Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The word “sustainability” sometimes is used to green-wash and promote things that are not sustainable. Genuine sustainability must be evidence-based. But language can be used to conceal rather than reveal. Lets explore as a case study what is currently occurring in the small town of Sebastopol, Northern California.
-China to spend $372 billion on cutting energy use, pollution
-China’s mega coal power bases exacerbate water crisis – in pictures
-Thousands being moved from China’s Three Gorges – again
-China and its controversial carbon appetite [Book review]
Perhaps we need to follow the leads of McKibben, Jaccard, and Hansen, and go get arrested. Perhaps we need to breathe deeply and act courageously to make hope more concrete and despair less convincing. Perhaps those of us in the 50 to 90-year-old set need to commit to civil disobedience to honor our children, grandchildren and our hopes for their survival. The time has arrived for all of us, but especially the post-war “growth generation” to break out of our too comfortable zones.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The Middle East
-Peak China?
-Quote of the week
-Briefs
-Commentary: 2012 ASPO-USA Conference – More Facts, More Fun
The fossil fuel industry is quickly destroying the planet, and making the fight to protect our future increasingly challenging as industry lobbying, and unabated growth continues…
Yesterday, Mr. Angelino Alfano, leader of Italy’s “People of Freedom” (PdL) party, publicly presented a plan aimed at saving Italy from economic collapse. I listened to the whole thing. And I was horrified.
One of the richest ironies of the crisis of contemporary America is the number of problems it currently faces that are the direct result of much-ballyhooed reforms. As the United States trudges wearily through yet another vacuous presidential election in which substantive issues are the last thing either candidate wants to talk about, it may be worth talking about one of the major examples of that wry reality. Brandishing an old straw hat with a red-white-and-blue Truman in ’48 hatband, the Archdruid explains.
The U.S. heat wave is slowly shaking the foundations of American politics. It may take years for the deep rumble to evolve into an above ground, institution-shattering earthquake, but U.S. society has changed for good.
– The most honest three and a half minutes of television, EVER… (from HBO)
– John Perkins: Occupy the Dam: Brazil’s Indigenous Uprising
– Appalachia Turns on Itself (over coal)
– ‘Deep Green Resistance’ — how not to build a movement
Small town Sebastopol residents in Northern California have been waging a fierce David vs. Goliath struggle against the powerful Chase Bank, CVS Pharmacy, and Armstrong Development for over two years. The implications of this struggle extend beyond this one town, as big business continues to seek to expand its wealth.
In the anger phase of societal unraveling, we must not only be aware of its perils but prepare ourselves with great intention to navigate it. One of the first issues we must grapple with is the reality of trauma. Increasing dissolution of the fabric of the culture is by definition traumatic for those who rely on it for basic necessities, identity, lifestyle, distraction, and sense of well being.
-You might be screwed: Commencement Speech University of Oregon
-common pitfalls of challenger movements
-The Story of Change
