Jan Lundberg

San Francisco’s Peak Oil Task Force Report: Excellent, But Lacking

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Now the Task Force’s final Report, completed last March, is being formally considered by the Supervisors on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 1 pm in the Legislative Chamber in City Hall. In this critique I point to positive, progressive initiatives in the Report, some weak areas in it, and above all the essence of understanding peak oil and its implications — significantly lacking in San Francisco and beyond.

Kill People But Not Dogs and Cats

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I see [in recent Ohio news] that people are getting arrested for murdering dogs and cats. We deliberately murder thousands upon thousands of cows and pigs every day so that we can eat meat but oh my, not cats and dogs. We kill people in war every day too, but oh my again, not cats and dogs. Has it been determined by theologians that dogs and cats are suddenly included in the Thou Shall Not Kill commandment? Did the writers of the American Constitution have in mind covering pets too?

Soil, Seeds, Salt: Education Brought Down to Earth

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Dandelion leaves flown thousands of miles north from Mexico now grace the organic section of our best local grocery stores…I find myself smiling at the latest proof of the power of our greening greenbacks. I am as well amused and saddened by the irony that the leaf generously and effortlessly yielded every hour for most months of the year by soil and worms in our own backyards must be carried north in airplanes guzzling barrels of oil and spewing millions of pounds of greenhouse gases.

Review of CNA Report: “Powering America’s Defense: Energy and the Risks to National Security” (May 2009)

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This report was issued by the Center for Naval Analyses’ Military Advisory Board, which consists of a dozen retired senior military officers. Powering America’s Defense comes two years after the Military Advisory Board’s landmark report, “Climate Change” (May, 2007). This review of Powering will examine the way its authors deal with the issues of peak oil, oil imports and the potential for oil supply shocks.

The conundrum of Thailand

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While walking the boardwalk at Pattaya, that weekend, I noticed a sign posted in a police sentry box, urging people not to throw garbage or cigarette butts on the beach. The sign was in Thai and English and the words “Keep it clean for the King,” caught my eye. Underneath in smaller type was added “and safe for children and wildlife”. Suddenly it came to me. The King was not coming to the beach anytime soon. He was a symbol representing the commons. He supported the interests of the people so the people returned the favor and called themselves supporters of the King because he supported them. Didn’t anybody get it? Did the West even have a symbol of the commons?

Peak oil, prices and supplies – Sept 22

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-Not your average peak oil theory, from Macquarie
-Total issues oil shortage warning
-Would You Know How to Survive After the Oil Crash?
-Squeezing the last bit of oil from Mother Earth
-UK at risk of global energy shock, says MPC’s Andrew Sentance

Dreaming a life

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A few months ago, I had an email exchange with Bill McKibben about the commonly perceived but, we both agreed, false distinction between lifestyle changes and political acts. Those of you who have read _Depletion and Abundance_ know that I spend a good bit of time on just this subject – on the idea that our ordinary daily activities are not political acts, or that we can resolve our problems in a way that isn’t whole, that doesn’t include our personal way of life *along* with our political and community activism.