Pubdate: Thu, 15 Dec 2005
Source: NOW Magazine (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 NOW Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nowtoronto.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/282
Author: Russell Barth
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)

HEMP SOLUTION TO POLLUTION

One way we can reduce greenhouse gases (NOW, December 8-14) that no one 
seems willing to discuss is to grow lots of hemp.

Hemp has over 25,000 industrial applications. The plant filters both the 
air and the soil as it grows, it needs none of the chemical fertilizers and 
pesticides of most other crops, and will grow on even marginal land.

We could make cheap ethanol fuel for cars from hemp, and throw 
clean-burning dried hemp into our coal-fired power plants. We could save 
trees by printing our newspapers on hemp, and use non-toxic, biodegradable 
hemp polymers to replace all our plastic needs.

But that would be stiff competition for Big Oil and Big Corn, who have a 
lot of stroke with our government, so it's no wonder we aren't doing it.

Russell Barth, Ottawa
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom