Building Community

What are the real implications of peak oil in a culture where common sense has been suppressed by consumerism?

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A lot of parenting is about common sense. Deep down as parents, we realize that if a child gets showered with gifts, they become unappreciative. If they receive things because they stamp their feet and scream, that behavior will continue because it has been rewarded.

In the last few decades however, common sense seems to be on the decline and its commonality is certainly fading. Let me give you an example.

Everything you need to know, in order – part II

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Ok, I’m going to try and work some more on the list of necessary skills. So five more entries on this subject – and more coming. Last time was the absolute minimum – but I’m still working on a list of everything you might ever need to know.

Review: Plan C by Pat Murphy and Small is Possible by Lyle Estill

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Pat Murphy’s Plan C is a rich treasury of practical suggestions for reducing fossil fuel consumption and fostering community cooperation—while Lyle Estill’s Small is Possible is an engrossing portrait of a small Southern town that is already taking these steps

An interview with Starhawk; sacred activism, collapse and the role of permaculture

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“The challenge we face at this moment is pretty simple. We just need to completely transform our economy, our technology, our system of agriculture, our food system and the governance systems that go with it, and we needed to have done this all 10 years ago! It’s easy.. ” (laughs).

10 Steps in 10 Years to 100 Percent Renewable Power

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On July 17th, 2008, Vice President Al Gore challenged the nation to produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources within 10 years. Post Carbon Institute has responded to Gore’s challenge by putting forward a new plan: “10 Steps in 10 Years for 100 Percent Renewable Power.” The plan shows how we can make Gore’s vision a reality, with a keen understanding of the roles that energy depletion, the vulnerabilities of the supply chain, and the limits of technology all play.

Everything you need to know, in order

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Like my title? Never let it be said I’m not ambitious.

A student in my class asked me for a list of skills we need to get ready for peak oil, prioritized. I admit, it took me about a day after she asked to stop thinking “Holy Crap, how do I figure that all out!” But it is an interesting question. And while it isn’t all just about food preservation, I thought I’d take a shot at it. I will, of course, be relying on my fearless readership to point out gaps in my thinking.

Neighbors to help neighbors through winter of high prices

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“The best security you have is a prepared neighbor,” said Paloma O’Riley a decade ago, when she was rallying people to prepare for an emergency of unknown proportions.

The comment still rings true, as we prepare for a hard winter in the short term and, in the medium term, what James Howard Kunstler calls the “long emergency” of declining fossil fuels and other challenges that lie ahead. Fortunately, people at all levels in Vermont are scrambling to prepare for this winter, and many of them are conscious that high food and fuel prices are more a harbinger of things to come than a one-time increase.

Colleges should plan – and teach – for an oil-scarce world

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College leaders, with help from facilities managers, sustainability directors, faculty members, and even students, should think hard about how systems on their campus would operate in an energy-scarce world. That thinking should range beyond running part of the campus fleet on a cafeteria’s fryer oil, a seemingly-popular response at the moment.