Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Planner Richard Gilbert’s vision for Hamilton, Ontario. Part one looks at the implications of peak oil and peak natural gas for Hamilton’s growth strategy. Part two discusses transportation, goods movement, and building energy use in more detail, focusing on Hamilton’s opportunities in energy production and conservation.
Hamilton, Ontario: the electric city (local planning for peak oil) / Colin Campbell’s latest /
King Coal again raises his sooty scepter /
Peak oil taxonomy: the doombat
Ecology for transformation / The greening of Chicago / A science of securing basic needs through sustainable, ecological methods / What are you buying when you buy organic? / Have you reduced your dependence on cars? / Connecting the dots on high gas prices (urban redesign)
When casualties overwhelm battlefield doctors, they are often forced to sort the wounded into three groups: those who will survive without treatment, those who will likely die even with treatment, and those who will probably live but only with treatment. In the post-peak oil age we will likely be faced with a similar situation in deciding which activities a lower-energy society can support.
Rod Dreher’s political hybrid: the all-natural, whole-grain conservative /
UK: ‘Clear lead needed’ on green life /
Zero emissions, village-style car-free neighbourhoods – in China /
Derrick Jensen: Beyond hope /
Ex-mayor of LA:
Leave the gas at the pump and pedal away
Building industry coalesces around environmental techniques / Dongtan and greening China / Vampire Power / Teaching environmental science without a textbook
Outside Magazine does Peak Oil (good article) /
Bartlett on CSPAN last night /
Hirsch et al publish summary of latest study
Shanghai – racing to the future, but preserving its culinary heritage /
What is the value of a tree? /
Evangelical Virginia farmer says a revolution against industrial agriculture is coming (Salatin) /
New “100-Mile Diet” website /
Jane Jacobs, urban activist, is dead at 89 /
New Urbanism’s ten solutions
Talking Grub: Anna Lappe & Bryant Terry – good food & social justice /
Sustaining Ourselves Locally (SOL) – grassroots video /
Wheels of justice often roll over cyclists /
Reading smart growth: guide to the literature of sprawl /
Interview with Michael Pollan (new book “Omnivore”) /
Pedal power at UC Berkeley
Car-borrowing in Philly /
In praise of … commons /
Elderly woman ticketed for walking too slowly /
Natural light ‘to reinvent bulbs’ /
Let’s make a meal (Pollan’s “Omnivore”)
Where to start? The answer to this one is easy. Governments at all levels must start planning, planning, planning for what clearly is to come — be it in five months or five years.
If the average American could live the “good life” of living in a stereotypical Tuscan villa, and if they are shown how they, too, CAN have this lifestyle, then people will literally flock to this structure. Ultimately, this is a POSITIVE vision of the future—not a reversion to feudal serfdom, but a progression to a more egalitarian and human-compatible life…
