Biofuels, Mad Men, and Lobster Deaths

Biofuels

As researchers try desperately to create a more efficient biofuel production process, green groups are demanding biofuel mandates around the world.

According to Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis, producing biofuels using the current processes would waste global resources and endanger human lives.

“The world is not well-fed now, and the demand for food and feed on farmlands is expected to more than double by 2050. Requiring biofuel production on 250 million hectares would be a recipe for disaster. Indeed, putting the equivalent of one-sixth of current cropland off limits to food production represents a much bigger decline in global agricultural productivity than is anticipated from drought in high-end global warming scenarios.”

Mad Men

“Desperate Housewives” Actress Kathryn Joosten is asking the producers of “Mad Men” to add an anti-smoking disclaimer to the front of their episodes.

Director of Communications Christine Hall says that such a disclaimer is unecessary.

“It’s not as if viewers need to be enlightened on how ubiquitous chain-smoking might be culturally passé. In fact, the show’s popularity is attributable in large part to its 1960s aesthetic, its look back to the recent past. Why fret about excessive smoking in a show that’s referenced a host of ridiculously antiquated things, like a black-face minstrel show and rampant misogynist and anti-homosexual attitudes? In any case, who these days remains unaware that smoking is a major risk factor for health woes such as lung cancer and heart disease?”

Lobster Deaths

A handful of researchers are claiming that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is responsible for the deaths of lobsters in Long Island and New England.

Director of Risk and Environmental Safety Angela Logomasini debunks these anti-BPA claims.

“With BPA already in the headlines, Hans Laufer–professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Connecticut–was sure to gain attention with his claims that BPA pollution might also be affecting lobster health. He maintains that BPA, along with other chemicals, creates stresses that reduce lobster resistance to the disease. While it is important to investigate all possible factors, Laufer has been playing up his ‘findings’ with some highly questionable claims.”