Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Kurt Cobb Rare earth metals which are crucial to modern electronics are in the news because the Chinese, the dominate world supplier, are threatening to cut off exports in retaliation for tariffs on Chinese goods imposed by the Trump administration. Is there any way to counter Chinese control of these crucial metals?
While the dominate public narrative has been that we are making great leaps toward a low-carbon economy through the rapid deployment of renewable energy, the IEA report in late March showed a civilization moving inexorably toward climate catastrophe.
Helium makes for fun at parties with balloons that float around the room. But a growing shortage is becoming deadly serious for those who need helium for critical applications. And, the shortage suggests that other rare, but critical materials needed for our modern infrastructure might not be so easy to replace.
A bidding war that didn’t happen over shale oil and gas may say something we all should know about those deposits.
We remain blind to existential risks embedded in our daily lives and in our broader society. Why is that?
The question of consciousness continues to devil us. If consciousness is distributed throughout the universe, then its appearance in humans is just one manifestation. Does it matter one way or the other how we think about this question? I think it does profoundly.
A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (video) //
Could a GND Make Us Happier People? //
Meet Rhiana Gunn-Wright, An (African-American) Architect Behind the GND //
Degrowth: a theory of radical abundance
The strange truth about one of the world’s largest oil exporters is that it has been planning for a post-oil society since the discovery of its oil resources. Norway’s move to protect sensitive arctic areas is just the latest example of how Norwegians think about our energy future.
The task of addressing climate change is so large that the only way in which it can be addressed with any success is if everyone is involved. As long as so many people are focused every day on just getting what they need to live, such broad involvement will be impossible. Are there ways to build the solidarity and involvement we need to fight climate change?
The novel has essentially the same premise as the hit disaster movie from five years earlier, The Day After Tomorrow. The Gulf Stream ocean current, which has long played a crucial role in our planet’s climate system, undergoes a sudden collapse driven primarily by human-caused global warming. Ice caps rapidly spread across the northern hemisphere, rendering places like New York City and western and northern Europe uninhabitable to all but the most rugged survivalists.
Supporters of America’s new get-tough foreign policy are touting the country’s emerging “oil weapon” wrought from increasing production in the shale oil fields of Texas and other states. The rise of oil imports from Russia is just one sign that those supporters have the situation completely wrong.
A new paper by a long-time sustainability academic and consultant says that minor tweaks in our current system won’t help us. We are likely headed for societal collapse and need a radical new way of thinking about the future. The first necessary casualty is hope–hope that we can keep things largely the way they are.
