Activism

Fantasies of hyper-globalism: the WWF’s Energy Report

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In a report meant to be both inspiring and reassuring, the WWF ambitiously declares that the world can switch to 95% renewable energy sources by 2050. The Scenario depends largely on increased efficiency and regulated flows of energy through a great system of interconnection. People are remarkably absent. The ostensible reason is that the report is focused on what is “technically possible,” which is more about joules and btus than about human behavior.

Voices & visions – Feb 1

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(Problem fixed!)
– Politics and the Pleasure Principle
– Green giants: the eco power list
– Eco power lists: Fatuous, invidious and misrepresentative
– Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: Young Green Activists for a Warming World
– Film review: “The Economics of Happiness”
– Beyond the Economic Treadmill and Toward True Well-being

Genetic diversity lost with the damage of Egypt’s deserts gene bank

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The effort to maintain the world’s biodiversity has taken another hit. In the chaos surrounding the political unrest and public uprising in Egypt, looters have badly damaged the country’s Desert Research Center in El Sheikh Zowaid in North Sinai. The center houses the Egyptian Deserts Gene Bank (EDGB), and—according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust—equipment has been stolen and the cooling system has been damaged.

Eyes on Egypt – Feb 1

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– Analyst sees little Egypt oil and gas impact
– Q&A: Suez Canal
– U.S. envoy tells Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step aside
– Egypt’s Unrest May Have Roots in Food Prices, US Fed Policy
– Soccer clubs central to ending Egypt’s ‘Dictatorship of Fear’
– The Egyptian people tend to the streets that are now their own (video)

From Tahrir Square to Times Square

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The US encourages peaceful protesters in Egypt. With many in the peak oil community mindful of the potential for civil unrest as economic and material conditions continue to slide in some wealthy Western countries, could unrest spread beyond autocratic states, even to US shores? If so, America’s lofty ideals would be put to the test as her own people sought real reforms to overhaul government and help rein in corporate power.

Oil, food, and the wealth of MENA countries

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This morning, I’ve been catching up on some reading about the protests in Egypt and Algeria, following on the Jasmine Revolution that is in process in Tunisia. Clearly, the reason for interest is wondering to what extent is there any risk of these events spreading into the big oil exporters, which could cause extremely large disruptions in the global economy. This is probably unlikely, but not so inconceivable that serious observers aren’t starting to at least think about it.