to the Emerald Triangle to interview a successful marijuana grower whose identity will remain anonymous. We were brought up through narrow winding dirt roads to a land where neighbors are miles apart and the scenery is that of tree covered hills and mountain ranges. The people here power their homes with generators, solar, wind, and hydro and they either cut trees or grow marijuana.

What are the main businesses here (Emerald Triangle CA, Trinity/ Mendocino / Humboldt Counties)?

Logging and Pot. Then there are many businesses that benefit from increased cash flow. Everybody uses cash. Certain suppliers (all equipment associated with growing marijuana) have become very wealthy up here.

Why is this land suited for Marijuana?

Remote, it’s very remote. The weather lends itself to out door growing, the summers are normally really hot and warm and the rough winter creates remoteness. Cops are not so ready to come out here when the weather is tough. The property is cheap. Someone can come up here with 50 grand and buy 30-40 acre lot. There are really only two industries, logging and pot. Then of course there are the many businesses that are suppliers to these businesses.

Heavily wooded areas lend themselves to concealed structures built and uses specifically for housing/hiding and growing marijuana. These serve to hide from aerial surveillance

How is Marijuana perceived here compared to the rest of the country?

People will even bury their containers underground in order to grow their pot. This avoids illegal thermal imaging, which the cops use anyway to discover marijuana growers. There have been two instances when a judge issued search warrants based on thermal imaging reports. It turned out that one case was a retired woman who had a propane fired potters kiln and they thought it was a grow scene. The other was a woodstove. Are these things illegal?

How does one hide their crop from the government?

Outdoors you can grow it in trees. One method of camouflage is to remove tree limbs between 10 O’clock and 2 O’clock to give the plant the most exposure to the sun but leaving aerial observation difficult.

Do the people here consider it a real and honorable business, even if they don’t have a license and are doing it illegally?

Yes most definitely. A lot of people don’t think it should be illegal or don’t think it is illegal so they live their lives to their beliefs. Remember, there is no state law that marijuana is illegal. It’s only enforced under the health and safety act. A lot of these guys don’t smoke it; they just grow it for business. To them it is a legitimate business. To me it’s a legitimate business.

How many here have licenses to grow marijuana legally?

Nobody has a license to grow. The law states that you only need an oral recommendation from your doctor. The people passed this but the law enforcement sees it a little differently. Some places like Arcata have their own system. In Arcata you go to the sheriff with a note from the doctor and he will look over it and then if he approves will basically give you a “get out of jail free” card. This instructs the cops to let you go on about your business. Similar programs have been adopted in Mendocino County. Humboldt County is looking at a health department base issuance involving reporting applicants to the Sheriffs department. I think there are only 5 people who actually are given marijuana joints by the government. Everyone else has to fend for him or herself.

What measures does the government take to seek out and destroy your business?

Aerial surveillance, Thermal Imaging, a technique called “Stabo” which involves the lowering of enforcement agents by 250 to 350 foot long steel cables beneath a helicopter thus enabling them to view under the tree canopy. It’s a loophole because the helicopter is not allowed by FAA regulations to go under 500 feet so this is how they are able to beat their own rules. They have been so close that I have seen their teeth, smiling, and even waving at me.

Traffic stops involving illegal roadside searches. The cops are trained to use deceptive methods of questioning/interrogation to trick you into giving them permission to search your vehicle or person. We have bumper stickers up here that read, “permission to search, DENIED!” another popular one is “I don’t fear my country, I fear my government!”

Another investigative technique is to go to the suppliers. For example they will go to the guys who sell generators and find out who has bought generators for cash. They have gone to the diesel suppliers to find out who has bought more then a reasonable amount of fuel. There is an instance where they went to a Fortuna car dealership with the support of the IRS to find out how many people and who bought cars/pickup trucks with a large cash deposit. They held mechanics, car sales people, and secretaries and parts staff for 2-3 hours without access to phone calls or the outside legal advice. This was at a big Ford dealership and now there is a sign on the door, “NO COPS”.

How is your harvest distributed to the rest of the state? The Country?

Buyers will travel up here. There is one guy who comes from Hollywood and buys 30 pounds every month. We have a contract. There is also a “Mexican Mafia” connection, police statistics determine that 80% of marijuana grown and sold in California was in some way involved with the Mexican underworld. There are rumors that top musicians travel through the area primarily to stock up on Humboldt bud, known as the best in the USA. There are also brokers who arrange sales and work on commission. There isn’t much street level growth here. There are many other ways to get product to market that we wont discuss due to the continued harassment of fellow growers by law enforcement.

How much of a harvest is for medical and how much is for recreation?

The medical side of it is increasing but depends mainly on the states position on “pot clubs” distributing and buying medicinal marijuana. It is possible to obtain street price from some clubs, thus removing the criminal element and decreasing the need for law enforcement and harassment of medical users. Until that is decided the majority is still grown for recreational use.

What would happen if the marijuana business became obsolete?

It would be the death blow to all these area’s up here, what with the already greatly reduced staffing levels being implemented by the logging industries. Most businesses in the area would close due to the fact that marijuana related products (generators, diesel, waterlines, potting soil, grow juice, wood, fertilizers etc.) wouldn’t be in demand. A lot of individuals have become extremely rich due to the support industry. They have made a lot of money because of marijuana even though they haven’t done anything illegal, but believe me they know where their money comes from.

Would legalization of marijuana hurt the Emerald Triangle business?

No it would help it. It’s like a fine wine. People want the best and we have the best.

End

Marijuana Links

http://www.civilliberties.org/marijuana.html The public’s watchdog of marijuana enforcement operations in Humboldt County

http://www.marijuana.org/researchpage.html Marijuana facts galore

http://www.freecannabis.org/benefits.htm Environmental benefits of marijuana

http://www.marijuananews.com/the_cannabis_problem.htm Marijuana news

http://www.larouchecampaign.com/pages/bush_dope_8.html The Larouche campaign gets angry at Bush by telling the dirt on our new president

http://www.cannabisnews.com Informing the public about cannabis