Can We Regenerate the Earth?
By Joe Brewer, Medium
My question for you is this: Do YOU believe it is possible to regenerate the Earth? If so, what are you willing to do to transform your life to become a healer of ecosystems and steward of community health? If not, what would it take to convince you to change your mind?
Peak Oil Review: 17 June 2019
By Tom Whipple, Steve Andrews, Peak-Oil.org
Brent futures dropped steadily for the first three days last week, falling to a low below $60 on Wednesday before the attack on two oil tankers just south of the Straits of Hormuz. Prices then rebounded to close the week at $62.01.
Reinventing the Small Wind Turbine
By Kris De Decker, Low-Tech Magazine
Small wooden wind turbines offer additional benefits that are inherent to all decentralised power sources. The fact that they're paid for by the same people that enjoy their benefits, increases their public acceptance.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (9)
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
The Democratic Party may be the loser in the candidate debates as the calls for a focused debate have only grown stronger since Perez rejected Inslee's plea for a debate dedicated to the climate crisis.
Ecofeminism to Escape Collapse
By Margarita Mediavilla, Resilience.org
From my point of view --which comes from systems dynamics and environmentalism rather than from feminism-- one of the tools that can best help feminist economics articulate a coherent discourse is the pattern of collapse.
This Civilisation is Finished
By Samuel Alexander, Rupert Read, The Simplicity Collective
When I look at the world today, I see the vast majority of academics, scientists, activists, and politicians ‘self-censoring’ their own work and ideas, in order to share views that are socially, politically, or even personally palatable.
Stepping Up and Reaching Out – Stories and Mapping
By Richard Couldrey, Mike Thomas, Transition Network
It was great to have 146 Transitioners, from 84 different groups, come along to the workshops. But what brought them here? What was their passion and when did they begin their Transition journey? All of this fed into the beginning of our conversations about connecting regionally.
How Much does Cruelty Cost?
By Jody Tishmack, Anima/Soul
Some people may have caught a recent news story about animal abuse at Fair Oaks dairy farms in Indiana. The video was part of an undercover operation to show how animals are really treated at Fair Oaks Farms.
Spanish Municipal Elections: What Happened with the New Municipalist Projects?
By Sol Trumbo Vila, Open Democracy
We live in a moment of crisis and opportunity, and the Spanish experience shows that it is possible to incorporate veteran left parties, grass roots activists and disfranchised social democratic and progressive voters into broader transformative processes.
Banking with Community Values
By Rob Keegan, STIR to Action
Whether it’s pubs, shops, farms or football clubs, the model of community ownership continues to go from strength-to-strength.It’s a model that’s been around for hundreds of years, but has seen increased popularity since the Localism Act 2011 set out additional protection for Assets of Community Value (ACV)
Why does Ritual Matter for Social Change?
By Niki Seth-Smith, Open Democracy
In fact there’s a new wave of interest in creating ritual spaces and practices like these that are designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. They’re not modelled on any particular faith but draw on an eclectic range of religious, magical and secular healing traditions.
How Much will the US Way of Life © Have to Change?
By Max Ajl, Uneven Earth
A copious literature makes clear that smallholder agro-ecology in various countries of the former Third World can feed, for example, 12-15 people with one person’s year-round labour on plots of between one and two hectares.
In-depth Q&A: The UK Becomes First Major Economy to Set Net-Zero Climate Goal
By Simon Evans, Carbon Brief
The UK is to raise its ambition on climate change by setting a legally binding target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to “net-zero” by 2050, prime minister Theresa May has announced today.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (8)
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
Reliance on natural gas as the bridge to a zero-carbon economy carries the problem of building out an infrastructure that serves only to maintain reliance on a fossil fuel. Once companies sink their money into the buildout, they are not going to go gently into that good night.
Making Sense of this Life I’ve Lived
By Vicki Robin, Vicki Robin blog
That title was a tease. I have not made nor will I ever make full sense of me, but I want to connect the dots of my disparate – sometimes desperate – projects over many years and reveal the wholeness and practicality that links them all.
Looking Back, Looking Forwards – Governance
By Bob Thust, STIR to Action
I think it’s because the challenges are so great that the need to fundamentally reset the relationship between business, government, and local communities and place them on a more equal footing, transferring not just responsibility but genuine power, is increasingly not a choice but an imperative.
No, Climate Action Can’t be Separated from Social Justice
By Julian Brave NoiseCat, The Guardian blog
If you set aside Republicans’ obsession with cow farts, perhaps the most prevalent criticism of the Green New Deal is its emphasis on social justice. Critics contend that the far-reaching climate agenda is far too concerned with extraneous issues such as jobs, infrastructure, housing, healthcare and civil and indigenous rights.
The Art of Maintaining “Good Vibes:” Lessons on Practices and Skills from Two Egalitarian Communities
By Katarzyna Gajewska, P2P Foundation
Creating an alternative economy and organization of production implies a transformation of the relations and ways of inter-personal functioning that have been inculcated into hierarchy culture and the capitalist system.
The “Transformation Points” towards Decarbonisation
By Lisa Luna, Rapid Transition Alliance
For the past two years, the Climate Action Tracker has been producing a series of memos that look at the decarbonisation required in high-emitting sectors to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5˚C warming limit.
Pronounced HOO-gul-kul-tur
By Brian Kaller, Restoring Mayberry
The technique, called hugelkultur (HOO-gul-kul-tur), has the advantage of being simple to understand and easy to make, and lasting a long time. Hugelkultur beds basically involve piling wood – usually dried logs of various sizes – into a single ridge, piling vegetation, cardboard or newspaper over that, and finally a layer of soil on top.
Bee Roadzz
By Milly Carmichael, Transition Network
Transition Marlborough wanted to help save the bees so they started joining up landscapes to connect pollinators and people.This is the story of a small, local project to help bees.
Unique Learning Laboratory is Giving City Kids the Opportunity to Explore Sustainable Agriculture
By Caroline Fox, Food Tank
In the past eight years, City Growers has expanded their opportunities and reach, offering Summer Camp, professional development, and free workshops. However, it is the child’s newfound understanding and curiosity that truly helps measure progress.
Development for the Many
By Laurie Macfarlane, Open Democracy
Big challenges require big solutions. After decades of serving the few, it’s time that development in Britain started to meet the needs of the many. Only then can we fix Britain’s broken housing system, and start to build a fairer and more sustainable economy.
We must Mobilise for the Climate Emergency like we Do in Wartime. Where is the Climate Minister?
By Ian Dunlop, David Spratt, The Guardian blog
Littleproud arguably has the most crucial and important role in cabinet. How to convince his colleagues of the real climate disasters which now confront this country, and particularly the agricultural sector, unless we rapidly move away from our fossil fuel past.
The Climate Movement Needs More Radicals
By Samuel Miller McDonald, The Trouble
One of the protesters called out to the crowd gathered on Waterloo Bridge, “If you’ve ever wondered what you would have done during the Second World War, this is your answer.” Fighting evil in the 1940s was not a peaceful, niche enterprise. Doing so today must not be either.
Understanding the Human Side of Climate Change Relocation
By Sarah M. Munoz, The Conversation
Climate change is expected to have a striking impact on vulnerable communities, especially in coastal regions where sea-level rise and increased climatic events will make it impossible for some people to remain on their land.
The Green New Deal— Be-labored?
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
The lesson here is straightforward. Building coalitions outside more narrow identity groups is essential to winning elections and later in the halls of legislatures and the offices of chief executives to enacting legislation.
The Indigenous Resistance against Jair Bolsonaro
By Sue Branford, New Internationalist
The outcome of the indigenous struggle is important to all of us. A Guarani person recently put it this way: ‘If indigenous peoples become extinct and dead, the lives of all are threatened, for we are the guardians of nature. Without forest, without water, without rivers, there is no life, there is no way for any Brazilian to survive.
Philip Hammond won’t Tackle the Climate Crisis. But a Green New Deal would
By Molly Scott Cato, The Guardian blog
It simply makes no sense to allow something you can control – money – to be a limit on your ambition to deal with something that your future existence depends on, like the climate crisis.
Peak Oil Review: 10 June 2019
By Tom Whipple, Steve Andrews, Peak-Oil.org
US oil prices sank into bear market territory on Wednesday, falling more than 20 percent below the April peak. Traders were concerned that a 6.8-million-barrel build in US crude stocks indicated lower prices ahead.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (7)
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
Political lobbying in the US that helped block the progress of proposed climate regulation a decade ago led to a social cost of $60 billion, according to a new study.
What To Do About Predictions of Imminent Food Collapse
By Sandra Lindberg, System Change not Climate Change
Yes, the way of life we’ve known is coming to an end. Yes, civilizations fall. I for one will fight for our species and our planet’s survival until I can no longer do so.
Want to Tackle Inequality? Then First Change our Land Ownership Laws
By George Monbiot, The Guardian blog
These proposals, we hope, will make the UK a more equal, inclusive and generous-spirited nation, characterised not by private enclosure and public squalor, but by private sufficiency and public luxury. Our land should work for the many, not just the few.
The One Sure Way to Convince a Climate Denier
By Zoe Saylor, Grist
It’s a power that has come into play a lot lately: Pushed by dire circumstances to explore tactics beyond the eye roll, middle and high school students are leading the charge on just about everything, from climate justice, to gun control, to criminal justice reform.
Alarm bell on decline of nuclear power way too late
By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights
There was a time when a nuclear-powered future seemed inevitable. Now, it is the decline of nuclear power that seems inevitable.
Moving Into and Out of Patriarchy: Review
By Michael Johnson, Grassroots Economic Organizing
In producing their book Why Does Patriarchy Persist Carol Gilligan and Naomi Snider doggedly pursued the mystery of why our patriarchal ways of living and relating endure with such tenacity when they keep producing results we do not want.
Why we Need Small Farms
By Victoria Balfour, Sustainable Food Trust
They are creating a relationship between farmer and customer. “It’s what a farm should be doing, feeding local people surrounding the farm,” says Gerald, “if every farmer did that, we wouldn’t need supermarkets. It’s therapy for the farmer and for the community.”
The Climate Emergency Continuum: from Bad to Cataclysmic
By Jonathon Porritt, Jonathon Porritt blog
So it was with something of a sinking feeling that I decided to read both David Wallace-Well’s ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’ and Bill McKibben’s new book, ‘Falter’, in the same fortnight. But I’m ever so pleased I did – not least because they’re both beautifully written, utterly compelling in their analysis, and, surprisingly, useful antidotes for premature despair!
Permaculture: Concept Plans vs Detailed Plans
By Meg McGowan, Making Permaculture Stronger
At the PDC level the majority of students will be designing for themselves. Their individual plan will be their own site. The real challenge is to get these students to start implementing permaculture on the ground. I consider this my primary goal.
Trump Admin Argues No Constitutional Right to a Safe Climate Two Years After Ditching Paris Accord
By Dana Drugmand, DesmogBlog
The 21 youth plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States allege that the government’s role in perpetuating a fossil fuel energy system despite knowledge of the climate consequences amounts to violations of their constitutional rights.
Scotland’s Degrowth Commission
By Mike Small, Bella Caledonia
The Degrowth Commission invites you to re-imagine how our economy should work in a survivable zero-carbon future.It is part of Enough! which is a new experimental project responding to the climate crisis. We will be hosting large-scale participatory events to develop these ideas.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light Newsletter (6)
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
It’s benighted not be knighted. Donald Trump tells Prince Charles the US has 'clean climate' and blames other countries for the environmental crisis, in a long talk with the prince.