Premature triumphalism
The Transition Town movement has attracted a great deal of attention from within the Peak Oil community. Is it the wave of the sustainable future, or an experiment still waiting for results to come in?
John Michael Greer
We’ve reached peak Tom Friedman
Friedman operates much like the fifties cartoon character Tom Terrific, who possesses a magical thinking cap that transports him out of any jam in which he finds himself.
Responding to Greer’s thoughts on ‘Premature triumphalism’
With Transition, many people encounter the model, the tools, the Network, and enter what we might call ‘Super Exuberance Mode’, where they feel they have found the One Thing That Will Save Us. Over time, this then calms down, and they become more realistic and grounded, but although that early stage is a powerful experience for many, it also has its inherent dangers.
Food & agriculture – Nov 20
Silkworms: an environmentally friendly delicacy?
Game beware: it’s the return of the poacher
Portland’s low-income neighborhoods are city’s ‘food deserts’
Stuff
For someone who is hostile to consumption, I have, well, a lot of stuff.
United States – Nov 19
Michael Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture (Wendell Berry Senior Adviser)
In the Reality Lounge
Opportunities for clean energy in stimulus (video and transcript)
Peak oil & supplies – Nov 19
IEA WEO 2008 – Fuzzy Focus on Saudi Arabia
Robert Hirsch suggests ‘keeping relatively quiet’ in near-term about peak oil
Pirates seize oil tanker off East Africa coast (security issues)
Transport – Nov 19
Cyclists pulling huge cargo loads (YouTube)
6,000 bikes in 400 locations: Boris Johnson’s bike-hire scheme
The car club that’s joined the fast lane as drivers go without their own set of wheels
Does Amtrak want the good news or the bad news first?
Solutions & sustainability – Nov 19
Poverty an asset; assets a burden
The Guardian’s sustainability vision
New York City streets: Utilitarian corridors or livable public space (YouTube)
NY City: On the street – clear sailing (slideshow with audio)
‘One planet’ pledge for Wales
Climate & environment – Nov 19
Emissions up in developed nations
Geoengineering ‘no substitute’ for climate targets, UK minister warns
The greenhouse gas that nobody knew
The Impact Of The Slowdown In Construction Of Wind Generation
The last few months have seen a significant stalling in plans and proposals to build new wind-based power generation. These delays and cancellations have significant implications for two important components of American energy.
Green shunted to margin as economic crisis worsens
You never know exactly what will happen as a result of a severe economic crisis. Few people discuss it since it is quite taboo to speculate on any scenario that doesn’t include growth and consumption… But I’ll take a crack at a few broad predictions that are predicated on the economic crisis getting worse over the next 9-12 months, which I think it will…
