James Magnus-Johnston

The Hurricane Effect (Part 2)

by

A hurricane is a dynamic system. Heat, air and water create pocket thunderstorms that come together and gather strength in a powerful spiral effect, destroying whatever isn’t prepared for it on land. There’s a similar hurricane gathering strength in the global economy, as a self-reinforcing spiral of debt, money and materials hurls toward us, with most of us obliviously lying on the beach in our bathing suits and shades, assuming the calm weather will last indefinitely.

This oil spill, too, shall pass

by

You have been warned. This is a politically incorrect article. In 1999, I read Jane Goodall’s book, Reason for Hope, which took the optimistic view that, in spite of human activity, our beautiful blue planet is very resilient. She lists nature’s resiliency as her third reason for hope, the others being the human brain, the indomitable human spirit, and the determination of young people.

Fast growing plants

by

The storyteller usually concludes by saying, with all due solemnity, that this is how farmers in the good old days learned to put little sleds under their watermelons so that fast moving vines would not ruin the fruit while dragging it over the ground.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil spew demonstrates that we just don’t get it

by

The GOM oil spew reinforces the extent to which Americans “just don’t get it” regarding
the unsustainable nature of our American way of life.

EIA: From forecast of oil supply abundance to decade of stagnation

by

Like it or hate it, the International Energy Outlook from the EIA is a touchstone for the energy industry and is treated as the authoritative government forecast in the press and in capital raising documents like prospectuses. It influences policy-makers, the media, public opinion and investors. What it says matters.

And what does it say?

That peak oil is all but on us.

The oil drilling moratorium

by

As catastrophes go, the flood of oil in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) ranks right up there. Today I’m going to look at the effects of the 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. Back on May 6, I published Oil Production In the GOM—What’s At Stake? This is a follow-up based on new developments since then.

A dialogue with Lorna Salzman – part III

by

In her Commentary and her Critique of the Transition Initiative/Network, Lorna Salzman questions the role of government and Transition. Ms. Salzman asserts that the Transition approach omits government. As I will attempt to explain below, our approach is far from that.

Fixing Planet Earth: a not-so-modest proposal

by

Mahatma Gandhi is widely regarded as the father of the Indian nation, which he was. But the founding of the nation was not his only aim. He was, as he freely admitted, using India to demonstrate to the whole world how nonviolence could change history. The swell of mostly nonviolent revolutions that has followed in the last 30 or so years would seem to indicate that his bold scheme worked.

Food & agriculture – June 9

by

-Energy Use in the US & Global Agri-Food Systems: Implications for Sustainable Agriculture
-Advisers walk out in fury over £500,000 GM food PR exercise
-UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
-Incredible Edible: Supporting Food Independence in Todmorden, England
-Fossil-Fuel Use and Feeding World Cause Greatest Environmental Impacts: UNEP Panel
-San Quintín and Brackish-Water Farming
-GM lobby helped draw up crucial report on Britain’s food supplies

If There Was Ever a Moment to Seize

by

Here’s the president on March 31st,announcing his plan to lift a longstanding moratorium on offshore drilling: “Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.”