Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Thirty years ago, the scientist James Lovelock worked out that the Earth possessed a planetary-scale control system which kept the environment fit for life. He called it Gaia, and the theory has become widely accepted. Now, he believes mankind’s abuse of the environment is making that mechanism work against us. His astonishing conclusion – that climate change is already insoluble, and life on Earth will never be the same again.
To insiders, the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is a real world, mature-person’s solution to climate change. No economic pain, no mandatory targets, no international commitments and no need for open, accountable negotiations. To other observers, it’s an empty vessel; a fig-leaf to cover the embarrassment of George Bush and John Howard, the only western leaders to have reneged on commitments their predecessors made at the UN Kyoto conference in 1997.
Petrotheism (animation) /
Peak oil summary for Australia /
Irish Times on unsustainable consumption /
Oil output will depend on investment, not reserves: CGES /
Dave Room (GPM) & Kirstin Miller (eco-cities) on KPFA /
Peak oil advocates shoot themselves in foot
Venezualan oil market analyst issues dire warning /
Oil prices are gushing but could soon plunge /
Bolivia’s oil and gas…and the new president (3) /
A change in the weather: predictions for 2006 revolve around energy /
Dubai between oil and consumerism
Bill McKibben: the coming meltdown /
China’s pollution and the threat to domestic and regional stability /
Frog killer is linked to global warming /
The lungs of the planet are belching methane /
Global warming to speed up as carbon levels show sharp rise
Worldwatch: China, India set stage for environment-friendly world /
Doomsday vault to avert world famine /
Personal responsibility in an era of imminent depletion /
Green marketing and the ‘4/40 Gap’ /
Kipchoge Spencer of Xtracycle and Worldbike
Demand destruction is at the core of misconceptions by economists about the likely course of events leading up to and following an oil peak.
Incompatibility of automobility-centric lifestyles with a healthy, resource-frugal future
New strategy for peak oil blogging / Chevron: WillYouJoinUs Report / Over the Peak / Planning For the Peak / Norway Sees Dip in 2006 Oil Production /
Find a couple of spare planets or face global oil war / Professor warns about implications of Peak Oil
Roger Adair on Irish drivers in denial, the collapse of complex societies and addressing an imagination deficit of viable Peak Oil strategies.
Benjamin Friedman, a Harvard economist, has written a hugely provocative book (“The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth”) arguing that rapid growth is morally uplifting.
Proposed solutions are often so big and general that we feel helpless. What can one person do about the Kyoto protocol? Permaculture brings a unique emphasis on what can be done by individuals and small groups, fostering a sense of empowerment. This article describes how a classic permaculture technique — zone and sector analysis — can be adapted to deal with peak oil and climate change.
