[SustainableTompkins] voting and pest control

[Marlo Cappocia]

hi all,
i have two questions.  first, what do you guys make of the republican 
response to the peak oil issue?  didn't it seem as if his response was the 
most thoughtful?

second, we are having ongoing pest problems in our tenant's house.  they 
currently have rats and the pest control person is giving them poison.  i'm 
pretty ok with this as i cannot tolerate rats in their house, but further 
suggestions would be great.  the problem with more longevity seems to be 
cluster flies and stink bugs.  they get moderate to terrible infestations, 
especially of the stink bugs which literally cover the outer wall of the 
house and migrate heavily inside.  before we moved here they just sprayed 
for pests like this, but i really don't want to do that.  there is a tree 
outside, i'm forgetting the name, that attracts the stink bugs and though 
we've considered cutting them down (there are several) they are not only on 
our property and they are very expensive to remove.

i've done a bit of research on it, but can only find solutions involving 
chemicals.  i looked up the MSDS on one that i heard was fairly innocuous 
(pyrethrin), but it still looked unsafe to me.

what natural pest control can we explore for cluster flies and stink bugs?

thanks so much, everyone.
-marlo

At 08:58 AM 11/4/2006 -0500, you wrote:
> >From our friends in Peak Oil Awareness / Central New York.
>
>Jon
>
>==================================================================
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>Press contacts: Jason Brenno 607.693.2013
>                 Eugene Marner 607.829.8451
>
>CITIZENS' GROUP URGES CANDIDATES IN 24TH CD TO ACKNOWLEDGE PEAK OIL
>
>PRESENTATIONS ON THE GROWING CRISIS MADE TO ALL THREE CAMPAIGNS
>
>With the support of the Peak Oil Awareness / Central New York
>(POA_CNY) discussion group, member Jason Brenno of Harpursville
>contacted the campaigns of each of the three candidates for
>Congress in the 24th Congressional District.  Mr. Brenno was able
>to make presentations to the key staff of both Mike Arcuri, the
>Democrat, and Ray Meier, the Republican, explaining the importance
>of beginning now to take steps to deal with the imminent peaking
>of global production of oil and natural gas and the permanent
>decline of supplies that will follow the peak.  Jon Bosak of
>TCLocal (formerly the Tompkins County Relocalization Project) made
>a similar presentation to Mike Sylvia, the Libertarian candidate.
>
>Each candidate was sent several statements from U.S. Government
>and oil industry sources, including the following from the
>U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and from a study made for the
>Department of Energy:
>
>    The doubling of oil prices from 2003-2005 is not an anomaly,
>    but a picture of the future. Oil production is approaching its
>    peak; low growth in availability can be expected for the next 5
>    to 10 years. As worldwide petroleum production peaks,
>    geopolitics and market economics will cause even more
>    significant price increases and security risks.  One can only
>    speculate at the outcome from this scenario as world petroleum
>    production declines. The disruption of world oil markets may
>    also affect world natural gas markets since most of the natural
>    gas reserves are collocated with the oil reserves.... The days
>    of inexpensive, convenient, abundant energy sources are quickly
>    drawing to a close.... World oil production is at or near its
>    peak and current world demand exceeds the supply.
>
>       Energy Trends and Their Implications for U.S. Army
>       Installations.  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, September 2005
>
>    The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the
>    world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking
>    is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will
>    increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the
>    economic, social, and political costs will be
>    unprecedented. Viable mitigation options exist on both the
>    supply and demand sides, but to have substantial impact, they
>    must be initiated more than a decade in advance of peaking.
>
>       Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and
>       Risk Management.  SAIC report to the U.S. Department of
>       Energy, February 2005
>
>Mr. Brenno asked the candidates to provide to the group a written
>statement that acknowledges the urgency of the Peak Oil question
>and commits to do the following:
>
>    1. Publicly recognize the seriousness of the problem and work
>       to begin preparations.
>
>    2. Seek membership on one of the House energy committees and
>       join the House Peak Oil Caucus.
>
>    3. Dedicate competent staff resources to studying mitigation
>       options.
>
>    4. Work with a non-partisan peak oil group comprised of
>       concerned citizens in the 24th District that is open to any
>       US citizen residing in the 24th District, to assist
>       congressional staff in educating themselves and constituents
>       on energy resource issues.
>
>The campaign of Mike Arcuri, the Democratic candidate, sent the
>following response:
>
>    As a member of Congress, Mike Arcuri will seek bipartisan
>    solutions to America's energy problems. He will study the
>    issues, and will dedicate staff resources to this end. He
>    believes that America needs an energy plan that helps protect
>    our environment, and takes into account that oil and gas are
>    finite resources.
>
>State Senator Ray Meier, the Republican candidate, replied:
>
>    Studies have shown that we have reached and probably have
>    passed the peak of world oil production.  Assuming that this is
>    true, this means less than half of the world's oil reserve is
>    left in the Earth.  The United States consumes 25% of all oil
>    used in the world, while we only have about 2% of the world's
>    remaining oil supply.  Therefore, we import much more than we
>    produce for ourselves.  We must immediately use conservation
>    and energy efficiency to reduce our demand for oil.
>    Alternative and renewable energy sources must begin to replace
>    oil -- oil that we are not going to have as we move further
>    away from 50% of remaining oil in the Earth toward zero
>    percent.  The high cost of oil and gas is particularly
>    burdensome for Upstate New Yorkers, farmers, and businesses.
>    Therefore, to keep jobs in Upstate and wean ourselves off of
>    oil and gas dependency, we should work together to develop
>    low-cost, alternative sources of energy.  As Congressman, I
>    would like to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee,
>    which will result in my staff for this committee dedicating a
>    substantial amount of time to addressing energy issues.  In
>    addition, I will look to join fellow House members, either via
>    a Caucus or other means, to promote energy research and
>    development and to encourage the increased production and
>    consumption of alternative sources of energy.  Lastly, I would
>    like to form an Upstate New York energy focus group that
>    consists of a range of interested persons, including Upstate
>    New York elected officials, conservationists, scientists,
>    inventors, agricultural interests, and members of the local
>    business community, and others to work toward helping Upstate
>    New York to be the frontrunner in alternative energy
>    production.
>
>Mike Sylvia, the candidate of the Libertarian Party for the 24th
>CD seat, responded as follows:
>
>    I understand that preparing for problems relating to Peak Oil
>    will take decades. In order to avoid a worst case outcome, we
>    need to focus on starting work very soon.  I am very interested
>    in studying mitigation options and will seek membership on
>    House energy committees.  I will also join the House Peak Oil
>    Caucus. I will commit staff to research this issue in alliance
>    with a non-partisan group which includes citizens of the 24th
>    District.
>
>For more information on Peak Oil and the relocalization of
>economies, please visit POA_CNY at yahoogroups.com and join the
>discussion group.  Or contact Jason Brenno at sjbrenno at yahoo.com
>or 607.693.2013.
>
>[People in Tompkins County are invited to visit the TCLocal site
>at http://www.tclocal.org or to contact the TCLocal editor, Jon
>Bosak (bosak at ibiblio dot org).]
>
>
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