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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.

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

Gasoline–Such a Big Bang for the Buck

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

Are you a fan of beheadings? Are you fond of autocratic regimes? Do you want to help those kooky, lovable Koch brothers purchase another member of Congress? Do you yearn to support Saudi Arabia, Iran, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin, but it seems so difficult to give them direct, individual donations? Lucky for you, there’s an easy answer! Just buy gasoline!

  • February 1, 2018

There’s No Resilience Without Good Health

By Karen Lynn Allen, Musings

How do you envision yourself at age eighty? Do you want to be active, mobile, and of sound mind and body? Or do you think you'll be lucky just to be alive? Good health is not luck.

  • October 30, 2017
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