Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Most dire of all was that within three days of the halt to trucking, the grocery stores were out of food. Looking back at historical records it is clear that, while shocking, this was no surprise. Community-based organizations had been warning of this exact possibility for years. Nowadays we have buffers and resiliency built into our systems, but that was not the case in 2009.
As I sip my morning espresso, I have a brief moment of longing for an earlier time when I could make my stovetop coffee quickly on a gas burner. It takes a lot longer using this electric one. Little did we know that gas was right behind oil in peaking. Fortunately we finally have plenty of solar-produced electricity and, once again, access to coffee. So it’s a minor inconvenience, but just another reminder of things we used to take for granted.
Slow life, better life
Your Money or Your Life: A Conversation with Vicki Robin
Astyk: What Is Your House Worth?
If we’re going to understand the problems that the modern megapolis will face in the coming decades, we need to look past the usual distinctions, to the design flaws that now lie behind not just suburbia but cities and even “rural” communities (a depressing number of which have been Walmartized).
Post Carbon Cities (peak oil for the American Planning Association)
Goldman Sachs predicts fall in oil prices to $45 a barrel
As China economy brakes, oil demand goes in reverse
Energy giants trim spending plans for 2009
The passive house could play a major role in cutting energy consumption and offers the best way to radically alter our building practices.
Planning the Future
Copenhagen, Melbourne & The Reconquest of the City
Cultivating a new food culture
A weekly digest from a UK perspective.
Radio show featuring no-impact living, dumpster diving, peak oil, life of Edward Abbey
Bill McKibben: Multiplication saves the day
A suburb for our times: Depression-era village in Australia
NYT: Locally grown produce
From the village green to the village blue
Homes and offices should take ‘green MoT’, says thinktank
Wasted opportunities
Suburbia has a significant potential to provide its own food, water, and energy. It won’t be as simple as snapping our fingers. And it likely won’t be possible for suburbia to consistently produce 100% of its needs. But I think one thing is quite clear: the potential increase in suburbia’s self-sufficiency is significantly greater than the potential for urban areas.
Lower speed limit to tackle obesity crisis, say experts
Planners to consider S.F. congestion charge
Bike accidents open door to paths
Council obstructs family’s ethical land project
