Year: 2012

Stuffed and Starved round two: Raj Patel talks to Jonny Gordon-Farleigh about our crazy global food system

by

With the announcement of the surprising and remarkable fact that the obese now outnumber the hungry — both forms of malnourishment — we need to be looking deeper into our food system and the industry that has created a world that is stuffed and starved. In his recent books Raj Patel looks at this open secret and the battle between an increasingly aggressive industry and the social movements who are responding to this assault by reclaiming food sovereignty for their communities.

Transition Essentials: No.1 – Food

by

So here’s something we’ll try, and see if you find it useful. I was in Clitheroe recently in Lancashire, and chatted with a couple of people involved in Transition Clitheroe. I asked them what else Transition Network could do to support their work, were there materials we could produce that would help them? They said that in fact Transition Network put out so much stuff that they struggled to keep up with it, and that perhaps some kind of a digest would be useful….So I thought I would try today to do a digest of the key films, articles, projects and links out there, and see what you think of it and what’s missing. I thought we’d start with food…

Socio-economic paradigm shift is ahead: Interview with Nathan Hagens, ASPO-Vienna 2012

by

The current period can be undoubtedly characterized as an economical, ecological, cultural, political, but also moral crisis. The solution seems to be as far off as ever and problems seem to be getting worse by the day everywhere. Why is that, what can we expect in the future and what are the safe outcomes from this future bottleneck? We have been talking to Nathan Hagens at the latest ASPO conference in Vienna…

A new energy report from Harvard makes unsupportable assumptions

by

There is no evidence from the top three oil producers (Saudia Arabia, Russia and the U.S) that their production will be even close, in total, to current levels by the end of the decade.

Now there comes an Energy Study from Harvard which boldly states that this is rubbish – that by 2020, global production will be at 110.6 mbd and these concerns that most of us have at The Oil Drum (inter alia) are chimeras of the imagination.

It is therefore pertinent to begin with examining where the study (which was prepared with BP assistance) anticipates that the growth in supply will come from.

Pincushion America: The irretrievable legacy of drilling everywhere on drinking water

by

Since 1949 the United States has had more than 2.6 million oil and natural gas wells drilled into its surface. Many more wells have gone uncounted since they were drilled before comprehensive records were kept. Add to that some 680,000 waste injection wells of which more than 150,000 inject industrial wastes, some of it considered hazardous. And, this may not be the full count since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency admits that records are inadequate on the largest class of injection wells which it says “in general…inject non-hazardous fluids into or above [U.S. drinking water].” The “in general” part is not terribly reassuring.

Deep thought – July 1

by

– Kunstler’s new book: ‘Too Much Magic & Wishful Thinking’
– El tercer principio ético de la permacultura
– The Spiritual Crisis of Capitalism: What would the Buddha do? (Marx and the Dalai Lama)
– The Emerging Left in the ‘Emerging’ World (Democracy, nature and a smaller scale)
– Collapse Fatigue: Prevention And Treatment

Report links beef production with deforestation, threats to climate and health

by

A report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), “Grade A Choice? Solutions for Deforestation-Free Meat,” found that if Americans shifted their diets toward less beef and more poultry or pork, they would protect their health, protect forests, and protect the planet by reducing carbon emissions. “Because of the way it is produced, the more beef we eat, the worse global warming gets.”

It’s the end of the world we’ve known since WWII (updated status report)

by

The global recession has accelerated the transition, revealing the current order’s weaknesses, and showing the people in the emerging nations that they have outgrown it. The major nations continue to defend the current systems, a futile effort wasting time and resources that could be better spent adjusting to the new world now evolving. (Report from a group that includes officers and ex-officers of the U.S. military)

While nations blow hot air, it’s cities that are the real sustainability heros

by

Though cities are responsible for about 70 per cent of global warming emissions, it’s a rare city that owns, regulates or reaps taxes, jobs or other benefits from oil, gas or coal reserves or many of the companies that spin off these resources.

As often as not, high emissions in cities are the result of subsidies and other practices embedded at the national level. Resource and allied companies (pesticide and fertilizer companies, for example) hold sway at the national, not city, level.