Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Staff – Where Elites Fail (Heinberg vs Exxon)
– WikiLeaks cables show that it was all about the oil
– NPR: Pumped Up: Are Americans Addicted To Oil?
– Is Obama’s call for more drilling bad messaging or cynical policy?
– California: Inland Empire can’t afford high cost of oil
– Spaniards To Continue Mass Action for at Least a Week
– Tens of thousands defy Spain’s pre-election protest ban
– Spain eyewitness: The people demand to be heard
– Nick Griffin and the fall of the BNP
– Money Troubles Take Personal Toll in Greece
– Athens Plunges Deeper Into Crisis (ethnic strife)
– Danish and German Policies suggest work-sharing or subsidized leave policies might help ease the pain of U.S. recovery
– Nation Down To Last Hundred Grown-Ups
– The Ecology of Magic: An Interview with David Abram
– Children growing weaker as computers replace outdoor activity
– How the Illusion of Being Observed Can Make You a Better Person
The story of the presidential campaign of former U.S. Representative John B. Anderson is so at odds with anything we see going on in politics today that it almost seems like it happened in a whole other country if not to say on a completely different planet.
The jury of Nobel Laureates concluded that humans are now the most significant driver of global change, and that our collective actions could have abrupt and irreversible consequences for human communities and ecological systems. It recommends a suite of urgent and far-reaching actions for decision makers and societies to become active stewards of the planet for future generations
John Bellamy Foster’s book focuses on a sustained critique of the mainstream ecological theories, solutions and proposals that do not address the root cause of the dilemma, and that do not deeply investigate why the ecological crisis has reached such dire proportions. A big issue for those concerned with climate change and other environmental ills is to get a better understanding of the capitalist system, who benefits most from it and how it works to undermine stable ecosystems.
Turn a century-old Seattle house into an efficient, energy-producing home using repurposed materials. Owner-builder Jim Bristow’s creativity extends to reclaiming dead spaces, jacketing his house with exterior insulation, and modernizing the kitchen with sleek previously used cabinetry and low-power LED lights. But he’s not stopping there. Along with maintaining a prolific front yard vegie garden, this green-minded guy is working with neighbors and the city to construct a storm water drainage and traffic circle at the nearby street intersection.
Worried about high oil prices and exploding nuclear plants? Carry on shoppers, because we’ve found gold right under our feet – a bonanza of natural gas. Yes, fracking will fill your tank, heat your house, and light up the streets for another 100 years. At least that’s what we’ve been told. A new report out from the Post Carbon Institute pokes a sharp pin in the natural gas bubble. We’ll hear from energy analyst David Hughes.
Julian Cribb, Principal of Julian Cribb and Associates presentation on what are the future challenges to our food system at the National Sustainable Food Summit in Melbourne Australia on 5-6 April, 2011.
Ornamental edible gardening gets a lot of attention right now. Consider a new book _The Edible Front Yard_ by Ivette Soler that The Peak Oil Hausfrau has just reviewed. I did a post a while back on ornamental perennial edibles, and I wanted to do a companion piece on ornamental medicinal herbs.
In pondering the reasons for this lack of progress—this potentially cataclysmic failure of progressive argument—I have come to a fairly radical view: that we can never have a sustainable civilization unless we first achieve sustainability as individuals. Billions of us (not just a few million) will need to embrace lower-consumption, more thoughtful, more ecologically conscious lifestyles with the same personal passion that is today wasted on free-market profiteering, religious proselytizing, or yearning for power and control of other humans. And if I had to identify the single most daunting barrier to that kind of embrace, it is our pervasive intellectual and emotional disconnection from the living planet we evolved on.
GNH (Gross National Happiness) attempts to balance economic development, environmental conservation, good governance, and cultural promotion. Bhutan’s first prime minister, Lyonchoen Jigme Y. Thinley, is now working to radically transform Bhutan’s national education system to reflect GNH values, which he defines as “sacredness, reverence, honour, and respect.”
