Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
J. Gabriel Ware “Our people survived genocide in part because of [traditional] foods and medicines,” Beck says. “And because our elders are passing away and global warming is changing how our environment functions, now is a significant time to capture elders’ knowledge and our own community’s history.”
In a fast-changing world, it is no longer possible to automatically assume that what one is used to will endure. People want stability and predictability, but, as they say, good luck with that. We are witnessing out-of-control evolution of a rapid, uncertain sort.
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s approval of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline violated federal law in certain critical respects and has ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider parts of its environmental analysis. The decision marks the first legal victory of the Trump presidency for the Standing Rock Sioux, which have been fighting the pipeline for nearly a year.
We’re suffering from the disappointment about the promises of progress and technology, and it’s not much more complicated than that. We have reason to feel that way. In fact I don’t believe in the techno utopia that a lot of people are trying to sell.
So how might the commons help instigate a new political discussion? The Commons Network report makes clear that the challenge is not about policy tweaks. A new worldview is needed. A holistic systems perspective is needed.
But ours is a world of vibrancy. Ours is a condition of hope and a moment of opportunity. The crisis is here and it is truly apocalyptic. But we do not have to accept that it will inevitably worsen until it swallows us all. We can forge a way out. We have to.
Climate cooling activities increase water storage to support green plant growth, and draw carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis to form deep, rich soils under forests, marshes, and grasslands. The result is known as Drawdown, carbon banking, or when coupled with agriculture, carbon farming.
While it may sound old-fashioned, home milling could have the potential to redefine one of the world’s oldest processed foods—bread.
“We do a good job telling people what the issues are, Martenson says, but knowing that things are wonky without anything to do about it, well that’s actually worse then useless.” Instead Chris and Adam connect the information that needs to change. Chris goes on to say, “Prosper is the solution space that begins to address the question, what can we do??”
The god term I have in mind is, of course, “innovation.” The word derives from the Latin innovare, which means “to renew” or “to restore.” In everyday speech the word has come to mean something like: the activity of bringing new things into being that will generate sweeping renewal throughout the world.
What does this downgrading of likely carbon emissions mean for climate change modelers, climate activists, policy makers, and concerned citizens? According to Ritchie, the implication is clearly not as simple as “don’t worry, fossil fuel depletion will solve climate change for us.”
The issue is not only to allow people to remove fossil fuels from camp cooking. The idea is that cooking on a small stick fire requires a far closer relationship to the land – and thus can be transformational for people’s lifestyle generally. Their emphasis on the self-build/DIY element of the stick-fire grate is part of that greater aim, allowing people to “gain the confidence to ‘make’ rather than ‘buy’ the things you need”.
