Some More Wild Ideas, On a Hybrid Theme

Are eco-friendly hybrids acceptable to activist communities; or will they end up pleasing nobody?

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019: Good afternoon from soggy Seattle, Climate Strikers! After wasting more time online recently in arguing with hardcore vegans, I've been thinking and wondering about hybrids and compromise versions of food products, machinery, and other items. Are some people too far gone in their activism to compromise with Depraved Omnivorous Heathens™ (DOH's) like yours truly; or is there, in fact, some middle ground between various communities with differing and opposing viewpoints? After all, "divide and conquer" is the primary tactic of the powers-that-be against people striving for positive change; if the people who want change keep hammering out differences amongst themselves and etching them in stone, nothing is going to change, or get done, over the long term. In particular, accusing omnivores of rape, murder, torture and sex trafficking; and demanding that we watch pro-vegan films like "Dominion" and "Cowspiracy", is not going to make us go off cheeseburgers any faster. But I digress. So, what ideas do I and others have that might help the climate and environment, and inspire ideological opponents to quit bashing each other over the head on social media?

1) Hybrid Dairy/Plant-Based Milk: Yes, hybrid dairy/almond milk is close to being a thing! It's sort of a half-and-half idea; almonds for the health and lower-fat factor (as well as reducing commercial dairy milk production), mixed with dairy milk which makes way better yogurt, ice cream and whatnot. It's still in beta mode, apparently; but it's on the way. Hybrid dairy/oat milk is in the design/pre-production mode as well.

2) Mixing Cattle Feed with Seaweed and Pasture Grazing for Methane Reduction: Believe it or not, that nasty red-tide algae, or some relative thereof, might actually have some use beyond turning your favorite fishing hole into a dead zone! Specifically, agricultural researchers are monitoring the methane-reducing capacity of a red algae known as Asparagopsis taxiformis by adding it to cattle feed in small amounts. Trouble is, the feedback from cows' focus groups indicated that the stuff tastes like shit. So, researchers had to add a bit of molasses to the mixture to make it more palatable. More small farmers are reverting to pasture-grazing their cows as well; but this has met with limited success in reducing recorded methane emissions thus far.

3) Boating Without Fossil Fuels Is All the Rage: As you know, Greta Thunberg is currently en route back to Europe, by sailboat (Australian catamaran, actually) once again, in fairly rough Atlantic seas; so we should devote some attention to fossil fuel-free boating options available today. Hybrid solar/sailing craft actually exist now! So do hybrid/electric boats, which have been around for a while. Fully electric "silent engines" on yachts are a fairly recent development. In any case, many exciting innovations are in the works, responding to the demand for clean energy propelling boat travel.

4) On Electric School Buses, The Power Can Go Both Ways: Here's some innovations that I may need to go back to school to comprehend: electric school buses in New York state not only run on battery power, they feed electricity back into the state's electric grid when not in use! These buses are part of a clean energy pilot program using a device called a bidirectional inverter. Several other states are slated to participate in the same or similar programs, as part of their governments' ambitious plans for carbon reduction. Electric buses cost significantly more than their diesel counterparts; but the benefits of vehicle-to-grid systems using school and transit buses may prove to offset the cost of the vehicles themselves.

Anyway, these are just a few of the hybrid-themed innovations getting off the ground as I type. Have you heard of any other cool new climate-friendly developments in the works? If so, leave a message here; or send me a message on Twitter, or something. Meanwhile, when I'm not struggling to create a teeshirt design that actually sells, I'll be looking up new climate action orgs to feature here, or on our StrikeMap. Happy Thanksgiving upcoming, to all who celebrate it (with or without turkey)!!