United States – Sept 11
-Efforts to turn empty lots to a glass half full
-Obama’s Speech: The Doctor Is In
-Tom Friedman, our one-party democracy, and the clean energy jobs message
-Risk Pool
Fossil Fuels
Nations & resources – Sept 11
-South Korea’s Hyundai Steel building ‘green mill’
-Is Resource Nationalism Back?
-A Power Station in Your Basement
Start by Asking the Right Questions – Thinking About the Terms for the Debate on Local and Organic Food
One of the reasons discussions of whether “organic” and “local” can “feed the world” often founder so badly is the whole set of presumptions that preceed such a discussion. So let’s talk about those – James McWilliams’ book _Just Food_ and others have stirred up a good bit of controversy on this subject, and lots of people seem to know the answers. But the real problem is that most people don’t really seem to understand what the questions are.
Peak oil notes – Sep 10
A weekly round-up including:
– Prices and production
– The Monthly Oil Market Report
Solutions & sustainability – Sept 10
-Transition Towns project helps kick oil addiction
-Cuban Ambassador visits Cloughjordan
-In a small patch of land, hope reborn for Sudanese refugees
-Community Supported Agriculture thrives around Osceola, Wis.
-Celebrating the abundant growth of the farmers market
-Algae biofuel propels a braves’ new world
-Transition towns
Middle East and Peak Oil – Sept 10
-Debate about peak oil is misleading
-Saudi provides realistic outlook on energy future
-OAPEC to spend $133 bn on boosting refinery output
-Abu Dhabi to invest $10 bn on green projects
-UNDP Arab Human Development Report 2009
Energy companies – Sept 9
-Shifting Alliances Define Energy Debate
-British energy firm in the dock over Amazon project
-Arizona firm in deal to spread sun power to China
Peak oil, prices, and supplies – Sept 9
-Oil Spin
-Oil still has us over a barrel
-Maribynong Peak Oil Contingency Plan
Transition dialogue – Sept 9
-The Transition Towns Movement; its huge significance and a friendly criticism
-Responding to Ted Trainer’s Friendly Criticism of Transition
Marshall Auerback: “Many years of economic stagnation” interview: excerpt
…I don’t know if Baker’s statement reflects an “eternal truth”, but oil is undoubtedly a very important component of the global economy and energy (along with food) is a key non-discretionary essential without which we couldn’t sustain our current standard of living. Unlike Europe, the US is still addicted to cheap oil, so the impact of price spikes tends to be felt much more acutely here than it does in the EU or UK…
Scale
Within the span of a couple generations, we abandoned a durable, finely textured, life-affirming set of living arrangements characterized by self-sufficient family farms intermixed with small towns that provided commerce, services, and culture. Worse yet, we traded that model for a coarse-scaled arrangement wholly dependent on ready access to cheap fossil fuels.
Nabu, Nabucco, Nabukov
While Europe attempts to eke out some freedom from Russia’s gas monopoly, Russia tries to free itself from the “curse of plenty.”
