Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Last Tuesday I participated to a demonstration against the projected reform of the French retirement system. It was nearly mandatory for me to be seen there, on strike (but still paid, that one of the advantages of being a politician) and holding a party banner. Yet, all moderates present felt the whole thing was an act, a mere baroud d’honneur [last stand] before an unavoidable defeat.
The British economy is officially, technically growing. Growth figures in the region of 0.2% confirm that it is out of recession. But what does this even mean? After months and months, in which funny money was flowing off the printing presses of its central bank and its formerly neo-liberal state came to represent more than 50% of GDP, we can be forgiven for viewing such statistics as a hall of mirrors.
-President Obama: Fed Gov’t in Charge of Efforts to Contain Oil Spill, Not BP
-BP and the Annals of the Tin Ear
-‘Top kill’ method ‘slows BP oil leak’ in Gulf of Mexico
-Setback Delays ‘Top Kill’ Effort to Seal Leaking Oil Well in Gulf
While the nation’s eyes are turned towards the oil tipped waves and tar balls washing up on the shores of the Gulf Coast, an altogether different energy disaster looms in California—one that might be even more damaging for the environment and our economy in the long run.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-Deepwater horizon
-Repercussions
-Sanctions on Iran
-Quote of the Week
-Briefs
Oil prices fell below $70/barrel this week before recovering slightly. The drop reflected market nervousness about the gravity of the Euro crisis and its potential impact on the global economy, coupled with continued high US crude oil stocks. In the meantime all eyes continue to be focused on the Gulf of Mexico where challenges to BP’s estimate of the size of the oil spill is further damaging the credibility of the company…
On May 8, 2010, Deconstructing Dinner descended upon the grounds of the Legislature of British Columbia in Victoria where one of the largest rallies of its kind was taking place. The rally was organized as part of the 2.5 week long “Get Out Migration” calling for the removal of open-net salmon farms along the B.C. coast. Between April 21 and May 8, biologist Alexandra Morton travelled from the community of Echo Bay in the Broughton Archipelago and proceeded on foot down Vancouver Island where hundreds of supporters joined her as they approached the BC Legislature. An estimated 4,000 people attended the rally.
The financial crash that brought the era of neo-liberalism to an end has now led to the formation of a novel coalition in Britain after 65 years of single-party government. This essay argues that it is important to understand what is special about the underlying economic and social crisis – and how the balance of forces is very different from those that wracked Britain in the 1970s and opened the way to Margaret Thatcher.
-Transit as a Development Tool, but in Whose Interest?
-Better Bikeways: Guerrilla Improvements and DIY Signage
-What’s not to like about high-speed rail? The case simply hasn’t been made
For several months now the eyes of world are focused on Greece, the “weak link” in the eurozone economy, as the country is fighting to survive against bankruptcy over soaring deficits (standing at 14% of GDP), astronomical debt (at a whopping 130% of GDP), and—more important than anything else–a collapsing productive sector. In many ways, the Greek saga has been worth following because the economic aspects involved merely represent the mirror image of everything we have associated politics with in the age of financialization.
Now that I’m retired from the academic life — or rather, now that I’ve departed the academy in disgust and despair — I no longer spend time in my swivel chair, dispensing information on the telephone or tending to the tender young psyche of an overwrought twenty-something.
In your widely publicized May 2010 letter to Bill McKibben, you ask for specific strategies to achieve a global CO2 reduction down to 350ppm. Here’s how, from the United States arm of the international Transition movement:
