Building Community

Review of A Presidential Energy Policy by Mike Ruppert

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As with nearly all of Mike’s writing over the years, some parts are resoundingly liberal and resemble FDR’s New Deal, and some parts echo a conservative Republican or Libertarian approach simply because Mike’s overarching concern has always been to “implement policies that will keep the nation functioning and that will protect the American people and the world as a whole.”

On choosing – a hyperlocavore responds to catastrophe

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I have an good idea that has been bugging me since I was about 5. I used to look at the inside of city blocks in San Francisco and wonder, why the heck were the yards all fenced off, in the middle and mostly unused. Why not, I thought way back then, tear those fences down and build a garden full of fruit trees, nut trees and veggie patches? Why don’t people grow food there?

Sane environmentalism to save earth

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Our global culture is held together and connected by our economic system of money, laws and enforcement. This economic system is structured in such a way that it automatically and unintentionally motivates and perpetuates behaviors that are damaging to Earth. We can save Earth by understanding this destructive mechanism and then by acting to replace it with a creative, restorative one.

An economics addition to The Transition Handbook

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Since the first edition of the Transition Handbook was published, huge and far-reaching changes have begun unfolding in the world economy. For many, they are seen as the outcome of the end of the age of cheap oil … What are the assumptions we have made thus far about the economy. Do they still hold after the events of recent months? Did they ever actually make sense in the first place?

You’ve bought your last car

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Actually, you’ve probably bought the last of a lot of things, but I remember being struck when I first heard James Howard Kunstler say, “Most Americans have bought their last car.” So I’m going to use the example of cars to demonstrate why that is and why we won’t get off of fossil fuel in time.

Italian magazine interviews Richard Heinberg

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“The most likely scenario [is] a partial economic recovery that would be cut short by rising energy prices. The economic crisis will “help” only if we take this brief opportunity to implement drastic energy conservation measures and invest substantial sums in new renewable energy infrastructure.” (Good summary of Heinberg’s current thinking)