Cannabis and the Fossil Fuel Industry

 

 

 'Bush is a natural born loser with a filthy rich daddy who pimped his son out to rich oilmongers. He hates music, football, and sex, in no particular order, and he is no fun at all.'

 - Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Hunter S Thompson


If opium is the hydra of the medicine and intoxicant world, then fossil fuels are the hydra of the energy world. Fossil fuels consist of coal, oil and natural gas. Once humans discovered how they could tap into the energy of fossil fuels, these fuels - buried deep in the ground, and created as a result of geological pressures on organic material over millions of years - soon propelled humanity into an exponential phase of industrial and economic activity. Coal powered the Industrial Revolution. Oil has powered the 20th century, and natural gas appears to be powering the 21st century. Unimaginable feats that were beyond the power of humans could now be achieved with relative ease. The world shrank and even outer space was not out of range. The persons who controlled the fossil fuels ruled and controlled the world. While Europe's development during the Industrial revolution was fueled by coal, the global development of rich nations have been fueled by oil. The oil-producing nations have become rich beyond their wildest dreams in a relatively short period of about fifty years. All this power and energy production has aided a small fraction of the world's population - who have access to and consume fossil fuels - to gain control over the rest of the world.

The fossil fuel hydra has many heads. Coal is the biggest source of fuel for thermal power, and thermal power is the biggest source of electricity across the world. A majority of the world's nations burn coal to produce electricity, thus powering their economic activity. Even though the downstream systems powered by electricity appear sophisticated and technologically advanced, even in the most developed countries of the world it is the burning of coal that fuels these new developments. Coal is also burned by the mining industry to produce iron and steel by smelting iron ore. Fly-ash - the byproduct of coal combustion in thermal power plant - is used to make concrete and cement for the construction industry. Oil is used to produce the fuels that power the transportation sector on land, sea and air. Oil powers the movement of nearly all things across the world. The petrochemicals produced as a result of refining crude oil to produce transportation fuels serve as raw materials: for the non-biodegradable plastics industry; for the chemical pesticide and fertilizer industry; for the synthetic fibers and fabric industry; and, if I am not mistaken, for the synthetic pharmaceutical industry. Natural gas is used for more or less the same purposes that oil is used for i.e. fueling the transportation section, besides being used for cooking and industrial purposes.

So, fossil fuels have spurred the growth of the following industries - thermal power, construction, mining, transportation, non-biodegradable plastics, synthetic fibers and fabrics, chemical pesticide and fertilizer, and the synthetic pharmaceutical industry, among others. In addition to the fossil fuel industry itself, each of these industries are behemoths by themselves. Together these industries make up the largest industries in the world today. Why, ignoring each industry as a whole, even certain individual companies within each industry are humongous.  Vox reports that 'It’s [Saudi Aramco] not just the world’s largest oil company, with nearly four times the market capitalization of ExxonMobil; it’s the fourth-mightiest of all companies, shaping economies around the world. And as a mostly state-run enterprise under an autocratic regime, Saudi Aramco isn’t as swayed by activists or shareholders as a fully investor-owned company like Exxon.' A majority of the world's richest persons are from these industries. All the so-called 'developed' nations have grown tremendously using fossil fuel as their primary source of energy. Now each of the 'undeveloped' nations desires to do the same. While coal and natural gas are found in many nations, the oil-producing nations are few. Most nations of the world depend on these few to provide them with the oil for their individual energy needs. Hence, the oil-producing nations are some of the wealthiest nations in the world. Wars have been fought many times over the control of oil.

Fossil fuels - as the primary source of energy -  have been responsible for the exponential growth of human activity in the last 200 years or so. If we look at a graph of human economic activity over time, we will see a hockey-stick shaped graph from the time that fossil fuels entered the picture. As fossil fuels based energy has opened out new horizons in terms of what humans can do, the wants and desires of the human race have also increased. Humans have started devouring the natural resources of the earth in proportions many times greater than what their needs demand, and many times greater than what the earth can sustain.

The extent to which humans have indulged in fossil fuels in the last century or so means that, today, many parameters that indicate the state of life on earth have breached their limits - limits beyond which the entire life on earth is under dire threat, and not just humans. Let us examine a few: the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached levels unknown to civilized man; the average global temperatures today have not been known for the last 12,000 years which were the stable period for human growth; our air, water and land have been polluted with non-biodegradable plastics that have entered the food chain at all levels; non-biodegradable plastics contain nearly 16,000 chemicals, out of which not even 1/3 have been assessed regarding their level of hazard; chemical fertilizers and pesticides have polluted land and water to such extents that many areas can no longer sustain humans or other life forms; the construction industry has added so much concrete to the earth that the total weight of concrete added will soon be greater than the total weight of all organic matter on earth; chemical fertilizers and pesticides have powered a few resource intensive agricultural crops, at the expense of numerous other sustainable crops and crop diversity; the cost of plastic and polymer pollution borne by low and middle income countries is ten times higher than high income countries; the production, usage and disposal of the products of the synthetic fabric and fiber industry have created vast problems for the environment. BBC reports that 'However, Emily Elhacham of the Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues recently attempted to give it a shot. Their goal was to better understand humanity's impact during the Anthropocene by totting up the weight of all inanimate human-made objects on Earth. As part of their calculations, they found that concrete accounts for around half of all human-made things – the single biggest category of anthropogenic material. And if its rate of growth continues, it will overtake the total weight of Earth's biomass sometime around 2040. Try to picture that in the mind's eye: there is a day approaching soon when there will be a greater weight of concrete on Earth than every single tree in every forest, every fish in every sea, every farm animal in every field, and every person alive right now.'

The fossil fuel industry has created a world of use and throw. Whereas, in the pre-fossil fuel days, anything produced took time and effort and was used till it had to be replaced, today we produce, consume and discard everything in a fraction of the time. This is because the cost and time of creating a product has come down drastically as compared to before. Natural materials have been replaced by synthetic materials that cost a fraction, and humans have devoured them. The main reason for this is the error in judging the true value of things. While it costs a fraction to make a product out of non-biodegradable plastic rather than natural materials, the underlying cost to the earth and life on earth - in terms of natural resources that have been depleted to arrive at the synthetic product and the subsequent cost of pollution - is never seen. A report said that $3.7 trillion was the cost of pollution by non-biodegradable plastics and polymers in India in 2023 alone. While the bulk of humanity struggles to meet its basic needs of food, water, clothing and shelter, the small fraction that form the elite and upper classes of the human race produces and discards more than it can consume. The discarded products accumulate all over the earth as trash which the earth cannot digest and recycle back because humans have taken things in their natural form and converted them to unnatural forms that are alien to the earth's scavenging processes.

With all this, life on earth is now faced with a crisis on an unprecedented scale that threatens its existence - fossil fuel induced global warming and climate change. For more than four decades now, leaders of humanity have been getting together to debate solutions even as the warnings from the scientific community and nature have grown more and more louder. But no progress that has been made in terms of addressing the root cause of the problem. The addiction to fossil fuels is so deeply entrenched in many sections of humanity that to consider an alternate way of life seems unthinkable to them, since it means the postponement of instant gratification. For many others, the problem itself does not exist as they live a life cocooned in their synthetic creations, completely oblivious of the rapid deterioration of nature which sustains the cocoon. The fossil fuel industry, and allied industries, have grown so wealthy and powerful that they resist all attempts to correct the situation. These industries determine who the policymakers are and what policies they make.  

About 200 years ago, when opium and fossil fuels were emerging as the preferred choices for meeting the internal and external energy needs of humans, there was a third entity that had been around for a very long time, one that had enabled humans to utilize the earth's resources diligently and sustainably. This was cannabis. Till about 200 years ago, cannabis was a key energy source for human economic development. Cannabis was grown as an agricultural crop without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Cannabis was used for fibers and fabrics. Cannabis was used as construction material. Cannabis was used to make products that have now been replaced by non-biodegradable plastics. More than anything else, the usage of cannabis by humans internally, rather than externally, was one of the key reasons why humans lived sustainably taking only as much as they needed from the earth. Cannabis-fueled human energy created a sustainable and beautiful world. Cannabis brought contentment and reduced the desire to acquire and consume more. Cannabis was a renewable source of energy that healed the earth even as it was cultivated and produced. The byproducts of cannabis were gladly consumed by the earth and other life forms to sustain themselves. All the reasons that made cannabis a more sustainable and healthy alternative to fossil fuels for energy were the very same reasons why cannabis was prohibited. This enabled the fossil fuel industry to grow and flourish to the extent that it has today.

The fossil fuel industry, along with its allied industries, contribute to the bulk of the greenhouse gas emissions globally. The primary greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - are all products of fossil fuel combustion. Carbon dioxide - which had between 180 to 280 parts per million in the atmosphere for about 800,000 years - now has more than 420 parts per million in the space of just a 100 years with the concentrations only going up. Even though the heat-trapping properties of methane and nitrous oxide are much greater than that of carbon dioxide, these gases are currently found in lesser concentrations than carbon dioxide. Having said that, with the push to use natural gas as an alternative to coal and oil, what appears on the surface to be a shift to a cleaner energy source is, in fact, in the long term an even greater recipe for disaster. Vox reports that 'As for the villains, the energy industry as well as environmental groups found a common adversary in methane. It’s about 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. It’s the dominant component of natural gas, so producers do have an incentive to limit its leaks since it’s a salable product. At COP28, dozens of oil and gas firms committed to ending their methane pollution by 2050. Simply reducing methane output by 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030 could avert 0.2°C of warming (0.36°F) by 2050. But methane is colorless and odorless, making it hard to detect where it’s escaping, and estimates of its emissions vary widely.' The hypocrisy of this surface level appearance of working towards clean energy is also evident in the way that electrification is viewed as a means of addressing the harms of fossil fuels. Electricity based transportation is touted as a panacea for the greenhouse gas emissions of the transportation sector. The fact that more than 60% of electricity is generated through the burning of coal in thermal power stations appears to be lost on most people. In the push towards electrification of transport, countries like India and China - two of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases along with the US of A - are building more coal-based thermal power stations, and increasing their consumption of coal. Only when energy sources are based on nuclear or renewable technologies like wind and solar will electrification be relatively green.

In our desire to expend the energy tapped from fossil fuels to produce, consume and discard more and more, and with increasing activity to become richer and richer, we have violated the earth in many ways. The earth is heating up like never before to temperatures unknown to modern human experiences. How you handle the situation is now a challenge. You could go to a cooler place. You could go to a hotter place, and then come back so that you appreciate how much better your situation is, as compared to others. But all this involves moving around - which is one of the primary reasons why fossil fuels have contributed so much to global warming in the first place. Moving around is also an option that only the privileged - who brought about this situation - can afford. What about the majority of the world's humans - the billions of poor and working classes, besides all the other life forms on earth - who had nothing to do with the decisions that the elites have made to become richer and more powerful, but who suffer a living hell for no fault of their own and who have no say in what is decided with regard to their fate? What then is the solution to possibly the greatest threat faced by humanity and all life on earth? Collectively, we are at a loss in terms of what needs to be done. Electricity from nuclear and renewable energy sources will only address one part of the problem. What about the damage caused across the board by all the industries associated with the fossil fuel industry - non-biodegradable plastics, synthetic fabrics and fibers, chemical pesticide and fertilizers, synthetic pharmaceuticals, construction, etc.? Numerous solutions and strategies have been proposed, and almost all of them involve newer, more sophisticated approaches that themselves will only contribute to the problem, making it worse, or take time frames that are too long considering the level of urgency of the situation. The level of urgency today means that we need to address multiple areas that are the source of the problem. Global leaders, however, have been going around in circles without having a comprehensive strategy that will slow down fossil fuel emissions, let alone address the problem of the already polluted air, land and water. The main reason for the ineffectiveness and lethargy of policymakers to make meaningful changes is, I believe, the power and influence that the fossil fuel industry exerts on policy and decision makers across the world.

Cannabis has the potential to address the problem at multiple levels - sourcing, manufacture, usage and disposal - and across multiple fronts. It can not only make the future sustainable, it has the potential to clean up - at least to a significant extent - the already polluted air, land and water. Cannabis can address not just fossil fuels, but also the allied industries. Here's how. Cannabis is a source of bio-fuels than can reduce the use of fossil fuels to power transportation. Cannabis can be used to produce bio-degradable plastics that can replace petrochemical-based non-biodegradable plastics. Cannabis can be used to produce natural fibers and plastics that can replace the synthetic fiber and fabric industry. Cannabis as construction material represents a biodegradable option to concrete for the construction industry. Cannabis was traditionally cultivated organically with minimal water and zero use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Cannabis as medicine can replace a whole array of synthetic petrochemical-based pharmaceutical medicines. If cannabis is grown across the globe as an agricultural crop, the plant can sequester carbon dioxide from the air. Cultivating cannabis improves soil health, as the plant is an anti-oxidant and bio-accumulator, removing contaminants from the soil and improving soil health. Hemp Industry Daily reports that 'To put it plainly, hemp is a bioaccumulator. It’s really good at absorbing heavy metals and can absorb a vast range of compounds from the soil – including radioactive elements, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, explosives and fuel. These bioaccumulative properties are one of hemp’s superepowers.' The biomass generated from cannabis can be used in the animal feed industry, thus reducing the practice of crop stubble burning which is itself another major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Cannabis is a renewable crop that can be grown twice a year, even in water-stressed places. Thus, cannabis can address the problem at multiple levels, bring down the footprint of the fossil fuel industry, and its allied industries. New Frontier Data reports that 'Hemp could challenge fossil-fuel-based products in a range of areas: Innovations in hemp-based bioplastics and biofuels (spurred by falling production costs) will lead to hemp-based products’ challenging petroleum-based products, including (as is already being done) BMW vehicle interiors.' Forbes reports that 'The U.S. hemp-derived CBD market alone is projected to reach $450 million by 2020, and China's cannabis market could grow to 100 billion yuan by 2022 (approximately $14.5 billion). Hemp is already interwoven into the futures of the automotive, construction, energy, environmental mediation and technology industries. Once fully utilized and legal, this plant could impact the global economic positionings of North America, China and Africa.'

I think the main cause of the problem is the human mindset that demands the use of unsustainable energy to acquire and possess more and more, much more than what is sufficient for human survival and well-being. Cannabis usage will increase the levels of contentment in society, thus reducing the craving to burn more energy for more destructive economic activity. Cannabis can even ease the current suffering of humans and other species that are experiencing the blazing heat of fossil fuel induced climate change. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95, found as a part of its study, that persons who consumed cannabis were able to work in even the most hot and humid conditions without suffering heatstroke. The Commission states that "The 'cooling and refreshing' cup of bhang taken by the well-to-do, especially in the hot weather, to stimulate their energies and to create an appetite for food is frequently in evidence. Some of the most intelligent and enterprising classes of the community are among those who thus use bhang.'  One witness to the Hemp Commission states that in parts of Dacca, where large numbers of the labouring classes who used cannabis regularly toiled in the heat and humidity, "sunstroke and fever were almost unknown among them". Smoking ganja or drinking bhang cools down and refreshes a person. One of the popular names for the bhang drink, thandai, means 'cooling drink'. The findings of the Hemp Commission can be corroborated by any cannabis user. I have found myself enveloped in a blanket of coolness (including a cool wrap for the mind), even in the most hot and trying conditions, after I have smoked a joint. The heat stops affecting me after that. Jack Kerouac describes this cooling effect of cannabis in his book, On the Road, when he writes that 'Victor proceeded to roll the biggest bomber anybody ever saw. He rolled (using brown bag paper) what amounted to a tremendous Corona cigar of tea. It was huge. Dean stared at it, popeyed. Victor casually lit it and passed it around. To drag on this thing was like leaning over a chimney and inhaling. It blew into your throat in one great blast of heat. We held our breaths and all let out just about simultaneously. Instantly we were all high. The sweat froze on our foreheads and it was suddenly like the beach at Acapulco.'

Why has cannabis not been introduced yet in the mix of potential solutions to the fossil fuel induced climate problems at a time when we must be pursuing all options on a war footing? The answer is the same as that of why cannabis as medicine has not been introduced to address the wide range of problems related to public health today. The industries that have benefited from cannabis prohibition have become so large and powerful that they influence society's thinking and global policy making. The fossil fuel industry, synthetic pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry constantly lobby to keep cannabis prohibited. Not only that, they continue to fuel the false propaganda that cannabis is harmful, and they continue to present roadblocks to any initiative that aims to bring cannabis back into the picture. Maybe humans have not looked at cannabis through the lens of how it can diffuse and combat climate change. They only see cannabis from a single dimension - that of intoxicant - and perceive it to be harmful to society based on the false propaganda. They do not see the multiple dimensions of cannabis, and its abilities to address problems across many areas. Maybe policymakers are so much in the control of the fossil fuel industry that they do not want to move away from it. If there was concentrated effort by all the relevant entities - with the specific goal of using cannabis to combat fossil fuel induced climate change - we could very quickly address the problem. For that, cannabis legalization needs to be viewed as one of the actions to save the planet, and not the largesse of some governments to indulge the stoner. If the United Nations acknowledged that global cannabis prohibition is illegal, and that cannabis must be introduced on global scales across the areas of energy, agriculture, construction, medicine, food, industry, etc., we could realistically rein in the fossil fuel problem within a decade. It is very simple. All it needs is will, the will to acknowledge that we are now going down a path that will destroy us and that we are already possibly near the point where we cannot turn back, and the will to live and let live.

The fossil fuel industry is powerful enough to decide who becomes the political leader of powerful nations like the US, UK, China, Russia, Iran and India. These are among the top nations that are fossil fuel dependent. The US, now the world’s largest oil producer and natural gas exporter, is also the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Once the fossil fuel industry has its puppet as the leader of a powerful country, then it can even direct the leader to invade other nations to gain better control over fossil fuels. In India, the fossil fuel industry is the biggest funder of the ruling political party, and in many nations across the world, the story is the same. 

In India, have you ever wondered why the Department of Pharmaceuticals comes under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers that also administers the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, and the Department of Fertilizers? One would think that the Department of Pharmaceuticals would come under the Ministry of Health, just as the Department of Fertilizers would come under the Ministry of Agriculture. That is, of course, if the Health Ministry was looking at holistic health that involved other options, besides synthetic pharmaceuticals, such as natural medicine. Strangely, there is a separate orphan ministry called Ministry of Ayush supposedly responsible for the research and propagation of natural medicine. Similarly, if the Agriculture Ministry was looking at holistic use of fertilizers, especially natural fertilizers and organic farming, then the Department of Fertilizers would be under it. The current organization, however, works best for the synthetic petrochemical, synthetic pharmaceutical and chemical fertilizer industries...A significant chunk of India's budget, money sucked out of its people, goes into buying petrochemicals, chemical fertilizers and active pharmaceutical ingredients, the national, and global, use of the very products that wreck havoc with the planet and public health. Along with China and Russia - two of the biggest opponents of cannabis - India forms a cartel that trades in these goods, while putting up a show of integrity, commitment to global peace, environmental sustainability and equality. When the path of cannabis for universal healthcare, sustainable agriculture and bio-degradable industry offers solutions on a global scale for humanity and the planet, these addicts of money and power work in the opposite direction, consolidating their own positions by inflicting increasing suffering on the world's majority - its poor and working classes. In this, they are fully supported by the world's rich upper classes...They delude the masses, projecting themselves as upholders of traditional values, nationality and prosperity for all...but what they all pursue is one religion - money, one ruling party - the rich, and one language - doublespeak...

War is one of the surefire ways to stimulate demand for fossil fuels and increase profits. The war machine runs on fossil fuels. Numerous wars have been started for the benefit of the fossil fuel industry. Almost every war in the Middle East will have some connection to the fossil fuel industry, with every stakeholder trying to gain or maintain control over their fossil fuel assets. I believe that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was done at the behest of the fossil fuel industry. Having made enough wealth through the sale of petrochemical products during the fake Covid pandemic, and to give the demand for fossil fuels - which had reduced due to global lock downs - a boost it was necessary to stimulate demand, and Russia obliged its fossil fuel bosses. Just like how the father and son duo of George Bush obliged their (and the Republican party's) petrochemical bosses by invading Iraq and sparking the Gulf Wars. If war - the ideal and preferred method to stimulate demand for fossil fuels is not possible - then subterfuge can be employed to topple democratic governments in many nations, and install their puppets as authoritarian leaders, so as to gain access to the fossil fuel reserves of that country. Countries like Venezuela and Nigeria have been devastated because of the fossil fuel industry. Dick Cheney, the US vice president along with George Bush Jr., was the head of Halliburton. That might explain some of the adventures undertaken by the Bush governments, especially in the Middle East. The arms industry supplies arms to the forces that protect the world's fossil fuel supplies, ensuring that no threat arises.

In 2020-2021, humans witnessed, and were a part of, biological warfare against the world's people by its rulers - the autocrats, pharma companies and petrochemical companies - on a scale unprecedented in the known history of humans...Covid was the largest coordinated organized attack against the most number of people in the history of the human race. World Wars 1 and 2 pale in comparison to the wide ranging impact that this attack has had across the globe. The attack was initiated by authoritarian governments across the globe in league with pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. These key institutions of the existing system decided to undertake this assault on the human race due to the increasing threat to their survival posed by rapidly spreading global democratic thought, environmental activism against unsustainable industries and the threat posed by the cannabis plant as an aid to both democratic thought and sustainable industries. The attack initiated by national governments soon spread to state and local governments with similar authoritarian mindsets who grabbed the opportunity to repress the people with much glee. What became first visible as China's attack on its people's attempt at democracy, soon revealed itself on a global scale. The US under Donald Trump, Russia, India and the UK quickly ramped up their attack on their own people as well as the people of the world. The ingenuity of this biological warfare was that it was disguised as a cure for illness. Never before had humanity queued up to voluntarily get itself dosed by biological weapons as enthusiastically as this. No genocide in the world's history even comes close to this. The short terms effects that can now be seen of this war are tremendous growth in the wealth and power of the autocrats, pharma and petrochemical companies while the world's people experience fevers, colds, lung infections and body pain that have become chronic on a global scale. Our water, food and air are now completely contaminated by the assault while deaths due the adverse effects of this attack have been swept under the carpet. Children's education was disrupted like never before, as were the livelihoods and health care of hundreds of millions. Now the same entities, with Biden in place of Trump in the US, play out war games to distract the world's people and stimulate demand for the industries of their masters...The long term effects of this war on humans is only starting to unravel...Humanity, by and large, remains completely oblivious of what experienced and witnessed during the Covid years...

But like the loud cracking sound that is heard when the hull of a sinking ship finally breaks, this assault on humanity only confirms the last throes of death of the existing outdated systems of governance and industry. Like compounds that become visible under certain light or with the use of certain markers, the masterminds behind the Covid assault on the world's people have become clearly visible from their inevitable subsequent actions. The countries producing the vaccines are the main culprits behind this unprecedented assault on the planet and its life. Their accomplices are the countries assisting in manufacture, purchase and distribution of the vaccine, the countries reporting the highest fatalities from Covid, the countries manufacturing, selling and distributing petrochemical-based masks, sanitizers, PPE kits and the countries enforcing the harshest lock downs and curbs on its people. Of course it is not solely the governments of these countries but also the main industries in these countries fueling the government action through funding and lobbying, i.e. the pharmaceutical, medical and petrochemical industries that are the national pride of these countries. Together, they have battered an already ailing Earth and all life on it in a bid to negate all the actions being taken to revive and sustain the planet for at least a little longer...

Even if all the nations of the world legalized cannabis for all purposes, medicine, intoxicant, agriculture, food and industrial purposes, TODAY - a feat not impossible as all it takes is for the United Nations to change global drug laws and every nation to follow suit by changing their individual national drug laws with the same alacrity that all showed in embracing the fake pandemic Covid - it would still take at least a decade for cannabis to become truly pervasive significantly reducing the footprint of the following industries: the synthetic pharmaceutical drug industry for medicine; the global synthetic recreational drug industry, alcohol and tobacco for intoxicant; unsustainable rice, wheat and cotton as agricultural crops on current scales; the chemical fertilizer industry through organic farming of climate resistant cannabis; the petrochemical based non-biodegradable plastics and synthetic fiber industries; the construction industry through the use of hempcrete as building material; as a source of industrial raw materials. Even then much of the damage may be irreparable, such as the omnipresent microplastics, and the contamination of land, water and air by synthetic pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers, fossil fuels and petrochemicals. But there is a chance that we could at least slow this down or even stall it. However, these industries - petrochemicals, synthetic pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers, construction - are the biggest industries in the world today. The world's rich to whom these industries belong, and the governments that they own and fund, will do all they can to prevent this, including the use of the arms industry who fear a peaceful world of cannabis as a threat to their existence as much as the rich and the governments. This means that what could take a decade if all are fully committed will most likely take much more time, if at all that is. The two years lost to the fake pandemic Covid were accelerated steps in the opposite direction to that which we should have been taking. Do we have that much time to change course? Will nature and human insanity give us the time? Today, all global leaders are floundering helplessly and aimlessly, with what is being proposed as solutions to the catastrophic problem being nothing more than cosmetic makeovers, while they work to consolidate their own positions and the rich strive to get richer. It is the majority of the world's people - who do not belong to the rich ruling classes - and all of nature that is disproportionately bearing the damaging effects of the fossil fuel industry, while the rich who brought about this situation remain insulated - at least for now - from the devastating effects of global warming. At a time when all possible options must be considered - no, pursued with great urgency, even then it may not be enough - we find humanity moving with determination like zombies towards the sixth extinction...What is overwhelmingly evident is the human delusion that man is the master of nature and an insane stubborn refusal to pursue natural ways...

Related Articles

'Reducing fossil fuel reliance is considered a great challenge for several progressive emerging economies. The development of alternative renewable fuels tends to improve energy security as well as diminish fuel supply vulnerability. This paper details an enhanced protocol intended for the manufacture of hemp biodiesel over two-stage base catalyzed transesterification from crude hemp oil (CHO)...Since the estimated fuel properties fall well within the range of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, HB could be considered as a sustainable fuel alternative to conventional diesel. GC-MS results demonstrate that the HB contains unsaturated long-chain fatty acids like 9,15-Octadecadienoic acid methyl ester as dominant in the mixture. The FTIR spectrum of crude hemp oil and the synthesized biodiesel confirm the conversion of triglycerides in the CHO into methyl esters in the HB. The findings obtained from TG-DSC/DTG are in near agreement with the results of GC-MS and FTIR. It is therefore proven the hemp oil has abundant potential to be used as an inedible source for the manufacture of bio-diesel.'

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15567036.2020.1842559


'When building hemp homes, Rogers doesn't use paint, reducing toxic smells that can linger with conventionally built homes. Better yet, the company uses 100% of the material.

"Whatever falls on the ground, you can put that back into the next mix," Rogers said. This reduces the number of skip bins on site and ultimately reduces waste.

There is also an element of sustainability that comes with hemp homes as they can store carbon. "When you when you finish with it [you can] push it back down into the earth," Rogers said. It makes no carbon because it's self composting, instead of using your brick, your concrete and everything else - that just becomes landfill. You can't get rid of that."'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/just-get-over-the-marijuana-stigma-the-benefits-of-building-houses-with-hemp-according-to-experts/ar-BB1cWGVd


Article 28 CONTROL OF CANNABIS

2. This Convention shall not apply to the cultivation of the cannabis plant exclusively for industrial purposes (fibre and seed) or horticultural purposes.

https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf


'That is an unacceptable failure for hardballers like Rove and Dick Cheney. On the undercard in Cleveland against John Edwards, Cheney came across as the cruel and sinister uberboss of Halliburton. In his only honest moment in the entire debate, he vowed, "We have to make America the best place in the world to do business."'

- The Fun-Hogs in the Passing Lane, November 11, 2004, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson


'Along with the sustainable and breathable benefits of hemp denim, Madewell is touting the fabric as a soft yet durable addition to closets, noting that the material is three times more durable than cotton. According to Mary Pierson, Madewell’s senior vice president of denim design, the brand will continue to work with the fiber.

“We’re committed to continue incorporating more hemp into our clothing because it is such an exciting and sustainable fiber to work with,” she said.'

https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-brands/madewell-summerweight-denim-lightweight-cottonized-hemp-summer-278156/


'However, Emily Elhacham of the Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues recently attempted to give it a shot. Their goal was to better understand humanity's impact during the Anthropocene by totting up the weight of all inanimate human-made objects on Earth. As part of their calculations, they found that concrete accounts for around half of all human-made things – the single biggest category of anthropogenic material. And if its rate of growth continues, it will overtake the total weight of Earth's biomass sometime around 2040.

Try to picture that in the mind's eye: there is a day approaching soon when there will be a greater weight of concrete on Earth than every single tree in every forest, every fish in every sea, every farm animal in every field, and every person alive right now.'

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210628-concrete-the-material-that-defines-our-age


'Presidential politics is a vicious business, even for rich white men, and anybody who gets into it should be prepared to grapple with the meanest of the mean. The White House has never been seized by timid warriors. There are no rules, and the roadside is littered with wreckage. That is why they call it the passing lane. Just ask any candidate who ever ran against George Bush - Al Gore, Ann Richards, John McCain - all of them ambushed and vanquished by lies and dirty tricks. And all of them still whining about it.

That is why George W. Bush is president of the United States, and Al Gore is not. Bush simply wanted it more, and he was willing to demolish anything that got in his way, including the U.S. Supreme Court. It is not by accident that the Bush White House (read: Dick Cheney & Halliburton Inc.) controls all three branches of our federal government today. They are powerful thugs who would far rather die than lose the election in November.'

- The Fun-Hogs in the Passing Lane, November 11, 2004, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson


'As for the villains, the energy industry as well as environmental groups found a common adversary in methane. It’s about 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. It’s the dominant component of natural gas, so producers do have an incentive to limit its leaks since it’s a salable product. At COP28, dozens of oil and gas firms committed to ending their methane pollution by 2050. Simply reducing methane output by 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030 could avert 0.2°C of warming (0.36°F) by 2050. But methane is colorless and odorless, making it hard to detect where it’s escaping, and estimates of its emissions vary widely.'

https://www.vox.com/climate/24115045/ceraweek-fossil-fuel-oil-gas-energy-climate-change-renewable-exxon-aramco


'To put it plainly, hemp is a bioaccumulator. It’s really good at absorbing heavy metals and can absorb a vast range of compounds from the soil – including radioactive elements, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, explosives and fuel.

These bioaccumulative properties are one of hemp’s superepowers. But they’re also a major hindrance to the industry.

Hemp is often used for phytoremediation, which is essentially nature’s way of vacuuming heavy metals and other toxins out of the soil. Hemp cleans up the mess left behind from industrial waste and poor farming practices, and it does so in three ways.'

https://hempindustrydaily.com/how-to-avoid-heavy-metal-accumulation-in-your-hemp-crop/


'Bush is a natural born loser with a filthy rich daddy who pimped his son out to rich oilmongers. He hates music, football, and sex, in no particular order, and he is no fun at all.'

- The Fun-Hogs in the Passing Lane, November 11, 2004, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson


'Hemp fans often tout the crop as a miracle plant. At the NoCo Hemp Expo in Loveland, Colorado, in April, speakers pumped up the crowd with talk of hemp-based plastic, clothing, concrete, houses and animal feed, among another 25,000 possible uses. But it could be years before any of these products are commercially viable in the U.S. There are still significant legal barriers, for one. At the federal level, hemp remains classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, alongside drugs like heroin. That means that banks can’t loan money to hemp-based businesses or hold money earned from growing or selling hemp products. Farmers also can’t get crop insurance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cover potential losses to drought or disease.'

https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.16/politics-agriculture-republicans-tout-hemps-potential


    'What exactly is hemp used for? The better question is what can't it be used for. Hemp is a durable material that can be fashioned into everything from food and beer to clothing to beauty products. Hemp can also be used to make plastic, an alternative biofuel, cars, and an estimated 25,000 other products.
    Is it difficult to grow? Nope, hemp is a farmer's best friend. It's good for the soil, helping to remove toxins. It grows well with little fertilizer, no pesticides, and less water than many other crops. It's also extremely dense, which means it takes less valuable farmland. It's relatively profitable (Canadian farmers are reporting $300 per/acre profits). And it grows fast—that's where the name weed came from.
    So I've heard it's good for combating climate change. Why's that? While not a silver bullet for climate, hemp is one of many possible agricultural solutions for a variety of reasons. Hemp actually absorbs more CO2 than trees, needs less water than plants like cotton, and can also be used to make a sustainable biofuel.'

https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2019/01/whats-fuss-about-hemp


BMW Group is also using biobased plastics and plastics reinforced with natural fibres such as hemp, cutting down on the use of oil based primary plastics. Its aim is to use thermoplastics with an average of 40 percent recycled material by 2030.

The company’s overall goal is to reducing lifecycle CO2 emissions of its vehicles by more than 40 percent by 2030.'

https://hempgazette.com/news/bmw-vehicles-hemp-hg1519/


'The U.S. hemp-derived CBD market alone is projected to reach $450 million by 2020, and China's cannabis market could grow to 100 billion yuan by 2022 (approximately $14.5 billion). Hemp is already interwoven into the futures of the automotive, construction, energy, environmental mediation and technology industries. Once fully utilized and legal, this plant could impact the global economic positionings of North America, China and Africa.'

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/10/23/the-age-of-hemp-global-advanced-industrial-applications/

'Saudi Aramco. It’s not just the world’s largest oil company, with nearly four times the market capitalization of ExxonMobil; it’s the fourth-mightiest of all companies, shaping economies around the world. And as a mostly state-run enterprise under an autocratic regime, Saudi Aramco isn’t as swayed by activists or shareholders as a fully investor-owned company like Exxon.'

https://www.vox.com/climate/24115045/ceraweek-fossil-fuel-oil-gas-energy-climate-change-renewable-exxon-aramco

'In a previous study, Shi’s team learned that, for a given amount of biomass, hemp has biofuel-producing potential comparable to other bioenergy crops such as kenaf, switchgrass, and sorghum.

Where the plant shines is in its higher yield per hectare—agronomy data suggest the per-hectare yield of hemp stems alone is at the same level as entire switchgrass and sorghum crops.

“For growers, hemp can be more profitable [than other bioenergy crops] because you have both the fiber and grain,” says Shi. “The fiber can also be used to make paper, clothing, building materials and more.”

Beyond hempseed oil, the plant has potential to produce ethanol and methanol, both forms of alcohol that can be used as fuel. Cellulolysis ferments and distills hemp biomass to extract ethanol. Methanol is generally produced from woody plant matter through the process of dry distillation.

The majority of biofuel currently comes from corn or sugarcane. Although their high sugar content is a robust source of ethanol, utilizing these plants for fuel production can cut into a farm’s food manufacturing profits, says Pearce. Conversely, the leaves and cellulose fibers from hemp are not valuable food sources'

https://www.hempgrower.com/article/postponed-promise-hemp-biofuel-biomass-hempseed-oil-uk-uconn-hia/


'Reducing fossil fuel reliance is considered a great challenge for several progressive emerging economies. The development of alternative renewable fuels tends to improve energy security as well as diminish fuel supply vulnerability. This paper details an enhanced protocol intended for the manufacture of hemp biodiesel over two-stage base catalyzed transesterification from crude hemp oil (CHO)...Since the estimated fuel properties fall well within the range of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, HB could be considered as a sustainable fuel alternative to conventional diesel. GC-MS results demonstrate that the HB contains unsaturated long-chain fatty acids like 9,15-Octadecadienoic acid methyl ester as dominant in the mixture. The FTIR spectrum of crude hemp oil and the synthesized biodiesel confirm the conversion of triglycerides in the CHO into methyl esters in the HB. The findings obtained from TG-DSC/DTG are in near agreement with the results of GC-MS and FTIR. It is therefore proven the hemp oil has abundant potential to be used as an inedible source for the manufacture of bio-diesel.'

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15567036.2020.1842559


'Highlights

• Industrial hemp biomass is an excellent alternative candidate for biofuel production.
• Hemp biomass has higher cellulose content compared with other agricultural residues.
• Research activities and barriers on converting hemp biomass to ethanol was reviewed.
• Innovative research approaches for boosting sugar and ethanol yields were suggested.'

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001623612031721X


 'Hemp could challenge fossil-fuel-based products in a range of areas: Innovations in hemp-based bioplastics and biofuels (spurred by falling production costs) will lead to hemp-based products’ challenging petroleum-based products, including (as is already being done) BMW vehicle interiors. Ever since TV host and comedian Jay Leno posted an online video of himself test-driving a 2017 Renew sports car (with a chassis fashioned from 100 pounds of woven hemp), fewer potential participants have been willing to get left behind;

    Hemp cultivation in less-developed countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America will provide a high-volume, low-cost source for CBD, posing a considerable challenge to higher-cost producers in North America and Europe. Nevertheless, given the nascent hemp production in the developing markets, need will persist for the transfer of significant knowledge, technology, and capital for such emerging nations to develop the requisite processes and quality standards to sufficiently serve international markets.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/global-hemp-poised-to-make-its-impact-with-a-post-industrial-heyday/


'Building with newly legalized hemp-based materials will give an added boost to the U.S. goals to reduce carbon emissions caused by the construction industry, new data shows.

Industrial hemp, the superstar carbon-sequestering plant, can help reduce the carbon output of the built environment through the construction concept of embodied carbon.

The built environment generates almost 40% of greenhouse gas emissions — more than any other sector of the economy, including transportation, agriculture and industry.'

https://www.letstalkhemp.com/hemp-reducing-embodied-carbon/


'Specifically, DOE is interested in the company’s HempWool product, which is described as “the most sustainable, high performing insulation material on the planet.”

Beyond being a non-toxic alternative to traditional insulation, the hemp-based product also has a strong thermal resistance and a low carbon footprint.

“The Department of Energy is interested in the decarbonization potential of insulation and other building materials made from hemp fibers,” Gibbons told HempBuildMag.'

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/feds-fund-research-into-hemp-fiber-insulation-as-environmentally-friendly-alternative/


'However, Emily Elhacham of the Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues recently attempted to give it a shot. Their goal was to better understand humanity's impact during the Anthropocene by totting up the weight of all inanimate human-made objects on Earth. As part of their calculations, they found that concrete accounts for around half of all human-made things – the single biggest category of anthropogenic material. And if its rate of growth continues, it will overtake the total weight of Earth's biomass sometime around 2040.

Try to picture that in the mind's eye: there is a day approaching soon when there will be a greater weight of concrete on Earth than every single tree in every forest, every fish in every sea, every farm animal in every field, and every person alive right now.'

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210628-concrete-the-material-that-defines-our-age


'Insulation is necessary in the construction of every residential and commercial structure. In the U.S., it is a $11.4 billion industry, and is forecasted to continue growing over the next five years at a 2.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Growth in the insulation market is part of a thriving construction materials industry that is swelling with development. The immense scale of growth in the construction market represents a unique challenge in light of the industry’s outsized carbon footprint.

The construction and operation of buildings is already responsible for roughly 10% of global CO2e emissions, and projected to more than double over the next half-century – the equivalent of building a new New York City each month.

Fiberglass insulation, especially, possesses a substantial carbon footprint. To manufacture it, molten glass must be heated to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, and mixed with chemicals and minerals mined from the earth, an incredibly energy intensive process.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/insulation-with-hemp-makes-good-sense-if-not-yet-profits/


'Eliminating materials like concrete or plastic or replacing them with alternatives is not going to address the fundamental problem with human attitudes and our unparalleled appetite for more. This is exactly where materialism can seamlessly transform into a known unknown risk factor in global catastrophe. The myriad of ways in which it can turn this planet into a mundane world is something our civilisation has never experienced before.

In the absence of a fully secure evolutionary shield, we could depend on our intelligence to survive. Nevertheless, as Abraham Loeb, professor of science at Harvard University and an astronomer who is searching for dead cosmic civilisations puts it, "the mark of intelligence is the ability to promote a better future".'

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210520-could-humans-really-destroy-all-life-on-earth


'As seen in Europe, it is likely that products requiring the least amount of processing and calibration will prove to be the first to achieve market viability in the U.S. and Canada. High-volume, low-margin products include mulch, animal bedding, and animal litter, along with pulp and paper. As the industry matures, ever more lucrative fiber applications should become viable. A New Frontier Data poll of fiber processors found them anticipating the best five-year growth potential among segments to include construction materials, automotive parts, bioplastics, and nonwoven textiles, respectively.

Construction materials, particularly, have attracted significant attention from hemp stakeholders. Companies such as Hempitecture – which designs and builds homes using hemp construction materials – and HempWood – manufacturer of a hemp-based wood alternative – have taken early leads in popularizing the use of hemp in construction, but face uphill regulatory battles against notoriously cautious international standards organizations, and toward expanding municipal building codes.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/hemp-fiber-market-set-for-growth-but-end-markets-remain-uncertain/


'While the rapid industrialization is being welcomed by African governments for the attendant economic stimulus, it also draws concerns from environmental activists who fret that — should today’s developing countries undergo industrialization in the same manner that such unfolded in the West and Asia — it will prove catastrophic in the scope of global carbon emissions. Therefore, significant interests reside in the development of carbon-neutral replacements for traditional materials in industries such as construction, textile production, and plastics manufacturing. It is in those hemp products where hopes seek niches to decarbonize economies (or, better yet, avoid carbonizing altogether) without destroying them.

Hemp-based construction materials are especially attractive both for African countries experiencing rapid population growth, and to accommodate the building boom required to house, employ, and entertain expanding populations. Construction projects on the continent exceeded $500 billion in 2019, and are accordingly expected to grow as countries continue to economically develop.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/can-industrial-hemp-help-africa-make-the-quantum-leap-to-sustainability/


'The innovativeness of hemp concrete as a building material lies in its function as a multi-performance material. It can entirely replace mineral aggregates in conventional concretes, and historically it was added to concretes and mortars to avoid retractions in plaster or clay brick [3]. When cured, it retains a large amount of air, with a density is equivalent to 15% of traditional concrete, making it an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator. An interesting feature of the material is that it is both a good thermal insulator and has high thermal inertia [4]. That is, though light and porous, hempcrete can quickly store energy and release it gradually, making it effective for climates with high temperature variation between day and night. It also has good fire resistance, is non-toxic, and is naturally resistant to mold and insects. There are even surveys that point to hempcrete being a carbon-negative material, which in addition to compensating for the carbon emitted in production, actually stores additional carbon within the material itself.'

https://www.archdaily.com/944429/hemp-concrete-from-roman-bridges-to-a-possible-material-of-the-future