Light Posting 8th to 22nd October
By Resilience.org Staff, Resilience.org
Due to editorial holiday, there will be light posting from 8th to 22nd October. Regular posting will resume on the 23rd.
The risks of synthetic biology in the information society
By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights
Synthetic biology offers grand new possibilities to "process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health" according to Wikipedia. But the supposed benefits cannot sensibly be weighed against the catastrophic systemic risks which are inherent in its use.
When it comes to sustainability, we’re a society of distracted drivers
By Richard Heinberg, Common Dreams
Rather than sharing the distractions now capturing the attention of other drivers, we must each retrain ourselves to pay attention to the instrument panel and the road ahead of us. Abandoning old habits and making new ones requires effort. But some habits are so unwise that changing them is a life-or-death affair.
The Two Sub-cultures of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early)
By Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life
Lest it seem like I’m putting socialism above libertarianism, and the common good above individual achievement, I also see that as FIers mature into this freedom they find a balance between focus on themselves and service to community.
The Mighty, Mighty AGs: Remember Your Mother on November 6th
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
From Mother Earth's perspective, the most important ballots cast on November 6th could be in the 30 contests for state attorney general (AG). The role played by AGs in the nation's transition to a low-carbon economy is easily ignored in the heat of this year's Congressional elections.
The measure of a man in 120 breaths
By Albert Bates, Medium.com
“It has been a disappointment to me that so many people, including all too many environmentalists, thought the spirit of liberation of the 1960s was and is dispensable.” — Jan Lundberg (1952-2018)
To Leave or Remain: dichotomy or distraction?
By Helena Norberg-Hodge, Local Futures
Leave/Remain was always a false dichotomy. The real choice is between a corporate economic system that systematically destroys livelihoods and undermines the environment and, on the other hand, a form of economic decentralisation that actively encourages both community and ecological renewal. The British people weren’t offered that choice in the referendum. But it’s on offer out there in the real world.
The Response podcast episode 3: The impact of Northern California fires on the undocumented community
By Robert Raymond, Tom Llewellyn, Shareable
We'll investigate how, in the face of ICE raids, labor violations, a housing crisis, and climate-fueled wildfires, the broader community is coming together to stand in solidarity with those who are being forced into the shadows.
10 Stories of Transition in the US: Transition Fidalgo & Friends’ Vision 2030
By Steve McAllister, Transition US
In 2005, a group of Permaculture students from Kinsale Further Education College set a course for how their town of 7,000 people on the west coast of Ireland could transition to a better quality of life while dramatically reducing fossil fuel consumption. ... Their plan was soon adopted by the Town Council of Kinsale, and when it was posted online, it quickly spread around the world as people everywhere embraced it as a groundbreaking tool for cultivating community-level sustainability and resilience.
Peak Oil Review – 15 Oct 2018
By Tom Whipple, Steve Andrews, Peak-Oil.org
Major players in the oil industry are still in disagreement as to where oil prices will go in the near future. A few weeks ago, many financial writers were talking about $100 oil, but the sudden surge of volatility and turmoil in global financial markets has caused many to rethink their forecasts.
Puerto Rico — spirited community response
By Susan Witt, Schumacher Center for a New Economics
A volunteer-built church saved the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico, from being used as target practice in 1971. Later, land trusts have helped residents rebuild after hurricanes.
Jan Lundberg passes away
By Albert Bates, Bart Anderson, Resilence.org
Lifelong friend, mentor, role model and champion of the planet Jan Lundberg passed away at peace during the night in his home and refuge in Greece where he had been laboring to revive sail transport in the Mediterranean Sea. Gate gate paragate parasaṃgate bodhi svaha!
Three Deprivation Narratives
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
I’d like to think that it should be possible for everyone in the world to have safe and comfortable shelter (including access to tolerably warm bathing water) and an adequate diet (I’m not so sure about the color TV)...
Climate catastrophe: The median is NOT the message
By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights
The latest report from the IPCC is the first to abandon the measured tone of its previous ones and foretell what it considers a climate catastrophe for human civilization unless the world makes an abrupt U-turn and begins dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions almost immediately. And yet, even this forecast is probably too conservative in its pronouncements.
When a warming climate threatens your dinner plate
By Zenobia Barlow, Resilience
The Center for Ecoliteracy recently released a suite of free digital resources: videos, original animations, interactive pages, photography, and sample activities to help explore the relationships between food and climate change.
We need an ecological civilization before it’s too late
By Jeremy Lent, Patterns of Meaning
In the face of climate breakdown and ecological overshoot, alluring promises of “green growth” are no more than magical thinking. We need to restructure the fundamentals of our global cultural/economic system to cultivate an “ecological civilization.”