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Karen Lynn Allen

Karen Lynn Allen is a novelist and blogger who draws on her background in both literature and engineering to write about energy and resilience issues. Her novel, Beaufort 1849, depicts a society that needs to make an energy transition but instead doubles down on its way of life with catastrophic consequences.

walking

Social Cohesion and Public Health

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

So let’s walk our way out of this pandemic. Walk our way to mental, emotional and physical health. Walk our way back to social cohesion. Walk our way back to a functional society where anger and suspicion aren’t the normal ways we interact with each other.

  • June 2, 2020
Walking in the Hills by Potthast

Fourteen Low-Tech Ways to Stay Healthy (Besides Handwashing)

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

Health is not just an absence of illness. At the very least health includes a well-functioning immune system, our bodies’ first defense against pathogens that cause disease. This includes COVID-19, the coronavirus.

  • March 9, 2020
dryden habits

The Habits of Unhappy People (and What You Can Do About Them)

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

Some habits make us unhappy. Others reveal unhappiness. Some do both. A healthy society strives to nurture the well-being of its members, because secure, stable people who find satisfaction in life can work together, innovate, adapt to change, and problem-solve effectively. A country full of miserable, angry people who spend their time blotting out their pain or lashing out at others can cope with almost nothing.

  • February 10, 2020
electric bike

Why Don’t You Have an Electric Bike Already?

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

If you’re already making most of your daily trips by bike or on foot, you don’t need to read further. An electric bike is unlikely to improve your life. For everyone else, read on!

  • April 16, 2019
Singing Frog

A Good Problem to Have

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings blog

California has four basic challenges to resolve on its journey to using solely renewables + large hydro to power its electric grid.

  • April 1, 2019
Antebellum charm

The Lessons of the Great Beaufort Skedaddle

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

On the 157th anniversary of the Great Beaufort Skedaddle, it's worth remembering that sometimes doubling down on one's way of life brings about catastrophe from which there is no recovery.

  • November 7, 2018
Pacific garbage patch

Come Plog With Me. (Yes, Litter Matters. A Lot.)

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

I encourage you to join me in plogging or plalking. First off, plogging and plalking is good for you! I’ve written many times before about the benefits of walking and walkable neighborhoods.

  • July 31, 2018
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