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Scientific American on Californians striking down Prop. 37 Not even an earnest plea from Michael Pollan was enough to get the initiative that would've required all genetically modified food to be labeled to pass in California. But Scientific American's Christie Wilcox says the results shouldn't upset proponents of sustainable food. "The simple fact is that there is no evidence that GMOs, as a blanket group, are dangerous," she writes. "Every plant created with genetic technology contains a different modification. More to the point, if the goal is to know more about what’s in your food, a generic GMO label won’t tell you." Those who wanted to see GMO food labeled in grocery stores don't agree, though, and they've taken labeling matters into their own hands.
The New York Times on peanut farmers faring well Almost half the peanuts grown in the U.S. come from Georgia, a state that has seen its agriculture sector hit hard by peanut recalls and uncertainties associated with climate change. But lately, things have been going pretty well for Southern peanut farmers according to The New York Times' Kim Severson. "The amount of farmland in Georgia planted with peanuts this year jumped to 730,000 acres, compared with 475,000 last year," she writes. "Although the harvest is just winding down, the national peanut crop report from October showed that more than 6.1 billion pounds will be harvested this year, compared with about 3.6 billion last year. The yields are especially good in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Georgia, where the main crop is a variety called runner peanuts."
Clean Technica on new LEDs Writing for Clean Technica, lighting consultant Jennifer Shockley says that many of her clients are put off by more sustainable lighting options because of aesthetic factors like the bulbs being ugly or the light having a different quality. That's why she's so thrilled about SWITCH Lighting's new LED model, complete with a bulb that looks like standard incandescents and shines similarly. "With SWITCH’s new LED bulbs, the arguments that customers refer to are no longer valid," Shockley writes. "They have no concrete ground on why they won’t purchase the new bulbs once the price is just as equivalent as the design."
Reuters on the new nor'easter "Again?" asks everyone on the East Coast who still hasn't fully recovered from Sandy yet. "Yes, again," answer meteorologists. A nor'easter is currently bringing snowfall upon the Eastern seaboard, and could end up exacerbated damage wreaked by Sandy just over a week ago. "Some 650,000 homes and businesses still lacked power in the region from one of the biggest and costliest storms ever to hit the United States," write Reuters reporters Daniel Trotta and Karen Freifeld. They note that over 1,200 flights were cancelled as a result, and the most vulnerable areas of New York and New Jersey were evacuated again.
The Wall Street Journal on Japan going rogue on climate change The Kyoto Protocol, one of the most important international agreements about greenhouse gas emissions, bears the name of a Japanese city. But now, the country is taking a course that differs sharply from many other nations. Countries will be meeting in Doha, Qatar later this month to re-pledge their commitment to a pact hammered out in South Africa last year, but Japan will be a no-show. Not that it's ignoring climate change entirely—it's just choosing to work bilaterally with Indonesia and a few other Asian countries on the issue, rather than aligning with more global efforts. "Japan and Indonesia plan to sign an agreement by the end of the year to adopt a carbon-dioxide-offset credit system and put it into practice from April 2013," write Wall Street Journal correspondents Mari Iwata and I Made Sentata. "A similar plan with Vietnam is at an advanced stage of discussion, and Japanese officials have also been explaining the system to counterparts in India."
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