Kristin’s Picks:
City Living 1 – Tales from London 8-9th November 2010
So many themes were touched on in this lovely and lyrical post by storyteller Steph Bradley. How to “transition” a city, what is the right “size” for a city, the poetics of place, how your relationship with place can change (even if you don’t live there), and much much more. This post resonated really well with me after attending the Transitions: Diverse Routes to Belonging conference in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, with its meditations on how we are all, in one of Scotland’s indigenous languages of Scottish Gaelic, the “gal” (stranger) and “gael” (native) in whatever space we currently inhabit.
Boat mills: water powered, floating factories
Ah, Kris de Decker strikes again with this lushly illustrated and deeply researched post about a little-known type of historical technology. Somewhat akin in a quieter way to his classic 2009 post, Wind powered factories: history (and future) of industrial windmills, this lengthy yet never turgid article makes me want to go to my nearest abandoned watermill and gear it up into service again. And why not? These kind of solutions may start to make more sense when fossil fuel depletion hits the industrial manufacturing fan…
Mark Shepherd’s 106 acre permaculture farm in Viola, Wisconsin
Another example of a great and inspiring can-do permaculture project. And like the new series about local food systems on the Tyee, it doesn’t duck the hard facts about farming. It may be necessary, creative and extremely satisfying, but the pay isn’t great, there are no paid vacations, and it ain’t easy.
Simone’s picks
It’s official: The economy is set to starve
November is the release month of the annual report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Given the IEA’s role as energy advisor to the OECD nations, its statements, recommendations and warnings are watched keenly by those of us following these issues. I thought that this piece by Chris Martenson provided a great summary of some of the important aspects of this year’s report. To me, this is Chris at his best, linking the issues of resource depletion and economic crisis.
300 years of fossil fuels in 300 seconds
We’re often thinking about ways to engage with more people who can tell that business as usual just isn’t working and want to know more. I think that this video, done in the animate style, does a really nice job of synthesising a lot of information without dumbing it down.
Bart’s Picks:
Working with peak oil and similar material year after year, I find that I have little taste for general statements about the state of the world – collapse, despair, etc. Instead, I’m drawn to specifics — what concrete things are people doing that will make a difference? How does one shape a meaningful life now or in a post-peak future?
Getting the Message Out
Peak oil and four principles of PR
Long-time EB contributor Kurt Cobb wrote this sorely needed list of suggestions for ASPO-USA. As a journalist and campaign manager, Kurt is an expert at crafting a message for the general public. Also see Kurt’s essay Why I wrote Prelude, a peak oil novel, about his just published book.
New videos to change the world – Nov 10
Face it – few of us relish the prospect of sitting down to a dry, data-laden article about our environmental or economic predicament. This crop of videos show how far we’ve come in telling the story an entertaining, absorbing way. I especially like The Ultimate Roller Coaster Ride: A Brief History of Fossil Fuels with Richard Heinberg.
Bicycles and Food
Mia Birk has a message for Seattle cyclists
Bicyclists have quietly been making strides in making bicycles a serious transportation option. One could make a case for ther percentage of bicycle use being a gauge of the sanity of civilization. As H. G. Wells said, “When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” Also see: An interstate bicycling system
EB co-editor Kristin and I share the conviction that an appreciation of food and farming is critical for a post-carbon civilization. This set of headline/excerpts includes:
– Nature’s Spoils (feature on fermentationist Sandor Katz) Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker
– A Hidden Cost of Farming (cow manure and phosphorus)
– Finally, A Practical Guide to Dealing With… Manure (Book Review)
Some more great food items, including:
– Phosphate: Morocco’s White Gold [Business Week’s look at the country with the largest reserves]
– The World Food Crisis: Causes and Solutions (Peter Rosset talk) (A video by a long-time reserarcher and activist. If you want to see an analysis from the Via Campesina point-of-view, this is the one to see)While we’re on the subject of phosphorus … the UK Soil Association. just published a through and readable report about peak phosphorus and what to do about it.
What’s Going On
Brian Kaller, our BP correspondent in Ireland, finds himself in the economic storm that’s just taken place there. In the essay, he puts a human face on the hard times there. Also from Brian: O’Sterity: old virtues in the new Ireland
Nicole is one of the most persuasive of the writers on economics who appears in the peak oil blogosphere. I confess I had my doubts, but this interview won me over. It was conducted by Alexander Ac from our sister site in the Czech Republic, energybulletin.cz .
Carolyn Baker also did a good interview of Nicole Foss
IEA’s 2010 report and the outlook for peak oil – Nov 10
Here’s a collection of articles on the IEA’s recognition of peak oil in its recent report. Several years ago, we would have article after article about this, but by now it seems like old hat. Nonethless, it is an important development in the struggle to get mainstream acceptance of peak oil.
Visions and Examples
Building community: an economic approach
David Korten of Yes! Magazine made it onto PBS in a November show hosted by one of the best PBS figures, David Brancaccio. The one-hourshow is “Fixing the Future.” Video and transcript.
A strategy to reverse overshoot and achieve sustainable well-being
Frank Rotering has been beavering away at an economic and political analysis of our envrionmental problems. He’s come up with a blueprint that may well come to pass. A mass movement, such as the one he outlines, is probably ahead of its time. But as we saw with the fall of the Soviet Union, huge changes can come about unexpectedly and abruptly.
Knowledge and change, the intangible and development
We try as hard as we can to imagine a low-energy future. But in the industrialized world of the 21st century, our imaginations are stunted. We are ignorant of other possibilities, falling prey to an easy cynicism.
An antidote is provided in this piece by Rahul Goswami, an Indian journalist and researcher for international agencies. He shows three samples of cultural traditions that can provide models for us, and hopefully gives us a taste to look for more.
Argentina’s collapse and the grassroots of resilience
Others have passed the way of economic misfortune before us. This post, that originally appeared in Jan Lundberg’s “Culture Change” shows the resilience that human beings are capable of.
Thanksgiving: a time to think about gift economies?
Gail Tverberg, an editor and writer at The Oil Drum, takes a break from her usual hardcore analysis, and looks instead at the gift economy.
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