Building Community

Michigan hosts state-focused peak oil conference

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Michigan’s third peak oil conference of 2008 focuses on the specific challenges and solutions for Michigan and features 45 speakers including Richard Heinberg, Albert Bates, Michael Brownlee, Ellen Hodgeson Brown, Richard Gilbert, Stephanie Mills, Kurt Cobb, and Aaron Wissner. The event is schedule for the November 14 weekend.

A proposal for transition to a sustainable economy

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The following is proposed as a preliminary plan for discussion amongst all those who are willing to acknowledge the reality of our predicament, think beyond the paradigm of the current system, and rationally discuss the fundamental reforms required to avoid catastrophe.

Doing the numbers: what you need to know about oil depletion

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I looked at the scale of the problem, and I looked at our response (not much so far), and I came, broadly, to this conclusion. We might screw it up. Oh, it is possible that I’m underestimating human ingenuity, and that we’ll do everything right. On the other hand, it seemed like having some kind of contingency plan for a scenario in which we did not replace all our energy infrastructure rapidly, where we did face tight supplies, volatile prices and perhaps an economic depression, in part created by our situation was a good idea. … And I have to say, learning that [the IEA estimated] the decline rate is 9.1% makes me feel that my strategy has mostly been the right one. Because that’s a huge and shocking number.

Oregon Public Health to planners: ‘human health simply cannot be sustained in an unhealthy environment’

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Letter to Oregon Department of Planning and Development: “There is a dangerous disconnect between land use planning and development on one hand and population-based health on the other that can be remedied by recognizing and utilizing the specialized expertise Public Health provides. … Biology dictates that human health simply cannot be sustained in an unhealthy environment, and the use of our land – in urban, suburban, exurban, rural and frontier settings alike – is one of the most powerful determinants of our environmental health.” (Comment from a planner: “challenging comments… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”)