Gone Bay Area Bird-Watching And Mustard Seed Counting

Madrone Audubon Society, Sonoma County, California

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MST PARTNERS WITH SAN BERNABE VINEYARDS TO PLANT MUSTARD SEED FOR LOCALLY SUSTAINABLE BIODIESEL FUEL

Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) is taking an innovative first step to convert the MST fleet to operate using biodiesel. On Thursday, February 14, MST will enter the testing phase of the project by planting two varieties of mustard seed, Pacific Gold and Wild California, along with barley as a control, on 30 acres of land owned by San Bernabe Vineyards in south Monterey County. This test will determine which variety of mustard will produce the highest crop yield, and thus produce the most fuel.

“The mustard seed will be grown locally,” said MST’s General Manager/CEO Carl Sedoryk. “To our knowledge, MST will be the first public transit agency in the country – and perhaps the world – to sustainably produce biodiesel for fleet operations.” After planting, the crop requires little to no irrigation or tending, in contrast to other higher-maintenance biofuel crops such as corn. And, because mustard seed is planted as a “cover crop” during the off-season, it would not displace other commodity crops (i.e., corn, soybeans, etc.) nor drive up prices for food – recently cited as a potentially adverse impact of the biofuel industry. ...

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"Hundreds of leading scientists warned Thursday that global warming is accelerating beyond the worst predictions and threatening to trigger ''irreversible'' climate shifts on the planet.

Saying there's no excuse for inaction, the nearly 2,000 climate researchers meeting in Copenhagen urged policy-makers to ''vigorously'' implement the economic and technological tools available to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Their stark message came at the end of a three-day conference aimed at updating the findings of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change before U.N. talks in December on a new global climate treaty." ...

Associated Press "Scientists Warn of 'Irreversible' Climate Shifts" March 12, 2009

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Photo credits: (c) Norris Dyer for Madrone Audubon Society. Copyright controlled. (c) Monteray Salinas Transit. Copyright controlled. With thanks.