Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
…an old remedy for internal parasites in livestock is to soak black walnut hulls in their drinking water. If you think that sounds far-fetched, a much publicized control for internal parasites in humans is black walnut tincture, made from soaking particles of black walnut hull in vodka. Think I’m kidding, don’t you. Google it.
Obama’s recent speech on energy policy, which rehashed nearly every cliché uttered in forty years of empty White House rhetoric on the subject, drove home the hard fact that meaningful responses to the predicament of industrial society will not be forthcoming from the American political class. Instead, the foundations of a very different kind of energy system – localized, small-scale, and based on diffuse renewable energy – will need to be laid by individuals, families, and community groups. Passive solar technologies offer one useful example of how the ecotechnic energy system of the future can begin to evolve.
Regardless of the industry, "Most companies tend to use the same standard systems and more and more companies arrive at a situation where time and cost have been reduced to a minimum." It is bitterly ironic that so much success could lead to an ultimate failure to find further paths toward innovation and earnings.
But one thing is for sure. The malfunctioning at the nuclear plant is but one of the bites out of life stemming from the human failure to recognize, much less plan for, the high price and growing risks of economic growth.
Many responses to peak oil urge individual and community solutions, ignoring government. They argue that since government hasn’t done anything to address the problem, citizens and businesses must take matters into their own hands. Some even argue that government is part of the problem, particularly federal and state governments. This attitude is shortsighted.
How we think about climate destabilization has a great deal to do with how we talk about it. For example, we do not face merely a “warming” of the Earth, but rather a worsening destabilization of, well, almost everything. We are rapidly making a different and less hospitable planet, one that Bill McKibben calls “Eaarth.”
So what is Adapting In Place anyway? I’m writing a book about it (coming out next fall), I talk about it a lot, but what exactly am I getting at? It is partly about preparedness, both individual and community, partly about changing expectations, partly about achieving a kind of balance. It seems pedestrian in a way – lots of questions about how to do the laundry and keep food cool and work with your neighbors – ordinary things. Trivial seeming things.
Today, cities face substantial barriers to effective water management due to the sheer extent of non-permeable surfaces such as pavement and concrete. During rain events, the main function of these impervious surfaces is to concentrate and dispose of water as quickly as it arrives, sending it to storm sewers where it inevitably ends up in creeks, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Not only is this poor water management, but unfiltered water can cause major damage to ecosystems!
Permaculturists are the emergency planetary technicians, and bioremediation is our bailiwick.
Rowena spoke about people giving them hand-me-down clothes and a bag of groceries from time to time. “But we never felt deprived,” she told me. “And having hand-me-downs is nothing to be ashamed of.”
The principle of a hedgerow is simple, but laying them was a respected skill in traditional Ireland and England, one that took years to learn. Every year farmers would take a few days out to maintain their hundreds of metres of hedge, re-weaving or pruning the new growth, and each area had its own style and method. Ireland has hedge-laying groups, festivals and specialists, and some take pride in maintaining the same hedges that have existed for decades.
– Brent jumps to 2-1/2 year peak
– VOA: Libyan Rebels Preparing to Export Oil
– Chomsky: Libya and the World of Oil
– 6 surprising ways oil prices affect you
– BBC: Over a Barrel
– Jim Rogers on the Dangers of Price Inflation, the Promise of Commodities and America’s Continued Decline
– Can ‘peak oil’ help slow climate change?
