Resilience

Sharing as a Solution to Global Crisis

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:44:00 GMT

The social, environmental and economic crises that continue to reap havoc across the globe provide a critical opportunity for ordinary people to demand economic reform and political transformation says STWR's director, Rajesh Makwana, in an interview with John Habets & Henk Gloudemans.

Supply Shock: Ecological Economics Comes of Age, Part 1

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:31:00 GMT

Of all the critiques of mainstream economics, Third World, feminist, Austrian, radical, Georgist, Marxist and others, the one our grandkids would have us heed most is the ecological critique.

Two notions of liberty revisited - or how to disentangle Liberty and Slavery

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:00 GMT

"Freedom is the natural faculty to do whatever one wishes that is not prevented by force or law. Slavery is an institution according to the law of nations whereby one person becomes private property (dominium) of another, contrary to nature."'

Peak oil notes - May 23

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:43:00 GMT

A mid-week update. Oil prices have fallen $2-3 a barrel this week on weaker demand, increased US production, rising product stockpiles, and a stronger dollar. At the close on Wednesday, NY oil settled at $94.28 and London at $102.60 with the WTI-Brent spread climbing to $8.32. The weekly stocks report showed stocks at Cushing, Okla. increasing to by 450,000 barrels to 50.2 million last week. The report also showed US gasoline consumptionover the last four weeks at 8.5 million b/d, the lowest level in ten years.

For Africa’s Solar Sisters, Off-Grid Electricity Is Power

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:45:00 GMT

U.S. businesswoman Katherine Lucey is working with a network of women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa to sell inexpensive, household solar energy systems. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Lucey explains how solar electricity can transform lives, particularly those of rural women and girls.

Earth Trek: The Journey Home

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:03:00 GMT

Lurking behind the cover story of terrorism and modern unease is an even more troubling development: the endgame of fossil-fueled civilization, and hence, the end of space travel.

Why Austerity Kills: From Greece to U.S., Crippling Economic Policies Causing Global Health Crisis

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:50:00 GMT

"Had austerity been organized like a clinical trial, it would’ve been discontinued given evidence of its deadly side effects," Stuckler says.

Hope from the margins

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:40:00 GMT

These notes offer a quick glance to ways, in the south of Mexico, in which people are regenerating the society from the bottom up. It is a new kind of revolution without leaders or vanguards....

The Poisoned Chalice: Genetic Heritage, Future Demise

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:12:00 GMT

During the Pleistocene evolution favored those humans who left the most descendants so our evolved instincts encourage us to procreate, seek status and consume resources. Now sustainability is an existential issue and these instincts and our invention of technology are threatening our future.

What Kind of Example Is Canada Setting?

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:44:00 GMT

Is any nation on Earth taking seriously the need for a true-cost economy, where we live sustainably in a steady state?

Foodlab Detroit Fosters New Business Paradigm, Jobs

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:01:00 GMT

As Detroit recovers from staggering unemployment due to the mass exodus of the auto industry, small business creation is now being touted by many locals as a better solution for resiliency, higher wages and employment stability than big business recruitment. But starting a new business from a dream with little business experience can be daunting, especially without the capital to carry you through early mistakes.

Peak oil review - May 20

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:52:00 GMT

A weekly update. Including:
-Oil and the global economy
-Middle East
-China at a turning point?
-Quote of the week
-Briefs

Will the International Energy Agency's oil forecast be wrong again?

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:33:00 GMT

The famous Danish physicist Niels Bohr once humorously observed, "Predictions are very difficult, especially about the future." And so, as the world considers yet another rosy oil supply forecast, this time from the Paris-based International Energy Agency, it is worth reviewing the agency's record.

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”.