Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Here’s a taster from the Activities Section of the ‘Sustainability through Experience Handbook’ currently in preparation…The book is a multi-authored theory and practice handbook on outreaching sustainability through experiential learning.
Growthbusters is the inspiring story of Dave Gardner’s efforts to challenge conservative Colorado Springs’ failed growth promotion policies. The film begins by focusing on the insanity of local councils cutting essential public services to “jump start” growth. However it also takes a broader theoretical look at the overall failure of economic growth to solve the global economic crisis. More importantly it tackles head-on the deeper and more serious issue of population control – and the conspiracy of silence on the part of institutional environmental groups (such as Sierra Club) on the issue.
*The Sound of Climate Silence: Romney and Obama Spar Over Who Wants to To Drill for More Fossil Fuels During Debate
*Climate Deniers
*Why we can’t bank on recessions to keep global warming in check
In this post, I will summarize what the recent scientific literature says are the key impacts we face in the coming decades if we stay anywhere near our current emissions path.
-Keystone XL: Texas Farmer Battles TransCanada’s “Tainted Money”
-Nonviolent Protester of Drone Wars Sentenced to Federal Prison
-Third anarchist jailed for refusing to testify before secret grand jury
-U.S. Plunge in Gas Drilling Means $1 Billion Lost Profit
-Germany Balks on Natural Gas Bonanza
-Shale Gas Industry Brings PSYOPs and Spy Ops to Poland
-Shale gas report rules out moratorium
-Collectively Photographing Fracking
Wheelan’s argument and the main message of today’s globalized economy is that Twinkies spontaneously sprout on supermarket shelves. Hamburgers originate from the silver stovetops of McDonalds restaurants. Water itself flows from shiny taps, translucent bottles, and fancy vending machines. We don’t need to concern ourselves with trifling matters such as where this stuff comes from or how it arrives. Because of the magic of the market, we only need to know how to get our hands on sufficient cash, credit, or public funds to buy it. In a nutshell, the argument says that all the cheap food, cheap products, and cheap thrills of modern times spring directly from global trade and economic growth.
These thoughts are prompted by the latest wave of lobbying by British business interests for a third runway at Heathrow. I get weary writing about this: I went through the relevant trends at length a couple of years ago and found that in terms of air transport in the richer world almost all the trends were headwinds.
Novelist Dan Armstrong’s Prairie Fire is a fast-paced thriller whose characters forge unlikely alliances to revolutionize the American food system. It’s spearheaded by farmers squeezed by skyrocketing oil prices while marketeers get whopping price gains. This revolution is unlikely to succeed, yet… well, we won’t spoil it! In Dan’s Taming the Dragon, climate change causes Chinese grain production to plummet, bringing the world to the brink. Dan illuminates the real-world backdrop behind both novels. His solution? Localize food production. Meet farmer Harry MacCormack with exciting results in central Oregon.
There’s a lot of books out there on crafting and artisan-level work. They’re usually how-to’s that combine techniques, project ideas, and patterns. Some are wonderful but too often the projects either don’t stand the test of time, or are a real stretch in terms of the use-value of the end product.
What is the potential for the Transition Towns movement in the current political climate? Isn’t ‘Lambeth the Co-operative Council’ a legitimate solution for south Londoners? Just how dangerous is it to mix up contructed scarcities with geophysical scarcities when talking about how to build resilience into local communities?
The brave new world of “owning life” began 32 years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court first approved the patenting of a genetically engineered bacteria that can help decompose oil. By a 5-4 decision, it was the first instance of U.S. law recognizing ownership in a “manufactured” lifeform. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to participate on a panel with the microbiologist who brought that 1980 case, Ananda Chakrabarty, who was then an employee of General Electric. Anyone who noses around the legal literature soon realizes that the case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty is a real landmark case because it opened the door for the patenting of lifeforms.
