BBC on the impact of biofuels on Paraguay’s ecology and farmers

Everyone should listen to this BBC report on the “price of biofuels.” It digs into a key question: what does Europe’s appetite for biodiesel mean for people and ecosystems in the countries that produce the feedstocks?

Peak oil, prices, and supplies – Apr 29

-Peak at the polls
-Saudi Arabia global oil exports to wane post-2010
-Drilling and spilling for all the oil that’s left
-Gulf oil spill ‘five times’ larger than estimated
-Flight disruptions in Europe a Foretaste for Period of Oil Decline
-The Imminent Crash Of Oil Supply: Be Afraid
-Peak oil predictions

Fix the economy, not Wall Street

Financial reform is the Congressional political issue of the month. Democrats say their bill will place essential controls on Wall Street to prevent abuse and a repeat of the financial crash. Republicans say it will encourage further Wall Street risk-taking by giving the big banks a guarantee of a future taxpayer bailout if reckless decisions trigger another financial crash.

Food and agriculture – Apr 27

-Food Preservation 101: Putting Canning In Perspective
-In Connecticut, Community-Supported Agriculture Gaining In Popularity
-Gardening by community growing in appeal
-A garden on every block
-Cuba’s urban-ag revival offers limited lessons
-The Triangle: The South’s Locavore Gem
-The AKG Sustainable Living Project podcast episode #4 transcript- Rain Water Harvesting
-Ancient orchards restored to save fruit and wildlife
-Community Land Sharing
-Global biofuel drive raises risk of eviction for African farmers

The consumption conundrum: driving the destruction abroad

Our high-tech products increasingly make use of rare metals, and mining those resources can have devastating environmental consequences. But if we block projects like the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, are we simply forcing mining activity to other parts of the world where protections may be far weaker?

Officials wake up to peak oil, part 2

In the first part of this series, I reviewed a series of reports from March supporting the peak oil view, and warning that world oil production very well may go into terminal decline by 2015 or sooner…On March 25 the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) joined the officially worried, with a report in French newspaper Le Monde titled “Washington considers a decline of world oil production as of 2011.”

Cochabamba postscript: lessons, reflections, and the road to Cancun

The World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth (CMPCC, for its Spanish acronym) ended on Thursday in Cochabamba and every airport I’ve stopped in (more than a few now) has been filled with people heading home with new energy, new direction, and excitement to get back to work. But before the movement moves on I want to share some last reflections that we’ll be taking forward.

Deconstructing Dinner: Joel Salatin and Judy Rebick on building new food systems

Virginia farmer Joel Salatin has become one of the most well known names in the world of alternative farming…In February 2010, Joel was interviewed by Lauren Berlekamp of the Erie Wire. Joel spoke to Lauren about his unique and seemingly common-sense approach to farming…Also featured on the episode, a great talk delivered by Toronto’s Judy Rebick. Rebick is the Canadian Auto Workers-Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University…In November 2008, Rebick spoke at the annual convention of Canada’s National Farmers Union and encouraged farmers there to take advantage of what she referred to as the ‘perfect storm’, whereby the dominant top-down social and economic models are collapsing – clearing the way, as she believes, for a bottom-up and community-centred approach to begin better serving our needs.

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.