Vermonters Asked to Help Remake State’s Energy Plan

Got ideas about Vermont’s future? The State wants your input on the revision of the Comprehensive Energy Plan. This public process is an excellent opportunity to

environmentalists to ‘speak truth to power’ and help Vermont get on-track to a sustainable zero-carbon economy.

The State of Vermont’s Department of Public Service has begun a yearlong public engagement process to ask “what do you want?” This listening process is designed to find good ideas and policy. Next year, the Legislature will create actual laws based on the findings.

Like the excellent Farm-to-Plate process, this is government at it’s best: starting in low-gear by listening to people and crowd-sourcing best practices.

The second stake holder meeting on April 7th will focus on Transportation and Land-use, giving environmental advocates the chance to ask for bike lanes, carbon taxes, sustainable farming, legal hemp, and so forth.

Or you can also submit your comments on line to: ed.delhagen@state.vt.us

Both meetings will happen at Union University on a hilltop above Montpellier. The first stake holder meeting on March 23rd focused on Energy Supply and Renewable Energy. The crowd was a mix of energy company lobbyists, environmentalists and gov’t people. The discussion had a strong ‘hive-mind’ feeling, created by smart people talking a mutual language of energy and environment. And humanity’s energy plan will decide the fate of our collective survival, so there’s an electrostatic charge that comes from discussing the Most Important Thing.

The meeting was well-organized. Speakers gave brief presentations to introduce the subjects. A Green Mountain Power guy spoke from industry perspective. Joanna Miller from Vermont Natural Resource Council (VNRC) brought the environmental perspective.

Then we broke out into some fairly dynamic small-group discussion. The topic was interesting and there were a lot of smart people in the room. The discussion went well, partly because meeting organizers took time to present a powerpoint slide on “Working Agreements for the Day”: mutual respect, keep it brief, stay on topic. Good conversational council doesn’t happen automatically, it needs to be coaxed into existence by ‘rules of engagement.” Organizers need to tell people, “we invite all voices, but keep it brief!”

I encourage more environmentally minded folks come to the next meeting on April 7th. Joan Knight and I were the lone voices talking about the Climate Crisis. The day’s discussion reminded me that most people haven’t understood the seriousness of Climate Crisis. The conversation could have happened on different planet that wasn’t amidst a traumatic disturbance of planetary equilibrium. There was little talk of cutting carbon and of aiming for a zero-carbon society.

I was shocked to hear people talk politely about “natural gas from Shale.” To properly describe “natural gas”, we need dusty Old Testament language, so we can say “HYDRO-FRACKING IS AN ABOMINATION.” Hydro-fracking is deeply decadent, immoral, sinful and a crime against Creation. Hydrofracking makes oil companies rich and externalizes the costs on poor people in Pennsylvania whose water supply gets ruined. Hydrofracking is amoral Nazi-like technological prowess in service to the inhuman dissociative demon-logic of sociopathic corporations.

Hydro-fracking is a great environmental crime against the Earth and people. Hydro-fracking works by the explosion of the earth’s inner layers to release gas. The details are ugly and polluted. They pump water and chemicals into wells at great pressure. This cracks the rock and releases gas that gets siphoned off. Afterwards, the water rises up again after the pressure is released and brings up water filled with chemicals and radioactivity. Bad news. I hope Vermont passes laws that make “natural Shale gas” illegal. I intend to say this at the next meeting on April 7th.

Speaking of radioactivity, another thing I like about this process is that Governor Shumlin has made clear that the process will not include yes/no discussion of Vermont Yankee because the legislature has already decided to shut it down.

On April 7th, you come too and let’s get Vermont on the right track for energy. Or send your comments to: ed.delhagen@state.vt.us

Eat seaweed for iodine for today's nuke fallout (and other facts and rants)

Eat seaweed for iodine for today's nuke fallout (and other facts and rants)

As low-level radioactive fallout from Japan’s nuclear accident drifts thru our skies, let's review about eating iodine as antidote to radioactive exposure. This essay gathers useful knowledge on the entwined topics of iodine, radiation, seaweed, the thyroid, corporate sociopaths and Solartopia.

Taking iodine can help limit the ill effects of exposure to nuclear radiation. Short version: Eat lots of seaweed and iodised salt, maybe get iodine supplements. Definitely, 2011 is the year of seaweed-miso soup for the whole planet. Seaweed has iodine, and draws out toxins to boot. It won’t hurt anyone to go the health food store and buy Iodine Supplements and Iodized salt and seaweed and enjoy a few months of an intentionally salty seaweed diet. The more the body is filled up with regular iodine, the less inclined the thyroid is to uptake radioactive iodine isotopes created by nuclear fission.

An herbalist friend tells me of a Japanese clinic in '45 that fed everybody miso/seaweed soup. The staff who ate it every day didn’t get cancer and most patients too. But this isn’t just hippie wisdom. (Praise be to the Hippies!) Potassium Iodine (whose initials are: KI) was widely given out after Cherynobyl and it worked great to stop thyroid cancer. In Poland, they gave Potassium Iodine (KI) to 1o.7 million kids, and they didn't get thyroid cancer. In the Ukraine and right around Cherynobyl, people got cancer who didn't get the medicine because supplies ran out (and/or nobody wanted to drive into the nuke’s secondhand smoke with it.)

So the evidence is very strong for encouraging taking the KI pills, especially if you are within 500 km from the radioactive plume. Thyroid cancer was pretty much the only cancer that people got 10 years after Cherynobyl. People who got the KI medicine didn’t get increased rates of cancer. This suggests that Potassium Iodine is super helpful, especially right after initial exposure.

The thyroid concentrates “various radioactive isotopes of iodine produced by nuclear fission. The uptake of radioactive iodine can, in theory, be blocked by saturating the uptake mechanism with a large surplus of non-radioactive iodine, taken in the form of potassium iodine pills” according to Wikipedia. “So what is the thyroid again?” we both ask of Wikipedia. “The thyroid controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body should be to other hormones.”

The thyroid system is made of glands including and around the Adam’s apple. If you rub your fingers around your neck to the sides of your Adam’s apple, you’ll be massaging your parasympathetic thyroid, sort of backup glands to the thyroid. Recently I was exposed to some strong industrial chemicals and I noticed my thyroids were enlarged and irritated, as if they were processing toxins.

Taking the KI pills are no piece of cake, so everybody probably doesn’t want to race to Rite Aid for it. Wikipedia suggests that there are some tough "adverse reactions" to the KI medication. More mildly, upset stomach and acne! More seriously and call the doc, skin rash, vomiting, irregular heartbeat. Who should take Potassium Iodine (KI) because of the Japanese nuke explosions? Probably every Japanese person under 18 should take it right away. Young people in nearby Asia, maybe. For those beyond 500 km, it’ probably not worth the unpleasant side effects like nausea, acne, etc.

The World Health Organization recommends the treatment for young people up to 18 in particular, presumably because the thyroid is still growing and thus is more susceptible to some radioactive flyby by some bit of nuke soot. People over 40 shouldn’t bother taking the Potassium Iodine, because they probably wouldn't get the thyroid cancer anyway as compared to the unpleasant side effects from taking it.

The WHO report says there is some disagreement on the dosage amount to take. The WHO recommends 1/10th the dosage that is recommended by the ”International basic safety standards.” On the question of who should take the KI, Wikipedia says that up to 500 miles around Cherynobyl people got thyroid cancer, so, I guess it follows that you'd have to be 500 km from Japan's reactors to get it.

Here are some quotes from Wikipedia on the topic: “The US Food and Drug Administration recommends 150 micrograms of iodine per day for both men and women.

“Iodine is a micro nutrient that is naturally present in the food supply of many regions. However, where natural levels of iodine are in the soil are low and the iodine is not taken up by vegetables, iodine added to salt provides the small but essential amount needed by humans.

“Iodized salt is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various iodine-containing salts. Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of mental retardation. The use of iodised salt is an efficient way to add iodine to the diet. Iodide-treated table salt slowly loses it’s iodine content by process of oxidation. When table salt comes into contact with the oxygen in the air (oxidation), it releases iodine.” (So open a fresh container of iodised salt and treat the whole dang family to the Salty Food Diet.)

A sailor friend tells of being on a sailboat somewhat near Chernobyl at the time. The gov't's official weather reports suddenly stopped reporting the accurate movements of the winds. The sailors knew the winds because they were watching closely and gathering weather news from other sources. If they had listened to official weather reports they would have sailed to France and gone into the plume. (Cue Bob Dylan: “Don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”) And the wind matters, Chernobyl poisoned the fruit trees in Greece and Turkey, and rain deer in Finland, sheep in Scotland, all depending on the wind drift of the plume.

For years, calm and smart people have been working to get Vermont to shut down the Nuclear Reactor that just like the one that exploded in Japan. Democracy Now reports both were built near the same time, by the same company GE, and with the same crapp-o design, with crap engineering on the too-small containment cooling part. Good thing that Vermont’s Governor Shumlin is committed to shutting down VT’s doppleganger nuke and creating a post-Yankee Comprehensive Energy Plan, complete with citizen input!

Usually I picture Homer Simpson when thinking about nuclear power plant employees. And so it happens, an earthquake and suddenly, “Doe-!Uh!” the cooling system doesn't work cause the power is off, and suddenly this incredibly complicated nuclear fission cooking process is overheating above 2200 degrees and water molecules rip apart and the hydrogen gathers out of the water (H20!) and KA-BOOM! Damn this is a complicated chemical process to be left in the hands of the Homer Simpsons, and worse, the Montgomery Burns of the world. There are reports that the Japanese plant owners waited too long before flooding the plant with salt water because it ruined their investment. Wow, a new low. Oh greedy people, please throttle back and live within the reality of our biologically-based world.

In terms of the Climate Crisis, humanity's excessive burning of fossil fuels may break the sky, and thus expose our soft skin to the radiation coming from our great nuclear Sun. The sky is so precious as our blast shield/sunglasses in cutting the sun’s nuclear glare. There may come a time in the future when people are taking potassium iodine as a daily dietary supplement to counteract the increased radioactivity of the world because of climate collapse. Boy, that’s a dire scenario instead of just early-adopting a green Solartopia future of clean Carbon-Neutral energy.

May the better angels of Humanity’s Nature lead us into a living future.

Eating to protect ourselves from the nuke soot

Here's some good wisdom on what to eat for antidote the nuclear fall-out from Japan.

This healing protocol for exposure to radiation came to me from a west coast healer via local healer Sandra Lory. Take this opportunity to review the protocol and incorporate some of these suggestions into your diet over the next weeks and months. Feel free to pass this along to friends and family.

Best, Annie McCleary, Director, Wisdom of the Herbs School

From Dori Midnight:

As you've probably heard, there may be some radiation moving across the pacific in the next weeks heading towards the west coast from Japan. To keep going, be alive, and not shut down, we need courage, nourishment, and support - make a pot of soup!

1. SEAWEED: eat nori, put wakame, kombu, and hijiki in your soups and stews. The iodine in kelp helps draw out the radiation and protect your thyroid from radioactive uptake.

2. MISO: good medicine full of live cultures, amino acids, minerals, and protein. I'd recommend making a big pot this week, having a bowl everyday and feeding it to all your friends- recipe follows.

3. MUSHROOMS: strengthen your immune system with some shitake mushrooms, sauteed or in soups.

4. Eat vegetables, especially DAIKON radishes and BURDOCK root- stick them in your soup too or make a shredded salad (recipe below). Daikon has been used for drawing out radiation, post nuclear fall out- it's cooling and detoxifying.

5. BATHS in epsom salt and baking soda (1 lb of salt, with a bit of baking soda 2x week)

6. DRINK lots of WATER

7. IMMUNE support: do the things you know boost your immune system- sleep well, eat garlic and Vitamin C rich foods, and go easy on the sugar.

8. LOVE: send prayers, love, healing thoughts for those who need it most. Instead of freaking out or shutting down, let your anger, fear, and grief flow- it's what makes us human and feel connected to what's going on in the world right now. Crying is a potent way to detox, friends.

9. HERBS: if you want to get herbal, some great allies are nettle tea, cilantro (eat a lot of it or take a tincture- it helps draw heavy metals out ), and milk thistle (helps your liver process toxins). Also Yarrow Environmental Essence from FES is a beautiful formula to support the body in environmental disasters.

RECIPES:
Magical Medicinal Miso Soup
Saute one onion, sliced thin, til translucent. Add water, seaweed of choice (I like Kombu and Wakame), shitake mushrooms (dried or fresh), burdock root, carrots, and any other hearty roots you like. Simmer for 25 minutes.
I like to add shredded or sliced ginger near the end, so it's strong, and some garlic, which I like really strong. You can also add greens, like kale or spinach. Simmer another 5 minutes.
Because you don't want to boil your miso, I usually put a large dollop of miso paste in my bowl and then pour the broth on top to dissolve it.
Drink and offer bowls to all your loved ones and neighbors, kiddos and pets, family and friends.

Get your Daikon
Easy Shredded Salad
Shred carrot and daikon radish (2-3 roots)
Mix with sesame oil and a little umeboshi vinegar (also a great medicine!), sesame seeds, whatever fresh herbs you've got on hand (I love mint or cilantro), and a little tamari. Eat and feel alive and well thanks to the plants, the sun, the water and the farmers.

Dori Midnight
community folk healing + magic + apothecary
www.dorilandia.com

http://midnightapothecary.blogspot.com

Annie McCleary, director

Wisdom of the Herbs School

1005 County Road

East Calais, Vermont 05650

802-456-8122

www.wisdomoftheherbsschool.com