Resilience

Climate: action, impact, and geoengineering - May 24

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:58:00 GMT

•China agrees to impose carbon targets by 2016 •Warming to hit half of plants, a third of animals •Geoengineering: Can We Save the Planet by Messing with Nature? •Climate Denial's Death Knell: 97 Percent of Peer-Reviewed Science Confirms Manmade Global Warming, Consensus Overwhelming •Climate disasters displace millions of people worldwide •For Insurers, No Doubts on Climate Change

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.

Who Will Control the Climate of the World?

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:45:26 GMT

For all who love a conspiracy, geoengineering has it all. The oil companies, far-right think-tanks, nuclear weapons scientists, and even Bill Gates.

We plant trees, but why?

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:38:00 GMT

An interview with Joseph Redwood-Martinez about the documentary 'One day, everything will be free' which explores a reforestation initiative in Haiti, namely Sadhana Forest.

Tornadoes, Extreme Weather And Climate Change, Revisited

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:26:00 GMT

The big tornado outbreak, including a monster Oklahoma twister, have people asking again about a possible link to climate change. I’ll review the science in this post.

Spring Time?

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:11:00 GMT

I have ruminated enough times on this blog about climate change that it should no longer pop up its ugly head, and yet it never ceases to amaze me as to how well it lends itself to a quick article. As homesteaders, so many of our daily activities lead to the out-of-doors, and therefore keeps us connected to nature and all her changing faces.

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.

Shale gas, tight oil, and fracking - May 21

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:49:00 GMT

•At margins of shale oil boom, a tempered euphoria •Fracking envy •Radioactive fracking debris triggers worries at dump sites •Poland’s shale gas hopes suffer blow •Poland Shale Boom Falters as State Targets Higher Taxes •The fight for North Dakota's fracking-water market

Half of oil burnable in 2000-2050 to keep us within 2 degrees warming has been used up as we hit 400 ppm

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:25:05 GMT

We have a race between peak oil and global warming. Symptoms of these complex processes pop up every now and then.

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?

Warrior Writers

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:27:00 GMT

How can reporting on energy, presented as opportunity or catastrophic risk, compete against grumpy cat memes and economic woes? Is there a secret to breaking through the flood of information to make a meaningful impression on the public?

New report raises concerns about expansion of frac sand mines in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:47:00 GMT

The true economic impact of frac sand mining may fall short of industry claims promising sustained prosperity and economic opportunity, says a first-of-its-kind expert report to be released Wednesday, May 15. By using currently available economic data, The Economic Benefits and Costs of Frac-Sand Mining in West Central Wisconsin offers a full, unbiased analysis of costs and benefits for communities affected by frac sand mining. The report concludes by offering a list of questions to be considered that can help rural towns in Wisconsin and Minnesota effectively evaluate benefits and costs of frac sand mining for their community. As frac-sand mining legislation is being considered in Minnesota, including taxes to benefit the state and conservation measures to protect the environment, the report offers data to supplement the often overly optimistic economic projections from mining companies that often ignore costs and minimize environmental risks.

'Follow the Money': How Rainforest Action Network Is Beating the Corporate Giants

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:44:00 GMT

We’ve arrived at a dangerous milestone. For the first time in human history, as Amy Goodman reported this week, "the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has topped 400 parts per million."

Don't Trust Your Stone Age Brain: It's Unsustainable

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:37:00 GMT

Humans have evolved to feel a single sense of self, but our emotional brain is encouraging us to pursue perceived self-interest even if it means trashing the planet, leaving our rational brain to try and justify our actions. Why are our intuitions so poor, and how might we engage rational thinking?

Why I haven’t been flying (much)

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:43:00 GMT

Over three decades I have received many requests to travel across Australia and across the world to speak at a conference, teach a course or participate in some worthy event related to permaculture. My reluctance to travel long distances for short stays has meant I have had to turned down many of these invitations. In more recent years the reactions of invitees has moved from incredulity to understanding, and even admiration, as a small but growing list of public figures are choosing not to travel by air to highlight the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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.

Why I’m marking passing 400 ppm by getting back on an aeroplane

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:47:00 GMT

I refuse to accept that the lurch to 500ppm, 600ppm, 800ppm is an inevitability. I refuse to accept, as Nigel Lawson tried to argue in his debate with the remarkably patient Kevin Anderson on Jeremy Vine’s radio show recently, that doing anything about climate change would impact on economic growth so we shouldn’t bother. I refuse to agree with Peter Lilley that the only way to preserve our economy is to allow unfettered gas fracking anywhere the gas industry decides it wants to drill because “there are simply no affordable renewable technologies available to replace fossil fuels”. I refuse to accept that we can’t do any better than what we have now, and that communities have only a passive role to play in doing something about this with the real work being done by governments and business. I refuse to give up while there’s still a chance.

Lawns Of Purple and Gold

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:50:00 GMT

We burn 800 million gallons of gas mowing lawns, and statisticians say that we spill 17 million gallons every year just refilling our lawn machines. If so, that beats the Exxon Valdez spill of 10 million gallons.

"Apocalyptic Journalism" and Why We Need Reporters to Face the Reality of Our Crumbling Society

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:06:00 GMT

We have no choice but to deal with the collapse of journalism, but we also should recognize the need for a journalism of collapse.

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 NR35 Dead-Hedgers Society

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:46:00 GMT

It just so happened that the five of us who turned up at Richard’s on Wednesday morning in Bungay to learn how to do dead-hedging with Paul were all over 50, and so the ad hoc name we came up with for that morning’s grouping was the NR35 Dead-Hedgers Society - the Over 50s Contingent!

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.

Climate change’s ‘evil twin’: Ocean acidification

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:40:00 GMT

A three-year assessment from a team of international scientists will detail how the phenomenon dubbed “climate change’s evil twin” is shaping up to be a global problem. The rapid acidification of the Arctic Ocean will have widespread impacts to be felt for “tens of thousands of years” even if we stop emissions now, say the scientists.

Organic No-Till

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:01:00 GMT

Many farmers consider organic no-till the ‘holy grail’ of regenerative agriculture because it combines the best of both worlds: reduced soil disturbance and no chemicals. Its development, however, came about as innovations so often do: by accident.