Governance in the Long Emergency
It is time to talk about important things. Why have we come so close to the brink of extinction so carelessly and casually?
climate change
Water – May 14
•Water increasingly crucial in energy policies, experts say •Acidification: the latest unknown for stressed Arctic ecosystem •Rivers Carry Away Waste Heat Form Power Plants at a Cost to the Environment •Safe drinking water disappearing fast in Bangladesh •Land O’ Lakes: Melting Glaciers Transform Alpine Landscape •Our Earth Hangout: Clean Water for All
Moronic Oxymorons in the Age of Climate Change
At 400 parts per million, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a menacing milestone. We’ve failed to get a handle on our addiction to fossil fuel, and now we’re in desperate need of solutions for preventing runaway climate change. There is no magic pill for curing the climate threat — real solutions involve the difficult work of changing the way we run the economy. It’s time to make a transition to a renewable-energy economy that respects the waste-absorption capabilities of the atmosphere.
The hockey stick is real!
Evidence that you are doing something right in the climate change debate often comes from the denial reaction. Most of the times, messages on climate change are simply ignored but, occasionally, the reaction is strong; sometimes rabid. Then, you must have hit a sensitive point!
Into The Valley Of Death Rode The 600, Into The Valley Of 400 PPM Rode The 7 Billion
How will poets memorialize us? How will we be remembered if, like the British light cavalry charging a well-prepared Russian artillery battery in the Crimean War in 1854, we don’t reason why, we just keep on our current path even though it is self-evidently suicidal.
Climate Change: Republican Renaissance?
The Republicans are a party in crisis. Having lost the election, they’re now wracked with internal strife and prospects for a turnaround in the near term appear dim.
Climate, politics & money – May 6
•White House warned on imminent Arctic ice death spiral •Animation of Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Volume 1979-2012 •San Francisco city council asks pension fund to divest its oil shares •The giants of the green world that profit from the planet’s destruction •Even A Moderate Price For Carbon Pollution Has a Big Impact On U.S. Emissions •How climate scientists are being framed
Energy transitions – May 2
•Small-town mayors: the cutting edge of climate action •How are communities raising serious money for green energy projects? •Is 70 Percent Renewable Power Possible? Portugal Just Did It For 3 Months •Germany’s Energy Transition Experiment •London’s cooking waste to fuel power station •Lessons From Thailand: Mobilizing Investment In Energy Efficiency
Hypocrites in the air: should climate change academics lead by example?
From the World Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers through to Stern and the International Energy Agency, analyses increasingly demonstrate how, without urgent and radical reductions in emissions, global temperatures are set to rise by 4°C or higher – with, as the IEA emphasise, “devastating” repercussions for the planet. But whose responsibility is it to initiate such radical mitigation?
On Building a Better (and More Resilient) World: Complexity, Community, and the Precautionary Principle
From the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to Superstorm Sandy, the last decade has seen an incredible array of natural disasters…The proliferation of disasters is raising awareness about our collective need to minimize vulnerability and to bounce back afterwards – our need for greater resilience.
Walking for a Change of Heart: The compassionate earth walk
A group of people will be walking through the Great Plains, along the proposed Keystone XL route, for three months this summer. We hope to make connections with communities along the way.
Fires Burn More Fiercely As Northern Forests Warm
From North America to Siberia, rising temperatures and drier woodlands are leading to a longer burning season and a significant increase in forest fires. Scientists warn that this trend is expected continue in the years ahead.
