The 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago will soon get a $350 million retrofit aimed at reducing electricity use in the tower by 80% over five years.  The 4.5 million sq.ft. building will employ upgrades in the glass exterior, internal lighting, heating, cooling and its own green power generation utilizing wind turbines on its rooftops. 

According to an article in the NYT, "buildings are among the world’s largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. After the retrofit, energy savings at the Sears Tower, which is to be renamed the Willis Tower this summer, would be equal to 150,000 barrels of oil a year, officials said".

Washington's cherry farmers are expecting a great crop this year which is good news for cherry lovers everywhere since Washington State is the nation's biggest cherry producer.  It is estimated that the crop will be between 150-200,000 tons this year vs. 78,000 tons last year, according to an article in the Seattle Times. 

I picked some up yesterday at my local farmers market and expect to keep getting more for the next month or two.  This year some are going in the freezer for winter treats as well, given that we should get some good prices here soon.

Kate Sheppard, political reporter at the online magazine, Grist, has a pretty straight-forward piece on what is currently in the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill or ACES (American Clean Energy and Security Act).  The bill is due to be voted on tomorrow in the House and can go to the Senate anytime in the next year and a half.  Since the bill is likely to be harder to get through the Senate, it will apparently be timed for discussion at whatever point Obama's numbers are highest and gas prices are up.  The goal of the bill is to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 3% by 2012, 17% by 2020, 42% by 2030 and more than 80% by 2050.

Agriculture is one of the top industries in Washington State.  It ranks right up there with aerospace, software and biotech.  Unlike most states which have only one or two big crops, Washington has a huge number of what are called "specialty crops", i.e. apples, pears, raspberries, milk, pears, wheat, potatoes and so on. Of these, only wheat is one of the "big 5" US crops (the others being corn, soybeans, cotton and rice) that together receive 92% of US subsidies.

A High School in Richmond, California has been offering a unique Urban Agriculture class.  The Food Systems class is strong on experiential learning.  The students learn organic gardening techniques by getting their hands in the dirt - planting, harvesting, and boxing produce for local families to use.  Students also study public health, nutrition, local policy, food distribution and marketing, agriculture, and ecology, according to a post on the website of the sponsoring organization, Urban Tilth.

In his opinion piece in the NYT on Saturday, Nicholas Kristof talks about the link between our national health and our increasingly industrialized agriculture system and notes that we might want to be focusing at least as much on our food delivery system as our health delivery system.  He talks up the new documentary, "Food, Inc.", out this last weekend, a documentary that may do for food what "An Inconvenient Truth" did for climate change.  

"Agribusiness companies exercise huge political influence, and industry leaders often fill regulatory posts. The Food and Drug Administration consequently dozed, and the number of food safety inspections plunged.