Resilience

Deep Green Jobs

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:18:00 GMT

America's green jobs movement parades as many green hues as our national parks, ranging from deep green work to pale green employment.

Unburnable: Risky Fossil Fuel Investments & Climate Crisis

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:40:00 GMT

Two new reports say climate change could cause the next financial crisis. From London, Bob Ward, LSE lead author of "Unburnable: Carbon 2013: Wasted capital and stranded assets." Australia's Climate Institute, John Connor on coal's risky future. Plus Nancy LaPlaca: why sunny Arizona burns coal.

The Corporate Enclosure of Seeds Intensifies

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:09:00 GMT

If you think that a farmer ought to be able to use the seeds from one crop in the next season, you are entertaining illegal ideas.

"What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About The Next American Revolution"

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:07:56 GMT

Gar Alperovitz's keynote speech at "The Summit" at Appalachian State in Boone, NC April 2013.

Reexamining Rationing

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:23:00 GMT

Recent interviews with Stan Cox author of Any Way You Slice It: The Past, Present, and Future of Rationing and book excerpt.

The Economy of Wastefulness: The Biology of the Commons

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:02:00 GMT

There is an all-enclosing commons-economy which has been successful for billions of years: the biosphere. Its ecology is the terrestrial household of energy, matter, beings, relationships and meanings which contains any manmade economy and only allows for it to exist. Sunlight, oxygen, drinking water, climate, soil and energy – the products and processes of this household – also nourish the Homo economicus of our time who, despite all his technological and economical progress, still feeds on products of the biosphere.

"Fast Fashion" Isn't Just Trendy and Glamorous: It Has Consequences

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:41:00 GMT

If you’ve followed the news in the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen the headlines about the factory collapse in Bangladesh.

Moronic Oxymorons in the Age of Climate Change

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:28:00 GMT

At 400 parts per million, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a menacing milestone. We’ve failed to get a handle on our addiction to fossil fuel, and now we’re in desperate need of solutions for preventing runaway climate change. There is no magic pill for curing the climate threat — real solutions involve the difficult work of changing the way we run the economy. It’s time to make a transition to a renewable-energy economy that respects the waste-absorption capabilities of the atmosphere.

The speech Obama needed to make

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:50:00 GMT

I’ve stayed away from politics pointedly in posts, because voting for either party is still just voting for growth, with different labels applied. I do not believe that the current corporate giveaway that we call a political system is fixable unless we elect a leader who is ecologically and energetically literate. I doubt that will happen. That said, here is an earth day wish for real servant leadership which would fix our problems. The post is directed at a specific leader, Obama, since the United States is the worst offender in terms of extreme behavior and unsustainability.

WEBINAR: ‘Local Economic Blueprints: pioneering or pointless?’

Sun, 12 May 2013 22:28:00 GMT

Join Rob Hopkins, Molly Scott Cato, Tony Greenham, Fiona Ward and Nigel Jump for a live discussion.

Why the renewable energy industry ought to support U.S. natural gas exports

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:44:00 GMT

There is one segment of U.S. industry that ought to be cheering for expanded U.S. natural gas exports--though I doubt that its leaders will be offering their support in anything above a whisper. The renewable energy industry would benefit from higher natural gas prices.

An interview with Prof. Calvin Jones: “Economics is a child of the oil age”

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:55:00 GMT

The other day I read an excellent piece by Calvin Jones, Professor of Economics at Cardiff Business School (see right) called Technology Cannot Tackle Climate Change. Having argued that, due to a range of issues, economic growth is no longer possible, he writes: “Faced with these issues it is easy to withdraw into either a belief in an economic growth fairy, or into passive, nihilistic depression. But this is not necessary. Many societies historically have functioned perfectly well without ever-increasing levels of growth and complexity”.

Chicago Workers Open New Cooperatively Owned Factory Five Years After Republic Windows Occupation

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:23:00 GMT

Workers at the New Era Windows Cooperative are celebrating the grand opening of their new unionized, worker-owned and -operated business. Almost a year to the day after their window factory closed, a group of former workers have launched their own window business without bosses. They successfully raised money to buy the factory collectively and run it democratically. In 2008, some of the workers were involved in a famous six-day sit-in after Republic Windows and Doors gave workers just three days’ notice before closing the factory. The sit-in drew national attention and union workers reached a settlement where they each received $6,000 each. About 65 workers occupied the factory after their jobs came under threat again in 2012. We speak to two worker-owners of the just-opened New Era Windows Cooperative and a labor organizer who helped with their fight.

We are all losing out to the 1%

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:22:00 GMT

We have become so used to the idea that the middle classes are the winners that it is difficult to get our heads around the fact that something important is changing. It isn’t just the poor who are under pressure: the middle classes are no longer winning either.

Peak oil notes - May 9

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:47:00 GMT

A mid-week update. The surge in oil prices which took NY oil futures from $86 a barrel in mid-April to over $96 continued this week with June futures closing Wednesday at $96.62. The spread between NY and London futures continues to narrow with London currently trading at a premium of only $7.72– the lowest since January 2011. The dollar a barrel jump in NY futures on Wednesday came despite a rather small, 230,000 barrel, increase in US crude inventories and a 57,000 b/d increase in US crude production to 7.37 million b/d -- the highest level since February 1992.

Eating Rich, Living Poor: DIY Food By Necessity

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:54:00 GMT

It started disastrously. Three bare months before my partner and I moved, at the start of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, I was diagnosed with celiac disease. There was no cure, only a strict diet to be followed. No more gluten, which meant wheat, rye, or barley. Those three ingredients seemed to be in everything. No cookies, no crackers, no soups, no bread, no pasta, no potpies. Nothing. I couldn’t even add soy sauce to my stir fry. It was winter and the cold was already taking a toll on me. Long, cloudy months lowered my spirits. Winter cut through my jacket and bit at my bones.

Lessons from Basque Country

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:18:00 GMT

In the 1950s Father José María Arizmendiarrieta, the village priest of Mondragón in the Basque region of Spain, inspired the development of a series of cooperatively owned industries to employ youth in his parish. His vision was that, through ownership by the workers, the wealth created by new industries would be distributed to the workers and to the larger community that nourished and supported them.

Supply Shock: The Journey

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:19:00 GMT

Writing a book is like going on a journey. You explore the terrain, make discoveries, meet interesting people, and maybe learn new languages. The longer the book-writing, the longer the journey.

The Bright Side of the Money Crisis

Tue, 07 May 2013 14:01:00 GMT

Is this “the most exciting time to be alive in human history”? The economists and scientists interviewed in this film think so, and the reasons are all about the chance to create a more fair and sustainable global economy.

Practicing Commons in Community Gardens: Urban Gardening as a Corrective for Homo Economicus

Tue, 07 May 2013 08:05:00 GMT

“In these times of ever more blatant marketing of public space, the aspiration to plant potatoes precisely there – and without restricting entry – is nothing less than revolutionary,” writes Sabine Rohlf in her book review of Urban Gardening.1 Indeed, we can observe the return of gardens to the city everywhere and see it as an expression of a changing relationship between the public and the private. And it is not only this dominant differentiation in modern society that is increasingly becoming blurred; the differences between nature and society as well as that between city and countryside are fading as well, at least from the perspective of urban community gardeners.

Freedom and meaningful work: an exploration

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:19:00 GMT

Many of us have resigned ourselves to domination in the workplace. This is an outrage. 'Meaningful work' is not only an achievable goal for all, a socialised mutual economy is beginning to emerge that may be one step towards this ideal.

Peak oil review - May 6

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:18:00 GMT

A weekly update, including:

-Oil and the global economy
-The Middle East and Africa
-New USGS forecasts for Bakken
-Quotes of the week
-Briefs

Post Carbon Pathways Report April 2013

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:56:00 GMT

This report draws on in-depth interviews with leading international researchers, policy makers and activists on actions needed to drive the rapid implementation of large scale post carbon economy transition strategies.

Difficult Words #5: Illth

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:09:00 GMT

The first thing to know is that illth is a real word which you can find in Volume VII of the Oxford English Dictionary. It was coined in 1860 by John Ruskin, the English writer, artist, philanthropist and all-around too-smart-guy-with-spot-on-taste. Ruskin, from his vantage point in the cockpit of the industrial revolution, realized that reality had outpaced the language. In an era of spectacular explosions of riches and astounding leaps in material culture — that is, the stuff that we have access to — there was something else happening, too. That something was the opposite of wealth, which he termed illth.

Print your own money

Sat, 04 May 2013 10:37:00 GMT

The economy is big news, and a big worry. But there are as many economies as we need. There are global, national, regional, and neighborhood economies. There are economies for greed, destruction, and exploitation, as well as for generosity, creativity, and love. And there are as many types of money as we need to operate these economies.