ModeShift - Part 37

Annals of Excess in China: The $317,000 Wedding Cake

by Keith SchneiderJune 5, 2012June 20, 20120

SHENYANG, China — Does excess consumerism represent the measure of a great nation? Or does it portend something darker, a treacherous crack opening in society? Either way, the wedding cakes for sale at the Black Swan bakery here in Liaoning’s provincial capital are a clear reflection of 1) the astounding wealth some attain in China’s bursting economy, and 2) the indecorous way that the rich communicate their separate stature. The biggest cake, aswirl in swans …

The U.S. Energy Boom and Ohio in The New York Times

by Keith SchneiderJune 5, 2012July 21, 20142

My interest in the Ohio River Valley, as readers of ModeShift well know, is keen. Today, the New York Times published my latest piece about the billions being invested in mineral leasing for oil and gas drilling. Tomorrow, in the NYT Business section, is another piece I did on Cincinnati’s improved economy and surging riverfront development. You may recall this article on Owensboro Kentucky’s improved prospects for the NYT late last year. I did this …

Production, Water Savings, and a Heroic History on China’s State-Owned Farms

by Keith SchneiderJune 4, 2012October 10, 20120

HONGXINGLONG, China — When she was a very young woman Liang Jun was one of the tens of thousands of durable adults dispatched by China’s new Communist Central Government in the early 1950s with orders to break open the prairie of this cold and formidable northeast province. Until agronomists and engineers from the Soviet Union offered their assistance, and their steel-tracked grey tractors, the work of cutting open land that was bound together by the …

In China Every Square Meter Counts

by Keith SchneiderJune 1, 2012June 20, 20120

XINXIANG — The fields of Henan Province, one of the important centers of global wheat production, spread beyond this city’s high-rises, a prairie of dusky grain in every direction to the horizon. Every meter, every mu, a Chinese measurement of land expanse — 15 mu fit into an acre — is taken with ripening wheat. The harvest has begun. Workers cut stalks with long blades and haul the wheat out of the fields on their …

Beijing Blues Festival

by Keith SchneiderMay 30, 2012June 20, 20120

BEIJING — On Saturday evening here in China’s capital and second largest city, the music of Wilson Pickett and B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Sam and Dave, poured from the arts district in a new area of town. In a city this big it’s easy to expect excellent musicians. But the Chinese lead singers, sweating out the lyrics in English — “Ride Sally Ride!” — was a surprise. Beijing will do that to Americans. Surprise …

Behind New Generation Mineral Leases: More Money, Less Hazards

by Keith SchneiderMay 11, 2012December 6, 20143

CALDWELL, Ohio — The day before they received a $280,000 check for leasing their oil and gas development rights to Eclipse Energy, Arthur and Sharon Stottsberry stopped in Marietta to remind their attorney that they had almost an acre more to lease. I caught up with the Stottsberrys as they were leaving Jennifer Garrison’s office, as ebullient and keyed up as a retired senior couple from this part of southeastern Ohio is likely to get …

Cleaner Water, Cooler Ohio River Cities

by Keith SchneiderMay 9, 2012July 28, 20120

One of the interesting small towns I’ve visited in the United States in recent month is Marietta, Ohio, home of Marietta College, and basecamp for Jennifer Garrison, a lawyer helping working people negotiate lucrative mineral leases with big oil and natural gas production companies. I’m working on articles for The New York Times and Circle of Blue about potentially momentous oil and gas production joining improving trends in water quality that are pushing the Ohio …

China Demand For Food and Energy Is Raising Prices and Consumer Ire in U.S.

by Keith SchneiderApril 27, 2012September 14, 20121

Dude! What’s up with the law of supply and demand? The United States Department of Agriculture projected earlier this month that national harvests of wheat, corn, and soybeans — the foundation ingredients of the have-it-your-way American diet — will be strong this year. But prices for bread, meat, and milk at my local Glen’s store here in Frankfort, Michigan are going up by the week. Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. oil consumption …

Ohio River Valley’s Story of Recovery

by Keith SchneiderApril 26, 2012July 28, 20121

Next week I return to the Ohio River Valley for The New York Times to 1) report on how oil and gas mineral leasing is making thousands of Ohio River Valley working families wealthy, and 2) how new urban development strategies, including a streetcar line and a $1 billion mixed-use riverfront project, are writing a 21st century narrative for Cincinnatiâ€™s economy and quality of life. Later this summer, Iâ€™ll report on similar trends emerging in …

U.S. Energy Boom Lifts Ohio’s Steel Industry: Latest New York Times Article

by Keith SchneiderApril 25, 2012July 28, 20121

CANTON, Oh. â€“ Orders for steel from domestic and export markets plunged so low in May 2009 that the Timken Companyâ€™s mill here on Faircrest Street operated for just four days that month. Nearly three years later, with demand for steel soaring and the Faircrest mill operating around the clock, Timken started construction in early March on a $200 million, 83,000-square-foot addition to boost the plantâ€™s production. Just as Ohioâ€™s presidential election has accurately predicted …