Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The problems we now face will not be solved at the central government level. They might be mitigated or exacerbated, but not truly solved. In essence, the world as currently constructed has become ungovernable. So, along with new ways of living, we must find new ways of governing, and I believe those new ways will emphasize the local and the regional over the national or the international.
We are facing a deep crisis – our economy is simply falling apart, while our ecology and the underlying source of our economic power – our energy supply – is threatened. And Obama is coming to us, like Lincoln, like Roosevelt, at a moment in which the easy solutions to these crises are no longer possible.
David Suzuki: Renewable energy requires strength of will
Thinking Like an Ecosystem
Losing the edge?
Zero immigration and sustainable populations
As the drama of the bursting bubble of Wall St. gives way to a slower, but steady and painful, economic decline, the first and most important question we should ask is “Should we try to blow another bubble, or should we reject bubble culture values for something entirely different?”
Sharon Astyk: the competence project
UofA students: Personal survival skills for life at the twlight of empire
Podcasts online – Bioneers by the Bay Conference
Environment and energy coverage at TNR
Michigan’s third peak oil conference of 2008 focuses on the specific challenges and solutions for Michigan and features 45 speakers including Richard Heinberg, Albert Bates, Michael Brownlee, Ellen Hodgeson Brown, Richard Gilbert, Stephanie Mills, Kurt Cobb, and Aaron Wissner. The event is schedule for the November 14 weekend.
The following is proposed as a preliminary plan for discussion amongst all those who are willing to acknowledge the reality of our predicament, think beyond the paradigm of the current system, and rationally discuss the fundamental reforms required to avoid catastrophe.
Heinberg: The Food and Farming Transition
A bounty sprouts in the city with MyFarm enterprise
Green prisons farm, recycle to save energy, money
Food Insecurity’s Dirty Secret
Victoria: Call for action as state food security at risk
Many argue that suburbia was a terrible idea—a giant waste of land, capital, and culture. I largely agree. But there you have it: suburbia happened, with no refund available. It is time for the discussion to shift from “suburbia sucks” to “what are we going to do about it?”
The Austerity Issue: don’t panic (housewives to the rescue in Post-War Britain)
Guardians of the past uncover green lessons for the present (UK heritage)
Portland sustainability, personal responsibility and the prospect for oil’s full return
I looked at the scale of the problem, and I looked at our response (not much so far), and I came, broadly, to this conclusion. We might screw it up. Oh, it is possible that I’m underestimating human ingenuity, and that we’ll do everything right. On the other hand, it seemed like having some kind of contingency plan for a scenario in which we did not replace all our energy infrastructure rapidly, where we did face tight supplies, volatile prices and perhaps an economic depression, in part created by our situation was a good idea. … And I have to say, learning that [the IEA estimated] the decline rate is 9.1% makes me feel that my strategy has mostly been the right one. Because that’s a huge and shocking number.
Food hunters of the urban jungle
Albert Bates: Biochar’s fractal dimension
Forget flowers, say I love you with vegetables
The food crisis and gender
