Entry #6 Being divided

Hey again. I want to talk about being divided. In this day and age, we have the solutions to several of our problems at our fingertips. Climate change research has shown technologies to reverse CO2 emissions, Thorium salt reactor and bioreactors can open up green power for much better results than standard methods, and sustainable farming practices could revitalize the food industry. But no progress has been made. This is because of the division sown into our society. Not all of the good ideas are getting to the people who need to hear them.

Current ideas about modern CO2 reabsorption boil down to planting a lot more trees. Even ignoring the surface level issue that algae are more potent at turning CO2 to breathable atmosphere than trees, there are more active approaches that aren't being given equal time. Advanced rock weathering is a simple technology where crushed limestone put into dirt can massively reduce CO2 in the air, trapping it at an accelerated rate. And there are ways of pulling CO2 out of the ocean as well. Running an electrical current through sea water can condense calcium carbonate into its solid form to pull CO2 out of the sea and reduce acidification.

Current green power ideas also need updating. Current solar and wind powers are exceptionally inefficient and don't easily work when their sources are withdrawn. On top of that they require large amounts of land cleared of nature which is terrible for visuals and a waste of resources. While nuclear energy would solve some of this, uranium reactors produce lots of toxic waste. However, Thorium salt reactors solve these problems. The salt, used to cool the thorium, produces a waste product that can safely be used for more fuel. However, for communities with more biowaste, or smaller communities, a green power house, aka a bioreactor may be more appropriate. CO2 is heated out of wood into an artificial swap which produces more material to heat. It's a clean circle with an electrical output. And the resulting component: biochar, leads into the next segment.

Current factory farming and large singular cropping is kneecapping our ability to grow food. Putting massive amounts of one crop in one place increases the amount of disease which increases the amounts of pesticides needed to keep the plants "safe". And the same thing applies to the factory farming of meat animals. With discoveries such as fungal networks and biochar, it's possible to not only repair soil damaged by pesticides, but it produces much more vibrant plants. The biochar acts as a surface while the fungi move nutrients around the plants. And in meat farming, allowing for open and rotating policies cut down massively on disease among livestock. Replicating natural livestock movements allows the animals to have naturally strengthened immune systems and makes their meat much better quality. However, the amount made is less, which leads into the issue.

All of these seem really great. So why aren't they being more widely adopted? The answer isn't hard to find: money.  But more specifically, short term growth. Current factory farms aren't healthy or moral, but they produce the largest volume of meat for the cheapest price most consistently. Nothing else matters to the large corps. That creates a massive incentive to keep other forms of handling these procedures from gaining enough of a share of the market to cut into their margins.

Large food companies lobby the government to make passing environmental legislature very difficult to pass. That's why lobbying exists. While they still hold as much power as they do, building momentum will be the biggest hurdle. And it's harder to get behind a movement that doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It also doesn't help that current progressive leaders could be out argued by Perry the platypus and have shady dealings. But isolated groups of people are starting to work together to try and work past the barriers in place to keep progress from happening. While we can help locally, we also need to help on a larger level by either holding our politicians accountable, or doing our best to find better leaders. That's assuming leaders are required in the first place though.