Synergy:
the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.; synergism.
Word Origin & History
synergy
1660, "cooperation," from Mod.L. synergia, from Gk. synergia "joint work, assistance, help," from synergos "working together," related to synergein "work together, help another in work," from syn- "together" + ergon "work" (see urge (v.)). Meaning "combined activities of a group" is from 1847.
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."-- Einstein
Industrial hemp lacks the THC content found in the medicinal variety. But it possesses other virtues which make it useful-- particularly in light of our problem with fuel, carbon and climate and biodiversity.
One step toward systematic carbon sequestration would be large-scale planting of hemp. It grows on marginal land which is unsuitable for crops. It sequesters carbon.
But it also provides a fiber which replaces wood pulp in paper and petroleum in synthetics. Instead of cutting down forests which sequester carbon, hemp is a constructive alternative. Presently, the Koch brothers are enriching themselves and backing the GOP by cutting down our forests for toilet paper-- which is worse, it's hard to say.
Biodiversity would also be enhanced from reducing clear cutting, and hemp doesn't need herbicides or pesticides widely used on other crops which injure and limit biodiversity-- it grows like a weed.
In addition, hemp oil is a ready-made diesel fuel. Farmers could grow their own fuel instead of buying it from despots, extortionists, sponsors of terrorism, or corporations. I realize that's redundant.
Thus the quotes above. Large-scale hemp cultivation offers a synergistic solution to the conflict between climate change and petroleum-based fuel so critical to present-day transportation.
It saves the forests presently being harvested for paper, and helps preserve biodiversity critical to our own existence.
It sequesters carbon and puts it in the ground as used paper, soaking up some of the CO2 contributing to warming the planet and creating extreme weather events.
It replaces carcinogenic petro-diesel with non-carcinogenic fuel.
It helps reduce dependence on oil companies and foreign sources.
It doesn't require pesticides and herbicides which are also made from petroleum.
Now that it's legal in two states, cultivation could help solve climate change, which the Dept. of Defense has cited as the number one threat to US security.
Legalizing and cultivating hemp is a synergy devoutly to be wished, win-win, greater than the sum of its parts.
And finally, it breaks out of the paternalistic and puritanic nanny-state thinking that ties us all to obsolete technologies and domination of government by oil companies, drug cartels, military deployment and banks which seek to prevent constructive solutions-- and makes something criminal which is not a crime. George Washington grew it, so can we.
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