Films at the fault line of ‘deep’ and ‘bright’ greens in the environmental movement

In this article, I review two films challenging the technological solutions and assumptions of ‘bright green’ environmentalism, Planet of the Humans and Bright Green Lies. I explain the ways these films showcase a ‘deep green’ challenge to what is charged as magical thinking in proposals for renewable energy transition. I summarize how filmmakers explore evidence that calls into question the potential for new forms of industrial expansion to save a biome in crisis. I consider the arguments raised in each film surrounding biological limits to extraction and growth. And I discuss the importance and value of exposing students to strong counter arguments to paradigmatic proposals for energy transition in a way that invokes a critical discussion of knowledge production and application.

Ferrobobfergusonite, □Na2Fe2+5Fe3+Al(PO4)6, a New Mineral of the Bobfergusonite Group from the Victory Mine, Custer County, South Dakota, USA

ABSTRACT A new mineral species, ferrobobfergusonite, ideally □Na2Fe2+5Fe3+Al(PO4)6, has been found in the Victory Mine, Custer County, South Dakota, USA. It is massive and associated with ferrowyllieite, schorl, fillowite, arrojadite, quartz, and muscovite. Broken pieces of ferrobobfergusonite are blocky or tabular with single crystals up to 0.9 × 0.7 × 0.4 mm. No twinning or parting is observed macroscopically. The mineral is deep green-brown and transparent with a pale green-yellow streak and vitreous luster. It is brittle and has a Mohs hardness of ∼5, with perfect cleavage on {010}. The measured and calculated densities are 3.68(1) and 3.69 g/cm3, respectively. Optically, ferrobobfergusonite is biaxial (+), with α = 1.698 (2), β = 1.705 (2), γ = 1.727 (2) (white light), 2V (meas.) = 65(2)°, 2V (calc.) = 60°, with orientation of the optic axes α ∧ X = 16°, β = Y, with X = yellowish brown, Y = brown, and Z = deep brown. The dispersion is very strong with r > v. The calculated compatibility index based on the empirical formula is 0.017 (superior). An electron microprobe analysis yielded an empirical formula (based on 24 O apfu) of (Na1.72□1.28)Σ3.00(Fe2+3.50Mn0.89Mg0.44Ca0.13)Σ4.96(Fe3+0.77Al0.23)Σ1.00Al(PO4)6. Ferrobobfergusonite is isostructural with bobfergusonite, a member of the alluaudite supergroup. It is monoclinic, with space group P21/n and unit-cell parameters a = 12.7156(3), b = 12.3808(3), c = 10.9347(3) Å, β = 97.3320(10)°, and V = 1707.37(7) Å3. The crystal structure of ferrobobfergusonite contains six octahedral M (= Fe2+, Mg, Mn2+, Al, Fe3+) sites and five X (= Na, Mn2+, Ca) sites with coordination numbers between 6 and 8. The six MO6 octahedra share edges to form two types of kinked chains extending along [101], with one consisting of M1–M4–M5 linkages and the other of M2–M3–M6 linkages. These chains are joined by PO4 tetrahedra to form sheets parallel to (010), which are linked together through corner-sharing between PO4 tetrahedra and MO6 octahedra in the adjacent sheets, leaving open channels parallel to a, where the large X cations are situated. The M cations are strongly ordered over the six sites, with M1, M2, M3, and M4 being dominantly occupied by Fe2+, and M5 and M6 by Fe3+ and Al, respectively. Among the five X sites, the X1 site is filled with Mn2+ and Ca, whereas the X2–X5 sites are partially occupied by Na.

Identification of Phenotypic Characteristics in Three Chemotype Categories in the Genus Cannabis

Modern Cannabis cultivars are morphologically distinguished by their leaflet shapes (wide for “Indica” and narrow for “Sativa”) by users and breeders. However, there are no scientific bases or references for determining the shape of these leaflets. In addition, these two categories contained mostly THC dominant (high THC) cultivars while excluded CBD dominant (high CBD) and intermediate (intermediate level of both THC and CBD) cultivars. This study investigated the phenotypic variation in 21 Cannabis cultivars covering three chemical phenotypes, referred to as chemotypes, grown in a commercial greenhouse. Thirty morphological traits were measured in the vegetative, flowering, and harvest stages on live plants and harvested inflorescences. The collected data were subjected to correlation analysis, hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, and canonical correlation analysis with preassigned chemotypes. Canonical correlation analysis assigned individual plants to their chemotypes with 92.9% accuracy. Significant morphological differences were identified. Traits usable as phenotype markers for CBD dominant cultivars included light-green and narrow leaflets, a greater number of primary and secondary serrations, loose inflorescences, dense and resinous trichomes, and Botrytis cinerea resistance. Traits for intermediate cultivars included deep-green and medium-wide leaflets, more primary and secondary serrations, medium compact inflorescences, trichomes that are less dense and less resinous, and Botrytis cinerea resistance. Traits for THC dominant cultivars included deep-green and wide leaflets, large and compact inflorescences, dense and resinous trichomes, and Botrytis cinerea susceptibility. The results of this study provide a comprehensive profile of morphological traits of modern Cannabis cultivars and provides the first such profile for CBD dominant and intermediate cultivars. Additionally, this study included the traits of inflorescences, which have not been compared between three chemotypes in the literature. Phenotype markers identified in this study can facilitate preliminary cultivar identification and selection on live plants before or as a supplement to chemical and genetic analysis.

Ameen F. Rihani's 'Biophilic Masculinity' in The Heart of Lebanon and The Rihani Essays

Now that we have reached the third millennium, an era associated with the onslaught of modernity, technology, industrialization and urbanization, it is time for our relationship with nature to undergo an ecological evolution through which a conservationist masculinity can develop. In this respect, it is particularly essential that literature provide a genuine modernized perspective, a biocentric understanding oriented towards a biophilic attachment to nature that centers on the affirmation of universal kinship based on the connection to all organic life. The cornerstone of the biophilia notion is a balanced man-nature relationship which is still undervalued in the realm of green literature. In this perspective, it is worth highlighting Ameen Fares Rihani’s edifying contribution to the realm of deep ecology. The works of this Lebanese-American writer and thinker have not been given sufficient attention when his prosaic oeuvre effectively reflects man’s regrettable alienation from the natural environment. In a sense, Rihani’s prose with its biophilic inclination is a crucial addition to the body of works concerned with restoring the gap between nature and mankind. This paper, therefore, attempts to study Rihani's approach to living nature from the perspective of evolutionary biology by shedding light on an unexplored aspect, namely his essentially biophilic conviction evident in his landmark book Qualb Lubnan (The Heart of Lebanon) and in Ar-Rihaniyyaat (The Rihani Essays). These works will be analyzed from a literary ecocritical perspective and against ecological masculinity which is the most recent interpretive paradigm of ecocriticism. This reading will also profess that Rihani's intention is to ecologize modern masculinity, Eastern and/or Western masculine thought, through re-designing an alternative future, a deep green future founded upon the biophilia hypothesis.

The Roles and Use of Law in Green Criminology

This paper examines how law and legal analysis fit within the broader green criminological project. By demonstrating how legal analysis in various forms can cast significant light on key green criminological questions, the paper seeks to address the concern that green criminology – with its preponderance of ‘deep green’ viewpoints and focus on social harms which are not proscribed by formal law – precludes the application of legalistic values such as certainty and consistency. Ultimately, the goal of the paper is to demonstrate how, despite the novel challenges to the legal scholar presented by green criminology, the incorporation of a more legalistic perspective within an interdisciplinary exercise is not only desirable for green criminology but is in fact vital if the field is to realise its ambitions as a force for environmental good.

Deep Green and Social

Permaculture is a holistic sustainability movement brought to Cuba from Australia in the early 1990s. In addition to a set of twelve design principles that permaculturalists use to organize their houses, backyards, and farms, the movement is grounded upon three main ethical principles: care for the Earth, care for people, and share resources through the recognition of limits to consumption. Using etic analysis of qualitative interviews from the provinces of Havana and Sancti Spíritus, I argue that permaculture in Cuba is a religious movement that is meeting both the spiritual and material needs of individuals. This environmentally engaged religious movement promotes the idea that the Earth is alive and is therefore worthy of reverent care, and this care extends to humans through the growing of food produced within permaculture systems using ecological methods.