Solutions & sustainability – Jun 1
A real-world island experiment /
A family of 4 — but no car /
Tending ‘Defiant Gardens’ during wartime /
Big Organic vs. local food /
Biodegradable plastics
Food & Water
Peak oil – May 31
David Holmgren on permaculture and oil peak / Julian Darley at the NYC conference / ISN Security Watch: The end of the ‘age of oil’ / PO will not help us in the climate change fight / Peak oil is ‘an opportunity’ / News from here, there…
The newest guest at your dinner table: your car
Of the more than 6 billion people now on earth, 3.7 billion suffer from some form of malnutrition. For these reasons and others now does not seem like a good time to embark on a program to turn a significant portion of the world’s food crops into fuel for automobiles.
Solutions & sustainability – May 29
“Freegans” forage for food in bins / Sustainability conference June 10-11 in Seattle / Richard Register’s proposal for a global rebuilding program / Micropatronage – a new way to finance innovation /
UK: Eco villages springing up all over / Evangelical Virginia farmer sees a revolution against industrial agriculture / Growing hope (gardening in Guantanamo) /
An evening in Peter Harper’s garden / Building with hemp
Ethanol and Peak Food
The food vs. ethanol production debate is beginning to heat up. However it will be short one, writes Tom Whipple. While there are acceptable alternatives to putting corn into your gas tank such as slowing down, staying home, taking a bus, or joining a car pool, there are no substitutes for eating.
A new protest song: Joan Baez – she shall overcome
A veteran of 40 years of demonstrations, the American folk singer’s latest campaign involves camping in a tree to save a 14-acre farm from the developers (South Central Farm in Los Angeles)
Environment – May 27
Situation in sinking Tuvalu scary, says PM / Jet streams off track, may affect weather patterns / Green water and sustainable agriculture / Salon on climate change / Al Gore in NYC (speech coverage)
Will biofuels always be hopeless?
Do biofuels suck for deep fundamental unchangeable reasons? Or for contingent reasons that might be amenable to change over time with technological innovation? The answer might not be so obvious.
Solutions & sustainability – May 25
Tree-hugging capitalists / Do you really need the perfect green lawn? / Wall St. develops the tools to invest in climate change / My life as an ethical test driver /
Farmers’ markets go beyond green /
‘Green chemistry’ hitting the market / The emergence of the green blogs
Other energy – May 25
Ecstasy and paralysis: Getting used to life without electricity in Africa / Energy demand may impact feed industry /
Money key driver in changing consumer attitudes to energy / Australia: Petrol prices hit car sales /
Consumer Reports: Gas prices having big impact
E85: Spinning our Wheels
If you listen to the news lately, you know that E85 is going to lead the U.S. to energy independence, just like it did in Brazil. Perhaps not, argues Robert Rapier.
Former McDonald’s cook confesses
McDonald’s got me to college. I don’t just mean that I saved money by consuming tons of their cheap hamburgers and fries and gallons of milkshakes, which I did. I also worked there for three years, beginning at about $1 an hour.
