Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Staff A weekly review from a UK perspective – “The first round in the great Iraqi oil sale was an interesting affair if not a very conclusive one. In the live TV auction which took place on Tuesday, only one deal was reached as international oil companies refused to meet the terms demanded…
Urban retrofits
Organic Farms as Subdivision Amenities
The Farmer and the Lawn
Small Towns vs. Nestlé
It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado
Struggling cities cancel Fourth of July fireworks
A weekly round-up including:
– Prices and production
– The auction
BP shuts alternative energy HQ
ExxonMobil continuing to fund climate sceptic groups, records show
Oil companies reject Iraq’s terms
Scientists attack energy industry
Treasury faces legal action over ‘dirty’ banking investments
Britain’s green shame
…the ongoing healthcare debate in Washington is anachronistic. A future oriented analysis has to include two driving forces: first, the long-term consequences of the fiscal/economic crisis and, second, the arrival of geological peak oil…
A major source of mistaken policy toward natural resources is the assumption, enshrined in modern economic theory, that the goods and services provided by nature are subject to the same rules as those provided by human labor. This seems abstract enough, but its impacts are profoundly tangible — and may well include the financial crisis currently shaking the global economy to its core.
The Amish ran privately-owned family farms for centuries until the latter part of the 20th century when they began taking jobs off the farm where they made good money, but many also became seduced by consumerism. They gradually spent more money, allowed themselves some of the conveniences previously shunned in order to live more simply, and found themselves caught up in spending more money and buying things they didn’t need … One Amish man comments on the need to return to basics: “We were all going way too fast. This has made everybody stop and realize we’re just pilgrims here…”
If we are to have any chance of working our way out of this mess, we must avoid regressive thinking, stay calm, appreciate complexity, and think clearly about the right course of action. I’m going to take a proper look at speculation in the oil market to see what the problems are and what we might actually do about them.
Just a year and a half after a breakthrough Solar Grand Plan study was published in the January 2008 Scientific American, the U.S. government has begun plans to implement major elements of such a Plan.
The Key to Fixing Health Care and Energy: Use Less
Market dogma is exposed as myth. Where is the new vision to unite us?
Vandana Shivas views on society & nature
A new (under) class of travellers
Cloning Winnie
