Building Community

Turning storm water into productive water

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Today, cities face substantial barriers to effective water management due to the sheer extent of non-permeable surfaces such as pavement and concrete. During rain events, the main function of these impervious surfaces is to concentrate and dispose of water as quickly as it arrives, sending it to storm sewers where it inevitably ends up in creeks, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Not only is this poor water management, but unfiltered water can cause major damage to ecosystems!

Commentary: Will we be able to maintain & replace our energy & transportation infrastructure in a post-peak oil world?

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However, when we look at the global economy from the point of view of a long-term decline in global net oil exports, it seems very likely that, to paraphrase a famous quote, what can’t be funded and maintained won’t be funded and maintained; and that the funding and maintenance problem will probably continue to become most apparent in the short term in American suburbia and exurbia.

What’s wrong with our food system? Read on…April 5 (updated April 7)

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-International Conference on Global Land Grabbing
-Coalition Government ‘must step up to the plate on sustainable food’
-Subsidies and the “True Cost of Food”
-Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion
-Who feeds Bristol? Towards a resilient food plan
-Huber warns EU president of glyphosate danger to livestock and plant

Japan’s peak oil dry run

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For large parts of eastern Japan that were not directly hit by the tsunami on 11 March 2011, including the nation’s capital, the current state of affairs feels very much like a dry-run for peak oil. This is not to belittle the tragic loss of life and the dire situation facing many survivors left without homes and livelihoods. Rather, the aim here is to reflect upon the post-disaster events and compare them with those normally associated with the worst-case scenarios for peak oil.

Greening the world begins at home

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In 2004 I was an idealistic young college graduate who hoped to change the world. I was convinced that the prospect of declining worldwide oil production loomed, and that people must heed my calls for energy conservation and radically-relocalized living. The world didn’t seem to change, but to my surprise, something else did—my hometown.