Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Even in the midst of their own gloom over Hurricane Katrina’s destruction where homes and neighborhoods were crushed and where there was little infrastructure and not much support from state or federal government, music helped many evacuees rebuild their lives with a strong hope in the future and a deep connection to a place they loved.
– How facts backfire
– An evolutionary biology story of stuff
– Transforming cultures from consumerism to sustainability
In a predawn vote Wednesday, New York State’s senate passed a bill that reaches beyond the debate over the environmental safety of drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale and would effectively ban almost all gas and oil drilling in the state until next spring. The bill circumvents an environmental review by the state’s regulatory agency that could be finished this year.
One of my goals in moving to Ithaca was to get into a position where I can began transitioning my family to a carbon-negative lifestyle. Obviously writing posts about alarming climate papers only goes so far; if one isn’t prepared to personally do something, at some point it starts to feel hypocritical (at least it does to me). This process is absolutely in its infancy, but I plan to blog about it to a certain degree. Our experiences may be helpful to others traveling along the same path. Perhaps a few other people who wouldn’t otherwise have contemplated this will get the idea. And at a minimum, I will be able to feel less guilty, and more smug and self-righteous, as the climate goes to hell around us.
How to use flickr and social networking to dispense important, planet-saving information. Cultural jiu-jitsu from an expert.
-Independent Study: Oil Shale Is a Poor Energy Source
-Scientists Cast Doubt on Claims BP Spill’s No Threat to Gulf
-Ecuador pledges no oil drilling in Amazon reserve
-Deepwater oil drilling moratorium job-loss picture is getting clearer
-We Fight for the Oil We Need to Fight for the Oil
-Oil company, law enforcement block media access to public sites hit by Michigan oil spill
-Fossil fuel subsidies are 10 times those of renewables, figures show
-Scaling Up Solar: The Global Implications of a New Study that Says Solar Power Is Cost Competitive with Nuclear Power
-Free solar panels and cheaper bill offered in exchange for use of roof by electricity firm
-Unity College Gives Solar Panels From Carter White House to China
I can’t prescribe the ideal post-capitalist world and I wouldn’t try. People will create solutions to the crises they face according to what makes most sense in their circumstances. In fact they’re already doing this.
Everyone wants to make a difference and have a good time. But it’s not always easy to do either one, let alone find ways to do both at the same time. But I’ve found a way! Have a funny films festival for your friends. Sure this sounds fun, but how does it make a difference? Studies have found that social relations are one of the biggest boosters for happiness and health and that they have a profound affect on people’s involvement in community.
This essay this isn’t about bitterness. It’s about the decisions we make in light of an ambiguous future. One of the costs of making moral choices is breaking the strong emotional ties to a prior life. My own future, if I have one, is necessarily rooted in the past. For the better part of a decade, I was the model professor, if only from the standpoint of university administrators.
So often sewing becomes a solitary experience, but this past weekend five machines whirred and hummed as we sewed together. Frustration over a tangled bobbin thread was no problem, because there was someone else to lend a hand.
Non-profits have suffered in the financial crisis no less than their counterparts in the private and public sectors. But could this be a ‘Greenpeace moment’: might philanthropic foundations support the creation of a civil society conscience for international finance?
