Climate change is undeniable. It is as provable as is the statement that earth is more round than flat.

What is arguable is the reason for the change, whether the predicted changes will be good or bad, what and who causes the change, and what can be done to counter the negative effects of climate change.

Your humble blogger has developed an idea perhaps rising to the level of an hypothesis, but not yet a theory.

We believe we have learned the real reason the climate is changing and who is responsible.

And what we need to do to not only slow the adverse effects, but actually REVERSE Climate Change. To run the climate change movie backwards.

Follow this post for the next while and you may learn things you never heard before.

But we want your feedback. Constructive criticism, thoughtful questions, and your willingness to share in this quest for useful knowledge are welcome.

Also needed will be viewers willing to watch a few sacred sheep get slaughtered.

In our last posting viewer cat_train2 asked the simple question of what is the cost per kilowatt hour to the ratepayer for the proposed wind power.

The simple answer is 9.7 cents.

Assuming cat_train2 and others would like some context, here goes:

Currently Chugach Electric Association, CEA, uses power from dammed water sources in both Homer and Eklutna as well as a few other small sources in between.

Their cost of that energy is between 3 and 4 cents for the same kilowatt hour.

Their current cost using natural gas is 6.5 to 7 cents per kwh.

Fire Island lying just offshore from Anchorage is poised for remarkable alternative energy projects.

The reasons are at least twofold. The massive Anchorage energy market is within swimming distance and the Alaska Legislature funded an expensive transmission line from the island to the mainland electrical line.

Regardless of how electrical energy is produced at Fire Island it will now be able to find its' way to market.

Yakutat seems to be a thinking town when it comes to a pending energy crisis.

Yakutat, as a community, has had meetings over the last number of years exploring alternative energy sources.

Studies Yakutat has done include: 1) Conservation and upgrades. Better insulation, windows, etc. require less energy.

2) Core Diesel Plant: Decision was to keep the tried and true for the present although it is incredibily expensive. Study explored ways to make it more efficient, but keeping it as a backup allows some experimentation with other energy sources.

Our last posting touched on Yakutat's proposed capture of electrical energy from the motion of the ocean.

No more increasingly expensive diesel fuel. How real could this be?

Very real. The energy of the waves coming onto just the southern coast line of Alaska equals 300 times the energy consumed in our entire state!

The energy to run every car, every fishing boat, all the airplanes from super cubs to military jets; heat every single house, office building, bar, church, and jail in the whole state. Three hundred times over.

From the high mountain desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Yakutat, the recognized surfing capitol of Alaska, comes a plan to harvest perpetually free alternative energy. Energy generated by the waves that currently make local and international surfers happy.

Useable electric energy is transferred to shore without further use of diesel fuel. Payback time is only a few years before energy is free.

And not only financially free, but environmentally free as well. There seems to be no downside when it comes to counting the effects on nature.

Quality mushrooms can taste almost meaty. Melded into a juicy hamburger they add another layer of flavor.

In yet one more example of how good food comes from the magical world of good soil, and how good soil helps the world, we are seeing a collaboration of world experts setting up an experiment, using mushrooms from fungal mycelium, to clean up radiation at the recently failed nuclear plants in Japan.

Old pizza boxes, yard debris, fallen fence boards, raggedy cotton jeans, “unrecyclable paper,” scrap pallets, horse manure and virtually any organic material is about to find a new recycle market right here in Alaska.

And any size material will work from a whole cottonwood tree to the cork from a wine bottle.

Organic matter is just about anything made from a plant or animal. Now it can be locally pyrolyzed into biochar which is charcoal made to be permanently placed in the soil. Usually the soil of a farmer or gardener.

Our listing for local farms and CSAs as well as RESOURCES (to the right on this blog) are both out of date.

Contact us below for inclusion on both these lists. We will be calling around but it would be more complete and faster if you contacted us.

We Alaskans need quality local food and we need to know how to contact you.

There promises to be useful information from this blog to help you grow better and bigger crops with less to no expensive chemical fertilizers.

Saving money while you save the planet and grow better food should be of interest to both you and your customers.

Modern agriculture has brought more food to more people than thought possible back in the day of Malthus. He predicted either mass starvation or other calamity because of too many humans on earth.

The original “green revolution” was actually about increasing food production through replacing farm beasts of burdens with internal combustion machines. And as horses were replaced with tractors it was discovered that unused bombs and certain munitions were able to be converted to chemical fertilizers.

Charcoal barbeque can bring together good food, good people, and good times. It is the end of the food cycle. But using charcoal at the beginning of the food cycle may provide benefits of global proportions including permanent soil fertilization, permanent carbon sequestration, and production of sustainable biofuel. We will focus on the direct benefit to sustainable gardeners, that of permanent soil fertilization, by applying charcoal at the planting stage…or even before planting…at the soil building stage.

Dear Foodies,
After coming down with a case of Column Neglect, may I please introduce you to our new blogger, Pete Kinneen.

Check out his 1st installment, ta da!

Denser taste and denser nutrition food is born from healthy soil.
Not all food travels well so locally grown has a taste advantage ranging from somewhat noticeable to dramatic.

Dear Foodies,
This is one of those wonderful stories--breeding a dwarf, multi-colored popcorn for Alaska conditions. Coming together like a vortex are elementary students, a dedicated teacher, UAF University assistance, and a willing variety of CORN.

Soon you may be able to pop, and perhaps even grow, your own delicious Alaska-grown popcorn. You'll be buying it from the students who are now developing a business plan.

Please copy & paste in this link from the Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010 blog from SNRAS:
http://http://snras.blogspot.com/2010/09/popcorn-what-way-to-learn.html

Hello, dear Local Food Enthusiasts,
This lovely blog spot needs YOU!

So much is happening with local harvest, food security, new farmers markets, and...

I'd like YOU to consider becoming our new blogger.

Why? I have fallen behind and know you have so much more to offer.
How about it?

If you are seriously interested, please contact me thru my website, www.goodearthgardenschool.com
Please put ADN Blog in the subject line.

Meanwhile, enjoy the wonderful bounty and abundance that overflows this time of year.

Hello, dear Foodies,
This is amazing news! There is such an awakening of interest about local food and food security that a broad-based council has formed, and meets this week. Can you join the action in some way to bring forth all concerns in the exploratory discussions?

The Alaska Food Policy Council

Hey, Dear Foodies,

What if you want local food, but there are more eaters than food?

Aha! We need more GROWERS!

There is no better way to insure safe, tasty, local food for Alaska –than training more small-scale market gardeners.

A new course at Mat-Su College offers to do just that.
Would you like some income from growing some extra vegetables? Do you know of others who would like to grow and sell? If so, this is the place to learn, hands-on, about:

…avoiding pitfalls
…choosing labor-saving equipment
…growing secrets
…sustainable strategies

Dear Readers,

C’mon down—for FREE!

Kathy just picked up the tab for you at the Wednesday Night Movie at Terra Bella Bakery Café in Anchorage. This week, the film is The Future of Food by Deborah Garcia. I’ll give you some details in a minute.

Hearty Greetings, Dear Locavores…
and Lovers of Real Food, Safe Food, Local Food, and Nourishing Food,

As you know, there's much astir right now at the national level that is shaping food policy in a way that is hostile to the organic and local food movements. As we start the new year, it is a great time to jump in and make your voice heard.

Yes, I know it is easy to feel defeatist and squashed. But truly it is time to muster resolve—to make our views and concerns known, and to support positive efforts. So how to best make your single voice heard? Simple! Become a husky dog! You’ve seen our canine companions demonstrate the perfect technique. One husky starts the chorus, others gleefully join in, and soon the pack howl dominates the air waves for miles.

Hello Dear Readers,
here is golden opportunity to see and discuss a great film on local food issues, or to host this in YOUR community. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
Please join us for a showing of a fabulous documentary, INGREDIENTS, about local foods.

December 20th, 2009 U.A.A. Rasmuson Hall, Room 101, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. $5 Suggested Donation Proceeds benefit the Food Bank of Alaska

ABOUT TH E FI LM :
INGREDIENTS explores a thriving local food movement as our world becomes a more flavorless, disconnected, and dangerous place to eat. The film takes us across the United States; from urban food deserts to heavily diversified farms to the kitchens of celebrated American chefs.