Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Annie Lussenburg In the midst of a crisis there are always a ton of voices to listen to, highly qualified voices to give you an in depth analysis of current trends and economic forecasts. For my part, I just see the world through the eyes of the families I work with. Many of these families are scared at the moment, perhaps more scared than they’ve ever been.
At this historic juncture many of us are not only aware of financial insolvency, but geophysical limits to growth as well. It’s all related. We hold that the consumer economy and its ecological support system are in such dire shape that another cycle of material opulence may not happen.
A lot of readers are twanging on me for refraining to castigate President-elect Obama for deeds yet undone. They’re discouraged by the advisors and cabinet sectetaries he’s picked, ostensibly because the crew coming in are Washington “insiders,” meaning they can’t possibly see or do things differently.
My own starting point for this is the belief that in the years just ahead any sociopolitical entity organized at the giant scale will flounder — this includes everything from the federal government to global corporations to factory farms to centralized high schools to national retail chains. So even expecting Mr. Obama’s government to act effectively may be asking too much in a situation that will require mostly local action…
Sahel Africans Face Hunger Despite Bumper Harvest
food production or distribution…
In a land of plenty, why do they still go hungry?
The U.S. financial system is in collapse, and energy costs are likely to come back again next spring and summer with a vengeance that we can’t imagine. This will make the price of food, already off the scale, skyrocket even further. We must all get to know our local farmers, or better yet, become them. In the moment, we have the “luxury” of low energy prices, and it is during this time that we should be making food security our top priority.
This is a very important report about an issue that will have severe impacts on our state when it ultimately hits. This is not a question of if but when, and the when could be within just a few years.
Radio show featuring no-impact living, dumpster diving, peak oil, life of Edward Abbey
Bill McKibben: Multiplication saves the day
A suburb for our times: Depression-era village in Australia
NYT: Locally grown produce
A weekly update, including:
– Oil prices
– OPEC
– Investment
– China
– Detroit
General Jones and the Chamber of Commerce energy plan
Michael Klare: The fall of triumphalism
Unusual merger of union bosses and environmentalists
NYT: A world of a different color (horsepower)
Headlights burn more fuel?
The end of the road for hydrogen?
Gail Tverberg: Impact of credit crisis on the energy industry
How our ecomomy went kaput on the $100 barrel
Seattle’s recycling program runs into plunging prices
The tight coupling and vast size of the globe’s major economic actors, once hailed a triumph for economic efficiency, has now become an Achilles’ heel.
