Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Simon Butler Monstrous as the consumer economy has become, consumer spending is not the biggest environmental problem. Most waste and pollution is caused by industrial, military and commercial processes, over which consumers have no control.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-Sanctioning Iran
-Europe on hold
-Exodus from Iraq
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
For money, he does restaurant work, but his passion is photography. He travels by mass transit to Occupy events in the San Francisco Bay Area, documenting them with gorgeous art photos.
…This turns out to be one of the key aspects of relocalization, new forms of local investment that “catalyze the transition from a commerce of extraction and consumption to a commerce of preservation and restoration.” This means, especially, investing in local farming, and in the enterprises that are needed to support a healthy food and farming system. Woody Tasch is teaching us about “Restorative Economics,” following the core principles of carrying capacity, cultural and biological diversity, sense of place, care of the commons, and nonviolence. This may be one of the most significant economic visions to land on this planet in recent decades. It’s radical, truly revolutionary, and you need to read it. Fortunately, you’ll love reading it. It’s pure inspiration, and highly poetic.
– The Atlantic: A Conversation With Rob Hopkins, Transition Movement Founder
– Mark Bittman: Making Local Food Real
– Crowdshare and other events: How to share
– Keystone XL Isn’t Dead Yet
– Gas exports soar, keeping U.S. price at pump high
– Cairn’s $600 Million Greenland Oil Campaign Ends in Failure
– A Shadow Climate Regime
– U.N. Envoy: U.S. Isn’t Protecting Occupy Protesters’ Rights
– Occupy’s new grammar of political disobedience
– Hard Times at Occupy Boston
– Thousands rally in Durban for climate action (BBC video)
– Dateline: Tahrir Square
– Letter from Cairo: the liberals, the Brothers, and the poor (some lessons for Occupy)
Now that the current phase of the Occupation movement—one that involved camping out in public places—is drawing to a close, thoughts turn to other, even more effective venues and exploits. Occupying the front lawns of mansions owned by the 1% would certainly send a message, although a very brief one, since trespassing happens to be illegal.
And then it hit me: Occupy flotillas floating up to crash swank exclusive seaside gatherings.
Many people involved with peak oil studies don’t often interact with serious climate science and their view of it remains linked to the distortions presented in the mainstream media.
However, a good scientist can always recognize good science when he sees it. It has been the case of Colin Campbell, founder and honorary chairman of ASPO, who stated to the audience “I am convinced” after having heard the talk on climate change by Van Ypersele at the ASPO-9 Brussels conference. It was the same for several colleagues at a recent Basel energy conference after they heard the excellent climate talk by Ian Dunlop.
What may seem like a benefit to society isn’t always a benefit except to those who profit from it. So much has been written about the evils of genetically engineered food crops that it would be redundant to rehearse them all here. But what if the offending genetic technology were to be trained on a human problem that everyone believes ought to be tackled, namely mosquito-borne diseases?
– Bill Clinton joins Obama to champion Washington energy saving strategy
– Obama’s Push for Better Mileage: This Is a Big Deal (Thomas Friedman)
– Report highlights Obama’s broken environmental promises
– Hans Noeldner: Spending the Middle Class out of existence
– Rotating blackouts possible in Texas this winter
