Savanna Blog
Why Biodiversity?
You and I and every living organism on this planet possess an unbroken legacy that stretches back 3.9 Billion years. Not once during that entire period was our genetic chain broken. Never did our ancestors fail. Not once did they receive a bailout. Genes are the universe's only serious repository of survival ‘knowledge.' That is […]
Carbon Taxes (Including Oregon’s HB 4001) are Another Good Way to Not Lower CO2 Emissions
Both the left and the right get it wrong on this issue. No surprise there. The left thinks that a tax can fix this whole global warming thing. No problem. However, ninety-five percent of the people in the world are housed, fed, transported, etc., by a market system. If we want to successfully slurp up […]
Cloning a Mammoth (or CRISPR and GMOs for Nature Part IV)
Hell yes! is the two-word answer. But the important thing is the question, which is what I will deal with most in this post. There have been many think pieces in the past few years about whether we should take tissue from extinct animals and use genetic technology to clone a living, breathing animals out […]
Beef Tax My Ass
For some reason, Richard Coniff's March 17 opinion in the New York Times made me think of a story my wife tells. She once put two goats in the back of her Subaru wagon to bring them to a friend in San Francisco who didn’t want to mow her lawn. Amazingly, my wife made it […]
CRISPR and GMOs for Nature Part III
The things that make technology great are the things that make human consciousness great. At the same time, the shortcomings of our consciousness are magnified by technology. Human consciousness and technology have long been one interacting system; you could call it techno-consciousness. If we are going to use technology effectively we need to understand how […]
CRISPR and GMOs for Nature Part II
The dogs in the picture above have been genetically altered (using Instagram's algorithm) for maximum cuteness/social media impact. I am amazed at the amount of attention we give to GMOs. The left would have you believe that were it not for GMOs our agriculture would be ‘sustainable.’ The right would have you believe that GMOs […]