Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
For Energy and Capital last week, I took a fresh look at how software is enabling the energy revolution by streamlining rooftop solar design, improving home energy efficiency, and putting the “smart” in smart grid.
It’s been more than a year since we’ve started our initiative in Sopot, Poland. It has the same aim as the Transition initiatives, however we have decided to focus on local democracy first. Democracy helps to eliminate the struggles of political parties and it weakens vested interests. What we have also quickly realized is that even if you come up with a great plan for improving public transport or installing a biogas digester in your city, there’s this little, tiny issue: how can you make it all happen? Where will the money come from? Who will give all permits and change the city plans?
Recently, I received a message from a group called Trees Have Rights Too. They want to create a Meme, a replicating cultural entity, from the word “ecocide”…
When I graduated from college, I was trapped underneath a mountain of debt. I had no money in the bank, $25,000 worth of student loans, and an interesting, but low-paying job doing research on economic and environmental policy…After adding up rent, food, loan repayment, and other basic expenses, I didn’t have any money left at the end of each month. It became obvious very quickly that I was stuck – I didn’t have something that I truly desired: breathing room.
A while ago, at a Soil Association event in London, I found myself on a panel with Phillip Blond of ResPublica, and was really impressed by his insightful thinking on how politics might best enable the process of localisation. Phillip’s book. ‘Red Tory’ is due to be published in a couple of weeks, and I was delighted that Phillip agreed to do an interview about his thinking.
Health care reform dominates the news as Dems struggle to push their reform package through Congress. I applaud the effort, but can’t help wondering why climate change is being left out of the debate.
-Californians March into the Heartland
-US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul
-Fear Strikes Out
There were elections in Brittany yesterday. The result was, let’s say, interesting for us, but that would be hard to understand for people not familiar with the French voting system and with the arcana of Breton politics. To make a long story short we ended up a left wing opposition to the left wing president of the regional council. This local oddity is not, however, the main lesson of yesterday’s vote. The very low turnout is, and this tells a lot about the way our political system does and will react to the ongoing energy descent.
Solastalgia – 1. A feeling of loss at demise of Earth; mourning for Gaia; profound ennui.
2. Lost connection to nature; an eco-psychological imbalance.
Antidotes: Ecological restoration Permaculture
-We’ll open a nuclear power station every 18 MONTHS, say Tories
-UK must transform to meet future energy needs, warn top engineers
-The islands of black gold
-Are working hours being cut to save jobs?
-Author Lewis Says Wall Street Reckoning Is Coming
-Coming soon: “oil-less” economic growth
-Arcane Currency Battle Masks Deeper Economic Tensions with China
-‘I=PAT’ means nothing, proves nothing
-The Broken Society
-Natural resources: The curse of developing countries?
-Money Out Of Thin Air: Now Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wants To Eliminate Reserve Requirements Completely?
-America’s “Houdini Recovery” under IMF-Type Austerity
-A road not taken
-Our Obsession With Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities and Our Health
-Richard Heinberg Lecture Peak Oil Pt 1
-Q&A with Chef Dan Barber: Can organic farming feed the world?
-The Global Food Market (VIDEO): Why Do Some Eat Well While Others Starve?
