Synthstuff - music, photography and more...

Another Borlaug two-fer

Dr. Borlaug has been cropping up all over the web. First -- from Atomic Insights comes this story of one of Borlaug's contemporaries:

John Tjostem � GMOs & Atomic Fission Enable a Sustainable Future
During a discussion on Atomic Insights, I encountered a man whose recipes for a sustainable future need greater distribution. John Tjostem is an advocate of technologies that enable disruptive abundance and a more rewarding life for a growing portion of the world�s population.

After growing up on South Dakota farm in the 1930s and 1940s, where he began operating equipment and doing a man�s job almost as soon as he could reach the pedals and levers, Tjostem went to college at North Dakota State. He earned a Master of Science in microbiology and a PhD in botany with a focus on plant physiology. He taught at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa from 1962-2000 and has now �retired� to his family farm.

In the fall of 2011 and spring of 2012, he published a two part article in Agora titled A Recipe for a Sustainable Future, Part I and A Recipe for a Sustainable Future, Part II. Part I focuses on modern agriculture including the use of computerized spreaders that use precise GPS positioning systems and the use of biotechnology including genetically modified organisms (GMO). Part II describes nuclear energy as a clean, abundant energy source that can replace fossil fuels.

These thoughtful articles describe ways to use human ingenuity and sound science to provide abundant living for a growing portion of the world�s population, even in the face of a rapidly depleting supply of readily available hydrocarbons.

In part I, Tjostem takes aim at the �back to the land� agricultural system prescription offered people like Amory Lovins, Paul R. Erlich, Dennis L. Meadows, George Mobus, Jeremy Rifkin and Walter Youngquist.

Tjostem�s agricultural hero is Norman Borlaug, the Green Revolution icon and a man whose statue in the US Capitol building was just unveiled yesterday on what would have been his 100th birthday. The technology that Borlaung introduced is what enabled the world to avoid the mass starvation event that Erlich predicted.

Dr. Tjostem's articles are very well worth reading:

A Recipe for a Sustainable Future, Part I
A Recipe for a Sustainable Future, Part II

Second -- from the Iowa City, Iowa Press-Citizen:

Norman Borlaug statue unveiled at U.S. Capitol
The leaders of both Iowa and the nation celebrated the legend of Norman Borlaug, Iowa�s native son, at a ceremony today intended to honor the man credited with saving a billion people from starvation.

At the unveiling of a statue of Borlaug in the U.S. Capitol�s National Statuary Hall, members of Iowa�s Congressional delegation praised Borlaug for the impression he and his work left on the world, which they said would inspire numerous others to seek the next breakthrough in agriculture.

Iowa U.S. Reps. Bruce Braley, a Democrat, and Tom Latham, a Republican, praised Borlaug for the impression he and his work left on the world, inspiring numerous others to seek the next breakthrough in agriculture.

�As Norman would remind us, �our reward for our labors is not what we take from this planet, but what we give back,�� Democratic U.S Rep. Bruce Braley said.

Posted by DaveH at March 26, 2014 2:43 PM