Economics – Aug 19
-A tempting proposition
-There is No Recession
-The Queen’s Postbag Becomes A Battleground For Credit Crunch + Energy Debate
Staff
United States – Aug 19
-Oil lobby to fund campaign against Obama’s climate change strategy
-‘Energy Citizens’ Take Aim at Climate Legislation
-An American neocon defends the NHS
-Democrats Seem Set to Go It Alone on a Health Bill
Gas wars – Aug 19
-Turkey Plays Both Sides on Gas Pipelines
-Dmitry Medvedev attacks ‘anti-Russian’ Ukraine
-Natural gas, not so sustainable
Betting on the Rust Belt
The Archdruid returns from vacation with a few unexpected announcements and a glimpse at a future that may resemble nothing so much as the nineteenth-century past.
Renewables & efficiency – Aug 18
-Scientists explore how the humble leaf could power the planet
-Raising Wind Turbine Output With Longer Blades
-How a wind farm could emit more carbon than a coal power station
Solar You Can Count On: Hybrid Solar/Natural Gas Plants Provide Power When Needed
Although the SW sunshine resource is enormous and largely untapped, critics of solar energy routinely note the sun does not shine all the time. The implication is that power is needed all the time, and since the sun is not always available, solar opponents say it would be foolish to invest in generating electricity from the sun.
Organic food debate continues – Aug 18
-Pesticides in your peaches
-The obvious advantage of organic food over conventional
-A debate about soil, organics, and nutrition
Food & agriculture – Aug 18
-Empty car parks to sprout vegetable plots
-The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals
-An ‘agri-intellectual’ talks back
Peak oil review – Aug 17
A weekly review including:
– Production and prices
– Is China really Recovering?
– Mexico
– Briefs
Deep thought – Aug 17
-The death of ideas
-Economics is not natural science
-Renewable Transition 2: EROEI Uncertainty
Peak oil, prices, and supplies – Aug 17
-World Oil Exports; US Oil Imports; and a Few Thoughts on Canada
-The International Energy Agency Shills For OPEC, The Oil Speculators and the Peak Oil Pranksters
-Lessons learned from 2008
Transition culture, social tolerance and moral courage: Why permaculture activists must work for human rights and social justice
Human beings are capable of living egalitarian lives without fossil fuels. Many hunter-gatherer societies testify to the fact it is possible, though not inevitable. Human nature includes both cooperative/altruistic and competitive/“us versus them” tendencies. Our empathetic and cooperative tendencies must be consciously cultivated in everyday life if we are to create a non-violent, democratic future without fossil fuels.
