Dysfunction – May 17
Obesity contributes to global warming
Why puberty at an ever-younger ages?
Environmental results of the Gold Rush
Not as green as they claim to be
Society
Visible hands
As “The Long Emergency” begins to unfold, it’s becoming evident that we’re going to need to relearn to use our hands to do immediately useful work, become more self-reliant and less dependent on the marketplace to sort things out.
Dammed, displaced and democratized
As founder of the earthen building movement in Thailand, Jo Jandai has contributed much to the concept of living sustainably. … We later stopped at a mountain community that had formed in the wake of a ten-year protest. I had been intrigued by this band of villagers that had set up camp on the lawn of the elegant parliament building in Bangkok. The villagers had lost their homes due to a large dam project (funded by the World Bank) flooding their land.
Urban design & transport – May 16
Heinberg: Saying goodbye to air travel
Peak-oil spike reshapes the suburbs
Bicycles pedaling into the spotlight
Calculating commuting costs on Vancouver Island
Ready For anything (but reality)
Deep thought – May 16
A leftist critique of Transition Towns – review by Rob Hopkins
Malthus, the false prophet
Are there just too many people in the world?
Metals – May 14
Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers
Metal theft plagues troubled neighborhoods
Some homes worth less than their copper pipes
Copper theft could have been deadly
Preventing home copper-tubing theft
Steel once again a hot commodity
Transport – May 14
Paul Krugman: Stranded in suburbia
Nissan plans electric car in U.S. by ’10
Diesel cars – promises and problems
Green industry hub rises from Rust Belt ruins
Innovators are making the Pittsburgh region an eco-showcase of the benefits of going green and bringing new hope to the economically depressed Rust Belt region. (Highly recommended. Excerpts – audio and video available)
What we don’t know
John Michael Greer is quite correct that historically humans have met resource declines with struggles to adapt, and that these efforts have changed the dynamics of the decline. But I think he is too dismissive of those who worry about a rapid, steep decline.
Nature & survival – May 10
Before cyclone hit, Burmese delta was stripped of protective trees
Economic risks from species loss
For the love of trees: watershed protection
Conservationists make most of real estate crisis
Deep thought – May 9
Runaway consumerism explains the Fermi Paradox
Gin, television and social surplus
12-Stepping our way to Armageddon
Outposts – May 9
Peak oil task force for Bellingham, Wash.
‘Peak oil’ is here. Now what? (R.I.)
Dream of cohesive Cascadia never dies
