Environmental Issues | Iowa Peace Network

Environmental Issues [news feeds]

Nukes--
On October 31, 2007 the UN General Assembly voted by 124-3 to again call on nuclear states to "decrease the operational readiness" of their nuclear weapons, which the United States, France and Great Britain voted against. Similarly, a UN resolution urging ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was recently adoped with 166 countries voting in favor and one against, guess who?--the US.
NukeWatch New Mexico newsletter Watchdog, Autumn 2007

Depleted Uranium
Depleted uranium (DU) is uranium primarily composed of the isotope uranium-238 (U-238). Natural uranium is about 99.27 percent U-238, 0.72 percent U-235, and 0.0055 percent U-234. Because U-235 is used for fission in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons, natural uranium is enriched in U-235 by separating the isotopes by mass. The byproduct of enrichment, called depleted uranium or DU, contains less than one third as much U-235 and U-234 as natural uranium, making it less radioactive due to the longer 4.5 billion year half-life of U-238. The external radiation dose from DU is about 60 percent of that from the same mass of natural uranium. Another less common source of DU is reprocessed spent nuclear reactor fuel, which can be distinguished from DU produced as a byproduct of uranium enrichment by the presence of U-236,^[1] produced in reactors. The UK government has attributed birth defect claims from a 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to DU poisoning,^[4]^[5] and studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents continue to suggest the possibility of leukemogenic, genetic, reproductive, and neurological effects from chronic exposure. Until such issues are resolved with further research, the use of DU by the military will continue to be controversial.^[6]

Hemp
Industrial hemp has thousands of potential uses, from paper to textiles to biodegradable plastics to health food to fuel but it has not been the great commercial success that the enthusiast hoped for in countries where it is legal to harvest. It is one of the fastest growing biomasses on the planet, and one of the earliest domesticated plants known. It also runs parallel with the "Green Future" objectives that are becoming increasingly popular. Hemp requires little to no pesticides, replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen, controls erosion of the topsoil, and produces lots of oxygen, considering how fast it grows. Furthermore, Hemp could be used to replace many potentially harmful products, such as tree paper (the process of which uses bleaches and other stoxic chemicals, apart from contributing to deforestation), cosmetics (which often contain synthetic oils that can clog pores and provide little nutritional content for the skin), plastics (which are petroleum based and cannot decompose), and more. Hemp seeds are highly nutritious, and contain beneficial omega fatty acids, amino acids, and minerals. The seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, sprouted, made into "milk" (akin to soy milk), prepared as tea, and used in baking. Hemp seed also contains 20% complete and highly-digestible protein,^[8] 1/3 as edestin protein and 2/3 as albumins. Its high quality amino acid composition is closer to "complete" sources of proteins (meat, milk, eggs) than all other oil seeds except quinoa and soy.^[