Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Staff The Obama administration announced this week that it has reversed its decision to open up new leases in areas of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast. The intention to lift the moratorium which had been in place since 2006 was made weeks before the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. See the recent UKITPOES paper for more on the likely impact of the Gulf of Mexico disaster on oil production…
In the Q&A section of public presentations we often get asked “How do you tell people about Transition …” Then the questioner launches into a vivid description of how his attempts have failed to get through to his Hummer-driving brother-in-law, or his boss who vacations in the Bahamas, or his fellow churchgoers who rhapsodize over malls and “bargains” at big box stores, or his neighbor with the pristine, overwatered chem-lawn.
For many decades, America’s global leadership success has been attributed to its robust and rigorous public higher education system. The business model upon which U.S. public higher education is built has rendered it unaffordable to students, and it is in fragile fiscal health. There is little accountability. This article discusses that transition and offers a solution: an online education environment that capitalizes on the power of digital technologies, rich content, open learning systems, and the sharing of capabilities across campus boundaries to engage students already comfortable with online interactivity.
Long a proven technology in Europe, green roofs are becoming increasingly common in U.S. cities, with major initiatives in Chicago, Portland, and Washington, D.C. While initially more expensive than standard coverings, green roofs offer some major environmental — and economic — benefits.
A new report from the Soil Association reveals that supplies of phosphate rock are running out faster than previously thought and that declining supplies and higher prices of phosphate are a new threat to global food security….
Intensive agriculture is totally dependent on phosphate for the fertility needed to grow crops and grass. …. Recent analysis suggests that we may hit ‘peak’ phosphate as early as 2033, after which supplies will become increasingly scarce and more expensive.
James Howard Kunstler, author of “The Long Emergency” and two World Made by Hand novels, talks to Transition Voice about recent Wall Street scandals, the role of oil and what he thinks of the Transition movement. Along with the keen analysis that readers are used to from Kunstler, this piece explores a side of his work that is not as well known. And we think that’s cool.
This episode #193 marks the final broadcast of Deconstructing Dinner before we embark on a much-needed break. Producer & Host Jon Steinman speaks about the need to step away from producing new shows and what future might lie ahead. Jon also shares some reflections on the past 5 years of producing this weekly one-hour radio show and podcast, and offers suggestions to those involved in the responsible food movement – a movement which this show has helped track its evolution and certainly one that this show has in many ways been a part of.
If you found yourself on the southern shore of False Creek at Westminster Avenue (now Main Street) on Saturday, Aug. 15, 1908 you would happen by opening day of Vancouver’s City Market. The grand building with dual bell towers and a generous waterfront promenade is plastered with signs advertising retail and wholesale “farm products” for sale and a restaurant serving “meals at all hours.” Could B.C.’s biggest city today bring back to life so vibrant a public space, building a key component in what could be one of North America’s most robust local food economies?
Three scenarios of we may be headed are presented (continued exponential growth, downturn based on geological decline, and a collapse scenario). The major problems foreseen are different in each these three scenarios, as are the likely solutions. This post gives a brief overview of how these differ.
A midweek roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
-Cancun
-Hydraulic Fracturing
Matt Taibbi’s new book “Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America” relentlessly hunts down the Wall Street crooks who destroyed the economy. Whether sleazy mortgage brokers who’d sell their own grandma for a quick buck, arrogant whiz kids pushing pump-and-dump schemes or smooth vampires in $4,000 suits who masterminded the whole plan to suck the middle class dry, Taibbi is not afraid to name names. And don’t forget the craven regulators like Alan Greenspan who aided and abetted the whole mob. But when it comes to energy and the oil price spike of 2008, does Taibbi check his skepticism at the door?
-Report calls for radical redesign of cities to cope with population growth
-Part 5: White Horse Village turns into a modern city
-Russia considers biggest population redistribution since Stalin
