How Facebook will save the polar bears
A brief analysis of social networking in a time of crisis, the bourgeoisie luxury of flight, and why disregarding Arctic wildlife will save Arctic wildlife.
Culture & Behavior
Out of our Ego Houses, into the Collective Intelligence
Communal life – our tribal past – valued the group over the individual. We left our communal past to put the individual’s benefit (and especially material benefit) before the common good, in the process losing much of our memory of community.
Bill McKibben: The surprising reason why Americans are so lonely
Community may suffer from overuse more sorely than any word in the dictionary. Politicians left and right sprinkle it through their remarks the way a bad Chinese restaurant uses MSG, to mask the lack of wholesome ingredients. But we need to rescue it; we need to make sure that community will become, on this tougher planet, one of the most prosaic terms in the lexicon, like hoe or bicycle or computers. Access to endless amounts of cheap energy made us rich, and wrecked our climate, and it also made us the first people on earth who had no practical need of our neighbors.
Equal Time Radio: Gross National Happiness & happiness in Hardwick
Tom Barefoot and Linda Wheatley explain the idea behind an upcoming conference in Vermont on how governments can measure the success of their policies using gross national happiness, not gross national product. And Ben Hewitt, author of the book about Hardwick called The Town That Food Saved, tells what he learned from the people of Hardwick about the difference between economic prosperity and quality of life.
Cycle-touring: a vision of post-peak holidays?
This post was inspired by single bicycle holiday: an Easter cycling adventure around the Spanish Pyrenees. While the experience proved that cycle holidays can be fun (its primary purpose), it soon became clear that the single case study could provide a basis for practical advice and broader discussion. The former (stuff, planning, safety, money) may be of use to aspiring low-energy holidaymakers. The latter (energy analysis, viability) may be of interest to those who want to think about low energy futures.
Post Carbon Exchange #2: Bill McKibben & Asher Miller
Post Carbon Fellow Bill McKibben and Executive Director Asher Miller discuss Bill’s sobering assessment of life on earth as presented in his brand new book Eaarth. Bill also provide an update on the efforts of his 350.org campaign.
How Bjørn Lomborg deceives the public
In a piece in USA Today Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author of the much criticized book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, recycles claims that “many key environmental measures” are getting better. As you sift through the piece, you will see that his “key environmental measures” relate almost exclusively to the health and well-being of humans. And, this is what he uses to build a three-fold strategy to deceive the public.
Deepshit Horizon: Earth Day began with a blow-out, will it end with one?
On January 28th, 1969 the Union Oil Company’s Platform A, located six miles from Santa Barbara, CA experienced a “blow-out.” Highly pressurized deposits of natural gas pushed upward against the newly bored well causing oil to leak from the pipe and casings…The blow-out was devastating. Ironically, and tragically, this year’s Earth Day celebrations coincided with another oil rig blow-out, this time offshore of Louisiana. Like other recent mining disasters, the explosion and sinking of the rig caused by a well blow-out has claimed the lives of at least eleven workers.
Economic superstitions
Mention superstitions, and most people nowadays think that you’re talking about planting by the signs or leaving a dish of milk on the back step for the fairies. A superstition, though, is simply an observance that has become detached from its meaning — and by that measure, the most widespread and dangerous superstitions these days are those practiced by economists and blindly accepted by politicians.
When does surplus = resilience?
There is at least one important class of threats where we might expect modern civilization to be much more resilient than past civilizations. Specifically, modern civilization operates at far higher levels of economic surplus than past civilizations, and this means that it is in a position to devote far higher levels of economic resources on solving certain kinds of problems.
Come to the largest climate rally ever on the D.C. mall on April 25
Earth Day Network is organizing a huge event on the Mall in Washington D.C. on April 25. The goal is to demand tough, effective climate legislation and a swift transition away from 19th century energy sources.
Why I hate Earth Day II: the road to hell in baby steps
A number of commenters to my previous post argued that I’m being unfair to Earth Day – of course, there’s greenwashing. of course people are cashing in, but underlying the greenwashing, there’s something good and serious and worthwhile there and I’m being churlish to deny it.
