“The Francis Effect” – Can We Catholics Save The World From Its Destructive Preferences For Consumer Products Causing Climate Change? This Francis Says, “We Begin With Farmers!”

Filipinos on Facebook keep talking about the coming May elections, especially the next President of the Philippines. They hardly talk about Climate Change that have spawned violent storms causing many deaths and much destruction in the country. Being ignored is Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” (“Praise Be To You, My Lord”) for Catholics to act vs Climate Change. Much more Catholic than Americans, where is “The Francis Effect” among Filipinos?!

Meanwhile, for effect, this Francis will keep on writing about Primate Change for Climate Change – especially about how farmers can save much money in farming, and grow more healthy foods and earn more, at the same time Stop Climate Change!

The graph above shows Agriculture contributing only 10% of total greenhouse gases (GHGs). Numbers misleading, to say the least. That 10% should be 40% or more because chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides are produced and handled from start to finish of 84% total GHGs: Transportation 29%, Electric Power 25%, Industry 23%, and Commercial 7%.

In 2015, Pope Francis issued the encyclical “Laudato Si’, MI’ Signore” (Praise Be To You, My Lord), which called on Roman Catholics to “Care for Our Common Home.” He was calling us to decrease energies spent on transportation, electricity, industry, and commerce.

In 2016, a year after the encyclical, I blogged my essay “BIAG Economics: Brand-New Intellectualization of Agriculture” (14 April 2016, Primate Change, Blogspot.com), where I called for:
No chemical fertilizers.
No organic fertilizers.
No pests.
No pesticides.
No drought.
Highest yields.
Least cost total.
Water conserved.
Plant anytime.
Beautiful view.
Beautiful insects to watch.
Pleasant weather around.
Greenhouse gases avoided.

By “No organic fertilizers” I was referring to the way I prepared organic surface mulch that I now call Weeds-Enriched Agriculture Layup (WEAL) – it’s not fertilizer per se but the start of regenerativeagriculture, where the weeds returnsoil fertility naturally, with the farmer initiating the process.

Note the compound word in the process: “Weeds-Enriched Agriculture Layup.” Weeds-enriched – my brainchild, improving on American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner’s “trash farming” procedure. I read that process in his book Plowman’s Folly published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 1943 (oupress.com) – I discovered it 1965-66 at the open shelves of the library of UP Los Baños. Creative, I have always been a wide reader.

Later, I reinvented Faulkner’s “trash farming” process by starting with a Howard rotavator, L blades cutting down to only 2-3 inches – no packing of the soil. Guy Machinery says (“Selecting Blade Type,” 2016, guymachinery.com): “L blades are… designed to fit a constant depth across the full width of tillage…” The rotavator cuts soil and weeds (and crop refuse if present) simultaneously and mix them within the same rotary motion; as it goes, it leaves an organic mulch evenly spread over the field. The rotavator creates & applies the would-be organic fertilizer automatically!

Thus, to fight Climate Change, farmers should be armed with rotavators whose field use I have endowed The Francis Effect!@517