Food & agriculture – July 31
-With House food-safety bill a done deal, questions remain
-Organic food ‘no better for health than factory-farmed food’ says report
-Bill would restrict antibiotics in food animals
Media & Communications
Climate & environment – July 31
-India and Climate Change [senior non-govt American endorses C&C for Copenhagen]
-The Folly of ‘Magical Solutions’ For Targeting Carbon Emissions
-World will warm faster than predicted in next five years, study warns
Clean Energy Act Is Not Going Anywhere
If you have read my book “Detensive Nation”, you know I am concerned about the damage we humans are doing to our environment. Our intensive consumption of energy, arable land, fresh water, and minerals is not sustainable. That means we humans will be forced to adopt a detensive Cultural EcoSystem. In order to ease the pain of this transition, we need a positive, proactive, and intellectually honest political system.
The monster footprint of digital technology
When we talk about energy consumption, all attention goes to the electricity use of a device or a machine while in operation. A 30 watt laptop is considered more energy efficient than a 300 watt refrigerator. This may sound logical, but this kind of comparisons does not make much sense if you don’t also consider the energy that was required to manufacture the devices you compare.
Deep thought – July 29
-Personal Responsibility
-Thinking the Unthinkable
-Evaluating Decisions and the Long Term Perspective
-Why Civilisations Collapse
Food & agriculture – July 28
-Urban Farming ‘Mushrooms’ During Recession
-Season Extension Techniques: Cheap and Dirty Options
-Finding fulfilment through farming
Understanding the Agricultural Landscape
In this episode Crop To Cuisine explores several areas that are helping us understand and make decisions about the agricultural landscape. Adam Avery tells us about their team bike ride from Boulder to Durango, and how breweries are doing more than making great beer within their communities. Bill Meyer from the USDA Statistics Service explains the first organic agriculture census. Cindy Torres of the Boulder County Food & Agricultural Policy Council helps us understand the GMO v. Non GMO argument. And Michelle DaPra shares the USDA’s efforts to better understand local food systems.
Peak Oil Review
A weekly roundup of Peak oil news, including:
-Production and prices
-an alternative view
-China’s shopping spree
-Briefs
An interview with Ray Leonard
Ray Leonard was selected last week to serve as CEO of Hyperdynamics Corp., a Houston-based and AMEX-listed oil and gas company with exploration assets in West Africa…A number of international organizations and elite audiences in Washington D.C. have heard his talks and have taken them seriously. Steve Andrews reached him last week and popped several quick questions.
The psychology of change: cultivating resilience at the point of no return
In his famous work “The Waking.” Michigan poet, Theodore Roethke, offered sage advice for navigating unprecedented transitions and cultivating resilience. Wisely, the Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins establishes three domains for people who are awake to these transitions as they endeavor to journey through them into a post-industrial world.
