Review: Oil, Power, and War by Matthieu Auzanneau
In Oil, Power, and War, French journalist Matthieu Auzanneau presents a comprehensive, provocative history of humankind’s relationship with oil.
Frank Kaminski
How the Light Gets In
It’s probably fitting that Michael Liebreich’s The Secret of Eternal Growth was published so close to Halloween. It’s so full of outlandish bogeymen, it sits perfectly alongside the ghouls and the ghosts of the trick-or-treat season.
The Seneca Rebound: Why Growth is Faster after Collapse. Explaining the European World Dominance
What made Europeans so successful in the task of conquering the world? My interpretation is that it was the result of periodic “Seneca Collapses” of the European population which made it possible to accumulate resources that would then be available to propel the European expansion. It is an effect that may be called the”Seneca Rebound” that makes growth faster after a collapse.
The Midterms were Good for Climate Candidates but Disastrous for the Climate
Democrats campaigning on climate action and clean energy did very well around the country election night. It’s clearly a winning issue, as the polls have long said. But two key results of the election are bad news for the climate — and together they pose a very difficult challenge to the kind of near-term climate action that’s needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The SDGs: Transforming our World or Business as Usual?
Considering the large ecological debts of the Global North and the related structural inequalities of power and wealth, it can be doubted that a one-fits-all solution such as the SDGs helps bridge the existing extreme inequalities between countries.
My IPCC Take-away: Imagine. Take Action. Repeat.
My main take-away from the 2018 IPCC report is that there may still be time, but only if we can bring about a deep reimagining of what the world could be and how it might work. As Daniel Aldana Cohen put it, “we are only doomed if we do nothing”.
Churches as Key Actors on Climate Change?
In principle, churches and congregations are hubs where people gather organically. Being places where people gather organically, faith communities are existing hubs where folks can be more naturally inspired to collaborate toward bigger goals that escape the short reach of individuals.
Combining Renewables with Direct Air Capture for ‘Net Negative’ Emissions
But what if the dual challenges facing renewables and negative emissions could be tackled together? In a recent paper, published in Earth’s Future, we find that there is considerable potential for combining a renewables-reliant electricity system with Direct Air Capture.
Instead of Decoupling, we need Recoupling
The path to meaning – and real sustainability – is the opposite; it is through recoupling with nature. Instead of denying that we are an integral part of nature in which we swim, live, mate, laugh, cry and die, we need to embrace that fact.
Getting to the Heart of Democracy’s Decline
The crisis in democracy is much discussed these days, but almost entirely in political terms that ignore its deeper causes.
A Modest Investment with Major Dividends: Cycling Culture in the Netherlands
How would you describe the process in which a small country builds a 35,000 kilometer network of fully separated bike infrastructure – and traffic-calms 75 per cent of their urban streets to a speeds of 30 km/h (19 mph) or less?
Judy Wicks on Imagination, Entrepreneurship and Local Economies
A local economy by nature is more creative because we’re looking to see what does my community need? What does my place want to be? And move towards that.
