Peak oil: a chance to change the world
For advice about life after graduation, students at Worcester Polytechnic wanted to hear from peak oil scholar Richard Heinberg instead of Exxon’s CEO. Here’s what he told them.
Year: 2011
Two schools and the path to the steady state
All of economics is divided into two schools: steady state theory and infinite planet theory. They can’t both be right. You’d think the choice between them would be obvious, but infinite planet theory still holds sway in classrooms and in the halls of power where policy is made. Last month, though, brought a significant development: the manager of a major hedge fund registered a carefully reasoned dissent from infinite planet theory. And in doing so, Jeremy Grantham offered a glimpse of how and why steady state economic theory will ultimately come to prevail.
Book review: Unplanning – Livable Cities and Political Choices
What we need are generated cities, not fabricated!
So can (some variations on) left and (some variations on) right work together?
So what do you think? Do you think left and right, in some or all variations can work together? To what extent are political ends enough, and to what extent are the means and underlying enlightenment philosophies critical?
No nukes, No problem. Germany is proving a rapid transition to renewable energy is possible
Countries around the world are in need of reliable and clean energy. Climate change will require a transition towards a low carbon economy within the next decades. In the wake of Fukushima, the key question is: “If not nuclear, what’s next?” As policy makers and industry stakeholders around the world continue to evaluate the role of nuclear power for energy transition, it will be useful for the US to benchmark its strategies against those of other countries.
Conserving the commons
A commons can only be conserved by a common effort, by a web of agreements and mutual enforcements that work for all those who have a stake in the commons. There is no shortcut here. While individual frugalizing is necessary, it is not sufficient.
Peak oil review – May 16
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The Mississippi flood
-The IEA’s monthly report
-China’s problems
-In Washington
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
Climate, food and and the connectivity paradox
At the most basic level, climate changes that cause world surface temperatures to rise are rooted in increased fossil emissions in the atmosphere. Total fossil fuel emissions are a function of key variables, most notably population, per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) and the carbon intensity of an individual unit of GDP. Understanding these forces and their relationships with each other is critical to measuring the extent of climate change and how we may seek to deal with it.
World – May 15
– The Great Game’s New Clothes
– Egypt and Israel Headed for Crisis
– Why the Dream of Microfinance is Turning Sour
– UN: Global Population to Top 10 Billion by 2100
The U.S. and its discontents – May 15
– Paul Krugman: The Unwisdom of Elites
– Juan Cole: The New Sputnik
– Joe Bageant: Escape from the Zombie Food Court
Would vested interests starve the world?
Would vested interests be so crazy as to persist in their manipulations of public perception and policy when faced with compelling evidence that suggests their actions could result in widespread starvation? Apparently the answer is yes.
Managing manure to save mankind
Long-time Ohio farmer Gene Logsdon says human and animal waste, including that from pets, is our greatest and most misunderstood natural resource. He points out that we spend billions to throw it away, and billions more to manufacture synthetic fertilizers.
(Radio interview and book excerpt)
